Who is SPARC352?
SPARC352 is a community engaged research and programming initiative grounded in the idea that arts are at the core of vibrant and healthy communities. We work in partnership with community members to help activate people, circulate resources, and generate new knowledge. Our model aims to develop self-sustaining community programming that emphasizes learning, wellness, workforce development, and historic and cultural preservation through creativity and collaboration. SPARC352 is housed in UF’s Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship (CAME) and Center for Arts in Medicine (CAM) in the College of the Arts in partnership with UF Health Shands’ Arts in Medicine program (AIM).
Our Team
Dionne Champion
Director
Carla Lewis
Project Manager
Ravyn Gale
Communications
The Success of SPARC352…
Building Trust and Accelerating Impact
Relationship cultivation is at the heart of SPARC352. The project was built upon the trust, collaboration, and guidance of a Community Working Group that brought local leaders into conversation with UF faculty. Our place at the table in community conversations in Gainesville is the result of years of intentional work to identify and address the unfavorable power dynamics and generations of distrust between the University of Florida and Gainesville’s historically Black neighborhoods. Through these conversations, SPARC352’s programming and development continues to center community needs.
Programming
We facilitate culturally-responsive programs that draw local and national attention. Our arts-based programming promotes community cohesion, resilience, wellbeing, and cultural identity, benefiting Gainesville and advancing community-driven, cutting-edge research.
Summer Apprenticeship Project
Our Summer Apprenticeship Program in 2022 was a pilot study using the theoretical lens of Radical Healing Through the Arts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the work happening in arts organizations and community-based settings that produce positive social, emotional, intellectual, and physical health outcomes. SPARC352 also connects community artists, faculty, and researchers to work inside Alachua County summer programs.
SPARC2HEART Geospatial Mapping Project: Community Mapping and Critical Conversations
SPARC352 held community discussions in a variety of locations and hired residents from the community to conduct face-to-face interviews to map needs and experiences in five priority neighborhoods. These conversations brought artists and neighbors together through various art modalities to address critical issues facing residents in these under-served communities. These interviews and survey data were taken to CAM’s Interdisciplinary Research Lab and CAME’s Maker in Residence, Braxton Rae, who worked together to identify four emergent themes across the communities that formed the backdrop for community art projects.
SPARC352 Community Collaboration Awards
The four themes pulled from the SPARC2HEART mapping project were Community Vibrancy, Preservation of Community Culture, Alive and Outside Outdoor Activation, and Youth Empowerment and Enrichment. With the support of the Mellon Foundation, we awarded nine community artists up to $10,000 for projects addressing at least one of the four themes. Each artist partnered with members of the five priority neighborhoods in the completion of their projects bringing the project benefits back to the same folks who were surveyed.
Special Thanks
Dionne Champion, Founding Director of SPARC352
Alana Jackson, Founding Co-Director of SPARC352
Carla Lewis, Greater Duval Neighborhood Association
Terri Bailey, Bailey Learning and Arts Collective
Jacob Larson, The Bull and Gainesville Vineyard
Turbado Marabou, Cultural Artist and Educator
Rhonda Wilson, Star Center Theater
Faye Williams, MAMA’s Club and Porters Quarters
Andrew Telles, Office of Collaborative Initiatives
Tina Mullen, Director, UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine
Jill Sonke, Research Director, Center for Arts in Medicine
Osubi Craig, Director, Center for Arts, Migration + Entrepreneurship
Jenny Lee, Director, Shands Arts in Medicine
Ferol Carytsas, Director, Center for Arts in Medicine
Onye Ozuzu, Former Dean, College of the Arts
Jeremy Frusco, CAME Research and Program Coordinator
Marie Kessler, CAME Programs and Operations Manager
Lexi Braun, CAME Administrative Coordinator
Kione Forrest, SPARC352 Videographer
Kathy McKee, Former CAME’s Operations and Program Manager
and Community Foundation of North Central Florida