By Karen Price The room behind the gym at Pittsburgh’s Northview Heights neighborhood where YouthPlaces holds its afterschool programming buzzed with the sound of animated young voices. The teens – mostly boys, working together in small groups – shouted out clusters of words to lend their ideas to the group effort underway. This was a Rain Poetry workshop, and they were writing haiku.  “It was really nice to see them excited about creating these poems,” YouthPlaces site manager Leanna Lyle said. “They were very rowdy, and if someone wasn’t in that space you would have thought they were ar ..read more

As we celebrate our 50 years of championing the humanities throughout the state, we’re spotlighting some of the people who’ve joined us along the way and contributed to the cause through their donations, time, energy, skills and creativity. To mark National Poetry Month, we spoke with David Jones, who was an important part of launching the Rain Poetry project in Philadelphia as a teaching artist. Jones was named Philadelphia’s third Youth Poet Laureate as a 17-year-old in 2015, was involved with the Philly Youth Poetry Movement (now the Philly Slam League), and delivered the commencement poem ..read more

By Karen Price The public library is a place where imaginative minds can explore new worlds and find opportunities to learn and grow. That’s why the Free Library of Philadelphia was the perfect site to host the launch of PA Humanities’ new book of poems collected from Philadelphia school children as part of 2023’s Rain Poetry pilot project. The book showcases all the haiku poems collected during last year’s workshops, in which more than 250 children from five neighborhoods wrote on the theme, “What helps you keep growing.” It was distributed at no cost to participating students, classes and pr ..read more

As we celebrate our 50 years of championing the humanities throughout the state, we’re spotlighting some of the people who’ve joined us along the way and contributed to the cause through their donations, time, energy, skills and creativity. This month, we spoke with Dr. Cheryl Kubelick, who served as a PA Humanities board member from 2014 through 2017. Dr. Kubelick has long been involved in Pittsburgh’s philanthropic community, having served as the former vice president of the Buhl Foundation and the Frick Educational Fund before her retirement. She also served as president of the Westinghouse ..read more

As we celebrate our 50 years of championing the humanities throughout the state, we’re spotlighting some of the people who’ve joined us along the way and contributed to our work with their donations, time, energy, skills and creativity. This month we spoke with former PA Humanities board member and board chair, Mary Garm. Garm, of Forest City, Pa., recently retired as executive director of the Lackawanna County Library System. She was recognized as a recipient of the prestigious President’s Award from the Pennsylvania Library Association, co-founded the Association Academy of Leadership Studie ..read more

As we celebrate our 50 years of championing the humanities throughout the state, we’re spotlighting some of the people who’ve joined us along the way and contributed to our work with their donations, time, energy, skills and creativity. This month, we had an in-depth conversation with Gwendolyn White, who is a dedicated champion of equity and belonging, a lifelong lover of history and stories and an advocate for the arts and humanities across Pennsylvania.  She is also PA Humanities’ newest chair of the board of directors.  White was first appointed to the PA Humanities boa ..read more

By Karen Price The PA Heart & Soul journey emphasizes playing the long game, and both the work and impact of the program carry on to this day for a number of communities who’ve completed the official process. It’s evident in the creation of award-winning public spaces, the implementation of projects identified as important to the community, the continued involvement of volunteers and even in the election of former volunteers to local public offices.  “The biggest thing, for me, is seeing the level of community engagement increasing,” Upper Chichester township manager George Needles sa ..read more

As 2023 comes to an end, we wanted to reflect on some of the highlights from our work and the efforts of our partners over this last year. It was a big year for PA Humanities, as we kicked off our 50th anniversary celebration that will continue into 2024. It was also a year of great accomplishments for organizations across Pennsylvania as they continue to demonstrate the power of the humanities to uncover and uplift hidden voices, bring communities together to create positive change and share stories of our history and the bonds that unite us all.  Join us in celebrating some of our favor ..read more

By Karen Price At PA Humanities, the humanities are so much more than subjects to be studied at school or concepts to be debated by academics. We believe the humanities are powerful tools that can spark civic engagement, build community, educate, inspire, and make long-lasting change.  It’s no wonder that 50 years after our founding, we still are working hard to ensure that  Pennsylvanians have access without barriers to the humanities and the tools to lead change in their communities. The original mission of the Committee for the Humanities in Pennsylvania – or HIP, as the group of ..read more

As we celebrate our 50 years of championing the humanities throughout the state, we’re spotlighting some of the people who’ve joined us along the way and contributed to our work with their donations, time, energy, skills and creativity. This month we spoke with Jessica Herzing, who first partnered with PA Humanities when she spearheaded bringing PA Heart & Soul to her home of Cameron County. Herzing served as project coordinator, leading her team through the successful completion of the four-stage process, and is a great champion for PA Heart & Soul. This fall, she joined PA Humanities ..read more