VIDEO: Jordan Park Families Tour ArtsXchange Campus
Video by Warehouse Arts District Association (WADA)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - On July 13th, the Warehouse Arts District Association (WADA) met with youth and families from Jordan Park, via the St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA), to tour the ArtsXchange Campus and experience the different kinds of art that WADA's studio artists create. They met several artists, learned and created art in a short workshop, and ate lunch at Foodie Labs.
WADA is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a vibrant arts community within and around the Warehouse Arts District in St. Petersburg. Their mission is to be a community space and connector for the arts and lifelong learning, providing opportunities for creative skill-building with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation. ArtsXploration is an arts education opportunity that welcomes students to engage with various art mediums and creative processes at the Warehouse Arts District Association. "ArtsXploration's goal is to offer high-quality arts education programs to all members of our community," said Vicky Lang, ArtsXploration Program Coordinator.
"This activity session was amazing, first and foremost. I think it allowed exposure for a lot of our youth that reside in our Jordan Park complex to kinda see that art isn't what they may initially think art is. That it can be a gambit of many different things: music, pottery, acrylics, photography. And a lot which they had no idea. So I think it exposed them to a whole new world. And I hope that it allows them to pursue it in their day to day lives," said Kiara Lovett, Lead Social Services Coordinator for the St. Petersburg Housing Authority.
- There are jobs in the arts! Artists can find and have successful careers in many different industries.
- You can create art from any material! Many of the artists found items and recycled them into art.
- Several of the artists we visited were self-taught and did not go to art school. Art is/can be accessible!
Learn more:
Jordan Park families at ArtsXchange campus.
ABOUT THE ST. PETERSBURG HOUSING AUTHORITY (SPHA):
An independent quasi-governmental entity and a political subdivision of the State of Florida, operating under Chapter 421 Florida Statutes, SPHA is the local administrative agency for housing assistance programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). SPHA offers a variety of programs and services that provide affordable rental housing to low-income families, seniors, veterans, and the disabled in the greater St. Petersburg region. For more information, visit www.stpeteha.org.