Park Champions

In late 2017, I teamed up with cinematographer James Wasserman to create this video for Fairmount Park Conservancy's Centennial Gala, a night of celebration for members and donors to recount some of the past year's accomplishments.

This time, instead of the montage approach of past promos, giving an overview of programs and thanking members of the organization, the goal of this video was to highlight the unsung heroes of the Philly park system, the neighborhood volunteers who have been building up and maintaining their neighborhood parks out of love and community spirit, and whose efforts FPC supports and enhances.

While working on this video James and I came in contact with some amazing community members and their inspiring stories, which throw light on how important public open space can be to keep a community strong and provide peace and solace and safe play space. I love that FPC chose to focus on the volunteers who are so important to the success of their mission, and without whom they couldn't successfully steward Philly's parks and playgrounds.

The video was shown at the Gala dinner to a rapt audience. I think we met and exceeded the goal of the project and the focus on neighborhood volunteers, or "Park Champions" served to strengthen the community outreach spirit of Fairmount Park Conservancy.

Genentech Patient Proflie: Gianna

This profile of Gianna, visual artist and longest surviving heart transplant patient in the world, was created for a celebration of Genentech's Transplant Legacy Team to tell the story of how Gianna came to be commissioned to make a special work of art to honor Genentech's work in the field of transplantation.  She met with the Legacy Team and incorporated their stories into her art, blending them with her own experiences as a transplant patient.

Snapshot Philly

The Philadelphia History Museum (formerly the Atwater Kent) just re-opened after massive renovations and revamping, with the new mission to bring Philadelphia History from colonial times up to the present.  They have an amazing collection and fantastic exhibit ideas, this is one of the most innovative museums I have ever seen.  I'm proud to have edited these two exhibit videos - produced by Night Kitchen Interactive - for the first exhibit room when you enter the museum.  I made this movie file by putting the two videos side by side, but in reality they play on separate monitors throughout the room so that wherever you stand you will see both playing simultaneously.

When in Philly, visit the Philadelphia History Museum at 15 S. 7th Street - a hop/skip/jump from the historic district.
Philadelphia History Museum - philadelphiahistory.org
Night Kitchen Interactive - whatscookin.com

Dancing Outside the Box

This 15-minute video by David Block focuses on the world of wheelchair ballroom dancing through the story of Ray Leight, a wheelchair user who developed ballroom dancing curriculum for wheelchair users to dance with a standing partner.

Frankford Is..

This is an introduction to the "Imagining Frankford" project of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.  People who live in the Frankford section of Philadelphia were asked to describe their neighborhood in one word.  This video is a compilation of the results.

Notable people include: Bill Gambrel, Councilwoman ‪Maria Quiñones-Sanchez‬, Bob Smiley... really every person is notable.  Frankford has a rich history and a diverse population and this project just scratches the surface.

Project info - muralarts.org/explore/projects/imagining-frankford
Project interviews - youtube.com/user/ImaginingFrankford

Visionary Voices

The "Visionary Voices | Leaders Lessons Legacy" project of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University is collecting the stories of those who played a part, or were first-hand witness, to the events that changed the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in Pennsylvania. Starting in the 1960s, Pennsylvanians with disabilities, family members, and advocates have paved the way for national policies that have led to widespread reform. This 17-minute video is an introduction to the Visionary Voices project, and serves as a sample of some of the amazing stories to be found on the website: disabilities.temple.edu/voices

Porchlight Initiative - Mural Arts Program

This video was produced by Valerie Keller and Gail Lloyd for Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia to highlight their innovative Porch Light Initiative - a series of public art projects in partnership with the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and disAbility Services. These projects are done through community involvement around issues of Behavioral health such as mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction and mental disability. The project featured in this video is a mural called "Personal Renaissance" (lead artist James D. Burns), which was painted on the side of JEVS Human Services methadone clinic in North Philly. It's a gorgeous mural that depicts themes of drug addiction and recovery, and the clients at JEVS helped paint the mural as part of their recovery therapy. It was so successful that not only have ongoing painting and other art programs been instituted at JEVS, but Mural Arts Program received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to increase and target this work, including a study by the Yale School of Medicine to prove that public art projects can be an effective and money-saving element in behavioral health treatment programs.