Volunteer week - MEND

For my volunteer assignment I voulenteerd at MEND in the San Fernando Valley. I brought clothes from my closet that I did not wear anymore and that didn't fit me, some shoes, jackets, and a umbrella. I took my box of donations down and volunteered sorting clothes and electronics for most of my afternoon. MEND has impacted so many families in such a posititve way it even blessed my own grandparents.

My families history with MEND dates back to the Sylmar Earthquake back in 1971. My mother and my grandmother were making food early in the morning for their family. Being in the kitchen when the Earthquake hit they were exposed to the shattering of all their plates and glasses. My grandparents were poor imigrants who came from Mexico for better opporunity in America raising 5 children and sacrificed to send them to private catholic schools for a better education. Ultimately they could not afford to replace all their damaged plates due to their financial inability. 

My mother and her siblings ate off of paper plates and paper cups for a few months in the aftermath of the earthquake until MEND donated boxes full of mismatched plates and glass cups. 

Week 7- Community Service

So I complete misinterpreted this assignment I thought we had to find a location to volunteer at by this point not complete it.  I do still plan to complete my original idea which is to volunteer at the Santa Clarita Community Center to gain an avenue to in turn complete my final project which would involve the children of this community center.  However I didn't wasn't to come empty handed so I started thinking about what I could talk about. I came up with this, My girlfriend is a occupational therapist and treats children with special needs. Raising a child is hard enough and consumes all parents time already, raising a child with special needs makes that task even harder due to the child's complications. Every year her out patient clinic offers a "parent night out" which provides a free four hour open gym(not for treatment more like a special needs daycare) in which all parents that have children that are seen by the therapists at the clinic can come drop there kids off, all of them, those seen and other children they have, to allow them a break and a special night for themselves. All of which is of no charge which to put into perspective a half hour section with a therapist costs in the hundreds of dollars.  Because there are only so many therapists and there are SOOO many kids they ask for friends and family that are good with children to come out and lend a hand.  I have no clinical training in this other than what I received as an EMT when I was a firefighter so my sole occupation in this situation was a play toy. Which might I add was awesome. I feel that me volunteering was more of a learning platform for me than what I could provide for the kids. What I mean by this is that for me to be able to communicate with these kids I have to find a way to engage them on there level. It was like a practice of explain an idea for a design 50 different ways but coming to the same conclusion. It made me think outside the box in how to relate to someone with a different perspective. Also I love playing with these kids they are wacky. And when the parents come back they look so rejuvenated that it makes the whole thing worth while.

Week Seven - Community Service

While there are plenty of things someone can volunteer for just in the nearby community, sometimes finding those opportunities are the hardest part of volunteering your time. For me, ironically, it kinda just plopped into my life and I said yes. As I was recently the lighting programmer for The Hendrix Project that went up in the E407 space, a class of stage managers asked if they could come in and mess around with our rig to see what it is like to call a show or be a board-op. So, I diligently walked them through the basics of the rig and what everything does and how we are controlling it for this show in particular. Then we moved on to calling the show which involved 3 full runs of the show from top to bottom. All in all, it was kinda fun to spend a Friday with these new SM students and introducing them to different ways of running a show or calling it especially for this one since it was completely music.

Volunteer Service

Due to working on two shows since break I have not been able to volunteer my time outside of the school.  Although I have not been able to leave CalArts I have been trying to volunteer my time at school when I can.  I have spent numerous hours helping my peers with their productions and shows and I will be volunteering my time this weekend in the Lund to help a friend with their dance piece.  Since I cannot really talk about my service this month I thought I would reflect on past volunteering I have done.  Every summer I spend a month and a half working for a non-profit theater company called Young People’s Theater Project.  I volunteer my time to help teach kids about technical direction, lighting, and theater overall.  This program helps kids get exposed to the arts and to participate in something bigger then themselves.  Along with this non-profit, I participate in food drives around the holidays.  During these food drives I help canvas for food and deliver it to families in need.

volunteering

I did not get a chance to volunteer before the due date but I am helping a friend out in the Lund this weekend with their production.  I have done quite a few different volunteer work in the past though and figured I could just reflect on one of those.  During high school I volunteered with a program called Portland Junior Scientists (PJS) a couple times each week.  This was a program that was started by students at my high school in which after school we would go to less privileged areas and teach middle school kids some science experiments.  This was a way for us to get kids excited about science and other activities that they may not be exposed to or have the chance to do given their circumstances.  I would volunteer at two or three schools each week but would sometimes go to more schools if someone couldn't make it that week. It was really cool to connect with my community, some of these schools were right near my house, and to get young minds excited about science considering most of these schools didn't have the budget to offer decent science classes.  Overall it was a great experience and I had a lot of fun reaching out to my community.

