Awesome Foundation - Projects

Newmarket – HeadGames

2012-10-23T00:00:00Z

I see too many children playing sport without an essential peice of equipment -the simple helmet. My passion is cycling and I see so many kids riding their bikes without a helmet. I have also, a very long time ago, lost an uncle who died from falling off his bike and hitting his head on the curb. Helmets can also reduce the severity of concussions and I've had a few of these and I'm fully aware of the long term effects. Whether its due to lack of money or because the child's helmet isn't "cool", I want to see more children wearing a bicycle helmet. Using my ability to purchase cycling products at cost (not retail), my project is to get as many kids helmets as I can possibly purchase, work with a local non-profit and get the helmets to children and talk with them about cycling safety. Primarily to underprivileged families. Even though I do not live in the catchment area of the chapter I have selected below, my project would be for those who do do live in the chapter area - Newmarket, Ontario..

LA South Bay, CA (Inactive) – Planet Orchestra

2012-10-19T00:00:00Z

Beacause I am an amateur orchestra violinist, since June 2010 I have volunteered to organize a youth orchestra in Lawndale. We started teaching 8 children at the public library and word quickly spread. The community responded so strongly that not only the number of children grew to more than 50 in less than a year, but also an outpour of support allowed us to grow. We now use space at the new Lawndale Community Center as well as the library and the lawn in front of City Hall, running 3 concurrent session at times, thanks to our volunteer and professional staff. Help comes in the form of volunteer musicians, free space at public facilities, organizers, and money to pay for professional string players and instruments. We have partnered up with a similar organization called Palos Verdes Strings and we have had two concerts at Marsee Auditorium where children from all over the South Bay, and of different backgrounds, have come together to achieve the common good of making music. I have a vision that by forming a nonprofit organization, I can help start other satellites in other communities where kids don't have enough quality constructive and recreational activities and then bring them all together to play in concerts. We plan to partner up with other similar groups in the Los Angeles area and include dance and singing to create an uplifting culture through fine arts, with an emphasis in reaching out to the most excluded children. We would like to partner up with school districts to include this activity in their after school programs. Also, I would like to work with law enforcement to help us connect with kids who still may be within reach and rescue them from falling into a life of crime. While all of this may sound too idealistic, this work has been done for the past 35 years in Venezuela and they are obtaining awesome results.

Seattle, WA – Postcards From Farr Away

2012-10-19T00:00:00Z

My organization, Postcards From Farr Away is an organization that asks people to write genuine and sincere messages on postcards, and then we send them out randomly. We hope to spread random acts of kindness. One evening I received a call. It was from a woman who had just been in the hospital. Her child was hospitalized for the past couple days and she had just arrived back at her house to start sorting thru life that had been temporarily postponed. As she was going thru her mail, sorting out the junk mail & bills, she came across a postcard. Now I don't know what the postcard said, but this woman called me to articulate that this simple piece of mail had a message written on it that lifted her spirits and was extremely timely. That it impacted her and it made a turbulent time in her life a little better and brighter. This was the work of Postcards From Farr Away. I aim to make as many people's days as possible, by using a very simple, yet meaningful gesture. Volunteers write these messages, and then sometimes by myself, and sometimes by the help of these volunteers I address them and send them out. Each postcard is branded with a simple URL (http://from.postcardsfromfarraway.org), which the recipients can come to a website and can understand how they got the postcard. People on the website can buy merchandise associated with the cause, submit addresses to have postcards sent to, and stay up to date with the current state of the organization. In the next couple months I plan to start to roll out a volunteer network across college campuses to help spread PFFA exponentially. With the assistance of the Gonzaga University New Venture Lab, we created an inexpensive plan to syndicate the organization, and allow it to function all across the nation. I have sent out thousands of postcards locally, nationally, and recently internationally (9 countries and counting!).

