NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Kids -- the premier non-profit organization in New York City that teaches underserved high school students about international issues -- will open a new exhibition space for global cultural arts and photography in its headquarters in Manhattan. The first exhibit at the new gallery, presented by Global Kids (GK) in collaboration with Deviwo Projects, will feature youth photography from the Zongo Junction Youth Photo Program in Accra, Ghana.
The opening event will take place on Friday, December 5th from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at the Global Kids headquarters at 137 East 25th Street (2nd Floor) in Manhattan (Subways: 6, R, W). The press is invited to attend this special event. The public is also invited to attend for free.
The Ghanian photo exhibition will remain open to the public free of charge for the month of December, Mondays-Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Forty Global Kids Youth Leaders from all across New York City will attend the opening exhibition. The exhibit will serve as a link between the New York students, who regularly participate in workshops about global issues, and youth in Ghana.
This exhibit is expected to be the first of several projects between Global and Deviwo Projects. The two groups are in discussions about conducting a joint cultural program for Ghanian and New York City youth.
The reactions of the GK Leaders to the photography will be documented, posted on Deviwo's website (www.deviwo.org), and shared with the youth in Ghana.
Prints and photo books of the Ghanian photography will be on sale at the exhibit. Books are suggested for use in elementary and middle school classrooms to engage students in discussions surrounding the experiences of children around the world.
All sales proceeds will benefit the Deviwo Projects Scholarship Fund, supporting the student photographers through high school.
The Zongo Junction Youth Photo Program was made possible by funding from the SNAP Foundation (www.snapfoundation.org).
Global Kids, in addition to conducting traditional academic workshops, integrates arts education programs to inform youth about global issues and help them create social change. GK's Undesirable Elements, a youth-led program conducted in collaboration with Ping Chong Theater Company, engages New York City public high school students with music, poetry, dance, personal storytelling, and world history to create a work examining issues such as racial inequalities and immigration.
Global Kids, Inc. (www.globalkids.org): Founded in 1989 and an independent nonprofit since 1993, Global Kids educates and inspires urban youth to become successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over ninety percent of the high school seniors who participate in Global Kids' leadership program graduate from high school.
The Global Kids, Inc. logo is available athttp://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4850
About Deviwo Projects (www.deviwo.org): Deviwo Projects is a collective of visual artists, writers and teachers from Ghana and the U.S. who seek to enable youth in Ghana with the skills to document, preserve and re-invent their own culture using words and images. Deviwo Projects creates workshops in the documentary arts and produce exhibitions, which generate scholarships for formal education. Deviwo Projects was formed in response to a growing sentiment that Africa, a continent of diverse people and cultures, has become narrowly defined -- both in the West and by many within Africa itself -- through the words and lenses of foreign visitors.
About SNAP Foundation (www.snapfoundation.org): "Seeking Needed Actions for Peace" partners with U.S.-based organizations serving young people in regions of the world that are marked by violence, extreme poverty and war, by providing cameras and lesson plans that enable young people in these conflict-torn regions to tell their stories and promote peaceful solutions.