PCCE-Drexel University (Writers Room) VISTA

Writers Room was launched in 2014 with the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, Drexel’s urban extension center developed in partnership with the West Philadelphia community. Writers Room lives within the intersection of arts, design, and humanities programs. Its members are artists, adolescents, architects, the aging, and neighbors who together leverage the arts to spark social cohesion, neighborhood stability, and economic mobility. In partnership with Philadelphia civic and cultural organizations, our rich calendar includes side-by-side classes, visiting writers, cultural events, and monthly writing workshops that are co-created with the community, enabling Writers Room to serve as the connective tissue between the university, community organizations, and our neighbors. Writers Room exemplifies Drexel University’s approach to civic engagement in its local community, and we leverage its interdisciplinary academic engagement, student leadership, extensive cross-sector partnerships, and long-term economic investments in the community to drive actual civic solutions discovered and voiced by community members. In concert with faculty from the School of Education, Writers Room has received funding from AmeriCorps and from the National Science Foundation to support community-driven participatory action research on issues surrounding displacement and the effect of public arts programming and education on civic innovation. Writers Room is unique among community arts programs because the involvement and institutional investment of Drexel allows it to operationalize the co-created solutions its programs engender. This link to the neighborhood’s major anchor institution and the potential to activate its resources are key factors in galvanizing people to get and stay involved.