"A coloring book is such a great, hands-on way to educate children about history," said visual artist Liv Rothfuss.  Rothfuss is creating a coloring storybook with Spare A Dime imagery for COSACOSA's youngest constituents. "The lessons of the Great Depression are particularly relevant today as we experience the worst economy since the 1930s.  We need to realize the importance of looking out for others and of thinking ahead.  We can learn from history to rework our plans for tomorrow.  I'm excited to be a part of COSACOSA and its mission to engage Philadelphia communities through art.  Illustrating images for Spare a Dime allows me to use my creativity to inspire youth by showing them how to work together to improve the future. " 

Rothfuss is a Philadelphia based photographer and visual artist creating work that explores the human condition -- with all its philosophical and practical implications.  She works as a freelance photographer and illustrator, and also loves using fiber art in mixed mediums.  Her work in fabric has ranged from creating original tapestries that examine the psychology behind the story of Snow White, to designing marketable commercial textiles, to creating costumes for regional theater productions. Rothfuss has worked with youth in a variety of settings, including managed classes for Main Line Art Center and creating painted tiles with pediatric hospital patients for several of COSACOSA's large-scale mosaic projects at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  Rothfuss graduated with honors from Arcadia University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with concentrations in both photography and illustration.  She has studied abroad at Accademia Italiana in Florence and at City University in London. 

"To me, the lesson of the WPA is how to empower individuals and, by doing so, build community," said John Pickersgill, COSACOSA Youth Development Specialist and Spare A Dime teaching artist. "Everyone has something to contribute to society, and a true community can only originate in the creativity, effort, and skill of all its members.  We need to be inspired.  We need to cultivate creativity. As the arts wither away from a public education based in standardized testing, we need to recall a time when culture was valued.  Through the WPA, art educated and lifted the spirits of the entire country.  We need to recapture that grand sense of cultural identity and look to the arts as a mode of critical thinking rather than a mere commercial endeavor.

Pickersgill is an alumnus of Temple University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary English Education.  He has taught in public and charter schools throughout Philadelphia.  His work with COSACOSA applies his pedagogical expertise to create new curricula infusing art into K-12 education.  A Philly native, Pickersgill connects with a wide variety of arts, cultural, and educational organizations throughout the region to engage students in their larger community while building lasting literacy and social studies skills in the classroom.  In his spare time, Pickersgill prioritizes travel, musical expression, and his passion for cooking.  He attributes much of his culinary curiosity and inspiration to travels in Southeastern Asia.  His favorite contemporary author is David Sedaris (for his cynical wit, lyrical agility, and lighthearted, campy perspective regarding dysfunctional families and the like). His favorite musical artist is Regina Spektor, and his favorite food to prepare is fresh, homemade bread.  Pickersgill also writes the Something for Nothing: Thrifty Foods from the 1930s entries for the Spare A Dime blog!

COSACOSA Program Manager and Spare A Dime teaching artist Sharnae Johnson truly enjoys working with youth on civic engagement initiatives. "Our Bok Tech students bring such insightful ideas to our discussions of liberty and justice in America," Johnson said.  "Our conversations are very lively.  It's interesting to see what they already know about the Great Depression and the WPA, as well as about our current economic situation and how the government is addressing it. Helping the students translate their diverse views on our rights and responsibilities into WPA-style posters and new Liberty dime designs is a great experience!"

Johnson is a multimedia artist specializing in community-building projects. As COSACOSA's Program Manager, she has been integral to the development of accessible, intergenerational programming. Johnson has been an artist in residence at a wide range of community centers, as well as a youth development leader at the Free Library of Philadelphia. As an arts educator, she has taught new media and dramatic arts at numerous elementary and secondary schools throughout the Philadelphia region, including working with Spare A Dime participants at Bok Tech.  She is founder of Mask Media, a multimedia production company providing photographic, videographic, and new media services to the community at large.  Johnson holds a degree in Theater and Communication Arts from Temple University.  She is Communications Officer on the Board of the Nicetown-Tioga Improvement Team and a member of the Philadelphia Urban Coalition.

