Category — Outreach

Community Outreach is a major component of Bridge programming. Through workshops, projects, and related events we seek to establish strong ties with communities throughout Charlottesville. Workshops and creative projects are central to this process. Averaging anywhere from one week to six months in length, workshops and projects are conducted at The Bridge and partnering locations, making use of collective facilities and available resources. Workshops and projects may be run by Bridge staff, educators, mentors or artists depending upon the nature and duration. The Bridge encourages such workshops and projects to culminate in an exhibition of related work in our Gallery at the conclusion of each session.

Friday, February 26, 2010 | 6-8pm

Join us as we celebrate 3 years of creative programming with the youth of Westhaven.

This ONE NIGHT ONLY event will showcase works ranging from painted portraits, audio interviews, murals, video and a handful of ALL NEW WORKS – to be auctioned through out the evening – in support of the Westhaven After School Program.

Please mark your calendars and join us as we celebrate this amazing partnership and raise awareness in support of this vital youth program in Charlottesville.

Saturday, October 24, 2009 | 1-5pm | $15 general admission, $10 students

Come out and support The Bridge!

Live music, the Hamdingers cart, chickens, pit fires, and family fun for all!

Featuring live performances by Jim Waive, The (all new) Acorn Sisters, Keith Morris and The Crooked Numbers, Mister Baby, Pantherburn and more.

All proceeds benefit The Bridge.

Friday, August 28, 2009 | 6-8pm

Come join us as we celebrate and view works from The Southwood Sandbox Summer Workshops. This one-night-only event will include collages, off stage theatre and photography created by youth in the community of Southwood through the Sandbox Summer Workshops.

Select prints and copies of the new iConnect Southwood Youth Photography book will be available.

Reception | Saturday, August 22, 2009 | 3-6pm
Gallery Hours | Sunday August 23, 2009 | 12-3pm

To celebrate and share the StoryLine Project with the campers’ families and community members, The Bridge | PAI will host a micro-exhibit from August 22 to 23 in the gallery at 209 Monticello Road in Belmont. The exhibit will show drawings, photographs, studies and ephemera from the Story|Line project. An opening reception and celebration will be held from 3-6pm on Saturday, August 22nd, and the exhibit will be on display from 12-3pm on Sunday, August 23rd or by appointment.

Opening Reception: Friday June 5th 6-8pm at The Bridge PAI

Exhibition (in conjunction with the LOOK3 Festival Of The Photograph) through Saturday June 27th

During the Fall of 2008, the iConnect Photography Workshop taught basic digital photography skills to six students between the ages of 11 and 16 and then let them loose. Their goal was to visually record, interpret and generally tell the story of the place where they live, Southwood mobile home park in Charlottesville, Virginia.

This exhibition will showcase select images from El Barrio: The Neighborhood a book created for the iConnect Southwood Project. Copies of the book will be also be on display and for sale as part of this exhibition.

January 29 through March 12, 2009

This workshop affords middle and high school students in the community of Westhaven the opportunity to create audio portraits on the theme of influential people in their lives. This project, in celebration of Black History Month, marks our third year working with youth in Westhaven. Click here for images from the past two years.

Thursday, November 6, 2008 | 7pm | Free

In a screening co-sponsored by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Health Department, The Bridge PAI will screen a segment of the documentary Unnatural Causes this November, as part of a community awareness campaign regarding health disparities.

Unnatural Causes was produced by California Newsreel in order to draw attention to the root causes of health and illness and to help reframe the debate about health in America, particularly with regard to economic and racial issues. The seven-part documentary series criss-crosses the country, investigating findings that are shaking up our conventional understanding of health. In particular, Episode 2: When the Bough Breaks, specifically addresses how racial disparities affect birth outcomes, which is clearly relevant given recent data on racial health issues here in Charlottesville, especially concerning infant mortality.

The 30-minute video will be followed by an informative discussion, accompanied by handouts and relevant information. This event is free and open to the public.

Bus Painting from July 12-17 outside Carver Recreation Center
Bus Unveiling on Friday, July 18th at Pen and McIntire Parks, 11am-3pm.
Opening Reception on Friday August 1st, from 6-8pm at The Bridge

A team of artists and arts educators from the UVA School of Architecture, The Bridge PAI, and Piedmont Council of the Arts are collaborating on a unique public art project for Charlottesville Parks and Recreation. The PCA-coordinated artist team will repaint an everyday yellow school bus, transforming it into an exciting, kid-friendly vehicle that will be used to transport young people to Parks and Recreation programs throughout the year. Following an extensive design phase this spring, the Fun Bus project involves three main components: hands-on workshops with young people, collaborative bus painting, and a celebratory exhibition at the Bridge.

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  Wednesday, June 25 at 7pm

Charlottesville Photo Night is a casual monthly gathering of local photography enthusiasts; their meetings are open to the public, and they get together every month at The Bridge to discuss each other’s work. This month, special guest Richard Lord will present The Passionate Photographer, which is the opening session of workshops that he offers. He will discuss the relationship between personal and commercial work, illustrating his talk with photos from his archives.

Richard Lord is a corporate, editorial and stock photographer. Shooting in a photojournalistic style, his work is published extensively in annual reports, corporate identity advertisements, brochures and non-profit appeal posters. Working in this specialty since 1986, he has made photos in urban and rural US, Europe, and over 70 Third World countries. His work has been exhibited in 17 countries and the major art centers of the US. It is on permanent display in museums as well as private and corporate collections. He has been honored as one of “2000 Outstanding Artists and Designers of the 20th Century.” His clients include Pfizer, Chevron, Travel and Leisure and the United Nations.