fun at mocha

hey fellow CSF's just stopping by to say that so far working at mocha has been great, I get to do a number of different jobs and its a great way to end off my week. Well I hope all is well with the rest of you, have fun at your cites!! 

Out of Site

hello there cca friends,

i am starting on my third week at the out of site (www.outofsite-sf.org) youth arts center. i hang out in the office and work on design and marketing, collaborate with youth artists, and generally support the hard-working staff. beth is the ed, susie coordinates student programs, leah coordinates faculty programs, and rahn is a program assistant. besides that a pretty steady flow of students, art teachers, and TAs flow through the small, tidy office.

out of site is a non-profit that provides serious art education to interested high school students. all the classes are free. it is really this simple, beautiful model. they work out of a high school in a working class neighborhood and serve kids who would otherwise never get a chance to learn about architecture or black and white photography.

right now we are all gearing up for the fall celebration - twice a year out of site hosts a big performance and exhibition of their youth artists at the somArts cultural center. this one is happening on december 11, 6:30pm and anyone is welcome to attend. the invite that a youth artist (katherine) and i collaborated on is posted above, and here is the back:














it feels good to be in a high school and see kids that are so fresh. hearing how they speak and carry themselves and interact with me. it is all fascinating. it is like there is this layer that has grown up around our brains and bodies that just doesn't exist for these kids yet 'cause they are too young.

one of my idealist complaints is the segregation by age in our society. i primarily spend all my time with other twenties and thirties people. which is great too but i think we miss out on so much by only rarely being around older people or kids and teens. and visa versa of course.

anyways, that is all for now. mark the fall celebration on your calendar - looking/listening to what these young artists are making is super important to our own practices and to simply understand what it is like to grow up in this city.

bye,
sarah

Interning at the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC)

Hello fellow bloggers!

I've started up a fresh semester interning at the Bay Area Video Coalition (also known as BAVC). The Bay Area Video Coalition is a non-profit production company that works with film makers of all ages and levels of expertise by offering classes and equipment. The division I work within, called "The Factory," works specifically with high school students who have the desire to make films. These students do not have the necessary resources available to them within their schools; by applying to be apart of The Factory they are expressing their desire to make films with others who share the love of film making. 

My job within The Factory is to work with the students in any way possible. This means I have a variety of tasks on any given day, which makes for an exciting and constantly evolving position. Past tasks have included critiquing student films; helping with edits of films; finding film festivals; and finding information on colleges that have undergrad film departments for the BAVC students.

So why is this job so great? Well, as a graduating senior within the media art's department, I am able to share my knowledge and experience with younger students. I am able to pass along a college point of view to high school students who are about to enter college to focus on film and video. Not only does this help them, but it helps me too. Their volunteered dedication to what they love is constantly inspiring and refreshes my perspective.

This is a fairly straightforward post; just a little introduction into what I do within my Community Student Fellows (CSF) position and who I am as a CCA student. More specifics to come next time! Until then, keep blogging!

Cheers,

Melissa

EOCL-Story Telling

Hello Everyone,

The story-telling has finally happened, and it was very touching to hear everybody talk.
While I am not proficient in Spanish, I was able to understand most of what people were saying. We interviewed nine people, and there were two more stations. There were art activities in the main hall, but I wasn't able to participate because I was busy recording.
At our DIY(Do It Yourself) video interviewing station we had mostly Latino families. Carlos was assisting me with the equipment, and he did all the asking of the questions in Spanish.
The stories were very reveling of how Latino immigrants view East Oakland and what are their dreams for the future. The melancholy for their home villages and towns, and the aspirations with which they came to this country- for their children to become educated and engaged citizens.
While I could write about their stories, I will instead keep posting some of the videos so you can see for yourselves. Sorry, you all have missed some incredible people and some really good soul-food, and I have missed the meeting at the Center.
The first video interview is actually with the principal of the Encompass Academy Minh-Tram-Nguyen.


Thanks Blaz