In Port Allegany, turning passion for community into an opportunity to lead and grow
Allie O’Shea’s love for Port Allegany goes back as long as she can remember. Now, the 19-year-old college sophomore is helping to shape the future of the community she always longed to call home as project coordinator for Port Allegany Heart & Soul.
Community, storytelling at heart of Reading’s Barrio Alegría
Barrio Alegría in Reading is known as a community transformation organization that uses the arts for engagement and the development of social and multicultural awareness. PA Humanities board member Daniel Egusquiza founded it, however, with a simple question: Do you know how to dance?
Invisible poems, visible joy: Johnstown celebrates Rain Poetry
Children who participated in Rain Poetry Johnstown and their families were all smiles during the big reveal celebration where students got to see their words shared with the community in this special installation.
Voices of History: Pittsburgh communities share untold stories of resilience and family
PA Humanities’ statewide Voices of History story gathering project, created to help celebrate the organization’s 50th anniversary, is underway. In partnership with the August Wilson House, PA Humanities invited people from three Pittsburgh neighborhoods to participate in traditional story circles this summer and share a story of family that centered around a particular object or memory.
Haikus to hit the street in Johnstown with Rain Poetry
Children and teens participated in Rain Poetry workshops at the Children’s Book Festival, the Cambria County Library and the Bottle Works’ summer cryptid camp. Their poems will be revealed in a public celebration on Sept. 14.
Pittsburgh teens infuse neighborhood sidewalks with cryptid-inspired haiku
Cryptids exist in folklore and legends across cultures worldwide, and this spring the teenagers at Pittsburgh’s YMCA Lighthouse program created their own cryptids – creatures such as Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil, that are rumored but never proven to exist – to “roam” the streets of their Homewood neighborhood. They furthered their exploration and creation of the creatures and their role in the community by writing haiku poetry about them in partnership with PA Humanities and the Rain Poetry project.