New update

Working in Progress "Fundraiser Event May 18th, 2014"

 During this Spring Break, I was trying my best to create a good looking nice website about the Filbert Street Community Garden and the Event this May 18th, 2014 .=> Fundraiser Event Website 2014
This website also  show the focused point of recycling trash issue in society, Mapping Bay Brook, history of Brooklyn-Curtis Bay... and much more.  My suggestion is to hear more IRC fellows, Jason Reed, and American Studies students to come up with an public and playful website about trash, solid waste, art work, material culture and fundraiser event plan, photos and information.  
I also did three flyers for this event. Hope that i will get some feed back about this design.

Floor Plan Ideas "Fundraising May 18th"

My World through Drawing

               Of the many things I work, create as human beings, the most excitement and basic might be sharing stories- a sense of community. Working with BHST and others fellows, I have more than enough just to look around ourselves and notice what awesome semester is like here “ To Learn, To Develop, To Share, To Draw, and To Design” together.  I have been blessed! 

              Even though that was the first time I came to Benjamin High School, and there were only two students from BHST, and seven IRC fellows. However, i believe that the more i know them, the more they can tell me their different stories, different understandings of the world through out  their drawing. 

The Portrait Story

Title: The portrait story

From : the eldest community Brooklyn-Curtis Bay

Date: March 6th, 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiITwdEydv8&feature=youtu.be

I edited Karen's portrait-story last two week, but I still remembered until now when her first time came to Curtis Bay, how she felt and why she laughed at…etc. Her story inspired me strongly! She had some sense of humor when she talked about how beauty of the view from the Curtis Bay elementary school, about things changed around her life. However, in that laugh, quite simply, there were Hope and Dream in her story. I know that it is hard to stay the same way they were before, but sometimes people need a hope to push in the right direction to succeed. Karen had hope that someday this community will have a lot of green, healthy environment, and a community-managed food source, everyone in this community would be compatible and happy again. 

I will do if you will

After attending the conference " Natural Connections_ Linking Art, Nature & Environmental Education 2014", I learned a lot about the relationship between child and nature, and how to create a visual art in abstract way which can use to design new environment  for our living. 

However, modern humans such as young adult, parents have not involve or live in intimate contact with nature more than decades. This is a reason they do not allow their generation, their children to grow up with intimate contact with nature at all. The lives of children today are much different. Children today have few opportunities for playing out door, planning trees, … There are four "wrong" boundaries that growing adult want to protect their children:

1. Criminalization of Nature Play ( none planned community)

2. The Ecology of Fear ( due to stranger danger around society, and neighbors, parents afraid for their children's safety, and no longer free to play outside)

3. Separation from Food Origins ( Culture of childhood has move away, the child has failed to learn, to see the real nature world outside)

4. End of Biological Absolutes ( modern science become regular human lifestyle, trash is their issue, do not have much knowledge and appreciation of nature world)

My heart is hurt more when I think about the children, teenagers,  the people have been living in Brooklyn-Curtis Bay since decades. Especially most of the children and students's lives, they disconnected from the natural world, and their experiences are smelling , seeing those industry trash every single day. They could not even play outdoor, or run to their neighbors because of stranger-criminal. They lost their trust, lost their innocent childhood…. What do I think? How do I feel? 

 Through the Project "Filbert St. Community Garden" has been building and improving by Jason Reed, with many outreach from school programming and community organization, they carefully bring the green back to the children here  an outdoor education space. Trees gives Food and shelter to animals, and people enjoy them. What a wonderful time! There are HoPE somewhere. 

On the other hand, I want to work harder to address the trash issue. Reading the book "Waste and Want- A social history of trash" by Susan Strasser, I learn so much and understand more about the problems and solutions. I want to SHARE few ideas which may help 

1. Create a "Pick Knick Knacks 's Day" ( pick up trash and recycle old junk) .  IRC, AMST, students, community organization Brooklyn, Curtis Bay will inspired others or even themselves to try TURNING SOME TRASH into a TREASURE "SCUPLTURE" of their own, and exhibit in their gallery.=> quotes for that day " One person's trash is another person's treasure" 

2. Create a game " Built-A-Nest" Bird from whatever student, and everyone clean up from the Garden=> IRC, AMST will Help the student make their own bird's nest using recycle paper, mud, ..which they collect around the garden, or their school 

3. Create a Outdoor Day that students and anyone from community will focus their warming, sunny Day to observe the natural components of the environment at Brooklyn/ Curtis Bay. Then, they will DRAWING (sketch) and WRITING (emphasize)  to detail about what they think, what they see, and their act. => This Nature Journals of this community will be a STRONG EVIDENCES to show in the EVENT Fair Development and the campaign to stop the incinerator (december 10th https://www.facebook.com/FreeYourVoiceGroup)

( I hope I am not writing too much and boring you guys but This is how I strongly want to do)

p/s: there are few pic from Growing Wildlife session i joined yesterday at the conference. It is really really fun, and helpful. and I LOVE it!

Free Your Voice

"Free Your Voice is a human rights committee of the United Workers. We are a group of students in Curtis Bay and Brooklyn joining together to advance Fair Development that puts community needs first. We are currently working to stop the nations’ largest trash burning incinerator from being built less than a mile away from our school. Please share this video to spread the word and join us on December 10th at 3 pm for our action to Stop the Incinerator" by BHST Free Your Voice  and other project videos.
Link to Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FreeYourVoiceGroup

OUR GREEN RECYCLE 's DAY

After reading two blog from American Studies Student ( Bonnie Bowen, and Chris Byars) , I have come to define my understanding of Filbert Street Fundraising Event in term of the four important goals:

1. Raising $10.000 for the management of Filbert St. Community Garden (only temporary)

2. Bring back the Health and the Beauty of this community in 10 years at least

3. Create strongly Education Space for students and people in the community.

4. Working to stop the largest trash burning incinerator from being built in the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay community. 

