SPARC352

"Voices of The Community" Microphone Mentors Culminating Event
2024-08-10 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Headquarters Branch Library, 401 E University Ave, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, United States
Microphone Mentors, a public speaking and communication skills mentorship program, hosted by Marley The Messenger and Gainesville Poet Laureate E. Stanley Richardson, will hold it’s culminating event, “Voices from the Community” August 10th at the Headquarters Branch Library on the 3rd floor at 2pm. Participants will present their skills acquired to friends, family, and community members.

WeCan: Community Art Narrative Workshop Exhibition
2024-08-08 18:00 - 20:00 | HARN Museum of Art, 3259 Hull Rd, Gainesville, Florida, 32608, United States
Artists Chyna Miller and Robin Wilkerson are collaborating with Partnership for Strong Families to engage residents from Porters Quarters to co-create artworks reflecting their distinct narratives and cultural heritage. Furthermore, in partnership with the Black Joy Restorative Justice Collective, resources for integrating restorative Black Joy practices into daily life will be offered.

Through a collaboration with the UF Harn Museum of Art, participants’ artwork will be exhibited in a community art engagement showcase at the Harn Museum’s “Museum Nights” on August 8, 2024 at 6pm.

ONOP Summer Youth Celebration
2024-07-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Depot Park, 874 SE Fourth St, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, United States
Bring your friends and family to enjoy a summer celebration of arts, performances, food trucks and free SONIC Slushes® and cold water. Special guests will include Wé Ani (American Idol, The Voice, Apollo Amateur Night) and TV, film and Broadway star Wendell Pierce (Suits, The Wire, Raising Kanan), along with performances by local artists Dominique Revell and Rayvon PurpleKloud Rollins!The evening will kick off with the official ribbon-cutting of the HeART Wall mosaic project hosted by Shands Arts in Medicine (see details below). The winners of the Apollo Talent Search will also be announced!Sponsored by One Nation One Project GNV, the City of Gainesville, Arts for EveryBody and our community partners.

Free and open to the public! Bring your own chair!

Expressions Through Music Culminating Showcase
2024-07-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Dayspring Missionary Baptist Church, 1945 NE 8th Ave, Gainesville, Florida, 32641, United States
Expressions Through Music is a Music Mentorship program by Joy Banks of 1000 Voices of FL, funded through SPARC352.

This project provided weekly music appreciation, music theory, and educational experiences that explored woodwind, percussion, brass, and stringed instruments. Through collaboration with community businesses such as Pulp Art Studio, participants will learn about the business side of studio recording and theater performance.

1000 voices of FL INC is a not-for-profit corporation to encourage bridges between the diverse members of the Faith Community through education and fellowship as well as assist in providing core necessities for its members. President Joy Banks has spent 35 years as an educator, private music instructor/vocal coach and youth mentor.

1000K Voices of FL will welcome some of the program mentors, mentees and their families and community partners. The mentees will share presentations of what they learned during the program and a highlight video of mentors, photos, etc. will be shown, showcasing their new talents and abilities to their family, friends, and community.

Microphone Mentors
2024-07-13 02:00 - 04:00 | Cone Park Library, 2801 E University Ave, Gainesville, Florida, 32615, United States
Presented by Marley Montano Production & ARTSPEAKSgnv, “Microphone Mentors” is a youth enrichment program that offers mentorship to teens on public speaking & communication skills. Created using funds from a grant awarded by SPARC352 in April 2024 and made possible by the UF Center for Arts, Migration & Entrepreneurship (CAME), the UF Center For Arts In Medicine, and the Mellon Foundation, this program is free and open to teens (ages 12-18).

Since the program will take place at a public library, registration is open to the public, however we are targeting teens who either currently live in or have previously lived in one of the following communities in Gainesville, Florida that has been identified as underserved and in need of youth enrichment and youth empowerment programs: Duval, Lincoln Estates, Porters, Spring Hill, and Pleasant Street.

Unapologetic Vol 2 Opening Reception
2024-06-22 18:00 - 21:00 | The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, 837 SE 7th Ave, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, United States
The opening reception for Unapologetic, Vol. 2 is a collection of portrait art that highlights the complex history of Black lives and their perseverance despite the censorship they experience. In conjunction with the show, Yvonne will create an interior permanent mural at the Cotton Club of Bo Diddley, BB King, Sarah McKnight, and Ella Fitzgerald, prominent historical figures tied to the history of this historic Gainesville landmark. This project will empower, educate, and develop local youth with summer school field trips where they will learn the history of the Chitlin circuit and its role in providing the Black community a network of venues for art, entertainment, employment, and revenue in the segregated Jim Crow South. The field trips will also include a basic art demonstration, a Q&A session with the students and afford the students an opportunity to contribute to the mural painting.

