BACKGROUND
Recognizing that creativity and beauty are powerful agents for healing and change, Barefoot Artists works with economically disadvantaged communities around the globe using art to bring healing, self-empowerment and social change. Current Barefoot Artists projects are informed by the methodology developed by Lily Yeh over nearly 2 decades as the Founder and Executive Director of The Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia and from a series of international projects during that time.
International Projects (1994 – 2003)
Barefoot Artists brings the transformative power of art to the most impoverished communities in the world through participatory and multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development, and preserve and support indigenous art and culture.
Barefoot Artists develops projects in collaboration with individuals and agencies on the ground in identified communities.
The Village of Arts
& Humanities (1986 – 2004)
The Village began in 1986 as a park-building project by Philadelphia-based artist Lily Yeh. With a group of North Philadelphia residents, mostly children, she cleared a trash strewn vacant lot and began to build an art park that incorporated mosaic sculptures, murals, and landscaping with trees and flowers. Over the next few years, Yeh’s project was joined by artists, builders, educators and a growing number of community residents caught up in the vision of creating a sub-community dedicated to cooperative interaction and creativity.
