The beginnings of the BuildaBridge Institute reside in Costa Rica. In 1997, BuildaBridge led a multi-ethnic team of artists to lead a Music and Drama Institute in Limon. At the conclusion of the institute and upon evaluation of the program, we learned that while artists can be very good in their discipline, they often lack skills in teaching. We were also concerned about effectiveness and impact. Thus the idea for a training institute was born. Returning two years later, we conducted our own research and found that both training and overseas collaborative programs could be effective. Recognizing the need work in broken and traumatized communities, the Institute moved its emphasis to training for the civic and community context. View the 1999 evaluation videos: Part 1, Part 2 , and Part 3 .
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In 2001, Drs. Corbitt and Nix-Early were awarded a research grant form
the Louisville Institute to conduct a national research project. Their
task was to document the existence and effect of Christian artists and
faith-based arts programs working for personal and social
transformation within marginalized urban communities. The results of
this research were published in a book, Taking it to the Streets: Using
the Arts to Transform Your Community (Baker 2003) and would serve as a
theoretical foundation for future programs, including BuildaBridge
Institute.
In 2002, BuildaBridge established The Institute for the Church and
the Community Arts (ICCA) (now simply BuildaBridge Institute) and began
to provide training and education to
professional and lay artists, teachers and community workers who wanted to integrate the arts effectively
in community-based service and mission. Supported by the Department of
Human Services in the City of Philadelphia between 2002 and 2005, it intensively prepared over 100 participants in arts-integrated
service. In 2006, BuildaBridge signed a partnership agreement with
Eastern University to offer, through the Institute, graduate courses
for Eastern's new MA in Urban Studies Arts in Transformation
Concentration. An accredited Certificate in Arts in Transformation was
also launched to give legitimacy to potential community arts
professionals who want to formally study the community arts or use them
in community service.
In 2008 and 2009 the Institute curriculum integrated a new track of
course offerings (part of the MA in Urban Studies) and new training
courses in emergency art relief. Courses are now being prepared on-line for distance training and education.
Now in its ninth edition, BuildaBridge
Institute has instructed more than 285 professionals from USA, Europe,
Latin America and the Middle East and has attracted a faculty body of
80 professional artists, arts educators and practitioners from
Philadelphia and around the US. The Institute is ecumenical in that it is open to people of all faiths and without discrimination to those seeking to work in the civic context.
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