Boulder, CO (Inactive) – Operaverse presents Trouble in Tahiti

2012-10-13T00:00:00Z

Operaverse is about creating musical art and developing musical artists. Our inaugural production is Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein offered in Boulder, CO on 10/27/2012, Fort Collins on 10/28, and Broomfield, CO on 11/2. We are completely cast by local artists and all the performances will be free and open to the public. Opera is often branded as elitist and it is certainly not the cheapest art-form to produce or attend. As a result and despite its beauty, it is often named as one of the most disliked art-forms. Many, if not most of the "opera-haters" have never heard an operatic performance. The charm of this particular medium is that you get to experience the power of the human voice in a visceral way but only if you can afford to go. That's were I step in. I believe in the power of the human voice and I believe in humans so this is my community offering. The Opera: Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in english that tells the story of one day in the life of an unhappily married couple, Dinah and Sam. It is a sublime piece of music that really speaks to the human condition. The work makes a social commentary about things that look perfect on the surface. It is also rumored that this work was biographical, a story about Leonard Bernstein's own parents. Trouble in Tahiti is very accessible for an American audience that may or may not have any experience with Opera. The story is an archetype and one we all know because we have lived it or seen it play out. There are elements of jazz in the score as well as a jazz trio (as a greek chorus) that help the audience navigate the work both aurally and emotionally. In conclusion, this project is awesome because it is a new approach. Operaverse is grassroots Opera designed for the community-at-large. To display the power of the human voice. This power should not be reserved for those who can afford it. It belongs, by right, to all of us.

Los Angeles, CA – Be The Match - On Campus

2012-10-12T00:00:00Z

Be The Match On Campus is a national program that targets minority students attending colleges and universities around the country to add more people who fall in the 18-24 year age range to the registry. This initiative will focus on recruiting minority students from 35 main colleges and universities in Southern California. Why College Students (18-24)? Research shows that cells from younger donors lead to more successful transplants because younger donors produce more and higher-quality cells than older donors. Why Minorities? The chances of finding a matching donor vary widely based on genetic tissue types and minorities are particularly at risk. Racially and ethnically diverse groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and multiracial individuals have more genetic diversity in their tissue types, and this complexity can make it harder to find suitable donors. Because tissue types are inherited, patients are most likely to match someone who shares their racial and ethnic heritage. Although access to transplant is improving significantly, with the NMDP facilitating more than twice as many transplants for minorities than it did just five years ago, there are still patients who are denied access to treatment because a matching donor cannot be found. For multiracial patients, the chances of finding a match are significantly reduced. The genetic combinations are staggering, and only 3% of the donors on the registry self-identify as mixed race. Our criteria for success is to ensure that we have recruited healthy individuals between the ages of 18-24 Southern California universities who are well educated about the marrow donation process, understand what they are committing to, and are indeed committed to donating if matched with a patient. Together, Be The Match Foundation and the NMDP are the world’s leader in connecting patients in need with compassionate and generous donors who are willing to volunteer their time and cells to save a life.

Kitchener-Waterloo – Pandora's Box Grows Up

2012-10-11T00:00:00Z

Pandora's Box-The Puppet Show has been performed in school classrooms, outdoor festivals, libraries, and senior's centres. This is one version of this puppet show, an intimate and interactive version, which is entertaining but lacks the "pizazz" of a live theatre experience. With the help of the Awesome Foundation, I would like to provide university technical theatre students with a theatre design project. This is a chance for theatre technicians to have hands-on experience on a highly inspiring and challenging theatre piece. Pandora's Box is a puppet show designed to be performed onstage. There is no "puppet theatre". I perform what I call "Shameless" puppetry, where the actor performs in front of the audience shamelessly. This is why this show would make such a great design project. There are unlimited lighting, sound and special effect opportunities in a show that deals with a tale as large as a Greek myth, performed with one actor and multiple puppets. This is a excellent Awesome Foundation project because it comes at the final phase of this artistic enterprise. The show is already written, cast and well rehearsed. It is a fully professional show with a successful beginning, which now requires this final push to make it great.

