Councilman At-large David Oh

Councilman David Oh will visit West Philadelphia this Thursday (May 5) to host a community meeting on heroin and opioid crisis in the city. The meeting, chaired by Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, will take place at the University of the Sciences (Pharm Tox Building, Room 140, 636 S. 42nd St.), from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m..

Thursday’s meeting is a continuous effort by Councilman Oh to gather community feedback that he will use to shape the City’s coordinated response to the epidemic. Last week, he met with residents of Northeast Philadelphia, Manayunk, and the River Wards in three “emotional at times” community meetings. Another meeting is scheduled in South Philadelphia next week.

The community meetings come as a result of a resolution Oh passed through City Council which authorized the holding of public hearings following City Council’s declaration of 2016 as “The Year to Combat the Heroin Abuse Epidemic in Philadelphia.” The resolution also called for the development of a strategy to effectively address the heroin epidemic as an urgent local health priority.  Continue Reading

Thanks to the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC), 13 local schools that lost their librarian due to budget cuts, now have a library run by volunteers. On Monday, one of these schools, Morton McMichael school in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, hosted well-known local children’s author and illustrator Andy Myer. WePAC arranged the visit.

Myer spoke with a group of fourth grade students about his life as a writer and illustrator and the process to move from concept to published book.

“The children were mesmerized, and they were especially excited to each get a copy of Myer’s latest book [Henry Hubble’s Book of Troubles] signed by the author himself,” writes Heather Farber, WePAC Interim Executive Director.  Continue Reading

Bethany Rusen at work (photos via Indiegogo.com)

Last month, we wrote about the efforts by West Philly artist and educator Bethany Rusen to open a new ceramic studio and affordable co-working space for artists in Cedar Park. Renovations of the space, called Black Hound Clay Studio (BHCS) and located at 711 S. 50th Street, began this spring, and a few days ago Bethany launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to help this venture succeed.

The startup costs for the studio are considerable, according to Bethany. Thanks to successful fundraising raffle held last month at Art Star Gallery and a loan from the nearby Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, some funds have been secured to carry out some space renovations and to cover the deposit and first few months’ rent. Bethany also managed to get some free stuff through Craigslist, including work tables, shelving and storage. She currently has four working pottery wheels, either donated by friends and family or bought used.  Continue Reading

40th Street Artist-in-Residence (AIR), a program that awards West Philly artists free studio space for one year, is currently accepting applications for its 2016-2017 residency. The application deadline has been extended until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, 2016.

40th Street AIR Gallery at 4007 Chestnut St.

Selected artists will be given studio space at either 4007 Chestnut Street or 4013 Chestnut Street starting Sept. 1, 2016 and ending Aug. 15, 2017. During residency, artists will work on developing their own creative work. In exchange, they will be asked to share their talents with West Philadelphia through a minimum of 40 hours of outreach service, which may include a public installation, a workshop or a class.

Applications are accepted from artists who are affiliated with West Philadelphia – you must live, work, volunteer, or create art here in order to apply.

Applications can be submitted online here, but first please visit the 40th Street AIR website for more information.

If you have questions, email: 40th.AIR.app@gmail.com

Click on the images below to view breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus to be served in Philadelphia public schools in May 2016. Click here if your school uses the Satellite menu.

May 2016 K-8 breakfast, lunch and dinner menu

Continue Reading

This Sunday, hundreds of people are expected to participate in the 9th annual May Day March, Rally and Festival in West Philadelphia.

The event, which is organized by May Day USA Education Committee (Facebook page) and co-sponsored by PhilaPOSH and the Pennsylvania Labor History Society, will begin at 1 p.m. in front of the McDonald’s at 40th and Walnut Streets, where the participants will gather for the march. The march will proceed to Clark Park at 43rd and Baltimore, and the rally will start at 2 p.m., followed by a festival, featuring food, music and entertainment.

This year’s rally will focus on the fight for a $15/hour minimum wage and feature Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, Black Lives Matter author Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, District 1199C President Henry Nicholas, and City Councilwoman Helen Gym.

The May Day rally is an annual event to honor the history of May Day and the many workers who died in the struggle for the eight-hour day in the 1880s.

More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page.