What's happening at Peralta?

My CSF site is at Peralta Elementary School, I am most closely working with two 3rd grade classes. With these classes, my supervisor and I are in the process of making a stop motion animated video about recycling, that should be finished in several weeks. Also, for the past months the 3rd grade students have been working on in class project that includes text and photos, and now we are introducing bookmaking to compliment their photos. I designed a simple book making project where the students make a step- by-step instructional guide on how to fold paper correctly to achieve accordion style pages. The final product will be put into hard bound bindings that have been in the storage room for some time, and now will be put to use.

This year every grade level at Peralta Elementary are going on a field trip to the De Young Museum. I had the pleasure of going with the 4th and 5th grade classes, to take 8 4th graders on a self-guided tour of the museums California collection. This was especially exciting for me because it gave me the opportunity to research the these relics of California history, and teach the students about each piece. I was happy to find that all the students on my tour were engaged for the entire 2 hours that we spent in the gallery. The next step in the tour I did, is to take the information the student learned, and follow through to the classroom to do an art project incorporating California history.

That's all for now. I will inform all when the recycling video is completed. It may be put into a gallery show at some point in the near future.

ChangeItUpWIthObama

Hello Everyone,

Just say zoom and this semester will be over soon.I can't believe how quickly everything is going.
Anyway, I am having fun collaborating with Opal and Sarah. Shooting videos is very rewarding as I get to know new faces on both campuses, and I catch up with my old friends. While I was a little shy at the beginning, I feel enthusiastic for the most part to listen what people have to say. I am glad, that there are differences of opinion. People are generally looking forward to Obama's presidency, at the same time they realize that the current situation our nation is faced with is very challenging - to put it mildly.
While I don't consider myself a pro by any means, I am learning a lot about the filming/editing process. Because I have been doing video now for two semesters through CSF program, it is easier to try different approaches and to experiment. Opal has been a great support, and she is great to work with.
A video/oral history of this time is an important document of our fast paced culture. Opal's vision to broaden the spectrum of people who would want to contribute their opinion to our project is an ambitious goal. The question is how can we interest more people in participating?
We are looking into many ways to make it more visible on the Internet. For now we are continuing with the video production, and all of you can visit our site at http://www.changeitupwithobama.org. If you have any creative ideas, please let us now or post a comment on our site.

Thank you Blaz

NIAD at last!

Hello everyone! At last I am joining the blog team because after a slow start I am finally working at my site! In order to work at NIAD, I had to get a TB test as well as my fingerprints scanned, and after waiting for about two months for the fingerprint results I started to get a little nervous that there was something on my record I didn't know about. Fortunately I got the results, all is well, and I've finished up my third week of work. 

For anyone who doesn't know, NIAD (National Institute of Art and Disabilities) is a visual arts center designed to assist adults with developmental and other disabilities. The center is set up like a giant studio, providing lessons, materials, and space for painting, drawing, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, jewelry, and sculpture. There is an onsite gallery as well as offsite exhibitions that give the artists opportunities to display and sell their work. By showing their work, the artists gain a sense of pride and self esteem that they may not be getting else where, while simultaneously earning money.  Not a bad deal.

So far, I have just been getting to know everyone at NIAD, and really loving this process. There is such a wide range of artistic styles and amazing personalities,  I am continually blown away and inspired by every person I talk to or observe. Some people are very independent while others benefit from more assistance. I have been helping wherever I feel I am useful. Sometimes this just means finding materials and helping to get people excited about creating something or giving some personal feedback on art in progress. Other times, it means sitting down with one individual and physically assisting them with an aspect of their work. NIAD has a pretty tight budget, so I'm looking around for materials that they have but don't use a lot of and brainstorming some projects that can utilize these. After winter break, I'm planning on starting something, possibly collaborative,  that anyone can participate in on the days I am there. I'll keep you all posted....

I feel like I can go on for a while now that I've started, but I think that's going to be all for now. I do have to say, I encourage anyone who has not been to NIAD to stop by and check it out sometime. I can guarantee you will leave happier. 

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