Ottawa – Laser Musicbox

2012-10-11T00:00:00Z

October’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Christopher Smeenk to support his making music with lasers. Christopher, a physics PhD student at the University of Ottawa and the Attosecond Science Lab at the National Research Council, explains that his scientific work “focuses on applications of ultrashort laser pulses to control and image matter on the atomic scale.” But he’s also interested in, as he puts it, “delivering tangible outcomes that non-specialists can enjoy.” So he has developed a new method to make music that he calls the laser musicbox. “New developments in laser technology,” Christopher explains, “make it possible to use light to create and control sound – merging the sensations of sight and hearing into a single experience. By focusing an ultrashort laser pulse into air it is possible to simultaneously generate an audible sound and colours spanning the entire visible spectrum. By focusing a laser pulse into air we create a plasma, i.e., a gas of electrons and ions. When the hot plasma expands into the surrounding cooler air it creates a shock wave that you can hear. By controlling the frequency of the laser pulses we can manipulate the pitch of the note and play a melody.” So far, Christopher has used his laser music box to play back scales, as well as two pieces of music from Daft Punk. Next, he plans to connect a piano keyboard to the laser to transform it into a musical instrument, and invite musicians and composers into the lab to experiment with the technology. He hopes to eventually use the laser in performance, with a small ensemble of musicians. He also plans to open up the software he is developing to others interested in experimenting with music and light. To learn more about Christopher’s laser musicbox — he has written a short paper about how it works — and to follow his progress, visit https://sites.google.com/site/csmeenk/laser-musicbox.

Sydney – Hoopy Happenings

2012-10-10T00:00:00Z

The idea for Hoopy Happenings started when I was at Circus Fest 2009 in Tasmania and wanted more than just 2 hoop workshops during the training time. A few of us tried to pick a place & a date but everyone had different ideas & we all lived in different parts of Oz. I decided if it was going to happen we just needed to set a date & go for it. I decided on Sydney, chose a weekend, advertised it and searched for teachers. It kicked off in 2010 & after many hours of work I managed to cover costs, we had 29 participants. The next year, 2011, I learnt a lot from 2010 & made the changes to make it a success again & we had 39 participants. Every year though right up until the very last week I'd be stressing out and wondering if I'd sell enough tickets to cover the costs. Every year my sister Lisa who helps me & Bunny would tell me to breath and the hoopiverse will come through for me. Hundreds of hours spent to get this hoop community event up & running each year and its really beautiful when it comes to fruition and all the bills get paid and there may be a little left over for me too. I try to get a good mix of workshops together that covers top to toe hooping... this year we have workshops in contortion. foot hooping. salsa, belly-dancing, isolations, native american-indian inspired hooping, acrobalance, fire hooping, World Hoop Day Dance choreography, twin hooping plus I've added master classes where hoopers can develop their teaching skills & performance development. It's totally full of awesomeness! Plus this year I have a cameraman on board to do a DVD for us so that it is professionally done. Hoopy Happenings is a community happening. It accommodates for the circus styled hoopers and the hoop dancers. These 2 different styles of hooping don't always see eye to eye, the teaching & training styles are very different and there are still some who are just one or the other. I like to see HH as the bridge & inspiration for hooping creativity. Next step to grow.

New York City, NY – The Acoustic Guitar Project

2012-10-08T00:00:00Z

The Acoustic Guitar Project is music, creativity, inspiration, and a celebration of humanity rolled into one. The project’s basic premise is to set an acoustic guitar off on a physical and musical journey. It begins with a single musician, who has one week to record an original song with the guitar on a handheld recorder. At the end of the week, the musician signs the guitar and gives it to another musician to repeat the cycle. The guitar thus becomes a "viral memento" with its own path, until 20 musicians have contributed to a single guitar. There are already instruments circulating in New York and Helsinki and a third will soon set sail in Latin America. The songs, lyrics, pictures of the musicians, and interviews with them are archived on a website, and the ultimate aim is to bring the musicians together again in the real world for a concert. The Awesome Grant will help support all aspects of this project’s growth, as the website is revitalized and new guitars are added and the whole process is documented on video.

