The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery is pleased to announce the second exhibition of the Art and Community Series. Beginning on January 10, 2003, we will present works made by artists and neighbors of the Southwest Community Enrichment Center (SCEC), a community center located in the Kingsessing section of West Philadelphia. The SCEC has been dedicated to providing human services and resources to their neighborhood since 1969.

The SCEC is a beacon for self-empowerment in the community through their implementation of programs that focus on homework assistance, career workshops, senior services such as free meals and transportation, a family school with parenting classes, and a teen enrichment program. In 1990, the SCEC opened The Art Center. Located in a row house next to the main SCEC building, the Art Center has been a place where area residents can find art teachers, resources, support, materials, and the freedom to explore their inner artistic vision. Sister Helen David Brancato, a working artist who has received numerous awards and residencies, has directed The Art Center since its inception.

Several artists have emerged from this center to receive critical acclaim for their work. Ruth Barkley, Mina Casey, Ida May Sydnor, and Mary Ward stand out as just a few examples. These artists have exhibited at the Levy Gallery at Moore College of Art and Design, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and the Gallery at the Independence Foundation. Most of the artists who work at The Art Center are self-taught and many have come to art late in life. Sister Helen stresses the importance of art in the lives of these women, and indeed in the lives of the entire Southwest community, as a vehicle for communal and personal change and empowerment.

The objectives of The Art Center are to foster personal expression and to be a guiding light for cultural programming and exploration. The Center is run as an open-studio - teachers offer instruction and materials then step back to allow each person to create her own artistic magic. The Klein Gallery is particularly pleased to be able to exhibit the artistic results made at this community center. This exhibition is exceptionally meaningful for us in that it will enable us to show the work of Ida May Sydnor, a talented and well-known artist who lived across the street from The Art Center and who passed away in October 2002. This second Art and Community Exhibition is dedicated to her.

SCEC History and Mission

Click on artists' name for more images:

Ruth Barkley, Mina Casey, Ida May Sydnor