Things to do with your friends in the spring

As the weather gets warmer, we've been embracing the sunshine by doing many activities outdoors.

Karly read The Sun Also Rises to Robbie, Eric, Mike S., Phoebe, Richard and Tim during Book Club. 

We have also been creating outdoor murals in our back garden that will be able to be seen from the SEPTA commuter trains that pass behind our building. 

Robbie and Rodney participated in newly reinstated Graffiti Club.

"House of Dreams" Debut

Our play, House Of Dreams, premiered at The Rotunda in West Philadelphia yesterday to a very supportive and receptive audience.

It encompasses the main goals of the program by showcasing the various creative talents of the individuals within the Cultural Arts program through acting, writing, performance art, choreographed movement, live and recorded music, 2 and 3 dimensional visual art, and multimedia outlets, all under the umbrella of theater.

The project was headed by Jerry Perna, Michael Gerkovich, and Alie Vidich, with the rest of the Cultural Arts staff contributing in a strong way. Linda Price and Gina Renzi facilitated its creation.


Richard contributed a great deal of his creative energy to this project. He played beautiful songs for the audience as the cast took their places backstage.


Mike S. narrates.


Eyes in the dark, at the bottom of the sea


The cast focuses their collective energy to become The Blob


David emerges from a dinosaur egg.

Special thanks to Nofre Vaquer for taking these photographs!

Tie Day Friday

Last week the Cultural Arts Center received a generous donation of a wide variety of items, including a huge amount of ties, so we facilitated an impromptu workshop on snappy dressing!


Freddy & Mike


Kay, Sharay, & Tyree


Freddy


Charlene!

Ofrenda

Today we began our ofrenda in honor of the Day of the Dead. We will be celebrating the Day of the Dead by making notes and pictures of people we miss, like Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze and Murph's dog Sadie. Our ofrenda will feature papel picados, lights, fake fruit and flowers.

In photos: Helen, Danny, George, Pietro, Mike, Rasheed, Hubert, Sharay, and Mike S.

Chinese Ribbon Dancing

Our dance teacher Alie Vidich has been teaching us Chinese Ribbon dancing in conjunction with our humanities program.

Chinese Dragon Construction

We are making a giant Chinese Dragon in art class with Eph for our Humanities program. In photos: David, Sam, Danny, Mike, George, and Christina.

Mexican Fiesta

We ended our month of studying Mexico with a bang today. Emilia worked on a homemade paper mache pinata filled with lollipops and Sarah made everyone virgin strawberry margaritas. Next month's country: China.

Mexico!

Today we began building a cardboard Ziggurat while we studied Ancient Mayan culture. We have started a new program where we study a different culture every month. This month we are studying Mexico. In photos: Mike, George, Jason, Rasheed and Mike G.