Austin, TX – Austin Sea Veggies

2012-10-06T00:00:00Z

Austin Sea Veggies is a seaweed farm in Austin TX started by Lewis Wells. Originally he was growing seaweed for scientific purposes. "Seaweed products are in many products most people don't know it. It is in many foods, cosmetics and medicines. The wild harvest of it is reaching unsustainanble levels," Lewis told us. He started growing in aquaria as proof of concept. It required years of research and experiments. "In an off handed comment I made a remark to my wife about eating it. Next thing I know I am running a booth at the sustainable food center's farmers market and my garage is full of tanks of seawater growing seaweed for culinary use." How cool is that?! Now Lewis has so many customers in grocery and restaurants that he has more demand than supply. With the awesome foundation grant Lewis plans on purchasing electronic probes to measure nitrogen and phosphate level in his farm tanks. "If I can graph in real time the rate the plants are taking up nutrients I can give them the exact amount of nutrients they need and have 0 waste," he says. He'll also be buying a UV sterilizing unit to eliminate bacteria and nuisance algae from the water supply to produce even better crops. This will allow Lewis plans to moving Austin Sea Veggies out of his garage and into a greenhouse at Agua Dulce aquaponics farm in southeast Austin. He'll be finally able to raise several fold the amount of seaweed and finally meet his customer demand. He will also be able to start growing more varieties beyond the one he grows now called Ogo. "My goal is produce amazing, fresh, healthy local seafood anywhere in world. I want people to have good food and for us to be able to leave the wild environment alone at the same time."

San Francisco, CA – 24/7 Bike Repair Vending Machine

2012-10-02T00:00:00Z

As an urban bicyclist, I am frequently stricken with flat tires and mechanical failures at times when bike shops are closed. Many bicyclists (myself included) have the know-how to fix their own bikes, but lack the access parts when they need them. I want to create the Bay Area’s first 24 hour bike repair depot. I want to take a vending machine and fill it with bicycle tubes, tires, tire levers, lights, and other assorted parts. I’ll decorate the outside with helpful bike repair information, such as how to change a tire, attach an air pump to the outside, and place it in a prominent, bike friendly location. With this, bikers will have an emergency repair option at any time of day or night.

Rio de Janeiro (Inactive) – Open Mic - Primeira Base (TAKE 2)

2012-10-01T00:00:00Z

O Primeira Base Open Mic tem como proposta gerar uma oportunidade para aspirantes a humoristas terem uma plataforma inicial acessível para se lançarem no mercado, assim como abrir a possibilidade para humoristas profissionais testarem novos materiais para seus shows. Cria-se um espaço fixo no calendário cultural do Rio de Janeiro que, ao contrário de SP, carece de locais de apresentação onde a comédia stand-up possa criar alguma tradição e não um aspecto de evento sazonal. O evento foi realizado ao longo do mês de outubro de 2012 no La Esquina Teatro Bar e o prêmio concedido foi utilizado para adquirir um troféu e em cachês para os humoristas profissionais.

Oahu, HI – PermablitzHI

2012-10-01T00:00:00Z

Hawaii is dependent on food grown elsewhere and shipped to the middle of the Pacific. Less than 2 weeks of food inventory is on hand. Delivery stoppage, delays and costs increases would have a tremendous negative impact. Permablitz Hawaii allows people to create perennial food gardens at their homes with little money and no experience. Anyone is eligible simply by helping install three other gardens. In one day, a large group of people will come and transform your land into a Permaculture foodscape. Since it’s founding in the Fall of 2011, 39 Permablitz’s have been completed. Please read more here: http://permablitzhawaii.com/pages/what-is-a-permablitz As raindrops fall in to rivers and rivers into oceans we hope to naturally inspire more and more people to work together as neighbors for the benefit of all involved. PermaBlitz not only increases the island’s food security, but also allows people to create new, reciprocal relationships with a diverse group of “blitzers”. These symbiotic relationships increase everyone’s resiliency when faced with adversity. PermaBlitz started Oahu-wide and has grown to establish more local groups, like the Westside PermaBlitz in Waianae and 'Growing Together' on the North Shore. We aim to continue this trend to lots of neighborhoods and other islands. There are no restrictions limiting the growth to whoever wants to adopt the program. Nothing is more peaceful than helping others grow healthy food. We love striving to recreate what Hawaii once was, a community where neighbors help neighbors grow their own food, trade, eat together, share recipes and “talk story”. By doing so people care about each other more deeply. They are generally inspired to invite others to participate and share even more, creating peas (peace!) on Earth!

