Brian Bazemore  – 2D Visual Arts – Group 2, Round 2 Awardee

I will create 20 double sided street pole banners celebrating the community and pride of Lancaster Avenue.

Impact Statement

The Lancaster Avenue Flag project will give the Lancaster community the opportunity to express their neighborhood pride, and to make it visible to their community at large as well as others throughout Philadelphia and surrounding areas.

During the installation of the flag project on the Lancaster business district and for 4 weeks thereafter, the applicant will host up to 6 Memory Photo/Video Booth events on the Avenue to document (through video, audio and photos) expressions of joy and community ties (of the Lancaster neighbors and people working in the businesses).

The booth will be situated on Lancaster Avenue and decorated with historical and memorable clippings and photos of Lancaster Avenue including community people like Herman Wrice an community activist in the 1960s. Businesses and associations like JB Radiators, Eagle Jewelry & Loan Company (now closed), Quba Institute, Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business Association CDC; and street signs like Lincoln Highway would also be included.

Tiny WPA and the applicant will construct, design, paint and do the mixed media collages of the Lancaster community on the booth; the applicant will enlist the help of Scribe Video and young people from the Mantua Haverford Community Center (MHCC) to help document volunteer passersby and business owners and employees about their connection to the Lancaster Community, and the significance of these relationships to their lives. The interviewees will leave the booth with a photo strip to document their participation in the project.

The Flag Project along with the Memory/Photo Video Booth will symbolize and make visible to the Lancaster community and others (tourists, Philadelphians…) a strong community bond, and neighborhood that harmoniously works together, supports and respects one another. Also, this celebration of Lancaster Avenue pride will enable me to give young people an opportunity to learn how to work as a community to document oral histories and reinforce a sense of community pride.

The applicant will also apply for a Scribe Video community grant to have access to facilities to edit, along with community young people, a final short video to be distributed via Scribe’s exhibition programs. Additionally, the applicant will apply for a future small grant to do presentations in conjunction with Lancaster Ave business projects and other associations such as MHCC and Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business.