COMMUNITY & COLLABORATIONS
The arts play an important role in bringing people together, exploring ideas, and taking action on issues that matter. Yellow House focuses on raising awareness of universal human rights while also being responsive to the needs and aspirations of those who live and work in the North Florida region and the immediate neighborhood. ALL of our work centers true collaborations that combine the interests, expertise, and passion of individuals, organizations, and communities. When we work together we can change the world.
COMMUNITY CART
The Community Cart was born of our care efforts in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we closed our physical doors and spent time in neighborhoods and with collaborators, we recognized an amplified need for people to access resources, especially fresh food. What was a folding table on our front lawn evolved into a recently launched Community Cart that is about giving and receiving. It is filled with items of sustenance – those things that make us whole. At any given time, the community will find fresh produce, books, art supplies, messages of encouragement, hygiene products, plants and other items brought to this mutual aid effort by our friends. We are grateful to some special donors and our friends at EcoRelics for helping us make this a permanent part of our practice.
COMMUNITY TREE
What have we lost, who do we mourn, what needs repair? What have we gained, where have connections deepened, who have we cared for or stood with, how are we reimagining a world beyond? As we enter a season of transition, there is a collective desire to reflect on our losses, mourn, and express gratitude and hope. Inspired by the beautiful traditions of the sacred trees of Buddhism, Lakota and Cherokee prayer ties, Scottish clootie wells, and the numerous places and cultures from China and Iraq to Brazil and Japan that mark mourning and healing by tying ribbons to a tree, Yellow House is co-creating a space for grief and hope; dark and light; shadow and shine.
PINEDALE SCHOOL
Pinedale Elementary is located in the community around Yellow House, with the majority of their 500 pre-k through 5th-grade students living in the Lackawanna neighborhood on the Northwest side of Jacksonville. The collaboration begins with a mural project, led by artists Christopher Clark and Tatiana Kitchen, and engages teachers and students in making visible the special family that makes up the school. Through a series of murals on the interior and exterior of the school, the aspirations, hard work, and compassion that exists in this special place will be elevated for all to see and celebrate. More than a beautification project, this initiative will center the experiences of the students, their families, and faculty in shaping a sustained arts education effort to complement the excellence well underway in this truly magical educational setting.
ART ON THE CORNER
Yellow House serves as a hub for informal art that creates a sense of place at the intersection of the Lackawanna and Riverside neighborhoods in Jacksonville. Drop-in art projects on the front lawn and a community-mural project on the side of an old school bus are just two examples of engaging passersby on the street level. New partnerships linking food, street-level performances, and visual art are making an impact in our neighborhood.
WORDS AS ART
Printmaking is the most democratic of art forms, allowing for multiple originals to spread messages far and wide. Through a drop-in letterpress project, Yellow House invites visitors of all ages to set their aspirations in type, leaving one behind at Yellow House and taking one, or more, with them to spread the word. Samples of Words of Art are regularly on display at Yellow House.
MUTUAL AID EXCHANGE
On the second Saturday of the month we are partnering with our fierce friends at Florida Rising to provide a Mutual Aid Exchange Fair on the lawn of Yellow House! From 9AM to 12PM we’ll be passing out Hurricane Preparedness kits, talking about how to prepare in the event of a natural disaster, and providing lunch. There will be a small food pantry and clothing closet on site, as well. If you have items to donate or want to volunteer, contact us!
IN NEIGHBORHOODS
Since our founding we have worked to be a good neighbor to residents in our immediate place on the map and in communities that invited us in. From hurricane recovery efforts in the Ken Knight Drive neighborhood of Washington Heights to responding to the needs and aspirations of individuals and families close by Yellow House has been one of many partners and individuals involved in relief efforts after storms, during the pandemic, and on the daily.
ON THE FARM AT WORLDWIDE AQUAPONICS
During the pandemic we forged a partnership with the FarmHERS, led by Angela Ten Broeck, at World Wide Aquaponics, a sustainable farming concept in Hastings, Florida. For more than a year, we traded our labor once a week for a carload of produce to bring to communities we stand with and who were hit especially hard during the Covid. The work continues and brings fresh fruit and vegetables to our neighbors through the Community Cart. And we are integrating art into this effort to fight hunger with a mural on the farm recently created by artist Nico and with other efforts ready to be born.
A PLACE TO GATHER
We are a community house for artists, activists, and neighbors to convene. Organizations and coalitions use our space for anti-racism workshops, Peacekeeper trainings, and conversations. Our space is consistently filled with the energy of poetry readings, Breaking Bread dinners, and spontaneous gatherings.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Yellow House offers art classes, workshops, summer camp for teens, and writing classes that provide an exchange between learners of all ages and aspirations.
MAYO CLINIC – Lyndra P. Daniel Center for Humanities in Medicine
Hope McMath is a long-time partner as a guest lecturer, co-curator, and workshop facilitator for the Humanities in Medicine program at the renowned Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. During visits to the Yellow House space, experiences on the Mayo Clinic campus, and in community residents, physicians, nurses, staff and caregivers experience the power of art as a tool for building cultural competency, expressing empathy, and finding respite. In addition, the Director of the Humanities in Medicine program, Chrys Yates, is an advisor to Yellow House.
BABS’ LAB
This special performing arts space, run by Yellow House friend and co-conspirator Barbara Colaciello, is a place for experimentation, training, and performance, a theater and storytelling space where the community comes together to witness work that uplifts, breaks barriers, and crosses lines. Most recently Yellow House and Babs’ Lab partnered on Be the Art Camp for Teens.