Project HOME and Studio Incamminati
"People were looking at their own work and smiling."
Allison Murphy is a Drexel University Student and Co-Op Intern in Project HOME’s Social Enterprise program.
In the fall of 2015, Project HOME embarked on a collaboration with Studio Incamminati to provide art courses for several of our residents and community members – with the purpose of empowering artists of all experience levels to further develop their skills.
Building on the success of last fall’s course, another course was offered this spring. As a Drexel Co-Op student working with the Social Enterprise program, I joined nine incredibly talented residents and spent the last eight weeks learning the basics in still-life charcoal drawing from Studio Incamminati Fellows Rachel Pierson and Dan Mahlman.
Because several of the Project HOME artists had been in the program last fall, they were more confident in their abilities, while other students, including myself, were extremely nervous. In the beginning of class we would hear a little about what to focus on that day. Stand back. Squint. Look at the big picture. Find shapes. Make mistakes. Fix them. Arm straight. It was really hard. I’d stand back and not see what I wanted on that paper. And all around me everyone was doing the same. As the eight-week program went on, I noticed people were looking at their own work and smiling. Instead of “This looks awful,” it was “This is pretty good!”
As we drew side by side with one another, I noticed the only negative comments were about an artist’s own work. Everyone was amazed at the skills and work of others, but never found their own work to be good enough. So not only were we building on our technical skills, but also building the confidence and commitment needed to finish a piece.
Now we’re done with the class, and each have eight pieces to show for it. I’m excited to see our finished products all next to each other – to see how we each learned individually, and how as a group we succeeded in putting together a full exhibition of work. Next Wednesday, June 8, we’ll all get together in the backspace at 1515 Fairmount, enjoy refreshments and reflection from some of our artists and mentors, and hopefully get another chance to admire our own progress. This celebration is open to all members of the Project HOME community – Join us!
