PRESS & MEDIA
Wonderfolk in the news! See below for media inquiries.
Teen painters complete mural at soon-to-debut Arts Plaza Apartments
The Outlook
“We are inspired by Wonderfolk’s mission and we’re really focused on supporting their work with students,” said Taylor Kaplan, co-founder of Gibbins Kaplan Development. “When the deep connection to Gresham with the Wonderfolk students came forth and the city was so supportive, this whole project felt like the right idea in the right place at the right time.
“We are so honored to have Christian and the student’s artwork on the building,” Kaplan added.”
Diverse group of Portland students who traveled to Costa Rica are creating a documentary about it
KGW8
“PORTLAND, Ore. — It's a summer of fun and learning for a group of Portland students.
A service project through the Portland non-profit Wonderfolk, a youth development organization, is giving a diverse group of students from lower-income backgrounds a chance to grow by doing new things. Including learning new moves in a recent Costa Rica trip and documenting all of it along the way.”
BIPOC students create mural on NE Portland street with youth development organization
Fox 12 Oregon
“A youth development organization called Wonderfolk paired up with BIPOC youth to create a public art project on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Northeast Stanton and Northeast Morris street. The project was funded by a grant from Pacific Power and is the third mural Wonderfolk has collaborated with students to create.”
9-Course Spiel: Wonderfolk
Jacobsen Salt Co.
“Founded in 2015, Wonderfolk is a youth-leadership development organization that provides accelerated leadership development through travel and local civic engagement experience aimed at addressing the opportunity gap for BIPOC teenagers and their communities. For the last two years, the Jacobsen Co. Hive Program has partnered with the organization as a part of Wonderfolk’s Our Naturehood program, inviting student fellows to partake in a two-part series about beekeeping, honeybees and habitat restoration within the PDX community. Aimed at introducing the cohort to beekeeping from a 360-degree perspective, it begins with a springtime hive site visit focused on pollinator habitat and the innerworkings of a healthy hive and culminates in a late-summer lesson in honey harvesting. Wonderfolk’s 2021 cohort was the first group we ever hosted at our Portland Riverfront Apiary and we’re excited to be entering into our third season working together.”
Students Paint Mural About Healing
City of Portland
“The Arbor Lodge neighborhood has a new mural expressing healing, growth, and power. The mural, titled "The Shirley," was designed and painted by artist and activist Salomee Souag and students in the youth-leadership organization Global Works Community Fund. The mural contains only five colors, all a calming shade of blue, showing two figures planting seeds while a river runs between them.”
Empowering Youth in the Woods
Oregon Wild
“When Mark Bennett, the director of *Wonderfolk, reached out to Oregon Wild about doing a hike or workshop with this year’s cohort of youth at first I thought “Yes, great! I love leading hikes!” My later thought was “Oh no! Teens!” I shouldn’t have been worried. Not only were these teens eager hikers, they also asked great questions and absorbed information about fire ecology, forests and climate change, and river and salmon health like sponges.”
Teens learn to change the world
Concordia News
“When Concordian Mark Bennett was 16, little did he know a summer trip to give service in rural Costa Rica would be the beginning of his life’s work. His experience set a foundation to explore other international educational experiences, shaped his worldview and he eventually brought it back home. Mark was fortunate to have parents who could fund his journey, and he recognized other students may not be as privileged.”
Media Inquiries