Restoring La Communidad

Producer: Big Picture Alliance

Restoring La Comunidad is a student-created video from the Summer 2007 teen filmmaking program run by the Big Picture Alliance in conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Taller Puertorriqueño and Congreso de Latinos Unidos. In part, it documents the students who produced the video in the act of creating community revitalization art. In this very public work, these students challenge community residents to better their living conditions. They work to create large word sculptures in Spanish, each representing the stages of community change: reparar (realize), soporte (support), and restore. These semi-permanent installations are public reminders to embody the changes community members want as individuals but feel are impossible because of a lack of community direction and initiative. To supplement their artwork, the student crew ask community members on the street about the problems they face and how best to make a concerted effort to improve the neighborhood. They discuss everything from education to drug use to local government and more. The video becomes a touchstone

The Big Picture Alliance educates disadvantaged and underserved youth in developing self-expression, life and job skills through the inspiring and collaborative process of creating media arts. Partnering with schools, community centers and arts organizations, the BPA programs support students in accessing advanced technologies, including digital media, computer arts and the Internet. Through hands-on training, the BPA uses young people's interest in media making to develop language and communication skills, critical thinking, teamwork and self-esteem. Under the guidance of the BPA's diverse staff and network of professional media makers, students are empowered to create projects that speak of their lives, dreams and communities. Through community and film festival screenings of the students' films, the BPA reaches successive groups of students who hear and respond to the voices of their peers.