Volunteering

I had a bit of trouble holding to some of my volunteering obligations over the last few weeks. I have already been involved in a few organizations for some time, and drop in to give my time when I can. I'm writing about them briefly incase anyone is interested in becoming involved. This includes donating platelets to the UCLA blood and platelet donation center. Donating platelets is actually about a 1.5-2 hour process due to interviewing and then the actual donation. This is a  bit different from giving blood, as platelets donations are used within 3 days of donation. You can donate every 7 days, as the amount you donate regenerates in your body roughly after 24 hours. Unfortunately, I was not well enough this month to donate. (There's something going around CalArts..) The other opportunity I try to take advantage of is at the Gentle Barn. This is a non profit animal rescue that takes in abused animals and gives them a second chance at life. These animals are used to help at risk children in the community, and is open to visitors every week. I had the privilege of visiting over the summer when my family, who are super hard core animal lovers/vegans. I absolutely fell in love with the animals and the cause, and filled an application to become a volunteer. Volunteers are needed Sundays when the sanctuary is open to visitors. Volunteers often rely the animal's stories and show people how to properly interact with the animals. This unfortunately didn't work with my schedule during our assignment block.

So instead of working with a cause I'm usually involved in, I found an opportunity on campus. I ran into a grad student at Tatum who was in a bit of distress trying to design his recital posters. He had a really amazing idea for his posters he wasn't sure how to execute. I went ahead and met with him, and decided to put in the time to gather the supplies he needed, design the poster, and construct them, and help put them around campus.  In the end, it was a small thing in the grander big picture, but it really meant a lot to him. It relieved him of a lot of stress as he was putting together the music, trying to find work for after graduation, and other issues. It was just nice to do something for someone in the community who really needed some support.

Volunteer Experience

For my volunteer work I was lucky enough to aid a friend with her passion as well as one of my own. I went with my roommate Madeline Quint to the Shelter Hope Pet Shop to volunteer for a day. The Shelter Hope Pet Shop is a 'non profit volunteer based pet shop that showcases animals available for in store adoption'. Madeline is training to be a professional dog trainer and last semester adopted a female German Shepard who was previously heated and abused whilst living on the streets. When I saw how Madeline was able to help the dog that is now our beloved roommate and give her a new life, I was inspired to help animals myself.

I sent in an application online. When I took a year out after high school I spent three months working at an anti-bullying charity in London called 'The Diana Award'. There I was able to further learn computer skills and data entry as well as recruitment for the charity. Thus I was put to work using my skills to fill in data about the new dogs in the shelter and their background. Later in the day I filed documentation about the dogs. Some of the stories were heartbreaking. When Madeline took me to meet the dogs it was wonderful to see that they were in such a loving environment away from the people who neglected and abused them.

It was a very fulfilling day and I felt incredibly inspired and motivated to carry on working with the planet, we all deserve compassion.

Volunteer experience

Serendipitously, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Audubon Center at Debs Park on February 4th. I had initially gone to the Audubon Center for a free plant walk, but do to incorrect advertising the plant walk had already ended. As a result, one of the main staff who is also a volunteer coordinator, Alex Broad, invited me to join a small group of volunteers to plant native plants throughout the park. This is why I begin by describing the experience as quite serendipitous. Through volunteering I was able to learn about some of the local plant life. I also had the opportunity to plant California buckwheat and Yucca. Taking the time to plant on a beautiful Saturday morning in my community (I live walking distance to Debs Park), was not only rejuvenating, but also quite grounding. It ultimately reminded me of a native tradition one my dearest friends from Nicaragua has described to me, in which, once a child is born, the parents must bury the baby's umbilical cord next to the roots of a tree, so as to ground a person to a place that is home. Obviously, I'm not planting an umbilical cord, but I like to think of this experience of planting native plants in my new Los Angeles home as a grounding activity. Each time I go back to this park, I will be able to recognize the plants I've planted in a space used and enjoyed by the public and that in itself is a comforting and even magical thought. Coincidentally, on the that same day I went to the Hammer Museum, where I saw a work of art by Jimmie Durham, which is also a sort of synopsis on planting umbilical cords close to the roots of a tree (I attached a photo).

