I’m sure a lot of you have heard about the exciting work that Elody Gyekis is doing in her hometown of Millheim, Pennsylvania.  Yesterday was the culmination of the Valley Roots project, an unveiling ceremony and reception for the community of Millheim to celebrate their beautiful new landmark—a mural on the

Elody Gyekis, a 2008 fellow from Penn State, is busy implementing her Blueprint for Social Justice! Valley Roots - Approaching a Mural as a Process of Community Engagement is a Blueprint that Elody designed to address the rural decline facing her hometown, Millheim, PA. She is using this creative and collaborative project to create an intergenerational and diverse dialogue among community members and encourage civic participation.

Elody recently welcomed Matt Popek and Arielle Hesse to Milheim. Matt and Arielle rolled up their sleeves and went to work contributing to Elody’s Blueprint.

Politics aside, this is a beautiful example of how the worlds of politics and arts collide (remember, "poet" comes from the same root word as "prophet"):

On the opening night of the 4th Annual YP4 National Summit, Fellows had an opportunity to connect and chill with each other at an open mic event that I had the absolute pleasure of hosting. It is amazing how sharing our experiences, our passions, and our selves through artistic expression can quickly create a community. This is the power of creative resistance—artistic agitation provides the space for critical reflection and reaffirmation, for both self and the community.

        Laura Hadden, a 2007 YP4 Fellow at Evergreen State College, has designed an innovative, thoughtful and confrontational Blueprint addressing the public's view of welfare recipients and the way in which these views directly affect the lives of families on welfare.

        Her work is innovative in that she chose to weave together photographs and audio interviews to create a mixed-media exhibit that explores the faces and stories of welfare families; thoughtful in that she intends to formulate a means to "empower those families to have a voice and speak directly against the stereotypes and appeal for more community and government support," and confrontational in its intent to challenge the stigma attached to so many welfare families, break down the public's stereotypes and ultimately challenge legislators -- with public support -- to appeal full family sanctions.

        Laura's strategy for success revolves around media outreach with various independent media outlets, alliance building with nonprofits such as the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition, and the support of local and student-run organizations and businesses to help sponsor and host her exhibit. With the goal of taking the exhibit on a two-week tour across the state of Washington, Laura hopes the power of art, image and sound will engage the public in critical discussion and bring a human face to the struggles of life on welfare.