Sukhbaatar (Inactive) – BOOK RESTORATION

2012-10-01T00:00:00Z

It has been a busy couple of months for Awesome Mongolia! First, Aldarmaa and I had an amazing time representing the Awesome Foundation by speaking at TEDx Ulaanbaatar about Awesome Mongolia, as well as another project we have been working on, the Good Father Project. You can catch the video at AwesomeMongolia.com and practice your Mongolian during the second half of the video, subtitles are forthcoming! The idea was well received by the audience and we are currently working with a group from Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, to start our second chapter (and potentially third) of Awesome Mongolia! The deans of the new group are going to work with students at the health sciences university, and hope to fund some great public health projects. We can’t wait to see what they come up with! Finally, we awarded our second project for Awesome Sukhbaatar in late October. The winning proposal was submitted by an entire class of 11th grade students at one of our schools. They will be working with the local municipal library to recover books that are severely damaged. The students also plan on starting a competition based on reading books!

Austin, TX – Color Squad: Youth transforming public spaces

2012-09-30T00:00:00Z

Since I have been working in public schools serving specifically low-income communities, I have noticed these schools target STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) based education with an eye towards college and trade school, and a very low focus on the arts or creative education. I will occasionally come across youth with a genuine talent and interest in art, but have no way to substantially encourage them to pursue a career in art or to show them ways to do so. With an Awesome Grant, I would use it as seed money to start a program for youth in low-income, under-served communities who are interested in art to come together and create murals in their community. It would be a group of four to eight teens that would submit portfolios and be accepted on a competitive basis. My goal is to give them a sense of what it is to be a real working artist, and the challenges and rewards of creating art in a group for their community. They will learn composition, execution of design, and come out of the program with experience working with the community and completing public art projects that can be put toward a portfolio for college or more professional work. It will also hopefully create a sense of engagement in their community and be a beautiful addition to a part of the Austin community.

Washington, DC – Wangari Gardens

2012-09-28T00:00:00Z

Wangari Gardens opened in early spring 2012 as a community garden project for DC residents, honoring the work of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental activist. The garden includes 55 plots, which will be nearly doubled this fall. Additionally, we have communal education gardens and an orchard which are open to the general public. We plan to build Wangari Garden into a civic education center, a place where students can come year-round to learn about growing food, where fresh food can be grown for service projects, and where people can come together to enjoy a beautiful floral treasure tucked within the big city. Though we've been working for less than a year and not even one growing season, our team is organized and ready to take on new projects. We plan to build a pumpkin patch for the fall, a rainwater collection garden (so we can be entirely self-sufficient in water use!), a composting facility, and a rehabilitation garden in partnership with a local hospital.

Seattle, WA – Graffiti Defense Coalition's Sticker Machine

2012-09-28T00:00:00Z

GDC wants to introduce street art and our mission to Seattle by offering a nomadic street art sticker vending machine. We feel that we can promote street art, street artists and our mission in an effective way through the GDC’s street art vending machine. We are collaborating with local artists to have sticker designs donated for a diverse variety of street art stickers. The sticker machine will change locations from neighborhood art walks, to galleries and events around Seattle. We also plan to give the vending machine a life of its own by building an online persona through social media sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, Four Square and the like. This will be a fun way to update fans/friends of its current whereabouts and available selection. GDC believes this benefits Seattle because street art lends itself to community building and inspires creativity. By creating the online persona we will be inviting everyone to contribute to, interact with and promote street art. This will allow Seattle to be inspired by street art and get involved with the street art movement. Plus awesome street art stickers will be available to Seattleites for $1! GDC will gain a dynamic startup tool in the vending machine. It will open a forum for us to promote street art and our mission. Through the vending machine we will build the community support to include GDC and Seattle in the global street art arena. It will also be a helpful contribution to our fundraising efforts for upcoming goals. Projects on the horizon for GDC include a youth program and Stunning Seattle a mural event. GDC is developing a syllabus for youth to better understand the difference between vandalism and street art. We are building a curriculum around different styles of street art and will be offering it to youth centers. GDC’s Stunning Seattle is a large scale mural event coming in 2013. We plan to join local property owners and local/international mural artists to beautify the empty walls in Seattle.