On another note, the time spent planting, while a very meditative activity also provided a context for conversation. I spent a lot of time talking to Alex (volunteer coordinator) who of course welcomed me to come back and volunteer, but on another note, he was also very excited to learn that I'm an artist and so we got to talking a lot about art and the political climate of today. We exchanged contact and have since communicated via email. After Alex had learned a bit more about my practice, he's invited me to lead healing resistance workshops at the Audubon Center, which is an exciting opportunity to interact with the public. At this moment, I have plans to return to the park on March 4th to do more volunteer work and further discuss the healing resistance workshop. Again, I think all of this played out quite serendipitously and I'm grateful that I was able to volunteer without any expectations, which in turn, was quite fruitful. I am excited to continue volunteering my time out in nature in my community/new home!

Jimmie Durham

Debs Park pamphlet on native plants

Contra-Tiempo

Questions:
When describing your participants in your summer intensive, why did you use the term "two spirit" in relation to gender? What inspired that term?

How did you start partnering with schools? Since a lot of your other programming is targeted to high school- college aged youth, are you going into middle and elementary schools?

How do you select music and sound? Do you ever partner with musicians?
(Definately curious about this after watching in the summer intensive video reel because of the  movement choreographed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech.)

How do you get joy (as a form of resistance) the publicity, media, and attention it needs? (JoyUs project)

Week 6

Jake Maize

These Cornerstone projects seem to have a special energy that is brought in by the community. Many of my questions about Cornerstone, and companies like them, were answered by the articles. Here are some of the questions I still have:


- Where does a Cornerstone project start?

- How long is a typical project’s timeline from initial idea to opening?

- When hosting conversations about topics that really matter, I’d imagine there are some heated debates. Is the primary goal to incite a debate or to reveal a sense of community?

- In the blog article “Skid Row Theater and the ‘Invisible’ Los Angeles” Michael Garcés said, “I often get asked the question: why do you make plays with communities? What do you hope to achieve? I get asked that by people from many backgrounds, but perhaps most often by people in the theater business. I'm also asked, perhaps even more often, what impact we hope to have -- on the people we are collaborating with, on the communities at large, on the field of theater making, on society.” I admit, these are basically the questions I had when I heard about Cornerstone. But my question now is: Do you ever have to make a sales pitch to the community for why this work matters or what your hoping to achieve?

Week 6

Questions:

1. Why did you involve Skid Row into this piece?
2. Who is your audience when it comes to your art?
3. What message are you conveying?
4. Why build these relationships with others?

I loved how they involved Skid Row into this project because they are important people. Community is important and to collaborate with art builds relationships and expression.

Cornerstone Theatre

Victor Murillo

1.  How does one get involved with Cornerstone Theatre?
2. When first coming up with "Love on San Pedro", where the stories selected by the Skid Row community or Cornerstone?
3. With such a negative reputation in the city, How does Skid Row feel about being represent by Cornerstone Theatre? Do they feel that this play will help create a strong positive bridge between surrounding communities?
4.  Cornerstone gives Skid Row a stage to speak on to the community. What can the community do to help Skid Row?
5. Have any Skid Row members spoken out against "Love on San Pedro"?

Watching the promotional videos of "Love on San Pedro" made me really want to see the play. I love how the actors, who are Skid Row community members, are very charismatic and happy in nature. in telling us about there play. The video is filled with venue information that one would ask when trying to see the play making it almost impossible to come up with an excuse to see the play. While the video is very happy in nature I makes me curious to see what they want to represent to the community with their show. I hope I can get the answers to all my questions tomorrow with our visit to the center.

Week Six - Cornerstone Theater

Reading about the work that Cornerstone is doing is something that is truly inspiring. As artists we always speak about how we can either engage the community or support a community and this is something that I see Cornerstone doing both of. Through their vast line of work, it is impressive to see how such a forthright and active group is striving on and seems to be even growing, however, with that comes a few questions.

- What is the auction process, especially for pieces like Love On San Pedro where there is a vast community with unknown skill sets?
- How is Cornerstone able to make a profit/capable of putting on these shows?
- Has Cornerstone ever brought a piece back or is it once and done?
- How are you able to hire designers, I saw that Shannon S. worked on one of your shows and if thats the case y'all are hiring professional designers, so...how?

Cornerstone

I really enjoyed reading about "Love on San Pedro" because of how much press there was.  I got the overview press release, the person interviews, the playwright's thoughts, and a ton of other information. Comparing "Love on San Pedro" to "Urban Rez," I felt I didn't get as much insight to the voices and community that made this play happen. With the members and cast from skid row, there was a stronger sense of the company in the community, listening to the community, and highlighting them. I feel I now have a stronger sense of what Cornerstone is about after reading a few of these articles and watching some of the video footage.

