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brushwiththelaw

#communityarts program doing city beautification projects with artists and socially marginalized populations to help build more inclusive communities.

𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐰

”

Brush With the Law

Brush With the Law uses the visual arts in community-based beautification projects throughout the Philadelphia metropolitan area with a focus on Montgomery County. Projects are led by professional artists who create together with socially marginalized people (such as the incarcerated, parolees/probation, at-risk youth, and those struggling with addiction) to create public art. The purpose is to inspire meaningful changes in participants’ self-esteem and provide new skills that can lead to better employment opportunities, while enabling local communities to work with and come to better understand the challenges of these populations. Brush with the Law seeks to help socially marginalized individuals reconnect with the community through collaborative creative art projects. We believe that by working on projects that serve the community, marginalized individuals and community members start to understand and recognize one another as human beings.

Brush With the Law
5,535 clear glassine baggies have been stuffed with a one-inch crystal bead to represent each person who lost their battle to heroin/opiate addiction in Pennsylvania alone in 2017. Each of these crystal-filled baggies have been strung onto various lengths of monofilament (30# Fishing Line) and gently dangle from above. The artist, Maria Maneos and various participants including: those who are in recovery from addiction, some who are in active addiction, friends and family of those who have lost a loved one to this disease, people who have been assigned to her nonprofit program titled- Brush with the Law – with community service hours to fulfill in Montgomery County, PA due to dui’s or other crimes that are associated with addiction, and high school students from the Ambler, PA area have all worked together on stuffing the baggies with the crystal beads and then stringing all of the baggies onto the various lines of monofilament to create this beautifully, horrific sculpture to illuminate and bring awareness to this epidemic affecting so many around the nation. It's one thing to hear the numbers, but a whole other experience to see them.
"5535- 2017"
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_YCAeiEdAiBc
Pennsylvania Art fo the State Winner Maria Maneos for the sculpture chandelier titled 5535-2017. The number 5535 is the amount of people who died from heroin overdoses in PA during the year of 2017. There is a crystal bead stuffed into 5535 glassine baggies that were strung onto monofilament and hung from the ceiling to display a beautiful looking crystal sculpture that seemed like a rainfall of light, it wasn't till one understood what the sculpture stood for that it became captivating.
5535-2017
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_uD4a-jR9CgM
TERMINAL is a song written about Death by Incarceration (DBI) or also known as Life Without Parole. Pennsylvania, where these two inmates, Cody Stuhltrager and Robert LaBarr who wrote this song are housed, is a state that enforces sentences of life without parole or death by incarceration. This is a short preview of the song and video. Please like and share if you can... The video is being developed by Brush With the Law artist and director, Maria Maneos. TERMINAL By: Robert LaBarr and Cody Stuhltrager (inmates at SCI Phoenix - aka Graterford) Sung by artist Andrew Lipke of Philadelphia, Pa Video being created by BWTL director and artist Maria Maneos ***Facebook automatically trims video longer than 1minute, so 26 seconds of the video is missing... it’s also on our Instagram page with the ending intact 👍🏼👌🏼 Beginning lyrics: Get up when you fall, that’s what they always told me destructive patterns drawn, got caught up in the fold blind and reckless paths, fusses burning slowly destined for a crash, mourning and confusion I wish these wounds would heal But it’s terminal, a spiraling distress, a never answered why? terminal, it’s one life laid to rest and another cast aside it’s the end of the line
TERMINAL DBI
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_j4WqXYDULuk
Adding guarded edge for puring resin onto mosaic table top
Mosaic table edging
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_Q9htG7TwYQU
old table headed to landfill upcycled with beautiful glass, tiles and resin by brush with the law artists and community service volunteers
Mosaic Patio Table
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_3AR-j4cQBkg
Brush With the Law had the opportunity to connect with the Peer Support Recovery Ministry program @newhanoverlutheranchurch @nhelchurch around beautifying their exterior walls. This past Saturday the event was led by the Director of the Peer Support Recovery Ministry who is also a Brush With the Law board member, Ryan Schweiger. The Peer Support Recovery Ministry staff and participants helped with the designing, planning and the making of a nonpermanent mural using chalk and pastels with two local recovery houses from the Pottstown area - men from @rightdirectionliving and women from @anotherdayclean . The food ministry of the church provided the group with lunch and refreshments. Also want to thank and give a shout out to @Rick Scott @rickdarula007 for taking drone video and photo footage of the making process. BWTL was happy to facilitate and be part of this super fun recovery community building activity of about 15 participants. Thanks NHELC neighbors for being a vessel of change in the Gilbertsville and surrounding communities! #recovery #faith # art #feedthehungry #buildingcommunity #chalkart #muralart #gilbertsville #pottstown # boyertown #limerick #montgomerycountypa If you or an organization would like to do something like this or maybe you have something else in mind entirely and would like BWTL to be a part of please contact the director of the program, Maria Maneos brushthelaw@gmail.com www.brushwiththelaw.org If someone is in need of peer recovery support in the Gilbertsville surrounding area contact: peersupport@newhanoverlutheran.org http://www.newhanoverlutheran.org/peersupportministry.php If you or someone you know is in need of recovery housing in the Pottstown surrounding area please visit: Another Day clean http://www.anotherdayclean.com/ Right Direction Living (RDL) https://www.facebook.com/Rightdirectionliving/
Non permanent chalk mural
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_dgHkXMFBoVA
Family play room dedicated to female inmates at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville, PA. It is a safe environment for children to visit with their incarcerated loved ones.
Family Play room at MCCF
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_wRiNJ1kzRn0
Mural painted inside of female visitation area painted in a private room for kids and moms to visit together apart from the rest of the visitors.
20160715 124013 002 001
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_7uqM7OyRFDE
Royersford Victory Park. Brush With the Law and its volunteers painted the beams located under the pavilion area seen in the video.
Royersford Victory Park Beams
YouTube Video UCszT4NgjMEEiIHuIWDYGtyw_gdKaXNsLJMA
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Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts

