BRONX, NY.- The Bronx Museum of the Arts announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to launch smARTpowerSM, a new international exchange program in which 15 American visual artists will travel abroad to collaborate with local artists and youth in creating community-based projects in 15 countries around the world. Locations planned for inclusion in the program include: China, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Venezuela. The Bronx Museum will work with the State Department to select visual artists from across the United States who will travel to these countries to collaborate on the creation of new interactive programs and works of art beginning in May 2011. smARTpower is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and designed by the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

“smARTpower is the Department’s first major initiative to send visual artists and their work beyond museum walls to work with youth and the local community,” said Ann Stock, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. “The arts have the unique ability to bridge differences and bring people and cultures together.”

“smARTpower is a natural extension of our mission and programming, and we are thrilled to be able to bring this initiative to an international audience,” said Holly Block, Director of the Bronx Museum of the Arts. “Part of our mission is to collect and exhibit the work of Latin American, African, and Asian visual artists, providing the Museum with strong ties to a network of international communities that we can work with in implementing this program. We are grateful to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State for choosing us to partner with them, and for sharing our belief in the transcendent power of art.”