NorthStar News

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Some photos from Rosella’s recent trip to the Opal Charter School at Portland Children’s Museum. 

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Recent photos of our former project, Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse, located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

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Knight Arts Challenge Winners - Best ideas for the Philadelphia arts receive $2.76 million in funding

NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Best ideas for the Philadelphia arts
receive $2.76 million in funding
Knight Arts Challenge winners promote wide range of creativity;
bring art to neighborhoods and unexpected places
PHILADELPHIA – April 23, 2012 – Thirty-five ideas for the arts in Philadelphia will receive $2.76 million as winners of the 2012 Knight Arts Challenge.
Now in its second year, the community-wide challenge funds the best ideas for engaging and enriching Philadelphia through the arts.
Emerging from more than 1,260 submissions, the 2012 winners represent a wide range of Philadelphia’s creative thinkers, including artists Erica Hawthorne and Sean Stoops, small organizations like the Bearded Ladies Cabaret and the Little Berlin collective, and established institutions with innovative ideas.
“The cities that succeed, that offer the greatest quality of life, view every single person as a creative being,” said Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation’s vice president for arts. “We hope the Knight Arts Challenge and its winners provide an added spark that inspires the community to build a better future together.”
This year’s winners will:
  • Bring art into Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, through pop-up Latin jazz performances, “Site and Sound” gardens in Nicetown-Tioga and a campaign that will bring locally produced art to public advertising spaces near the place where the piece was produced.
  • Transform communities through public art installations, such as a new steam- and water-inspired work in Dilworth Plaza, a permanent light installation at a Quaker meeting house and rotating, site-specific public art for the community and daily commuters at The Porch at 30th Street Station.
  • Use the assets of larger organizations to benefit emerging artists, including a new black-box theater residency program at the Kimmel Center, an incubator for creative businesses at the University of the Arts and a teaching corps of tech-saavy art teachers at The Hacktory.
A full list of winners is below.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter declared April 23 Knight Arts Challenge Day in recognition of the initiative’s impact and its support for a broad spectrum of the creative community.
To date, 71 ideas have been awarded $5.4 million. A third round of the Knight Arts Challenge will open in the fall.
“We asked the community for their best ideas – and received an overwhelming response, showing the strength of this city’s creative community,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Philadelphia program director for Knight Foundation.
The Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia is open to anyone with a great idea for the arts. The challenge has just three rules: 1) The idea must be about the arts, 2) the project must take place in or benefit Philadelphia and 3) the grant recipients must find funds to match Knight’s commitment.
The Knight Arts Challenge began in 2008 in Miami, where the initiative is now in its fifth year. Philadelphia is the second city to which Knight has offered this program.
For more on Knight Foundation’s arts initiative and to view a full list of Knight Arts Challenge winners, visit www.KnightArts.org. Connect on the Knight Arts Challenge Facebook page here and via @KnightArts on Twitter.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia 2012 Winners
For more detailed project descriptions, visit knightarts.org.
Performing Arts Will Diversify Old City’s First Fridays
To diversify artistic offerings by presenting multidisciplinary performances alongside gallery events during Old City’s monthly First Fridays
“Pop-Up” Performances Bring Latin Jazz to Philly Neighborhoods
To cultivate new audiences for Latin jazz by presenting “pop-up” performances by local artists using a portable stage
Stories of Urban Youth Come to Life in “Hip H’Opera”
  • Project: Hip H’Opera
  • Recipient: Art Sanctuary
  • Award: $100,000
To celebrate two art forms that use the human voice to tell profound stories by creating a “Hip H’Opera” using the stories of urban life
Communities Experience Art in Unexpected Places
To provide everyday artistic experiences by creating site-specific works for nontraditional places like restaurants, storefronts and public plazas
Late-Night Cabarets Explore Social Issues with Sparkle on the Avenue of the Arts
To attract new audiences to theater – using the medium to explore social issues with sparkle – through a series of original, late-night cabarets
New Form of Symphonic Pops Concert Celebrates World Music
To showcase diverse cultures by transforming a symphonic “pops” concert into a celebration of world music
College Students Gain New Access to the City’s Arts Scene
  • Project: Campus Philly’s Passport to the Arts
  • Recipient: Campus Philly
  • Award: $100,000
To foster a lifelong appreciation of the arts by offering free or discounted admission to venues and performances for college students
Workshop Gives Voice to Unheard Stories of the Lao-American Community
  • Project: Laos in the House: Voices from Four Decades of the Lao Diaspora
  • Recipient: Catzie Vilayphonh
  • Award: $25,000
To promote storytelling within the Lao-American community through a writing, performance and filmmaking workshop
