Tyra's Introduction!
Hello everyone!
My name is Tyra Jamison and this fall I'll be a junior in the Creative Writing program. I'm very excited to tell you that through Summer Fellows 2018, I am interning with Cheryl Carson, the senior director of development at Smith Memorial Playground. Smith is a historical mansion in East Fairmount Park that's been transformed into a non-profit playhouse and playground. Smith's mission is to "provide and promote opportunities for unstructured free play for children." So think of this place as your childhood dream; an entire mansion, with an outdoor playground, available to children for free. Of course Memberships have special benefits, but in a world where highly militarized public schools are becoming common, where urban children are subject to being policed and having their creativity suppressed for standardized test results, this non-profit shows how creativity can be nurtured as a service.
I consider myself a writer who is passionate about interdisciplinary art and effective social impact. In my 20 years alive, I've been able to engage with artistry from several different angles. I've been the artist, the server, the grant-maker, and the initiator since high school. Non-profit performance companies are how I was able to get performance training at the cost of nothing but my time and effort. In my senior year, I was then able to sit at the table as a young artist, to co-create a million-dollar grant program called the Transformative Arts Process with an advisory board that the Heinz Endowments handpicked to best serve Black and marginalized youth. One of the grants programs was a series of Transformative Teaching Awards, which awarded grants of $10,000 to ten different teaching artists who have either done transformative work with youth over time, or added an innovative practice to the field. All of this is to say that I consider the funding and function of a non-profit to be very important to creative development.
As a 2018 Summer Fellow, I'll be focusing on Kidchella, a series of concerts forming a kids-centered musical festival throughout the summer. For $10 per person (or $5 if you're a member), you and your children can experience what a kid's Coachella would be like, right in Philadelphia.
My name is Tyra Jamison and this fall I'll be a junior in the Creative Writing program. I'm very excited to tell you that through Summer Fellows 2018, I am interning with Cheryl Carson, the senior director of development at Smith Memorial Playground. Smith is a historical mansion in East Fairmount Park that's been transformed into a non-profit playhouse and playground. Smith's mission is to "provide and promote opportunities for unstructured free play for children." So think of this place as your childhood dream; an entire mansion, with an outdoor playground, available to children for free. Of course Memberships have special benefits, but in a world where highly militarized public schools are becoming common, where urban children are subject to being policed and having their creativity suppressed for standardized test results, this non-profit shows how creativity can be nurtured as a service.
I consider myself a writer who is passionate about interdisciplinary art and effective social impact. In my 20 years alive, I've been able to engage with artistry from several different angles. I've been the artist, the server, the grant-maker, and the initiator since high school. Non-profit performance companies are how I was able to get performance training at the cost of nothing but my time and effort. In my senior year, I was then able to sit at the table as a young artist, to co-create a million-dollar grant program called the Transformative Arts Process with an advisory board that the Heinz Endowments handpicked to best serve Black and marginalized youth. One of the grants programs was a series of Transformative Teaching Awards, which awarded grants of $10,000 to ten different teaching artists who have either done transformative work with youth over time, or added an innovative practice to the field. All of this is to say that I consider the funding and function of a non-profit to be very important to creative development.
As a 2018 Summer Fellow, I'll be focusing on Kidchella, a series of concerts forming a kids-centered musical festival throughout the summer. For $10 per person (or $5 if you're a member), you and your children can experience what a kid's Coachella would be like, right in Philadelphia.
I'll keep y'all posted on what's going on as the dates grow closer. Make sure you get some sun today!
- Tyra
I'm glad to hear you're finding ways to connect this opportunity to some of your biggest passions, Tyra!
ReplyDeleteWow, Tyra. It sounds like you have excellent expertise to bring to the table as an artist. Grant writing and some of the behind-the-scenes bookkeeping and business skills are something I feel I know little about, I frequently think about how much our student body could benefit from some student to student skillsharing. As far as the Smith playground and Kidchella, I look forward to reading more that you will post and have posted to see how everything went. It sounds like a great organization that I'm happy exists!
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