Bubble 'n' Squeak or Colcannon (if you're from Ireland) or Rumbledethumps (if you're from Scotland) was a popular British import to the U.S. during the Great Depression.  No, it wasn't an off-Broadway production of a quirky Shakespeare parody!  It's a meal as colloquial and improvised as any of its creative names suggest. Bubble ‘n’ Squeak usually consists of a potato and cabbage base, combined with leftover veggies and trimmings that are seasoned with drippings and fried to a crisp the day after the ingredients first appeared at the dinner table.  The idea is just to create a melange of any leftover you can use from a previous supper. This dish was especially popular during the 1930s because ”waste not, want not” was the motto of the era.  Rename your meal Bubble ‘n’ Squeak the next time you'd like to fancy up a dinner of leftovers.  And while you cook this recipe, enjoy the bubbling and squeaking sounds rising from the pan!

Ingredients
• 1/2 medium head cabbage, sliced
• 3 cups potatoes - baked, cooled and thinly sliced or mashed
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 cups of whatever leftover veggies or meats you may have, chopped

Directions
1.  In a medium saucepan, cook the in a small amount of water for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and set aside.
2. In a hot skillet, cook the onion in a bit of oil until it is soft. Add leftovers, and cook until heated through. Add butter, then mix in the cooked cabbage and potatoes. Season with paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Cook until browned on bottom, turn, and brown again.  Alternatively, make individual patties from the mixture to fry in the skillet.

On February 28, 1935, a team of scientists at DuPont laboratories led by Wallace Carothers created nylon.  At age 32, Carothers was already a leader in research on polymers, long chains of repeating atomic units.  Formerly a professor at Harvard University, he was appointed director of DuPont's research center to study and find industrial uses for polymerization (processes to create polymers).

Polyester had already been created when, in 1934, Carothers and his team began work using amines instead of glycols to create new molecules.  The polymers they made are called polyamides, synthetic proteins more stable than polyesters (which are more similar to natural oils and fats). The most promising fiber that Carothers’s team discovered was named “nylon” and was patented by DuPont in 1935.

Commercial nylon was an instant consumer hit, especially for creating an alternative to silk stockings.  Soon "nylons" were synonymous with hosiery. With the start of World War II, nylon was used for manufacturing parachutes, surgical thread, and pipes.  Later applications included everything from fishing line to lingerie.  Unfortunately, Carothers died in 1937; he never lived to see what a useful molecule he had helped to create.

The National Endowment for the Arts describes its tagline "Art Works" as serving "to remind us of the ways that art works on audiences to change, confront, challenge, and inspire us; to allow us to imagine and to aspire to something more."  Art's role in working for America was never more evident than during the Great Depression. 

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) saw all artists as workers, with skills as valuable as any other profession.  For visual artists, being asked to make art for America at a liveable wage -- without having to market it -- was a very unusual circumstance. Whether documenting the times through photography, painting public murals, or designing civic posters, the visual artists of the WPA contributed iconic imagery that confronted the status quo and created hope for a better future.

Artists' empowerment during the 1930s stretched well beyond the WPA.  With the rise of the social realist movement, for the first time on a mass scale art centered on the challenging themes like poverty, workers' rights,  and racism.  A painting or a poster may not stop a lynching or a slaughter, but it can move us instantly to reframe our perspective -- worth more than a thousand words of counter argument.  As COSACOSA's tagline says, art can "Make it Better.™"  An art of the people, by the people, and for the people creates social justice.  Art works to move us forward.

The Great Depression is one of the most heavily documented time periods in American history.  The National Archives holds tens of thousands of prints and negatives created by New Deal programs (like Dorothea Lange's iconic Migrant Mother, a series of 1936 images taken of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in Nipomo, California, at left).

Photographers typically worked for the Farm Security Administration (like Lange) or in one of three WPA divisions:  Creative Projects, Art Teaching, or Allied Art Projects, which documented other WPA programs.  Nationwide, WPA's Information Service coordinated state level activities and sent photographers into the field to create journalistic photo essays. 

