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Showing posts from April, 2021
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HSC Bensonhurst Senior Center VISUAL DIARY Project Blog 1 4/29/2021 Our return was eagerly anticipated by our students, the center and us. We have kept in touch via WeChat since our last class and shared the wonderful, animated video Spica created from the protest artwork created by some of our seniors in which they spoke out against anti-Asian hate crimes and attacks.    After greetings and catch-ups we warmed up by miming everyday activities we did that morning. We saw sweeping the floor, drinking tea, massaging the face and head, wiping down the kitchen table, making the oatmeal and pouring hot water for tea among others. Next, we shared the magical video Spica created to showcase The Taste of Memory books our seniors created in the last program. What a joy to revisit their beautiful, creative artwork and stories! Thank you, Spica.   The current project builds on what we have done before, focusing on daily life, and its quotidian details. We can find beauty in the ever...

"BOOK of HOME" project @ LaGuardia Senior Center.1

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LMCC - Creative Learning Grant Book of Home  Blog 1 4/27/2021 It was wonderful to be back in the “classroom” with our seniors from La Guardia and Mott Street Senior Centers, albeit via zoom. Many thanks to Maggie Ng, Program Director, LGSC and Suzanne Yuen, Program Director, Mott St SC as well as Amanda Forsman, Director of Programming, New York Foundation for Senior Citizens who oversees our programming. LGSC received a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Learning Grant in 2020 to employ Spica and myself as Teaching Artists implementing an 18 week program, Book of Home , culminating in a Public Event showcasing participants’ artwork and personal stories. Due to COVID19 no in person classes were permitted and as funding has been held over, we are now able to deliver the instruction.    Through analysis, discussion and practice, participants will learn the use of colors, basic design and book construction. Spica and I will teach how to design and produce two Books o...

STOP ASIAN HATE CRIMES

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  STOP ASIAN HATE CRIMES In response to the growing number of attacks on Asian Americans and the increasing vitriolic hatred directed towards our Asian sisters and brothers, Spica and I searched for a way to fight back. As artists we respect the power of art to disseminate a message, and feel it is a great platform to give voice to the voiceless. We are particularly horrified at the number of attacks, particularly in New York, aimed at seniors. Many are protesting against these crimes on the streets, but we wanted to find a way to allow the elders in our community to express how they are feeling and have their voices heard.    Today we held a zoom meeting with members of Homecrest Community Services and were pleased to see almost 40 people sign on. Don Lee, Board Chairman, opened the meeting and expressed his horror and sadness at the current situation, asking “what is the appropriate response to what has happened”? He wondered what he could say to his ancestors when he v...