Clay Heals Minds: We Here Community Forum and Celebration

As the We Here project culminates, we will host a Public Forum and Sculpture Party on Saturday, October 19 at Taller Puertorriqueño, 2600 N. 5th Street. The Forum runs from noon to 2 pm, and at 2 pm there will be Family-friendly clay activities, food and more.

Register here for the free event! Registration is required to attend the forum.

About the Forum 

Mural Arts will celebrate the artists and community members behind We Here in an afternoon of conversation and convening around art and ideas. Hosted by We Here’s Community Advisory Committee of Kensington residents and Curator of Public Engagement Megan Voeller, the program debuts a preview of a documentary short by Colibri Workshop and a first glimpse at a children’s book.

The Forum features lead artist Roberto Lugo in conversation with Tony Award-winning playwright and poet Lemon Andersen, followed by a roundtable on the arts, behavioral health and community wellbeing with speakers from By Faith Health and Healing; Hispanic Community Counseling Services; the City of Philadelphia; the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services; and Mural Arts’ Porch Light Program.

Schedule of Events: 

11 am: Children’s book reading and kids activities with Roberto Lugo, Frank Berrios and Meghan Galloway-Edgar
12 pm:  Lunch and Forum Welcome: Megan Voeller and CAC Members
12:20 pm:  Documentary Preview: Colibri Workshop
12:40 pm:  Roberto Lugo in dialogue with Lemon Andersen
1:15 pm:  Panel Discussion: Arts Access & Mental / Behavioral Health in Kensington

2 pm: Closing Remarks: Jane Golden, Mural Arts Executive Director
2 pm – 3:30 pm: Celebration!

Panel Discussion Participants include:

Nadia Malik, Mural Arts Porch Light Director – Moderator
Brenda Mosley, Executive Director, By Faith Health & Healing
Val Gay, Chief Cultural Officer, Creative Philadelphia
Hector Ayala, CEO, Latino Behavioral Health Coalition
Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services

After the forum, enjoy hands-on clay sculpting activities with Roberto Lugo and We Here artist Nitza Walesca Rosario, a Polaroid photo booth at Lugo’s monumental sculpture with artist Daisie Cardona, music, games and refreshments, and tour Taller’s cultural corridor with Experience Eastern North.

All activities are free and open to the public; families are most welcome! Programs will occur in English.

About We Here 

We Here is an immersive project designed to encourage engagement and joy through pottery in Philadelphia’s Kensington community. Inspired by Roberto Lugo’s journey as a professional artist who grew up in Kensington, We Here emphasizes youth engagement through pottery and fosters a sense of unity and enrichment through artistic collaboration. The two-year project is spearheaded by Mural Arts’ Porch Light program, a collaborative effort with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, which has worked to broaden access to the arts in Kensington since 2017.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2024, We Here celebrated the strength and creativity of Kensington.  We Here is hosting a series of workshops with passionate clay artists and members of the Kensington community led by Nitza Walesca Rosario. The workshops are free and open to the Kensington community to learn and experience the joy of working with clay to make tiles, bowls, and more.

This summer, three larger-than-life outdoor sculptures designed by Roberto Lugo were installed at their permanent locations in Kensington. The sculptures, which were produced at Johnson Atelier in Hamilton, NJ, embody the spirit of the community and include patterns and other input from Kensington residents in their design. Lugo’s vessel sculptures can now be viewed in person at Kensington Corridor Trust (3236 Kensington Ave.), the Free Church of St. John (3076 Emerald Street) and Taller Puertorriqueño (5th & Huntingdon).

We Here Walk and Talk Events 

Community members are invited to join Kensington residents and We Here Community Advisory Committee members on a walk to visit two of Roberto Lugo’s vessel installations and other sites in the Kensington neighborhood. This 90-minute Walk and Talk will start at the Kensington Storefront (3208 Kensington Ave.) and feature the Kensington Corridor Trust Garden (3236 Kensington Ave.) and the Free Church of St. John (3076 Emerald Street), as well as other local Kensington spots along the way.  Up-coming Walk and Talk events will be held on Saturday, October 26 and Saturday, November 16.

Book Reading Events 

As part of We Here, Roberto Lugo and acclaimed author Frank Berrios have teamed up to create We Here: What Kind of Artist Will You Be?, a children’s book illustrated by Meghan Galloway-Edgar. Inspired by Lugo’s artistic journey, the book will be distributed for free to Kensington families in Spanish and English editions with the goal of fostering a love of art-making in the neighborhood’s next generation.

Join co-authors Roberto Lugo and Frank Berrios for a special children’s book reading and art activity for ages 3–9 on Friday, October 18 @ 4 pm at  Harriet’s Bookshop and Saturday, October 19 @ 11 am Taller Puertorriqueño.  These events are free and family friendly!

More about Lemon Andersen 

Andrew “Lemon” Andersen was born in 1975 in Brooklyn, New York. A spoken word poet and actor, Anderson is the author of the poetry collection Straightrazor (County of Kings Publishing, 2013) and the memoir County of Kings (County of Kings Publishing, 2009), which was adapted for the stage and produced by Spike Lee. Andersen has also been featured as a regular on Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry and was an original cast member and writer of the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. Andersen lives in Brooklyn.

More about Roberto Lugo 

Born and raised in Kensington, Philadelphia, Roberto Lugo blends classical ceramics with the vibrancy of hip hop culture to address poverty, inequality, and racial injustice. Through his work, Lugo revitalizes traditional European and Asian pottery with urban flair, merging classic aesthetics with modern motifs, including graffiti and portraits of influential figures often excluded from luxury art.

In 2023, Lugo received the esteemed Heinz Award, granting the artist $250,000 in unrestricted funds to support his work. A recipient of prestigious awards including a 2019 Pew Fellowship, Lugo’s artworks can be found in major museum collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Impact of We Here 

“We Here is miraculous!  It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of the We Here project, which brings life and healing to Kensington.” says CAC member Brenda Mosley. “So much time was spent engaging with the community, from youth pattern making workshops to clay tile workshops.  Roberto’s work brings technical skill and artistic brilliance to our community.  His sculptures will be remembered long into the future – this project is historic!

About the Documentary 

As part of We Here, the team at Colibri Workshop was on hand for every aspect of the project to document all of the progress and happenings.  From Community Advisory Committee meetings to tile making workshops to the installation of Roberto Lugo’s sculptures at Kensington Trust Corridor Garden, the Free Church of St. John, and Taller Puertorriqueño – they caught all the action and exciting moments. As part of the Clay Heals Minds Forum, Colibri Workshop will premiere the 15 minute documentary so we can all relive the highlights of this powerful project. The We Here Documentary is a community reflection on the preservation of culture and identity of the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia through public sculpture and programming. It chronicles the collaboration between artist Roberto Lugo and community members to bring the project to the neighborhood.

For more information about We Here click here.