Philly's Phenomenal Potential...

Sarah Thompson

Walking from my apartment in South Philly to 30th St. Station the day before Thanksgiving, I take the ‘scenic route’; the Schuylkill River Trail. The nominal trees scattered along the bank sway their naked branches (save a few threadbare leaves) and I revel at their altered physique. Weeks ago, they were flaming reds and brilliant yellows. Months previous, they had the fullness of green, dense and vibrant. Preceding even that, they were blossoming fragrant with fruitful blooms or bursting from buds and new shoots. And yet, falling farther back in time, before all of the visible seasonal checkpoints, they were..

Seeds.

Lowly and small, deep in the earth, displaced. Sleeping and secretive, they waited. Time capsules of potential. Yearning to be awakened and jump start the cycle that gradually proclaims their purpose for the world to experience. And so there it was. Right before me, the apparent truth that even in this city seeds can take root, grow and multiply. And so can we.

For the Diaspora of Hope Philadelphia, our team (a group of five visual artists, practicing and retired public educators and dancers) is using this metaphor - that of the seed and it’s possibility of growth and becoming - to speak hope into the lives of children living in a Domestic Violence Shelter in North
Philadelphia called Women Against Abuse. For one day we have the opportunity to work with these children; many of whom have hopes about a different kind of future which wouldn't be repressed by fear or injustice. Although we don't know how many of the twenty kids currently residing in the shelter will attend, our purpose for this Saturday is to create a safe environment where they can recognize their own real and living potential while practicing intentional processes of extracting and cultivating that hope. By translating the metaphor of the seed as hope into an art experience, the visual arts team will be enlarging and constructing replicas of seed pods from local trees (ginkgo, maple, oak, locust, pine) using found objects. Within these pods, we will be creating our own ‘seeds of hope’; encased written statements that affirm a positive quality or characteristic of ourselves. Similarly, our dance team is taking the children on an experiential journey of the life cycle of the seed. Through movement, rhythm and ritual they will be exploring and acting out as the external elements necessary for seed growth; wind, earth, water and sunlight.

Our hope is that these art experiences will give root to the truth that each man, woman and child possess an exquisite contribution to this world. With that acknowledged, we’re championing for the understanding of the respectful partnership between the individual and the community as one of promise and sustaining life.