Grand Rapids, MI (Inactive) – The Urban Tech Farm Project

2012-09-27T00:00:00Z

Our project is going to integrate farming to downtown locations by revitalizing abandoned industrial buildings. In doing so, we'll be developing high tech, indoor urban farming facilities, which will operate sustainably. Growing indoors allows for year-round production, much higher efficiency than traditional farming methods, greater yields, and minimal transportation costs. Using aquaponics (growing vegetables with fish), food can be grown in a symbiotic closed loop system without the use of herbicides or pesticides. With the integration of engineering, robotics, and computer control systems the bottom line of this project is to produce ZERO WASTE and utilize off-grid energy. To start scaling towards creating an entirely sustainable farm within a building, we're going to design and construct a self-sustaining farm within a 20 foot shipping container. Inside the shipping container, we're going to develop our proprietary system to grow high-end restaurant greens in which we'll be able to sell directly to downtown restaurants. With the shipping container being located in a downtown setting; we'll be able to virtually eliminate transportation of fresh produce and all the costs associated with it, including the carbon footprint. Using this proof-of-concept, we're going to demonstrate the positive effects of farming in the city and scale the technology we develop in the shipping container to a full sized farm. Our project is becoming increasingly integrated into the Grand Rapids entrepreneurial ecosystem. We've already developed a great relationship with the Start Garden team, and we're communicating and collaborating with additional GR companies including: Thinkbox Creative, the Elemental Project, and the Urban Renaissance Group. By 2050 there will be over 9 billion people on the planet. There isn't enough arable land on earth to feed that many people. We are creating the solution, we are starting now, and we want to do it in Grand Rapids.

Houston (Inactive) – Texas Spirit: Homecoming Mums

2012-09-27T00:00:00Z

Our project will be centered around the production of 12, large-scale versions of the traditional Homecoming ‘Mum’ created by 12 Texas artists. While we will provide the basic, standardized wooden backing for the works, we are asking each artist to create a work inspired by traditional ‘Mum’ designs but with new takes on motif, theme, or message. The provided material will consist of a plywood round cut to have a diameter of two feet, and with pre-drilled holes for later installation of hanging materials. The traditional ‘Mum’ consists of two main parts; first is the corsage itself, a large silk-flower made to resemble the chrysanthemum which is pinned to the shirt. Many choose to add to the center of the corsage by adding things like stuffed animals or plastic cartoon characters as a way to display personal style and tastes. The Mum is applied to a cardboard backing that also houses the ‘flair’ of the accessory. What is perhaps the real show-stopper of these adornments are the ribbons flowing from behind the flower, these wisps display your favorite team or your sweetheart and boast bells and charms that jingle loudly much to the dismay of many a high school teacher. Many Texas crafters know that when Summer rolls around, local craft stores will boast aisles and sections completely devoted to the phenomena; the supplies come varied and in a wide selection of tastes. This money-making venture is more tradition than fad in Texas. Mothers and Daughters spend energy, time and resources on creating these spectacular showcases of spirit. Our project would celebrate this tradition by asking artists to re-visit the ‘Mum’ and give a breath of fresh air to this tradition sometimes reserved for the spirit-filled cheerleader, or football star. Homecoming Mums have become a tradition in Texas, an example of folklore cultivated by the people and continued by generations of spirited high-school aged young people. This exercise in ritual through a seemingly silly or juvenile tradition hopefully will produce results that are reflective, matured, and insightful, much like we hope our participants are regarded. As part of bringing the Homecoming Mum into the mature sphere we will be collecting, documenting, performing interviews and synthesizing a catalogue that would chronicle this tradition. As part of the preparation we were surprised t find that very little academic writing on this extremely regional tradition. Hopefully by creating the pieces as well as archiving the regional folklore we can highlight something many people may never have experienced. The finished pieces would become temporary public art installations, on display in cultural centers that agree to house the piece and understand the importance of this project. The display process would be modeled after the CowParade project here in Texas, where the painted cows represented a sense of pride and excitement about living here in this large and varied state and simply resided within open spaces in office buildings, museums, government centers, and cultural destinations. These creations will be recognized by many Texans as a tribute to past days and can impart the creativity of an artist’s hand to those who may not see the connection between family crafts and fine art. These pieces produced by the artists would be on display in the Fall of 2013, during Football season, as a celebration of Houston’s great arts and sports community. At the beginning of 2013 we would began our initiative by creating a website and having a launch party that would display two prototype ‘Mums’ and celebrate a Texas tradition. From this time on we would have our artists working on the pieces in their studios, preparing for the coming football season. By July, we would like to have all the pieces completed, allowing time for a Grand Reveal of all twelve of the pieces, as well as time to install the pieces in their semi-permanent homes. The pieces would be on display until December 31, 2013.

