The 300 block of King Street in Pottstown will be transformed into a community event featuring street art, a student art contest, dance, poetry, and games. The block event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, October 23, in front of YWCA Tri-County Area, 315 King St.
What is it?
For more than 20 years, YWCA associations across the country have observed the Week Without Violence in October with a common goal: “Together, We Can End Violence.” The arts and community activities are designed to bring people together to celebrate the community and to reject violence in the community.
The lineup of artists, collaborators, community partners, and vendors have been chosen for their work to uplift communities and create opportunities for people of all ages to engage with one another through art, movement, dance, and music, creating better communities centered around peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.
Participating Artists
- Street Artists Drew Montemayor, My Name Is Erin, and Feesah, who are collaborating on a street art installation commissioned by YWCA Tri-County Area. Montemayor led the street art installation in Norristown. Erin has worked on murals, portraits, and other visual arts. Feesah uses her art as inspiration to create dialogue surrounding equity, peace, and serenity.
- Poets Cydney Brown, the 2020-2021 Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate and a Senior at Abington Friends School, and Naa Koikoi Aziza Zenzile Kebey.
- DJ Vijay Das of Loud Radio PA
- The West Powelton Drummers and Steppers will perform. The West Powelton Drummers started 25 years ago when Elsie Wise of the West Powelton Concerned Community Council strapped a couple drums onto girls from the neighborhood.
- Dancers Laura Cobbs of Visions and Jessica Warchal-King of JCWK Dance Lab have created an original choreography being performed during the event called Random Acts of Culture, a flash mob-style dance. Jessica C. Warchal-King is a performer, choreographer, educator, and arts advocate, and director and founder of JCWK Dance Lab. VisionsDance Performance Company of Boyertown provides quality dance education to students both pre-professional and recreational, spreading the pure joy of dance to all.
- RIZE Program, a youth arts non-profit organization that fosters the arts to promote a healthy lifestyle. RIZE programs are geared toward solutions for social adversity, violence prevention, criminal justice reform initiatives by uniting our cultures as one through performing & media arts education.
- The Alvernia Dance Company provides an opportunity for students who love dance to pursue their interest in an accepting, flexible and positive environment. Our organization is open to dancers of all levels of capability in all styles of dance.
- Concrete Cowgirl Erin Brown– director of the Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy – an organization with the aim of diversifying equestrian sports, reducing youth violence, preserving the legacy of the Fletcher Street Stables and instrumental in the making of the Idris Elba movie Concrete Cowboy.
WWV Art Contest
The block event will showcase the artwork of Tri-County area middle and high school students who have submitted original art for YW’s annual Week Without Violence Art Contest. Students’ original art will be on display; community members attending the event may cast their votes for their favorite piece of student art. The student artists will be honored at a reception later this year.
Dignity Kitchen
Food sales will benefit YW’s Dignity Kitchen, a Catalyst Kitchen member offering empowerment through foodservice career training, sustainability through social enterprise, and hunger relief through its commercial kitchen in Norristown. Dignity Kitchen addresses food insecurity for Montgomery County residents displaced by Hurricane Ida, and prepares Home Delivered Meals for Montgomery County residents.
Sponsors
Sponsors of the event include Comcast NBC Universal, Genesis Housing Corporation, Sherwin Williams, Pottstown Neighborhood Partnership Projects, Hobart’s Run, WSFS Bank, Pottstown Hospital/Tower Health, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell and Hippel LLP, the Gulati Family Foundation, the Pottstown First Baptist Church, A Star is Born Financial Services, Herr’s Snack Foods, and Wawa.
Community Partners
Community partners and vendors present will include NAACP, POWER Interfaith, Pottstown Community Arts, Art Fusion 1964, PTICC, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP, Widoktadwen Center for Native Knowledge, Pottstown Community Action, Montgomery County Commissioners’ Office, The Camel Project, Strive, Trellis For Tomorrow, PULP, Absolutely Fly, SQS Party Affairs, as well as YW’s Dignity Kitchen, Early Education Center, Youth Empowerment Programs, Foster Grandparent Program, Advocacy, AmeriCorps DAWN, Adult Education & Training Center, human resources, and Development & Marketing.
