At the Teen Lounge Nazario has worked on mosaics, self-portraits, still lifes, and abstract drawings.
"Since I've come here, I see things different now," Nazario said of her experience at Fleisher. "I just open my mind, and it gives me an opportunity to see things differently and try it and not just say 'no.' "
Selected from 471 applicants and 50 finalists, Fleisher is one of 12 after-school and community programs nationwide recognized this year by the president's Committee on Arts and Humanities. In addition to the honor, the center will receive a $10,000 grant.
Representatives of the center, which had applied for the award in the past, learned of the award this summer after submitting an extensive application and letters of recommendation from prominent community members, according to Matt Braun, Fleisher's executive director.
"It's like getting into college," Braun said. "You get the thin letter, or you get the thick envelope. We got the box. And the box was the signal that 'Oh, my gosh, this is actually happening.' "
Fleisher's youth programs serve close to 2,500 children a year and include the Teen Lounge, Community Partners in the Arts, which sends trained teaching artists into schools and community centers in South Philadelphia for extended periods, and after-school workshops and classes. Fleisher also hosts free Saturday art classes for children ages 5 to 18 at its studio on Catharine Street in Bella Vista.
An estimated 75 percent of the South Philadelphia children Fleisher serves live at or below the federal poverty line, and close to 50 percent speak English as a second language, Braun said.