Melbourne (Inactive) – All Of The Numbers

2012-09-26T00:00:00Z

It's basically a community radio station for Melbourne - but on the Internet. I've always enjoyed listening to the radio to find out about cool things happening around my city, new music, news, and general discussion. The problem is, amongst all of the many devices I now own, a radio isn't one of them. These days, the only times I hear the radio is when it's being broadcast in a shopping centre, or if I'm in a car, and even those interactions with the medium are becoming fewer. My project is called All Of The Numbers. It's Melbourne specific community radio, delivered online. It's curated content created by all kinds of Melburnians - designers, comedians, entrepreneurs, musicians, commentators, story-tellers. The barrier to entry to access and create content for All Of The Numbers is low. To create a show, all you need is an idea and a voice. To consume the content, all you need is a wifi connection and ears. There will be a content grid. Different shows stream at different times throughout the week on a schedule. Each show will be delivered as 8 episodes of 15-30 minutes in length, on a weekly basis. Eventually the content schedule will be full-time. Listeners can browse content by theme, schedule, presenter. Sponsors and advertisers can give their support to the whole station, or to a specific presenter or show or series. Information, knowledge, stories, and entertainment will be delivered to Melburnians by Melburnians. It will be a way to re-engage the young Melbourne community with the medium. It will be interactive. It will be creative. It will be so very Melbourne. Think "RRR for geeks", if you must compare it to something. Think "endless possibilities for sharing and growing communication within local communities" if you're feeling as excited as me. I'm very confident and very excited about this project's enormous potential to do great things. Sorry, I mean - to do AWESOME things.

Boston, MA (Inactive) – Union Square Public Benches

2012-09-26T00:00:00Z

we're located on the corner of the busiest intersection in union square, with a bus stop directly in front of the studio and a busy cafe next door. as we are committed to a lively pedestrian and street culture, we were saddened by the disappearance of the adam singha-designed benches that used to grace the sidewalk in front of sherman cafe. the benches, donated by mks design, had rusted though and were discarded. in front of our studio, we built an integrated bench / planter, but the demand for outdoor public seating is high, and the traffic from local pedestrians, MBTA riders, farmer's market-goers, and the cafe's customers is such that often one finds people sitting on the ground or moving along in search of adequate seating elsewhere.

Airdrie, AB (Inactive) – Club Cre8

2012-09-26T00:00:00Z

Laurin's awesome idea is to develop Club Cre8, a Pay It Forward type of non-profit group where they will do fundraising to hand out gift cards or supplies to children across Canada who have an idea to Pay It Forward in some way in their community. The Club Cre8 team will also include a group of local youth, who will help develop the ideas and run the program. The $1,000 will be used to kickstart the first idea, and the group targets teens aged 13-18 and will incorporate fundraising and social media marketing to plan and execute pay-it-forward initiatives. While the group is open to anyone interested in participating in the pay-it-forward campaign in the community, Laurin is teaming up with the Airdrie, Crossfield & District Youth Justice Committee to try and instil a positive focus in at-risk youth and help change their lives. Kids will spend their community service hours working with Laurin and Club Cre8 to help implement these Pay-It-Forward campaigns. Photo Credit: Discover Airdrie