Public Art Transforms Dilworth Plaza and Thriving Center City
To help transform historic Dilworth Plaza by commissioning internationally recognized sculptor Janet Echelman to create an artwork inspired by the site’s historic association with water and steam
Art Installation Open to All Inspires Dialogue on Art and Spirituality
To offer visitors a contemplative art space by incorporating the work of internationally acclaimed light artist James Turrell into a new facility
Residents Transform Vacant Lots Into Visual and Sound Gardens
To transform abandoned spaces into “sacred” art parks for the community by engaging residents to create visual and sound gardens in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood
Local Artists Get Support From Mini Grant Program
  • Project: Small-But-Mighty Arts Grant
  • Recipient: Erica Hawthorne
  • Award: $60,000
To give a boost to local artists by creating a mini grant program to help finance their art making with awards ranging from $50 to $1,000
Mobile Studio Brings Community Art to New Neighborhoods
  • Project: ColorWheels: Delivering Creativity to Your Community
  • Recipient: Fleisher Art Memorial
  • Award: $50,000
To engage the community in hands-on art making by expanding the reach of a mobile studio where participants create projects inspired by their neighborhoods
West Philadelphia Lots Become Artistic Skate Parks
To help transform West Philadelphia neighborhoods by turning blacktop lots into art-laden skate parks
Free Theater Festival Showcases Diversity On Stage
To promote original plays through a free theater festival dedicated to multicultural themes
Late-Night Museum Happenings Encourage New Audiences
To engage younger audiences in the visual arts through a series of simultaneous late-night happenings at three of Philadelphia’s premier art museums
Cutting-Edge Performing Arts Gain New Visibility Through Residency Program
To engage new audiences in the performing arts by creating a residency program in the Kimmel Center’s black-box theater for innovative and emerging art groups
Visual and Performing Arts Fill an East Kensington Lot
  • Project: Little Berlin Fairgrounds
  • Recipient: Little Berlin
  • Award: $10,000
To help transform the East Kensington neighborhood by turning an empty lot into an event space for musicians, art fairs and children’s workshops
Outdoor Summer Film Series Showcases Local Artists and Filmmakers
To introduce the work of local visual artists and filmmakers to a wider audience by establishing an outdoor independent film series on the Parkway
Weekly Drumming Lessons Inspire Local Youth
  • Project: Drum Line
  • Recipient: Musicopia
  • Award: $90,000
To empower and inspire Philadelphia’s youth through their participation in an indoor percussion ensemble by providing weekly drumming lessons and performing opportunities
Gospel Choirs, Composers and Jazz Ensembles Celebrate Dr. King
  • Project: New Music Celebrations of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Recipient: Orchestra 2001
  • Award: $40,000
To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Orchestra 2001 will present a concert featuring a new concerto based on the civil rights leader’s life
Design Center Provides New Resources to Theater and Visual Artists
To expand the capacity of the city’s theater community by providing a new space for theater designers and visual artists at a repurposed local church
Free Digital Cameras Give Access to Communities for Photography Exhibition
To encourage broader audience participation in the city’s visual arts by expanding Philly Photo Day, where everyone is invited to take a picture on the same day for an exhibition
Architecture Seen in a New Light with 3D Video Art Events
  • Project: Animated Architecture: 3D Video Mapping Projections on Historic Sites
  • Recipient: Sean Stoops
  • Award: $20,000
To support an innovative form of 3D digital animation by creating site-specific video art events screened on local buildings
Plays in Nontraditional Spaces Bring Adventure to Audiences
To weave the arts into the community by presenting original, contemporary plays in nontraditional spaces, including Eastern State Penitentiary and the Academy of Natural Sciences
Multidisciplinary Festival Features Black Male Artists
To introduce diverse audiences to the performing art

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Mastery Charter School - Smedley Campus 

Check out some of the photos from our soon-to-be-finished project - MCS Smedley campus. Stayed tuned for more as the project wraps up!

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Philadelphia University - The Kanbar Campus Center

Here are some recent photos of The Kanbar Campus Center - a project NorthStar worked on a few years back. We are thrilled that the Center still looks fantastic, and we look forward to working with Philadelphia University again on an upcoming project! Stay tuned for more information and photos as the project progresses.

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Check out some of our updated photos from our recently completed project: The Center for Art in Wood, located on 3rd Street (Old City), Philadelphia. 

Stay tuned for a Snip-It this month featuring some in-depth details about this project!

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NorthStar is excited to announce a new member to our team - J. Michael Williams! Michael comes with over 18 years experience in the project management field, and will be an excellent addition to the NorthStar family. 

NorthStar is excited to announce a new member to our team - J. Michael Williams! Michael comes with over 18 years experience in the project management field, and will be an excellent addition to the NorthStar family.