My questions are:
How are they able to create press to find members of the communities they want to work with? How did they get them excited about this opportunity? It just seems amazing that the people on skid row were hearing about the opportunity to audition from each other.
On the opposite side, how to they create press in the art world? How do you get people who care about Art (with the capital A) to engage with these works as passionately as the community does? Or is this community dismissed as a target audience?
In "Love on San Pedro," how did they cast the professional actors? Are they cornerstone players? How does the community respond to them/engage with them? How do they actors engage with the community?
How does cornerstone sustain itself as an organization?

Week 6

I think its interesting what Cornerstone does for the community. I like the idea of engaging the community through theater. I would like to look more into how this directly helps the community. Its one thing to engage a community of people for a cause and its another to actually help the community.

1) How are these projects funded?
2) What is the timeline of a project?
3) Are technical aspects of a show also done by the community?
4) How are the issues picked?

Cornerstone Theater

Cornerstone Theater is bringing prominent issues to the audience's attention.  This is shown from reading about hunger in "Love in San Pedro" and about Native American tribe recognition in "Urban Rez."  I really enjoyed "Love in San Pedro" because of the connection between homeless and impoverished with people who mostly overlook them and don't even think about it.  Their goal to bring change and awareness of all people is something that is really needed right now.

Questions I have:

1.) What do they look for when casting for their projects?
2.) How much advertisement is put out to bring in audiences?
3.) What inspires them most when choosing a new play/writer?  What draws them to a specific issue?
4.) Are there any issues that they avoid?

Contacting my Congressman

Week 5
Contacting my Congressman
Victor Murillo

This assignment was very deja vu for me. I never though about how I have how to contact my congressman till this recent election and I always some how had a connection to him when I was young. I live in the San Fernando Valley in the 30th district in California. My congressman is Brad Sherman he assumed office in 2013. I voted for for him since I had worked one of his town hall meetings at my school for extra credit. At that time I never really paid much attention to politics, but now with this recent election it is the only thing i pay attention to. I do now regret now asking more serious questions when I would have had an opportunity to talk to the congressman directly. Now since political plays an important role in everyone's life I need to stay invested. I looked up Mr. Sherman's office in California and DC and called him to ask important questions the safety of undocumented workers from so called "hit squads" sent by the new elected President. I also asked if he would allow the use of city police as immigration officers for ICE or Customs. I was sent to a voicemail where I asked my questions and bid the congressman good day. I hope to get a response from him and continue the conversation.

Cornerstone Theater Plays

While dwelling into the past works of Cornerstone Theater's work of "Love on San Pedro" & "Urban Rez" I come to find a deeper understanding of the objective of their community collaborations and what they intend to achieve through their engagement with these communities. In "Love on San Pedro" I read about their goal to make a change and bring awareness to the poverty and people on the streets who deal with hunger. In "Urban Rez" they speak of proclaiming themselves to gain awareness and recognition of their community in the United States. This reminds me of how the government seems to view our Native American community, especially with the DAPL (Dokata Acess Pipeline).

4 questions that arose:

1. How do these artists make an sufficient income to support themselves while they participate in work that does not render much or any income?

2. How has the plays and work they they have done with the community benefitted that community years down the line?

3. How do they get their target audience to attend the plays?

4. What has the work in "Urban Rez" done for their community? How do they maintain their voices?

Cornerstone Theater Preparation

In reading about “Urban Rez” and “Love in San Pedro” I truly found what the Cornerstone Theater’s mission is.  They strive to bring about change and bring issues to the attention of its audience.  The main topic being hunger, “Love in San Pedro” speaks to this through the stories of the homeless and impoverished in L.A.’s Skid Row.  Likewise, “Urban Rez” speaks about the issue of recognition in a Native American tribe.  These two pieces really make a statement about America today, Cornerstone’s mission, and the things we should be talking about changing in our world as a whole.

Some questions I have are:

1) How does Cornerstone pick their plays/writers?2) When they pick their plays do they go for a specific statement each time?3) How do they hold auditions/choose the cast?4) Does Cornerstone prefer to cast people of the community around them or use actors/actresses from else where?

