Brandywine Workshop
730 S. Broad StreetPhiladelphiaPA19146215-546-3675215-546-2825

Program: Philly Panache Year Started: 1978 Focus: Visual Arts Youth Served: 6 Ages: 14-19 Budget: $25,000 Partnering with housing developments, a horticultural society, community organizations and the Philadelphia Department of Sanitation, the Philly Panache program matches a professional artist with a small group of high school students for 6 weeks during the summer to visually improve the neighborhoods where they live. The youth, who are paid for 30 hours a week, design and paint murals and issue-oriented billboards at sites chosen by Brandywine Workshop and the partner groups. The Philly Panache participants learn about computer graphics and design their murals and billboards using computers in Brandywine's Video Technology Center, a youth computer graphics and video training program started in 1994, which reaches many disadvantaged youth through its after-school and Saturday classes. When the design is complete, the artist guides the participants through the painting process. At the end of the program, the group holds an unveiling for the community, parents and friends. "Every time the kids put up a mural or billboard, we get new requests from other organizations," says Cindy Lee Hauger, director of development and marketing. "There are no graffiti on the murals, and the projects seem to bring the community together. The artists are all from the same type of communities the kids grow up in, so they are great role models." Since 1978, 130 teenagers have benefited from Philly Panache. Over 50 murals and 14 billboards were completed, and mural panels painted with trompe l'oeil scenes are used to seal off 90 abandoned homes. More than 70 artists have been employed through the program to date, and in 1983, the organization won the Foundation for Architects' Environmental Art Award. In addition to Philly Panache, Brandywine Workshop also runs the Henry O. Tanner Youth Gallery, of which one floor is an art gallery organized by, and devoted to, high school students.