URA announces educational program surrounding civics and art-ed. Here is the full explanation from URA:
"Urban Matters (UM) is a program created by Karen Abrams, URA diversity and community affairs manager. The goal of UM is to help youth in distressed African-American neighborhoods create community development tools in order to demystify urban policy and planning issues that impact their communities, and increase their participation in decision-making processes that shape their neighborhoods.
Abrams, who based UM on a model from the Center for Urban Pedagogy out of Brooklyn, NY, recognized that young people in Pittsburgh could benefit from this type of program.
Armed with an initial grant of $50,000 from The Heinz Endowments, additional funding totaling $75,000 from the POISE Foundation, Neighborhood Allies, Surdna Foundation, and The Pittsburgh Foundation, and a host of community support, the first cohort began June 24, 2014 with 12 students between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. For the next eight weeks, participants worked with a teaching artist, who used art and design techniques to help explain often complex urban policy. Each student received a $1,000 stipend for participating.
Although classes ended on August 8, the production and post-production work continues through October. Based out of YouthPlaces on the Northside, the program will culminate in a graduation ceremony to be held on October 7 at the Hill House Kaufmann Center.
We sat down with Karen Abrams to learn how the program fared and next steps. Click here for the interview."