The Arts and Spirituality Center is located at 37th and Chestnut, right in the heart of University City, but if you weren’t a Philadelphia teenager in the past ten years you might not have heard of it. The interfaith non-profit serves schools, community and youth groups, faith-based organizations, and the generally downtrodden, helping them to stand up to violence and other negative pressures by embracing their creativity and nurturing their spirits. Their several unique programs focus on art education, interfaith work, community building, imagination, and rites of passage. Each is specially tailored to a specific set of people. The Rites of Passage program, for example, is for 10 to 14 year-old girls, and uses ancient and modern arts, expressive techniques, and traditions to help empower while easing the transition from childhood to adolescence. Combined, their programs have reached over 6,000 Philadelphians since the center opened in 2000.

The myriad programs are all awesome and are doing an essential service in strengthening Philly’s communities and decreasing violence, all while stimulating a love of the arts and self-expression. I can’t talk about all of them here, but check out their website for more info, or their inspiring Youtube video. What I do want to highlight, though, is the center’s HeartSpeak LIVE program.

The HeartSpeak program is a citywide initiative, and is a favorite violence-prevention program for the School District of Philadelphia. The program gives youth a voice, allowing their thoughts to be heart and their visions of peace to be expressed through art and poetry. Students also develop their writing skills, with on-the-spot exercises led by teaching artists, and their public speaking skills when they read their work aloud. And I’m not just talking about speaking in front of their classes – I’m talking about public speaking. Through HeartSpeak LIVE, every month students from several Philadelphia high schools present their original poetry and spoken word at the Penn Bookstore.

The event, just one example of the diverse programming that the bookstore schedules, is open, free, and a great way to interact with the community and to get a feel for the powerful impact that The Arts and Spirituality Center is having on our youth. The next event is tomorrow, Tuesday March 9th, at 4pm. Head up the escalator and it’ll be in the lounge area just to the right. Check it out and give these kids a well-deserved audience!

The Arts and Spirituality Center
3723 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-386-7705
www.artsandspirituality.org

University of Pennsylvania Bookstore
3601 Walnut St - University Sq
Philadelphia, PA 19104
http://upenn.bkstore.com
(215) 898-7595