Spare A Dime features many of these historical photographs, plus our own versions replicated with our constituents and communities affected by the "Great Recession."  Before each song in the cycle, and audio story from COSACOSA's community constituents sets the stage with WPA photographs that cross-fade into their modern-day equivalents.  

Check out the visual parallels across time at Spare A Dime at PIFA 2013! Tickets are on sale now!

George Muller, Lighting and Sound Designer for Spare a Dime, has always relished tales of reinvention. "Spare A Dime is more than just the story of the Great Depression and the implosion of an economic bubble," Muller said.  "It is the story of how people and government cooperated to pull the country up to a more stable footing against all odds.  It is a testimony to the resilience of the American people."

Muller started his career in the urban theater scene of the 1970s. Upon finishing his undergraduate education at Temple University’s School of Communication and Theater, he was attracted to the rapidly developing technical side of the entertainment market.  Muller worked with some of the biggest acts of the 80s including the first Live Aid show at Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia, and provided technical supervision to national tours of musicals and comedies.  During the late 80s and early 90s, Muller was also Technical Manager of Yellow Springs Institute, an international residency developing new art in multiple genres, working with avant-garde composers like Tan Dun and performance artists like Guillermo Gomez-Peña.  After Yellow Springs closed its doors in 1995, Muller decided to hang up his road shoes.  He designed and managed new technical systems for Longwood Gardens, as well as being resident lighting and sound designer for the organization's entertainment programs.  In 2007, Muller was appointed Manager of Production, Operations, and Artistic Administration for Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.  He was promoted to Director of Operations in 2012.

"The Works Progress Administration created a lasting legacy in the arts not only through its architectural contributions but through the visual arts as well," said Gerardo José McGarity-Alegrett, animator for the Spare A Dime project and COSACOSA's Technology Specialist. "The history of photography is a great interest of mine, and the WPA had created some of the most important and symbolic images of not only the time period, but of American culture. Lewis Hine, Bernice Abbott, Walker Evans, and Dorothea Lang (to name but a few) helped define the art of documentary photography through support from the WPA. These photographers examined daily life, work ethic, and poverty through their cameras. Photography for the first time was being used as a device for social change and helped create a dialogue with those whose voice needed to be heard."

McGarity-Alegrett is a dual citizen of Venezuela and the United States and is currently studying Interactive Media and Design at Philadelphia University.  He recently won the Dr. Diane A. Pfaltzgraff Capstone Seminar Award for his writings on LGBT human rights and social media in Israel. Previously, McGarity-Alegrett worked in AIDS research at Drexel University and taught photography in the Philadelphia public schools.  His involvement at COSACOSA has ranged from multimedia design to a starring role as "Judge Mental" in Change ≠ Chance, our 2012 Philly Fringe performances.  As an artist and inventor, McGarity-Alegrett draws his inspiration from his travels and is constantly planning new adventures.  He has backpacked through Southeast Asia and, most recently, Peru, and he is looking forward to going to Tanzania and Kenya this summer. 

"To me, it is essential that students learn about their American past, and this specific opportunity for my students allows them direct contact with history specific to their city," said visual artist Steve Teare. "I'm very excited to be a part of the Spare A Dime project and to be in collaboration with COSACOSA."  Teare is creating illustrations that will be animated and projected as sets for Spare A Dime.  He is also working with his students at Bok Tech High School to create an exhibition of re-imagined Liberty Dimes and WPA-style posters for our performances.

Teare describes himself as a late-20s high school art teacher who resides in West Philadelphia while teaching teens in South Philadelphia.  He received his Bachelor of Science in Art Education from Temple University.  As a visual artist, Teare creates in multiple media, and his work includes comics, illustrations, and paintings.  His ongoing comic strip, Back and Forth, appears at phinkwell.com, a web comic collective, and his paintings have been shown in solo and group shows throughout Philadelphia.  Teare is also a founding member of the local rock band Flat Mary Road.  Listen to their music at flatmaryroad.bandcamp.com/