Peggy McIntosh

In Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible Backpack" the author deciphers the privilege she herself benefits from on a day to day basis. It's crazy because she starts out by noting that men are willing to note that women are at a disadvantage in society, but will not comment on how to reduce their own advantage. She does state that this perception is somewhat unacknowledged and that "much of their oppressiveness is unconscious." But when translating that over into white privilege, the lines get blurred. I never really thought of my privilege as being a straight male (probably because I've gotten so used to it I don't even notice it), this article is mind blowing because lately, I've been quick to say that due to my race I'm at a disadvantage in life, but have not stopped to think about the life of a woman. Just by being a woman in a male-dominated society she is at a disadvantage, and then add on the oppressed race to that woman's skin and it just doubles down even harder. I'm still a man you know, regardless of how they may perceive my color I still have advantages that women don't experience. I think it's because of how much society drills this notion of provider and caretaker. Ever since I can remember I've always been told that the man provides and the woman does the domestic duties, and this is the circle of life. So growing up naturally I found it odd when seeing a woman who did both. But as I grew older and started to break this crippling thought process I began to see how viperous and malicious these thoughts can be and have been. My mother is my provider and caretaker, she fills both rolls and I came out great(at least I think so anyway).

Aesthetic Evangelists

1.) I very much do support the notion of community art, I think it can be very beneficial in the sense that it can give the community sustenance and keep it from deteriorating or becoming a low-income community. What worries me though is the bridge between artist and public/community. Grant Kester in Aesthetic Evangelists states that "The public artist most commonly interacts with urban planners, architects, and city agencies concerned with the administration of public buildings and spaces, while the community-based public artist more commonly interacts with social service agencies and social workers (women's shelters, homeless advocates, neighborhood groups, etc.)," I just feel like that could at some point become problematic when dealing with communities, because within a community comes a balance, and that balance creates a way of life that defines not only the community as a whole but the members residing in it. Sometimes communities do not want to accept artistic visions or sometimes the vision doesn't properly represent the community.

2.)Another discrepancy that could arise with this "New Public Art" could be solicitation or exploitation of communities. This could come in many facets but the one I'm thinking of is political. Politicians use art as a form of propaganda, artists are viewed as the voice for the voiceless, I worry that some artist might use this platform as a means to push a political agenda or use this on targeted communities as means to further push a political agenda they believe in.

3.)I do however believe that if portrayed properly, these community artists could give a voice to those communities that suffer tremendously. I remember in class we examined a video where a woman had organized a live performance of teens in the inner cities of Oakland, allowing them to shed light on their tribulations through car conversations. Something that we mindlessly do has been brought to a larger scale, giving the intimacy of these interactions more depth and insight.

I contacted y representative from California Democrat Dianne Fienstien To express my concern for the direction this state and our nation is heading. As a white male American I find it difficult to say "Yes I can relate to you on these racial or gender or sexual orientation political issues" or "yes I am fearful for my rights as a ______ are in question" because I can't. But this is not the country that I was raised in or how I was raised to be. The inclusiveness has left and since been replaced with fear and hate.  So I purposed these questions.
       1. What is the process for California, Oregon, Washington to succeed from the union, and is it possible?
        2. What are the ways that, if we as Californians can come together and agree, can veto a presidential mandate or decree?
        3. What are other ways we can defy a government which is not serving our best interests? We are one of the largest global economies, we have an impact, what can we do to impede or otherwise disable these faculties of the government, which are based in hate and fear, that don't serve us as Californians or Americans?

Week 5

I contacted my Representative Ms. Dianne Fienstien (D-CA) and expressed a great deal of concern for the treatment of LGBTQ youth in the city of Santa Clarita. Knowing very well that we live in a conservative area, I expressed to her in my email that although I am not a member of said community, many of my friends are, and many of them have experienced hateful remarks. I think because we are confined to the walls of CalArts, and have become accustomed to the community that has been built around us that we tend to forget about the society that lives beyond these walls. I fear not only for my friends but also for myself. In my email, I asked Ms. Fienstien, how can I as a 21-year-old African-American male trust that my life won't be eradicated by a radical supremacist with a gun and badge, who hides behind the law and uses ignorance as a means of justification. I eagerly await her reply

Week 5

I emailed my Senator which is, Dianne Feinstein (Democrat) and she has been in office since 1992. From doing my research, she is part of the subcommittee for many organizations and it fascinates me how she is involved with many projects yet I haven't seen much improvement. My questions to her are:

1. How are you funding money for the committee of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies?

2. You had a bill from 1994-2014 for Assault Weapons Ban, but what was the reason they couldn't renew this bill especially when Sandy Hook happened, what will you do to protect others?

3. Personally what is your involvement with the subcommittee of: Immigration and The National Interest? What are your goals for this very important topic that we still deal with today?

Week 5 - Contacting your Senator

Since I am from Oregon I contacted my local senator, Ron Wyden.  I picked him because he has been our state senator for as long as I have been alive.  I sent him an email asking question about not only our government but also about his life as a senator.  Here are the questions I asked:

1. What has your experience been like over your 20 years in the Senate?
2. Since you have seen multiple governments in your time what is different about this one?
3. What do you think the big issues we need to fight for are?
4. What do you think is coming for us as a country?
5. Do you believe we are in good hands as a country?