 It will be pointless to research, work hard to find the best way to improve the community by the same time ALL these company, industries are strongly growing, building on the top of the most historic Baltimore city. Are we talking about young children, college students, senior citizen have to leave their own "HOME" to go somewhere else…etc.

However,  We might not fix  anything, BUT learning from Jason Reed today through the Filbert Garden field trip, I feel that all of us (Baltimore Community Fellowship and other volunteers )will transform this community into a vibrant green space joy of life. 

I am now writing, designing and planing several ideas of "Our Green Recycle". This is just a name in  a second.!! 

_ We will create a Day to pick up all the trash around the community garden and school. 

_ Keep all the recycle trash to build up a path, or place to held the plant.

_Planting vegetable such as Cilantro, Chinese coriander, coriander, Mint…etc http://vietherbs.com ( really easy to grow, to plant without taking care them)
_ We will share to all the community including with the instruction how to plant these herbs

(most of this vegetable-herbs are easy to grow and heathy. Vietnamese people ate this during World War to keep them healthy, and stay stronger during the Agent Orange _ Herbicide Orange. Because the agent Orange was strong toxic, and cause cancer, birth defects, which is similar with the smell from the industry) 

COMMUNITY MURALS

I have been painted a lot canvas 4x4, or 5 x 10 feet long, and murals like 7 to 8 feet tall back my country (Vietnam). When I came to USA in 2007 to continue my education, i also did another mural "We the People" designed by Dr. Robert Hieronimus  last summer 2013. And I know that my natural impulse is to paint, draw and design something….But, I always have been asked myself question " is it because i can not do anything else than painting, drawing that is why i am good at it? Why do I like painting Mural? Public Mural projects - How murals benefit the community?.." And the answer is only one :" Murals can bring Positive Things into a Place, and Murals tell The Stories- Messages".

 I may paint for no other reason than to understand the whole world around them. I am curious, nervous, but also excited to Touch, to Feel to Paint the Spirit and the Peace sign in the mural. A while ago, I used to assume that murals were unique artwork for the public park, culture pride, or neighborhood pride. But the more I learn, the more i understand that Mural is our Message, our Hope. 

This is a reason why i am so graceful, extremely excited to do the next  Brooklyn Library 's Mural with IRC Fellows, AMST, BHST, and people in community.  And I am strongly believe that this mural  will improve the Health and well being of people in community, will bring back the beauty of Filbert Street and Fairfield before. I Believe it!!

p/s: the short video shows the mural in industrial Brooklyn-Curtis Bay community. Others are some of Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural. (I took pic of them when I went back my country last two months)

T-Shirt Design ideas

Thought….

The social responsibility project "Preserving Places, Making Spaces in Baltimore"  has the potential to learn, understand , engage, communicate and heal in some ways of health, environmental, education and social of Brooklyn-Curtis Bay. Using The Arts and our aspects of the program's activities, all fellows, professors and faculty has the power and responsibility to create positive change for the community. This project implies that all media artwork used for the developing of Brooklyn-Curtis Bay will bring a great benefit to the recipients, and create a unique experiential pedagogy for Benjamin Franklin High School and teachers.  
We seek to IRC program by inspiring, educating and interesting through the art that can provoke social awareness ad responsibility. For example, after learning and discussion about an installation titled "Revival Field: Project and Procedure" by Sculptor Mel Chin, the divisions were guided us to create and helping Brooklyn-Curtis Bay's environment, health and seek collaboration with academic departments  and the community. We also learn, and invite artists and other volunteer to IRC Program as inspiration for creative new initiatives, and gain a basic understanding of multicultural arts performances, exhibition such as Mark Dion, Jason Reed. We are continuing learn more about recoiling plays a role in Mark Dion's environmental politics and his art.On the other hand, each fellows creates different ideas how to contribute to the Fundraising project on May 11th, 2014, which has the potential to promote the Filbert Street Garden Fundraising event on December 10th, 2014. My ideas and excitement about this project are  planning a tour-UMBC bus for high school students to visit, share their story, their thought-question, artwork to the elder-retirement of the community; preparing, set up the headline timing for BFHS student, fellows for the next Fundraising event on December 10th; create a simple, clean Web about Fundraising Event December, 2014 INCLUDING: show the money from fundraising from the past-present-continue in Summer, event times, things going on, shop, Food & beverage selling for Fundraising, location-office to donate or buy ticket, or register online/FB, enabling online showing bidding on AUCTION ITEMS, instruction for how to donate online, office (check, cash, debit..);Create a stage Live music/ performance on stage from fellows, volunteers, BFHS student, teachers, professors; create a exhibition by BFHS- using cheap material, or the “packaging ” materials to create a costume, mask about environment, health. I also want to create a Fashion show from the Filbert St, Garden Community  (fashion show's  example ideas http://www.inamaterialworld.com/news.html)..etc 

To achieve our goals for two fundraising event, we need to focus and CREATE more ideas, CHANGE on the education, health, nature and environment, which is also build up the relationship, the TRUST between IRC fellows, faculty and the community, even though we might not resolve the society issues and economy.