We've been about art education since the start.
LensBright Initiative was founded by film makers and photographers dedicated to developing lens-based educational and vocational opportunities for West philadelphia high school students.
Building on our successful art mentorship program, we're expanding access to photography and film for students passionate about telling their stories.
January 2025
LensBright launches new pilot programming
LensBright launched new pilot programming in photography and animation and film, engaging 20 university students from institutions across Philadelphia as mentors to create real world professional lens based projects in animation and photography with high school students from West Philadelphia.
Our past PAAM and current LensBright mentors include:Alice Choi (Penn), Ani Nguyen Le (Penn), Anna Frankl (Penn), Angela Wu (Penn), Arielle Bennett (Penn), Candice Huang (Penn), Casey Lin (Penn), Cina He (Penn), Ejun Hong (Penn), Elom Vedomey (Penn), Ethan Richards (Drexel), Ethan Young (Penn), Felicitas Tananibe (Penn), Isha Bhandaru (Penn), Jack Roney (Penn), Joaquin Weeks (Penn), Julian Rivera (Temple), Larry Sotingco (Temple), Nik Davis (Penn), Mendel Socolovsky (Penn), Minnie Kim (Penn), Molly Danisavich (Temple), Omaya Torres (Penn), Pace Ford (Agnes Scott College), Pavel Peev (Penn), Phillip Dartnell (Temple), Saige Park (Penn), Tamar Nalbandian (Temple), Tanner Kelton (Penn), Jake Falconer (Penn), Alan Zhang (Penn), Doaa Adam (Penn)October 2025
LensBright commences programming with PAAM
During the Fall 2025 semester, LensBright continued animation and film programming with PAAM, expanding the program to include seven university students from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and Temple University.
July 2025
PIXEL becomes LenBright Initiative
PIXEL was renamed the LensBright Initiative to better reflect our mission and values.
April 2025
PIXEL wins 2025 UPenn President's Engagement Prize
Ejun Hong, PAAM Founder and Animation Mentor, and Jack Roney, PAAM Photography Mentor, designed an expansion of PAAM called PIXEL (Project for Inspiring eXpression, Education, and Leadership) and received the University of Pennsylvania’s 2025 President’s Engagement Prize. The prize is competitively awarded to academically excellent and civically engaged Penn seniors to support the design and implementation of fully funded engagement projects with $150,000 in funding.
October 2024
PAAM mentors envision lens-based expansion
To further student involvement in lens based storytelling and a peer to peer mentorship structure, a team of PAAM mentors, six Sayre High School students, an orchestra, and university faculty collaborated to create Footprints in the Sand (2025), a mixed media stop motion animated documentary that later received three awards and seven official selections at international film festivals. Recognizing students’ strong interest in lens based arts, particularly photography, film, and animation, and the powerful impact of project based peer to peer mentorship, PAAM mentors began envisioning a more lens focused initiative.
May 2024
PAAM completes first year of programming
Within one year, PAAM grew from five to 18 mentors and from six to 40 mentees. This growth resulted in (1) 60 art workshops; (2) three exhibitions and two art sales in collaboration with Moore College of Art and Design and the University of Pennsylvania; (3) four meetings with industry professionals from Sony Animation, Marvel, Pixar, DreamWorks, and LAIKA; (4) $9,000 in secured funding; and (5) expanded collaboration with the Netter Center, the Fine Arts & Design Department, the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, and the Cinema and Media Studies Department. Most importantly, we formed strong and meaningful relationships between university mentors and high school mentees, further strengthening both the program and the art-making process.
December 2023
First PAAM art exhibition & student art sale
To celebrate the first semester of PAAM, we collaborated with a course in the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pennsylvania and hosted an art exhibition where students showcased their work and connected with additional university students and faculty.
October 2023
PAAM launches first semester programming
The first semester of PAAM began with five art mentors from the University of Pennsylvania and six art mentees, all of whom shared a deep passion for art. During the semester, high school students participated in a range of workshops, including flipbook animation, logo design, zoetrope creation, stop-motion animation, house model building, UI/UX design, storyboarding, and painting. Students also had the opportunity to connect with an editor from Marvel Studios, an animation director from DreamWorks, and a stop-motion animator who worked on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
August 2023
Ejun Hong founds PAAM
Participatory Action Art Mentorship (PAAM) is an after-school arts education program at Sayre High School in which art students from the University of Pennsylvania mentor high school students in animation, architecture, design, photography, and other creative disciplines. Developed to address the lack of arts education in West Philadelphia, PAAM is the result of a collaboration among the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, William L. Sayre High School, and university art and design students.