Engaged Citizenship

I'm from Oregon so I chose to email our senator Jeff Merkley using his website https://www.merkley.senate.gov/ .  In my email I asked him a few questions about his views of the United States and its future.

1.) What do you think the 2020 election will look after the most recent election?

2.) What is your take on the most recent election?

3.) What do you think is the best way to connect as a nation rather than become divided?

4.) Do you think government regulations are too complex and bureaucratic? And, if so, how do you think they can be overhauled to allow people to make sensible choices?

5.) If you could change one thing about the United States, as it is right now, what would you change and why?

To find out who my representatives were in congress, I simply googled "Who is my senator" found the first website and entered my zip code. Republican Steve Knight is my member and Democrats Dianne Fienstien and Kammala Harris are my senators.

To further express my concern Steve Knight regarding growing Islamaphobia in my city of santa clarita, I further proceeded to leave him a message on his phone (tel:202-225-1956) saying that currently crimes torwards islamic people in Santa Clarita is growing. On facebook my friend Shaheen expressed his experience being denied to be seated at a restaurant due to his mother wearing a Hijab due to the "headpiece making fellow guests uncomfortable...". I believe this was rather an act of racism and do not support it.

Week Five: Engaged Citizenship

Well I knew that one of my senators was Ted Cruz so I went on and wrote a letter Ted Cruz and mailed it to 404 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510. In my letter I voiced my five main concerns I had with the direction in which the United States is heading.

1. We are a divided nation that promotes unity, why is it that you think this has happened over the past 20 years and what can we do to change the next 20 years?

2. How could Trump say that he works hard to make the United States better for everyone else when he continues to call it "His America?"

3. Regardless of your personal beliefs, Oberegell v. Hodges is a court case that outlines the beliefs of the core of the constitution of the United States, could you think of one reason that makes same sex marriage unconstitutional?

4. Where do you see the United States in 4 years?

Contacting Senator/ Representative

Honestly, I literally googled "How to access local representatives and senators" I got to: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ where I typed in the zip code and got "Steven Knight" as the "congressman representing California's 25th district." I looked on his website and saw his contact info and where his Santa Clarita office is.

I do not follow politics that much, and am not knowledgable on it. So I then went to our classes blogspot to see what names other students got. The name everyone else seemed to talk about was "Dianne Feinstein". She is the senator of California. I went to her website and saw the contact info there as well.

I did not call or email either person. I honestly don't even know what to say. " I don't like trump" is sorta a worthless statement for me to call and tell them. I just don't know what to say. 

Contacting the power!

I decided to try calling both Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris this morning. Both lines were actually super busy, and it took about 3 calls to get to a real person (since the mailboxes were FULL!) I wasn't sure how to phrase my phone call around the issues I wanted to talk about, but I found thesixtyfive.org had prewritten scripts on stances I really cared about that put what I wanted to say more eloquently. Overall, the call took about 3 minutes once I got through. I didn't realize it didn't take up a lot of time. I originally thought I would be on hold so much longer. I got to say what I wanted to, and they took my zipcode to record it.
 I was able to reach Dianne Feinstein's line, but still have not reached Kamala Hariss (but after my experience, I feel like I can keep trying) I ended up settling to call about the DAPL pipeline in relation to Trump's new agenda on the matter. I feel that a lot of us accepted a premature victory, and this is an ongoing issue that still needs support. This is not only an issue for the Sioux, but for other American's who will not have clean drinking water and will see their environment in distress. I hope my call helps in some way. There are also still a lot of other issues I hope to call about when I have a free moment. thesixtyfive.org really helps with a concise speech, and saves me a lot of time in formulating a coherent small tidbit to share over the phone.

Contacting My Senator

I got in contact with Dianne Feinstein, California senator and I sent her an email voicing my concern with the loss of women's rights regarding choice and abortion. But I didn't feel satisfied. There is something about emails which I find to be so disregarded, particularly to a person in power as it is likely that they themselves would not read the emails.

I was walking through Abbott Kinney this weekend trying to clear my head. Every day in Trumpland feels like a disaster, but particularly this week with the selection of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. Getting through to the end of each week without completely falling apart feels like a triumph to me. I came across a table of people doing crafts on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. A woman working the stand told me that they were writing Valentines Day cards to US Representatives and creating a forum in which people could write out and fully express their concerns and needs. Something about this struck a chord within me as actually writing a letter, a card and sending it by mail felt more tactful than emailing or posting on Facebook my concerns.

