Thanksgiving Break

our living room and kitchen after dinner

So nice to take this little break!  A much needed breather...

I returned to Providence yesterday at 10:30pm, having left home at 12:30! it is normally a 6 hour drive, but nasty weather+holiday travel makes for a long day.

I left for home Wednesday night with my uncle and 3 cousins, aged 2, 6, and 13.  They live in RI and were going to my house for Thanksgiving, so I hitched a ride. Spent the trip in conversation w/ my uncle Chris. He is the IT guy for NBC10 Providence, so we talked mostly about technology.  This was actually really cool; for the first time, I had some things to say about technology and helping people. (Thanks DeSE!)  I voiced my concerns about the state of human interactions, and how communication technology is surely having some sociopsychological affect on people today. My uncle agreed, but wondered whether having a more connected world through technology was better than one without? And what does better mean in this case?   

He kept coming back to these two ideas >>> 'Perception is reality' and 'We don't know what we don't know'  I also asked him to tell me about his life in college and after.  The best story was about the summer where he crossed the country 4 times!  Something I need to do. We Got in late...

Woke up and took a walk with my mom and our dog.  We walked the "W," the outline of our lower field.  The morning is brisk, but I am warmed by our movement... I always have nice conversations when I walk with my Mom.  I spent Thursday afternoon working with my Dad rearranging our basement.  Its been filled with my Granddad's stuff for years and now that we live there, ours is piling on top of it. We moved a bunch-0-crap,  cleaned and layed down this beautiful, old oriental rug under our ping-pong table.  It had been rolled up for more than 15 years.  I could see that it tickled my Dad to have it laid out; some quality time with my Pops... We finished just in time for the fam to arrive...

27 people, Hugs, laughs, smiles, stories, food, thanks, love, 2nd helping, stories, games, dessert, comatose, hugs, smiles, goodbyes.

It was another lovely thanksgiving at the van vleet home. The meal included turkey, stuffing, gravy, squash, carrots, brussell sprouts, mashed potatoes, nana's rolls, basil tomato salad and more. Dessert: pumpkin, apple, cherry, and peanut butter pie and brownies... i definetely gained some weight this weekend. Its always great to get the whole clan together. We've now begun this tradition to have everyone go around the table and say things they are thankful for. It is very sweet and filled with love.  

At a certain point when everyone is full and tired and the young kids are hurting themselves, there is a mass exodus. 

I spent most of Friday with my sister.  She works at an organic farm a few miles from home and took me there. Id never had a chance to explore this place with her and found they have way more land than I thought. She showed me the barns, told of how they store the veggies and why, and we walked the fields.  Again, had a nice conversation and walk.  Plants are amazing and my sister has a vast and growing knowledge of them; beautiful, adaptive, delicious things...

Friday night was Monopoly at a friend's house and we got through a whole game. Amazing.

I know, not the most exciting Friday night, but it was good to have a low-key, laugh-filled night with friends.  Needless to say, I lost.

I woke the next morning to take another walk with Mom.  Saturday was to be a schoolwork day... but I didn't do anything 'productive' until 9:00 that night.  Most the day was spent lounging around the house, falling asleep in various locations. Its hard to do work in such a comfortable environment.  Our wood-stove creates such a relaxing feel to our main room, that I can't help it.  That night we watched the movie Wall-E as a family. Great movie that speaks to all generations, with implications of the future of our planet.

Later on that night, after some writing, I went over to my friend's place to play more board games. This time it was Scattergories; one of the greatest board games of all time.

Sunday was my final morning.  Homemade crepes = delicious, i miss home-cookin' already.  Took some home-veggies. Packed up the car.  Drove through snow, sleet and rain and now Im here.  That was nice to recall...

Process: Art & Nature Studio @ CityArts

In a partnership between my work in DeSE and my class at CityArts, I have been asked to design a Nature Lab in one of the existing art rooms. During conversation with the Program Director and the after-school Director, we thought it appropriate and imperative to address the lack of exposure to the beauty of our natural world, since these students have very little opportunity to get out of their urban communities.  They had already had the idea for this project, but looked to me to start the realization. For the past 3 weeks, I have been working to develop this space and its components; it has been difficult so far, but enlightening, since I don't have much experience with interior architecture. CityArts has asked the Art & Nature Studio be modeled after the Nature Lab here at RISD, as it as a inspiring example of combining the arts and nature.  

On Thursday, November 20, our class had a mid-project critique. All of our current works focus on addressing issues we found while working in our non-profit organizations.  Below are the slides I used to show my current state in the design process:

the room at cityarts

trying to achieve a feeling of the space:  intimate, inspiring=new take on educational space, growing, hands-on...images show sources of inspiration and reference: MIT media lab, RISD nature lab, OSB plywood structure, Breuer hexagonal architecture

considerations: elevations, paths, and lines of sight, child proportions, areas of sketch/study, live and dead species storage, cleaning, utilizing what room currently offers

Precedents of Youth Art Education

¡CityArts! Mission and Problem Statement

¡CityArts! began its work in 1992, with a summer camp assembled by a handful of neighborhood social service agencies, families, and community leaders. The camp was an initial response to the community's critical need for positive programs to engage youth during out-of-school time. 

Mission

Providence ¡CityArts! for Youth is a community arts organization with a mission to provide free professional arts education to Providence youth between ages 8-14. ¡CityArts! serves over 450 youth in afterschool and summer arts programs citywide, offering meaningful learning experiences in visual art and design, performing arts, and creative writing. Our work is inspired by the creative process of art-making and the exploration of ideas and concepts that shape our communities and everyday lives.

Program Philosophy

Their work is inspired by the creative process of art-making and the exploration of ideas and concepts that shape our communities and everyday lives. As such, ¡CityArts! fosters creative thinking and expression, promotes positive social development, engages youth in public service and community, and provides sources of hope and inspiration—particularly for those youth who have little or no opportunity for consistent and affordable access to quality out-of-school time programs and are limited in their exposure beyond their own neighborhoods. At ¡CityArts!, youth are encouraged to express, create, and grow!

This information was gathered from CityArts website.

CityArts Structure

Providence CityArts for Youth

As part of another class, called Community Art Project through the Art Education department, me, 7 other undergrads, 2 graduate students and 1 teacher have been going to the Highlander School in South Providence to teach and make art projects with youths afters-school. Our program is called RISD Fridays, it has been an eye-opening experience so far. 

Billy Shore, a sophomore in ID, is my co-teacher; working with him has been different.  It is something new for me to not only to be in charge of a group kids, but to do it in tandem with another person.Its a small class, only 6 students, ranging from 11-13 years old.  Originally, I thought I wanted to work with the younger students; that they might be so hard to work with. I've since found that my older students are much easier to talk to and they understand larger ideas and concepts; I can be real with them and not have to speak through a filter.  Jurenny, Jurissa, Herny, Rolando, Ryan and Randall all come from under-privileged Hispanic communities in the area and this class is one of their few creative outlets. So far, we've made cubes from templates, duct-tape wallets, and are in the middle of a 3-week mask project leading up to Halloween. One of our grads, Jasmin, has opened my eyes to the influence I have on these young lives. She was a high school art-teacher in California and her experienced perspective helps my interaction be positive.  With this, I've been really trying to push the kids to think for themselves and do their own work from their own ideas.  

Market Mentors