COSACOSA art at large, Inc.

COSACOSA has partnered with my community center for over 15 years, working creatively on issues of diversity and conflict resolution. The organization has become the "go to" resource whenever we need assistance with civic planning. The art we've created together as a neighbors helps us find ways to work together on other projects too. COSACOSA helps us make the community really "belong" to all of us!

i have been involved with Cosa Cosa for over 10 years and am currently a board member. The organization enriches children's and community lives by involving people in improving their neighborhoods with art and gardens and Cosa Cosa comes away with renewed self confidence, hope and energy to help others.

I met Kim a few months ago when I volunteered to help with a mosaic for CHOP. As an local artist it felt great to be able to express myself in my community and help students and families make Philadelphia a more beautiful city. I was surprised and humbled by Kim's instant inclusion and warmth. She has inspired me to be a more involved person in my community.

Cosacosa has been working with my students for three years now. They come out to our location and work with students who would not otherwise have an opportunity to create art. The work our students have done is beautiful as well as educational. Our projects have celebrated the multicultural diversity in our school. Showing that all cultures are celebrated shows the equality in all cultures. The folks from Cosacosa work with the students asking what they want to see, what do they think represents them. This gives the students a real ownership in the project. Since the murals Cosacosa creates with our students are on the outside of the building, students can and do come back to reflect. Cosacosa helps out students make our school look better which makes the community better. The art work they create shows the multicultural community in which our school is located.

I met Kim, the director through a program COSACOSA was conducting about community volunteers and was so happy to be able to call her shortly after with the prospect of partnering on a public school mural. COSACOSA has been involved with the school now for several years, has created parts of an expanding mural each year, and have established themselves as a true partner at the school. The organization is extremely conscientious and has a true understanding - and I think love - of partnership with all the different players in community work. They even helped find and obtain funding for the projects, and then found a way to tailor the project to the available funds. I recommend this group whole-heartedly and with no reservations.

I am an architect and member of the PSCA education committee and we are entering our 3rd year of partnering with COSA COSA to bring art programs to an under-served public school, Andrew Jackson. They are able to help the students truly express themselves and find an artistic voice, while integrating educational material with the curriculum. The students seem moved by the work they do, and the beautiful murals on the exterior of the school bring a great sense of pride to the community.

As an Art teacher, I was very impressed by COSACOSA's organization and personnel. They are professionals with expertise doing wonderful work for the greater good!

COSACOSA is unbelievable and a tremendous assest to the Philadelphia community and beyond. They are a model for social justice and service learning. They completely under gird all their efforts with a deep understanding of the differing communities they are serving and the unique personality and complexity that they seek to give voice to. Art is a form of voice and expression and COSACOSA seeks to empower these communities in such creative expressions. I am the director of Service Learning at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr PA and we have partnered with COSACOSA over the last several years in a variety of venues. COSACOSA serves as an important bridge to the Philadelphia school system and we have brought our entire upper school over three service day to work in the schools with their guidance and planning. We also have had our seniors partner and complete their three week service partnerships with COSACOSA and they have 100% found it one of the most inspiring sites with a felt impact in their three weeks of service. I feel honored to call them our partner in effective social impact and we are a better educational institution because of them.

COSA COSA is a partner you can count on to help solve problems in the nieghborhood, in the schools, and to make our city a better place to live. COSA COSA brought my community organization together with others with similar goals from all parts of Philadelphia. We may come from different places and speak different languages, but together we empower each other to do the necessary work for our neighborhoods that need help.

Cosa Cosa Art at Large is a true gift to the people of Philadelphia and those who have been lucky enough to have been a part of any of their many programs. I have watched as this organization has grown under the sure and steady guidance of Kim Niemela whose unending passion for reaching out to our under served communities is boundless. Cosa Cosa has done amazing work with the sickest children in our local hospitals,created beautiful community gardens, brought art and literacy to our schools and created dialogues between neighboring communities. I have been fortunate to serve as a board member as well as volunteer on various projects for many years for Cosa Cosa and look forward to many more years of serving them in any way I can.

I had the privelege of chaperoning a group of 8 high school students doing community service work at CosaCosa. We had a fantastic visit, working on beautiful mosaics for Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. The "work" that our group was asked to assist with, was fun, interesting, engaging, and relavant to everyone as members of the greater Philadelpia community. I hope that we get to see photos in the future of these magnificiant works, installed, and enlightening the walls of the Hospital.

The work that Cosa Cosa does is amazing and so valuable to both the volunteers and everyone who is lucky enough to see the results!

COSACOSA came into my community to listen and help us achieve our dreams of beautifying the neighborhood by cleaning up an old vacant lot. Personally, I didn't expect to learn how to make art or to garden but I did. And I also learned alot about my neighbors especially people with cultures different than mine. We've grown closer as a community and have worked together to change not just the lot but our entire block. The work continues and COSACOSA is right there with us.