Imagining America Workshop
2023-10-20 11:00 - 12:00 | Rhode Island
SPARC352: A Catalyst for Community-Engaged Research Drawing on the Elements to explore Place & Practice, Space & Imagination (Workshop) https://imaginingamerica.org

This participatory workshop draws upon our lived-experiences of the Mellon-Foundation- funded SPARC352 Project, a collaborative initiative grounded in the idea that arts are at the center of community wellbeing. The session begins with an introductory activity that orients participants to our approach to this work (15 minutes), followed by two interactive discussion activities, each facilitated by a community member and UF Researcher (30 minutes each). We close with reflection and the hope of expanding the network of changemakers attuned to work that can effectively address community goals with stewardship and care (15 minutes).

Critical Community Conversation: Spring Hill
2023-04-22 10:00 - 14:00 | T. B. McPherson Center, 1717 SE 15th St, Gainesville, Florida, 32641, United States
Lunch and Learn with:

Peaceful Paths: A presentation on domestic violence, trauma informed advocacy, resources and shelters

Purple Kloud: A multi-talented musician performing Putting Together the Pieces, reminding us that change is possible and it’s time to break the cycle

Dominique Revell: Local Choreographer hosting a Hip Hop dance demonstration and an interactive dance segment

Essence Thomas: A movement artist, artivist, choreographer, storyteller, and at-risk youth mentor with lived experiences in adversity and trauma that uses movement expression as a form of healing

Critical Community Conversation: 5th Ave and Pleasant St
2023-04-01 10:00 - 14:00 | Santa Fe Blount Center, 401 NW 6th St, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, United States
Main Topic: Police and Prison Reform

Art Focus: Drama

Activist led discussion on police and advocacy by Danielle Chanzes

Lunch catered by Flavorful Afro fusion Catering Co.

Interactive Skit by Kindra Walker

Critical Community Conversation: Porters
2023-03-11 10:00 - 14:00 | Porters Community Center, 500-598 SW 3rd St, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, United States
Our next installment of the critical community conversations with be addressing the gentrification happening in the historical black neighborhood of Porters in Gainesville, FL.

Main Topic: Safe Housing and Neighborhood Preservation

How Podcasting is used to elevate community voices and bring focus to social issues

Recording a live podcast with community participants:

Deborah Leath – Lifetime Resident

Pastor Ronald Foxx – Shady Grove Church

Faye Williams – Community Activist, Mama’s Club

Lunch Provided by Chef JJ’s

Critical Community Conversation: Lincoln Estates
2023-01-28 10:00 - 14:00 | GNV Bridge Church, 1100 SE 17th Dr., Gainesville, Florida, United States
Addressing youth gun violence with arts programming; storytelling, spoken word, and music.

Artists:

Terri Bailey

Alana Jackson

Stanley E. Richardson

42nd Annual 5th Ave Arts Festival
2022-04-23 08:00 - 17:00
Arts and community form the very foundation of the 5th Avenue Arts Festival (April 22-24), a longstanding tradition in Gainesville. This year, the event celebrated its 42nd annual exhibition and marked its return to in-person celebration in recent years. The multi-day event welcomed crowds of locals to the newly-built Santa Fe College Charles L. Blount Center downtown, whose outdoor space blossomed with tents, stalls, and stages for artists and businesses.

As an official exhibitor at the festival, the SPARC352 spent the weekend engaging festival goers in arts-based activities and conversations around what events could best serve the local Gainesville community. SPARC352 also sponsored two performances during the festival including African dance with the Makare Dancers and Nan Nkama on Saturday, as well as African dance, music, and storytelling with Mossa Kan on Sunday.

Middle Ground
2022-04-15 08:00 - 17:00 | The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, 837 SE 7th Ave, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, United States
The historic Spring Hill neighborhood of Gainesville was the recent site of a new initiative to bring arts, resources, and entrepreneurship back into the community. The neighborhood’s storied Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center was bustling on Friday, April 15th, as creatives, makers, entrepreneurs, and actionists in Gainesville joined together for an afterwork experience to breathe together, connect, and share.

MiddleGround was hosted by SPARC352, a recent initiative focusing on arts and community programming particularly within the historically Black neighborhoods of Gainesville. Through arts-based programming, SPARC352 aims to bring life and adaptive re-use to local spaces, develop robust community-engaged programming, and help build and sustain collaborative networks that re-invest in many of Gainesville’s underserved communities.

Local artists and businesses were also showcased, including DJ Elo providing entertainment and Chef Carl Watts at Underground Kitchen.

352 Creates: Festival of Creativity
2022-03-06 12:00 - 17:00 | Curia on the Drag, 2029 NW 6th St, Gainesville, Florida, 32609, United States
Spend the day outside browsing 20 local art and craft vendors. Enjoy live music and performances, try a free art activity or workshop and eat yummy vegan food. Fun for the whole family.
