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| UNTITLED
:: IDA
MAY SYDNOR |
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| HOMESTEAD
:: RUTH BARKLEY |
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The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery is pleased to announce the
second exhibition of the Art and Community Series. Beginning
on January 10, 2003, we will present works made by artists
and neighbors of the Southwest Community Enrichment Center
(SCEC), a community center located in the Kingsessing section
of West Philadelphia. The SCEC has been dedicated to providing
human services and resources to their neighborhood since 1969.
The SCEC is a beacon for self-empowerment in the community
through their implementation of programs that focus on homework
assistance, career workshops, senior services such as free
meals and transportation, a family school with parenting classes,
and a teen enrichment program. In 1990, the SCEC opened The
Art Center. Located in a row house next to the main SCEC building,
the Art Center has been a place where area residents can find
art teachers, resources, support, materials, and the freedom
to explore their inner artistic vision. Sister Helen David
Brancato, a working artist who has received numerous awards
and residencies, has directed The Art Center since its inception.
Several artists have emerged from this center to receive critical
acclaim for their work. Ruth Barkley, Mina Casey, Ida May
Sydnor, and Mary Ward stand out as just a few examples. These
artists have exhibited at the Levy Gallery at Moore College
of Art and Design, the African American Museum in Philadelphia,
and the Gallery at the Independence Foundation. Most of the
artists who work at The Art Center are self-taught and many
have come to art late in life. Sister Helen stresses the importance
of art in the lives of these women, and indeed in the lives
of the entire Southwest community, as a vehicle for communal
and personal change and empowerment.
The objectives of The Art Center are to foster personal expression
and to be a guiding light for cultural programming and exploration.
The Center is run as an open-studio – teachers offer instruction
and materials then step back to allow each person to create
her own artistic magic. The Klein Gallery is particularly pleased
to be able to exhibit the artistic results made at this community
center. This exhibition is exceptionally meaningful for us in
that it will enable us to show the work of Ida May Sydnor, a
talented and well-known artist who lived across the street from
The Art Center and who passed away in October 2002. This second
Art and Community Exhibition is dedicated to her.
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