WHAT DID WE DO, TOGETHER, IN 2019?
2019 was a big year for Tiny WPA.
We significantly grew opportunities for Building Heroes to learn and earn, growing the volume, scale and impact of #herofabrication projects. These projects ranged in scale from custom laser cut name tags to the mobile library and music room for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation to door numbers for local businesses and large exhibit for ISA at Cherry Street Pier. We also implemented a very popular new ‘community service’ component to the Building Hero Training Program resulting in a community garden redesign for Powel Elementary, community tables for the Writer’s Room, and tulip planters for corridor beautification with the Mantua Civic Association. We are excited to be working on a DIY public space amenity toolkit that formalizes our many years of deep expertise with ‘quick action’ design-build projects that support communities in making and testing immediate changes to places that are important to them. Simultaneously, we could not be more pleased to working with partners such as MTWB, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and the Fairmount Parks Conservancy to explore the limits of the ‘permanent’ public space and facility improvements that can be designed and built ‘with’ communities. We believe that developing these opportunities for creating ‘permanence’ in the making of our cities are key to legitimately building equity, opportunity and radically challenging what educators and policy-makers believe is possible in educational and workforce development settings.
Thanks to everyone who made 2019 such a great year. We could not be more excited about the opportunities that we have in 2020 to significantly grow both in scale and impact, to do great things with Building Heroes and YOU.
2019 By The Numbers!
1832 Participants of all ages at Stop By + Build, particularly grandmothers!
700 Build-It Disks bought by museums and individuals for endless building fun
225 Reusable, magnetic name tags made for multiple clients
51 Laser and vinyl cut door numbers for multiple clients
26 Visitors from afar, including Scotland, Japan, Korea, and Tampa
25 Building Hero-Made Dish Magnets sold to households across the country
24 New Building Hero graduates
14 Custom laser cut awards/plaques
12 Storage Cubbies, 2 Communal Tables, 1 Built-In Desk, and 25 Custom Tote Bags fabricated by Building Heroes with and for Drexel University's Writers Room
11 Public indoor and outdoor spaces improved through participatory design-build projects
8 Drum Seats designed and fabricated by teen Building Heroes
5 Newly-Prototyped Blazing Red Benches placed throughout the neighborhood
5 Gorgeous Sidewalk Signs fabricated by summer interns and two rockstar teen female Building Heroes
4 Long tulip planters built with the Mantua Civic Association’s beautification committee
3 Dance stages built for dancing on top of buildings
3 Building Hero Training Programs, with participants ages 14-65
3 Mobile Game, Music and Library Carts helping activate two major Philly public spaces.
3 Community-Builds from tables and planters to a renovated school garden
1 Exhibition fabricated and installed by Building Heroes in collaboration with ISA
1 Rebuild project started with Make The World Better for the redesign of Vare Recreation Center