Village of Arts and Humanities

 http://www.villagearts.org/

VISION AND HISTORY

The need for a new urban landscape in 1986, spawned The Village Arts and Humanities (the Village) of North Philadelphia. Emerging as an outgrowth from a place Arthur Hall named Ile Ife Black Humanitarian Center--Ile Ife is drawn from Yoruba (Nigeria) cosmology and means the birthplace of humanity and also the "House of Love"--the Village was incarnated from a small neighborhood park project headed by Lily Yeh, the Village founder and two African American men in recovery from substance abuse. Since its inception, the Village has transformed a 260 square block area of North Philadelphia, one block at a time through a neighborhood revitalization program that has evolved into a major provider of arts-inspired programs including education, land transformation, construction, and economic development.

Fast forward 23 years, and you can't miss the impact of the Village within the community, starting with the larger than life murals, and colorful tile mosaics that punctuate housing projects, parks, even sidewalks as a visual testament to the work being done to improve the lives of North Philadelphia residents.

Today, we are a multi-faceted, professionally staffed, arts organization, governed by a community-based board of directors. We have won numerous local and international awards and citations for innovation and achievement, and earned high marks within the community for serving thousands of low-income, primarily underserved African American dwellers. However, North Philadelphia could well be anywhere around the globe where people suffer due to cultural differences or economic inequities; and that is why our program resonates so strongly worldwide.

We foster a new multiculturalism that embraces the gifts and the challenges expressed by all cultures and people. Our programs seek to tap into the common threads of all communities that have been labeled at risk, underprivileged, impoverished, undereducated, and stressed to create anomalies in the same undeniable way that the blues, gospel, jazz and even hip hop have done, with cross cultural success. We know that the arts transcend race, culture, religion, education, socioeconomic background, gender, sexual orientation, age, or able-ism.

Our work is described as provocative, muscular and risky. We are not limited by convention but instead boldly redefine art to incorporate environmental justice, greening and beautification, as well as community organizing.

Solid is the foundation from which we were originated. Lily Yeh endeavored under difficult situations and limited resources to make work that has forever shifted perceptions in the lives of oppressed people living in urban settings. We value our staff, board of directors and volunteers and recognize their ability to affect change.

The Village is 12 art parks, an afterschool program, and a vision.

Placing art in vulnerable places and art making is key to improving the lives of vulnerable people. We maintain over 1.1 million square feet of vacant land in North Philadelphia.