4 weeks ago

Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts
🥰 Below is the mural we did Penn Foundation ‘s Village of Hope. We painted together with residents, clients, and staff patterns of brain neurons and pathways, thoughts on addiction, individual drawings, poems, hopes, and dreams. We are sharing this now because students from S.A.H.S. and part of the Pathways360 program ( a program designed for post high school goals) visited Penn’s campus and learned about the mural which they then shared on social media various posts about it. We just wanted to say thank you to the students for appreciating this mural enough to have shared what they learned about it with others.#recovery #nevergiveupToday, we are sharing the third in our post series from the students at Souderton Area High School. Students in the school's Pathways 360 program visited our campus in late June to learn about careers in human services and created social media posts on what they learned. This post showcases the art mural at our Village of Hope, which was created by clients and staff alike to instill hope, inspire change, and build community! ... See MoreSee Less

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Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts is at Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard, Inc.

1 month ago

Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts
Check out the article written in today’s paper by Rachel Ravina of @lansreporter in regards to the mural we are installing at Mattie N. Dixon in Ambler pawww.thereporteronline.com/local-news/make-it-more-beautiful-mural-installed-at-mattie-dixon-commu...#mural #publicart #communityart ... See MoreSee Less

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Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts

1 month ago

Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts
This amazing group of people at Hopeworx are holding this fundraiser of throwing water balloons at us so we can raise funds for our art classes!! Hopeworx is the nonprofit of Norristown who gives us BWTL the space to do the work we do! To say we love them is an understatement! Brush with the law could not exist without them!Sue ,Ameika, Kevin, Bryan, Maria, Dion, Maureen,Penny, Gene to the 🌙 and back. It’s what home feels like ... See MoreSee Less

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Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts is at Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard, Inc.

1 month ago

Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts
We started installing the mural for Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard in Ambler this past week. We were on our way to having it up and done until we ran out of the adhesive gel and found out that there’s an acrylic (?) shortage and the gel we typically use by @goldenpaints is out of stock till who knows when. We found something called super gel @novapaintoficial on the west coast and are awaiting delivery next week so we can start up the installation again and get this #badboy up on the wall for the community to enjoy. Hopefully, this new brand of gel that we will use is just as great as the golden kind we use.🤞If you’d like to learn how to install a mural or just paint some touch ups then come on out and help. DM or comment for more info. The cool blonde chick 🐥 lol you see in the video is an @amblermainstreet resident and just happened to be walking by and asked if she could help and WOW 🤩 were we thrilled. Contact us if you’d like to help! #ittakesavillage #muralpainting #murals #montgomerycountypa #communityart #foodpantry #amblerpa #ambler ... See MoreSee Less

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Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts

2 months ago

Brush With the Law - Community Service Arts
If anyone wants to come volunteer today and help us tie crystals to the garden fencing at Martha’s Community Farm in Audobon across the street from St. Gabe’s we would ♥️ to see you!!! ... See MoreSee Less

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