The
History & Mission of the
Ogontz Avenue Art Company
"Civil society, on the
other hand, is the sphere of our most basic humanity -the personal,
everyday realm that is governed by values such as responsibility,
trust, fraternity, solidarity and love. In a democratic civil
society such as ours we also put a special premium on social
equality - the conviction that men and women should be measured by
the quality of their character and not the color of their skin, the
shape of their eyes, the size of their bank account, the religion of
their family, or the happenstance of their gender." Senator
Bill Bradley
History
History of the OAAC The Ogontz Avenue
Art Company (OAAC) was formed in October 1994 and officially became an
IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in April 1996. OAAC presently
operates four separate programs:
- Mural Program …
- Art for Philadelphia Kids Program
- Kids Mural Program …
- Computers for Philadelphia Kids Program. …
Mission
The mission of OAAC … To nurture the
natural artistic and analytic talents of inner-city kids … To
develop their problem-solving skills through art and computer
education … To combat the physical degeneration of our inner-city
neighborhoods through education and mural paintings.
Mr.
Pete's 1998 State of the
Ogontz Avenue Art Company
Address!
Please put this on our page and please let the people of the Bay
Area know that a tiny band of ordinary citizens met at a small market in
NorthWest Philadelphia and created a place where kids are safe and are
given an opportunity to have a shot at the American Dream. We met as
neighbors - suburban and city people meeting together and working as
friends.
We have had our kids shot at. One kid was killed because of an
inability to count out the correct the amount of money in a drug
transaction. But we had the great privilege to give Caseda her first PC.
Caseda went on to win the Franklin Institute Math award or Joey who along
with his five brothers have worked with us since day one and who knows more
about Windows than most kids in college. We've learned more from Joey and
Sarah and Rachel and Nyina and Jonny and Jeremey and Josh and Michael and
Raheem and Troy...... than they could possibly learn from us.
Hey America this is our future and will our folly be our inability
to recognize this great talent in our poorest neighborhoods?
It's Martin Luther King's Birthday and every politician from all
around is volunteering their time to our kids in many ways. Our Mayor is
cleaning toilets at City Hall. The President is painting a school and
Hilary is reading to kids. I don't know what Martin would say about this
"good will" but I know what Josh (16 years) would say, "All I want to do is
graduate from high school and hope to God that there are some jobs in this
f------ city so I can support myself and my family. Josh has 22 people in
his house.
The Ogontz Avenue Art Company is in its fourth year. We've been
bounced around, bruised and discouraged but there is always a crazed
twinkle in our eyes when the future looks bleak . We've seen kids abused
and kid parents and kid drug addicts. We've seen the endless caravans of
kids in Jeeps and Pathfinders from the suburbs coming down Ogontz Avenue to
buy their drugs in North Philadelphia. Our 'work force' is making money
dealing the poisons to their brothers in the suburbs. Suburban parents
don't kid yourself, most of the kids we work with in the OAAC do not take
drugs. Unless they deal the crap they can't afford it. Our kids have
witnessed too many times firsthand the ravages of crack and AIDS on their
young families. Our Suburban neighbors have no other choice but to come
down Ogontz Avenue not as drug addicts but as neighbors and friends of good
will. Our neighborhoods are improving and our kids are getting healthier.
There are heroes on every street who won't allow their kids to give up and
get sucked in by the monster.
"Civil society, on the other hand, is the sphere of our most
basic humanity -the personal, everyday realm that is governed by values
such as responsibility, trust, fraternity, solidarity and love. In a
democratic civil society such as ours we also put a special premium on
social equality - the conviction that men and women should be measured by
the quality of their character and not the color of their skin, the shape
of their eyes, the size of their bank account, the religion of their
family, or the happenstance of their gender."
Senator Bill Bradley
… 300+ kids have taken the six week Windows Class and received a Used PC
in the Computers for Philadelphia Kids program
… 5 computer labs have been formed
… 2 Art Centers have been formed
… 1500 kids have worked with the OAAC
… 20 Murals are either completed or under way
… 25 corporations have donated PCS
… We were finally partially funded in 1997
… We have a promise of 1000 PCS in the near future
… We still have a goal to get every family in the city of Philadelphia a used PC
Thanks Doug!
Pete Doyle, James Wicks, Jeff Pritchett, John Dustin, Bob English
and Chong Lee, Rachel Jordan and the 1500 kids of the OGONTZ
AVENUE ART COMPANY!!!!!
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