The Memory Project: Storytelling through visual arts, theater & puppetry

    QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY - CREATIVE AGING PROGRAM FAMILY ALBUM POP-UP BOOK MAKING Blog 3 7/26/21 We encourage our students to take photos of their artwork and send it to us and once again Diane did just that! She created a beautiful, latticed door by repurposing a card and inside Santa was trimming the Christmas tree. Diane added a long tab to Santa so that he could move as he decorated. On the opposite page, she made a refrigerator and continued the festive theme by placing gingerbread men on the door as well as a couple of notes. Inside the open door you can see a refrigerator fully stacked and ready for the holidays.  Madi shared her thoughts about where the inspiration for each page comes from and how this can be the most challenging aspect of creation. Learning techniques is one thing, but it takes time to think of what you will put in each page.  We were very pleased to welcome some new students to our class today and greet those who have been with us from the...

  LMCC - Creative Learning Grant Book of Home  Blog 13 7/19/2021 We started our new project today - making an accordion book in which we experiment with color blocking, shapes, and collage. The purpose is as always to have fun making art, and to document special moments in our lives. We will do this by looking at everyday objects, the mundane, from a new point of view resulting in unique representations of them. This has become especially significant since COVID 19 restrictions have kept us in our homes for much longer periods.  Warm up was a word association game about colors incorporating facial expression and gesture. Chi’s fast movements represented energy, the color green of youth and vitality. Situ made a large round gesture suggesting red the color of the setting sun. Helping’s large smile and flicking fingers also meant red and happiness. Sam Sam gestured for all the colors of the rainbow while Yu Lan created the image of a giant green tree and her sleeping beneat...

  QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY - CREATIVE AGING PROGRAM FAMILY ALBUM POP-UP BOOK MAKING Blog 2 7/19/21 Madlyn gave us some interesting background about the Creative Aging Program at Queens Public Library. She has been involved for many years with offering services to the home-bound, such as mail-a-book, music and DVDs and has wanted to increase outreach for older adults. Her staff call over fifteen older and homebound adults every day to check in and tell them about programming offered. Some play Bingo over the phone and work on crosswords. What a terrific service!!   Spica and I are encouraged to see so many returned students and to welcome a few new ones. Each week we teach a different pop-up technique so if you miss a class it doesn’t matter. You will be able to put a book together with however many pages you have made. However, a couple of new students did request the steps for how to make a pop-up house which we taught last week, and we are happy to email them directly.  ...

  LMCC - Creative Learning Grant Book of Home  Blog 12 7/13/2021 After many weeks our seniors are about to finish their pop-up book of family memories. All that is needed is to put it together and make and decorate the book cover. We are so proud of their achievements and are impressed with the beauty and originality of their creations. Thank you, Maggie Ng, Program Director, LaGuardia Senior Center for arranging our zoom classes each week, recording our lessons, and making them available for the students via WeChat.  I asked each person to look through their book and choose 1 Key Word they placed in a pocket and create a gesture for the word using their face and body. This fun warm up game saw Lilly, gestures “cheers”, Helping make a sign for “love”, Chi gestured “happiness” while Sam Sam pointed to her head in a symbol suggesting “memories” and Alice’s gesture was “enjoy life”.  Screen Sharing their homework each week allows each student to comment on how they made...

  QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY - CREATIVE AGING PROGRAM FAMILY ALBUM POP-UP BOOK MAKING 7/12/2021 Spica and I were excited to start a new program, hosted by Madlyn Schneider, Older Adult/Homebound Program Coordinator with Queens Public Library and thank her for giving us this opportunity to reach out to more seniors who are looking for creative ways to engage. It's also our first time teaching virtually using the WEBEX platform, but Madlyn guided us through it. We also want to thank her Program Assistant, Cathy, who supported us throughout the session.  The purpose of this project is to use the visual art form of the pop-up book to share your life stories with others and pass down your memories. Family photos can be a great inspiration for each page. By the end of the 8 sessions each student will have a memory book as a tangible keepsake, a remembrance, and a motivator to continue telling stories. We were pleased to see so many people join us for a fun afternoon of pop-up page makin...

  Bensonhurst Senior Center Visit At the end of each program, we usually have a party to celebrate our seniors’ achievements and acknowledge their great work. Today we were able to meet in person for the first time in over a year!! We were greeted with smiles and hugs and ushered into our classroom where a magnificent array of food had been arranged. The blackboard was emblazoned with a greeting and tables displayed our last 4 projects - pop-up book made from recycled materials telling family stories, accordion book which focused on looking with new eyes at everyday household objects, The Taste of Memory book, which highlighted favorite dishes and the Visual Diary, in which they drew scenes from their lives.  It was especially exciting to meet Lao Yu in person for the first time as she is a “new” student who has joined the class since we went virtual because of C OVID lockdowns. She traveled from Staten Island with her grandson. It was joyful to see Miu there, who has not been...

  LMCC - Creative Learning Grant Book of Home Blog 11 7/06/2021 After my recent ill health, it was wonderful to be greeted by so many welcoming smiles and a round of applause. It really helps the healing process. Thank you.  In the making of a unique pop-up book, which tells your personal stories, students work at their own pace, and we have found this to be the case, especially when teaching over zoom. As we are nearing the end of the book making process, our seniors are thinking carefully about their backgrounds and what they can put in the extended pages. We are so very impressed with how they have mastered the techniques of pop-up book making!  We warmed up with a body extension activity, stretching our fingers, hands, wrists, and arms. Then we included a neck stretch for good measure.  Alice has completed page 3, which reflects the family's optometrist business with images of spectacles. Page 4 is inspired by her trip to Cambodia. Lilly added shoes and a buck...