So, as a newly official resident of California I wrote a letter to Dianne Feinstein. i wrote that as a woman and as an artist I am concerned. I love my country and am devastated to see where it is going.

i love to write and draw, I carry a notebook with me everywhere. When everything feels overwhelming I write my thoughts to get them out of my head. It felt to nice to do so today, to write out what I am feeling, put it in an envelop and send it away to the people in power.  

Check out the organization #SendLoveToWashington on social media.

Project Idea

For my project, I will be creating a theatrical piece which details the effects of  Trumps first 100 days in office. I'm not sure what specifically I am going to highlight, but I do know that I want the piece to focus on how major his first days have been thus far.

Privilege

 

             This article definitely urged me to think deeply about my placement within the  various constructs of our society.I enjoyed the male privilege to white privilege comparison , especially since  whiteness still saturates most of feminist conversation. It was a insightful comparison which paved  the way to make another important point, the need to "check" yourself . There is a apparent need to recognize yourself through another lens , to be open enough to see how your owns experiences might have been colored by your perspective. Sometimes "we don't see ourselves that way" , unconscious oppressive behavior occurs . This is why it is so important to recognize how one might be advantaged /disadvantaged (depends on context)  , so we don't continue these oppressive cycles. Once there is a sense of acknowledgement , we should feel accountable. It becomes telling about a persons character on whether they take action or not , since it is easy to be dismissive of the  oppressive forces on others. I wish it could be everyone's priority , these  systems influence how one might walk through life  , whether it was unearned or  should've been earned .

            Since I was raised in Brooklyn, NY. I have definitely digested consciously or unconsciously that might  be oppressive to other or even myself. Everyone else and myself are a part of systems are are interconnected. It was interesting to see and try to compare the list of "colossal unseen dimensions" to my experiences. For example, I realized that there might be a hint of colorism in my family, my tight curls needing to be relaxed or blow dried every Sunday or so....

            It is important to engage and be mindful of who you are to see how interconnected things can be and also how different they can be at the same time because art has the ability to manage both at the same time.

Pocket Memories

Victor Ruben Murillo

02/08/17

Pocket Memories

Memories are a very unique sensation. Sometimes you can remember the most embarrassing day in 1^st grade when you called you teacher mom at the age of 20, but you cannot remember what you studied the night before during a stressful test. People recollect memories everyday of there life. It can be in conversation and thought or in practice and training.

At the age of 23 I was lucky enough to go on tour across North America and Europe in the span of 3 months. I have many memories of everything, from driving 10 hours straight in a van to running a show in a Berlin. But the one memory that stood out was my friend’s Johnny oppression with disposable cameras. Everywhere he went he had one. The multiple cameras provided a great lense to what the tour looked like for Johnny. He took of 200 photos in the span of 3 months and seeing the result of all the photos was great. The photos looked way more organic in nature when it came to the composition. The faces and expressions looked a bit more natural less forced. It was a great project with a great final result. This inspired me to come with the idea of “Pocket Memories.”

We all live. Everyday we live. Our lives though are different. We all live different lives. We walk, talk, and live different lives. Seeing though is what we want to focus on. If we gave 100 people a camera with one shot of film left and asked them to shoot the most beautiful thing in the world we would get different things from everyone. Pocket Memories is trying to get people a lense to show the world what they do and how they live. Who are there friends, Where do they hang out, what does there house look like, and etc. We want to reach out to as many communities as possible from city to international. We want to see the world though the lense the world creates.

Final Project Ideas:
Provide a disposable or cheap camera to a young individual or individuals, that have little to no voice in there community, with instruction to capture there daily life. we will in turn develop them and display them to that community to provide the individual with a platform to voice themselves and to bring awareness to the community of the existence of this individual.

Project done by myself and Victor Murrilo

 CONTEXT
A desire to show a group or individuals daily life and
and experiences through photography, that may
otherwise not have a strong voice in there
community or in a larger sense
CONTENT
To explore the lives of the youths of today
To find a lens into the life/lives of a young individual
that may not have a voice.
still unsure
FORM
We will use photography taken buy the children
then developed and displayed in a different setting
as a means to expose either the community or
another community\
STAKEHOLDERS
those who view it as well as opens the eyes of the
photographer to something they might not be aware
in going on around them
AUDIENCE/COMMUNITY
This should not only be for enjoyment of the photographer
to take pride in there work and life but it should be
displayed to those who will be most impacted by and
influenced by, this is still unknown
ENGAGEMENT STRADEGIES
The engagement will happen as the participant takes
the photos but also as the audience views the photos
also having both the audience and participant in the
the same room, which is intended, to answer questions
and for discussion allows for more engagement
GOALS
To give voice and expose,  an otherwise voiceless or
unheard individual or group

What tools does the text offer to our work with diverse communities and collaborators?

