After nearly a year of planning, community interviews, writing, artwork creation, and music-making, the Spare A Dime cast and crew moved our set, gear, and rehearsals to the historic Bok Tech Theater today!

With the help of our amazing professional tech crew (thank you, George, Walter, Terry, Mike, and Rodney!) and dedicated Bok students working with COSACOSA and Bok staff,  the Spare A Dime stage was set in perfect time for our singers and musicians to rehearse.

Please join us next week for our premiere performances –
Thursday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. • Friday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. • Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m.

General admission is $10.  Tickets may be purchases online at www.pifa.org/events/10 or by calling COSACOSA at 215.385.2554    We want you – to hear all about the WPA in song and to see this gorgeous WPA-built space!

Illustrations by artist Steve Teare animated by designer Gerardo McGarity-Alegrett create projected backdrops for Spare A Dime singers, while photographic replicas by city residents create visual counterparts to audio stories.  We call this corner store our dimestore, where the character of The Merchant sings Pocket of Blues, a song describing the Great Depression.  The Builder later joins her here to sing a duet, Change in the Making – look for a WPA poster to appear in the window!

Join us for Spare A Dime on April 18, 19, and 20, 2013! 
Get your tickets today!

Illustrations by artist Steve Teare animated by designer Gerardo McGarity-Alegrett create projected backdrops for Spare A Dime singers.  This cityscape appears as the character of The Builder sings Foundation of Hope, a song about searching for a job and for hope in a time of economic crisis.

Join us for Spare A Dime on April 18, 19, and 20, 2013! 
Get your tickets today!

For over a year, COSACOSA youth, artists, and staff have collected stories of the Great Depression and our current "Great Recession" from community residents citywide.  These interviews created the taproot of Spare A Dime, defining the project's characters and anchoring the storyline through their powerful interplay of hope and hopelessness in times of crisis.

This summer, thanks to the support from the Knight Arts Challenge, the Kresge Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Union Benevolent Association, and other generous funders, these collected stories will also find a home in a new series of Site and Sound Gardens we're is creating with community members in North Philadelphia. Transforming abandoned lots into "sacred" spaces for our city neighborhoods, the new Gardens join COSACOSA's existing Healing Garden.  The Gardens will feature two- and three-dimensional visual art plus temporary sound art exhibitions, including stories, songs, and poetry by neighborhood residents.  Visit COSACOSA's website, www.cosacosa.org, for upcoming dates and times to volunteer to help create and maintain the Site and Sound Gardens.  You can also read about the Gardens and other community-building efforts in the recently published Philadelphia edition of US Airways magazine!

Best of all, hear our collected stories as part of Spare A Dime on April 18, 19, and 20, 2013! 
Get your tickets today!

"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.

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 story of the WPA is amazing, and I've always been fascinated by it," said Rodney Whittenberg, Production Coordinator for the Spare A Dime project.  "That the government took the initiative to put people back to work -- even though, in some circles, it was extremely unpopular -- showed both courage and foresight. The infrastructure that we have in this country today -- interstate highways, airports, bridges -- would not be possible without the WPA.  Even more amazing, and so modern, so early 20th century, is that art was considered valuable work and that artists were an essential part of the project.  Can you imagine trying to do that today -- give millions in government money to actors, musicians, writers, and painters to create new work?  I think it speaks to the more well-rounded education of the last century.  Everyone, whether wealthy or working class, understood that the arts matter and can improve our lives just as much as new buildings or roads."

Whittenberg is an Emmy award-winning composer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur.  He is founder of Melodyvision, a full service music, audio, and video production company specializing in original compositions for film, television, and advertising.  In the past twenty years, Melodyvision has met with critical acclaim for both film and recording, most recently winning Best Sound Design for film The Toll Taker at the 2012 Terror Film Festival.  Melodyvision's lastest initiative, Pre-Concert.com, is an innovative tool for presenters and venues to highlight upcoming performances.  Wittenberg is an active member of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and is a former governor of the Philadelphia Chapter.  For thirty years, Whittenberg has educated the next generation of musicians about guitar, bass, songwriting, and band at major institutions throughout the region, including Drexel University, Lincoln University, and the University of the Arts, where as a student he studied jazz guitar and music composition.  Currently, Whittenberg is teaching audio production at Philadelphia University.