Flower Power

Joy Elisabeth Waldinger is a community artist, educator and writer from Philadelphia. Her work explores a variety of topics: the human condition, connection to nature, and responsibility to the planet to ensure generations to come while restoring connections in fractured communities. She believes that art, in any of its forms, is a powerful tool that can generate change on a personal, local and global level. Art is healing. She has worked for WHYY, The Mural Arts Program, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Wagner Free Institute of Science and many other Philadelphia organizations and schools. She creates and shares her work digitally and through exhibitions. For example, she has exhibited at The Abington Art Center, Temple University: Tyler School of Art, The Resource Exchange, PhilaMOCA, The Brooklyn Art Library via the Sketchbook Project, Temple University Rome for their Tiny Biennale Art Show etc. She has also been published in: Philly Voice, CRED magazine, The Sun Magazine etc. Her goals as an artist and educator involve inspiring young people to make change through the means of art and to continue her own art practice, which sets out to raise awareness of environmental issues. She has been competing in the Philadelphia Flower Show for four years as an artist and as an educator. Last year her 8th period art class won Honorable Mention in the Pocket Garden Class with their piece titled: What Ails You? where they designed a small space with herbs and plants to cure “what ails you”. Their entry was a free-standing sculpture that involved an easel complete with many pockets and live plants. Students were inspired by artwork by Peter Max (pop artist of the 1960s). Look for their Mrs. Joy's Art Class next year as they will be competing again in The Philadelphia Flower Show 2021: Habitat."