The excerpt I read was A Brave New World(remix). The ways in which they try and engage with not only the audience, but  also the location(tent city in front of the the structure of city hall, and the individuals themselves was immensely impactful. This ties into our 10 lenses in that they throughtful in pursuing avenues to engage, educate, and empower, it was mind blowing. This tactic of the social protest movement spawned a new trajectory of public and engaged art that had many awesome elements but also failed miserably in other areas. This is a prime example of the interconnectedness of communities and how they overlap with one another. For me this article acts as a keystone for public engagement in the sense that you can look at this example and say "did I think of that" For example during the occupy movement it displaced the local farmers market which had not been considered. That being said the effectiveness of the overall message of actually creating social change through a movement or through community activism was immensely powerful an many lessons can be learned for the organization and execution of such an event. 
I really enjoyed this quotes:
 "Occupy is to build the capacity for all its participants to learn democratic social engagement skills towards consensus, to build skills of bias awareness, empathic listening, negotiation, non violence and conflict transformation, skills that most folks have never been exposed to, possibly have never even imagined."

 

Week 4

Victor Murillo

Art and Community

02/08/17

DORIT CIPYS

What tools does the text offer to our work with diverse communities and collaborators? Post your reflection on our class blog.

Dorit Cipys’ text “Performing Empathy: What the Arts Can Offer Conflict Resolution” is a great tool for any designer, artist, and/or performer on how to explain one’s art. Explaining one’s art can be hard. For some it is something they can never do. Some people in the world never have explained their art or talked about their art. Some artists have to pitch projects weekly for different communities and environments. So why is talking about one’s art so important. Dorit Clipys talks about people in the text and how “Differences between people can be incomprehensible. [They fuel] mistrust that can deter us from engagement with people outside of our community. Recognizing and negotiating personal and cultural differences is dependent on developing empathy for oneself and between people… empathy can bridge the differences between us, art is implicitly “mediative.” Some artists use the relational, mediative qualities of their art practice to stimulate their audience to identify with people they typically do not identify with, or more directly to engage them to co-imagine ways to transform their belief and behavior.”

Dorit Cipys is an artist in the engagement non-artist into art. She makes people want to participate in art. The article talks about the situation in which Dorit had to present to lawyers and mediators what art has to offer to them. Dorit’s challenge was make the lawyers and mediators engage in the presentation. Lawyers and Mediators are always seen as by the book individuals so it would not be an easy task. She was lucky to have a room to her disposal with a wide-ranging amount of technology to change the room into adifferent environment. An environment suitable for Dorit to present her presentation and to also have the audience engaged.

Week Four - Ethics and Privilege in Community-Engaged Art

The Space of Conflict-

I decided to read Dorit Cipys’ article on “The Space of Conflict.” In the beginning of reading her article I immediately became self aware of how I enter and space and recognize conflict. In the person that I am, when I enter a space I jump to critiquing and analysing the room, how its laid out, the colors I am walking into, and especially the lighting. For some people gauging a space is not the most important aspect to their lives. In my case, I enter a new space in almost every piece of work I come in contact with. Something these spaces are the size of a general room, say a meeting room, or some can be a large indoor arena where in a few hours the space will be totally transformed to create an atmosphere where conflict should be pushed aside and instead bring a community together to experience a meaning. On the flip side, some of my spaces I have encountered are involved with nature, and bring my consciousness outside where the elements help conduce solutions to conflict. 

Another aspect of Cipys’ article was what I feel we learn in middle school and high school, being a dynamic listener. Only good conversation and mediators can arise from those who listen fully to the conversation and whats around them. Without having full attention individuals struggle to grasp fully what is being talked about. A lot os misunderstanding can come about from those who do not listen fully and miss a crucial point in someone’s speech. Not only will context be skipped but the meaning and dialect behind what is literally being said can be misinterpreted and understood for the wrong reasons. This aspect of spacial conflict pairs nicely with her last point in how we witness the experiences of others. To expand on experience, I feel that how someone witnesses the physical movements should not hold back how their emotional habits are perceived. Today we can be taken so literal that the wrong meaning can be assumed in a spit second and create conflict for all the wrong reasons. Having mediators who are primed in recognizing and finding solutions to conflicts is crucial as we enter the future.