Last year’s “Everyday Places” program participant Karen Smith-Sistah’s Laying On Hands (photo courtesy of Barnes West).

The Barnes Foundation and People’s Emergency Center (PEC) have announced seven West Philadelphia-based social-impact artists who have been selected to participate in the second annual Everyday Places Artist Partnerships initiative: Nikki Brake-Sillá, Shanina Dionna, Gigi McGraw, Anssumane Silla, Jaime Wiesner (Instagram page) & Joanna Booth, and Yidan Zeng.

This year’s cohort of artists will partner with “everyday” locations in the neighborhood—public parks, civic centers, businesses and community organizations—to build interactive, participatory projects that engage with the business or site and residents. The 2022 Places are:

• University Square Complex
• Malcolm X Park
• Urban Art Gallery
• ​​New Africa Freedom Center/Square
• Clark Park
• Mantua Civic Association
• Drexel University Dornsife Center

The projects started rolling out last month. The official launch event will take place Wednesday, May 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Imperial Seafood, 725 N 42nd St. (get free tickets here). It will run through September.

Everyday Places is a program by Barnes West, a collaborative initiative between the Barnes and PEC, which is supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation. The program launched in 2021 with a goal to provide West Philadelphia residents with spaces to engage with multidisciplinary artistic projects that offer inspiration and promote hope and healing.

For more details and updates go to: pec-cares.org/barneswest or follow Lola38West on Facebook and Instagram.