Portland, OR – The Old Apple Tree

2012-09-25T00:00:00Z

The oldest apple tree in the Pacific Northwest is located six miles from downtown Portland in the middle of a highway interchange. This tree was planted circa 1826 and marks the beginning of western expansion in what is now Oregon. We have been granted permission from the Urban Forestry Commission to take ten cuttings and carry forward the legacy of this relic tree. With support from Awesome Portland, we will lead a participatory art project in which local families and residents graft their own apple trees from the 1826 apple tree cuttings. We will work with each participant to plant a tree at their home and install a placard that contains information about the participants and the project. To celebrate The Old Apple Tree project, we will host a public tour around Portland to visit each tree. We will also design and distribute a map of the tree locations. These will be printed and also published on the project's future website. This project will not only commemorate the rich fruit culture in the Pacific Northwest, it will also ask people to consider their own agency in creating history. The trees we plant will live on as permanent and growing records of the 1826 apple tree. They will act as a series of living sculptures that illuminate Portland's past and educate its future.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactive) – Halev - Independent Living Program, Social cinema

2012-09-25T00:00:00Z

Halev helps these youngsters at risk who are in the worst possible circumstances negotiate crucial phase of their lives. It helps to maximize their own interests and capabilities by providing learning tutoring, educational counselling, psychological therapy, skills development and empowerment by cinema workshops. Social cinema project: Film program – Empowering youth at risk. This program is designed to allow participants to express themselves through learning of cinema, watching movies and making a short documentary. Participation in this framework would lead to empowerment in terms of enhanced self-esteem, enhanced cooperation with others within a social framework, establishing social contact through chalanges bearing of frustrating conditions and enhanced capability of influencing one's environment. The workshops include a set of exercises that focus on the empowerment aspects in all stages of film production: scriptwriting, production, directing, acting, shooting and editing. At the end, making a short film by youth. Making the film teaches them to take responsibility, to develop self-efficacy, to place an internal locus of control, working as an individual within a group, to manage time effectively. Empowerment throughsocial cinema workshop may bring personal change in the aspect of preparation for independent living.

Newmarket – "You are not alone"

2012-09-25T00:00:00Z

"You are not alone" - is a program where we are able to help students with anticipatory grief or bereavement through there peers and teachers. The staff at Doane House Hospice are inspired daily by the art making processes of the children who visit the Hospice each week and the courage and strength of families impacted by cancer and other serious illnesses. We see the benefits of being able to communicate with children and teens who become warriors, who valiantly fight cancer on behalf of an ill parent. We would like to be able to work more closely with the York Region School Boards, so that the guidance counselors and teachers are able to understand and support any child or teen dealing with the issues of anticipatory grief, loss or bereavement. DHH is already in discussion with the school boards and they are certainly open to us partnering with them. Further meetings will establish the use of this therapeutic modality in workshops to train both teachers and the psychology teams in the area of trauma and traumatic events.

Berlin (Inactive) – wOhm - a robotic pet

2012-09-22T00:00:00Z

Chicago, IL – Jurassic Geriatrics

2012-09-22T00:00:00Z

This past May, I was invited to a retirement community. At the retirement community I visited, the residents were extremely receptive, to the point that this could almost have some therapeutic benefits as well. The staff told me afterwards that there were two individuals at the presentation who were normally quite reclusive. Though it took some coaxing, they agreed to come. It turns out that, as I was passing the fossils around to the group, both of the women became very engaged and active in the conversations. The staff was really impressed by what they saw. I was told that it was such a unique and different form of entertainment to what the residents are used to that it really took the staff by surprise (in regards to the residents' positive reactions). Word has spread, and more retirement communities are requesting that I give them a visit. I always ask for a donation of some kind. I don't pay myself, but instead I use the money to cover any traveling costs (a dollar or two in gas), and the rest goes towards increasing the fossil collection. Budgets are extremely tight at some of these communities, and they have told me they can't afford to pay anything because they have no money left in their entertainment funds.

Calgary, AB (Inactive) – PODPLAYS: Downloadable Art for Your Ears

2012-09-22T00:00:00Z

Podplays are downloadable plays designed specifically for your ears. Simply choose your play and download, find the "set"/ public location on a map and head out there to discover your city in a new way.! Some are best listened to in a certain location or site, some ask you to be a spectator on the move and to listen while you walk or run a certain route, and some ask you to simply download, plug in your earphones and close your eyes. Myself and my students will be discovering some currently unused or neglected spaces in the city core in Calgary, AB. We will be creating podplays that repurpose and/or uncover these spaces for the public. The locations will be mapped and high quality pieces of sound art in the form of MP3 files will be posted on the site, and freely available to the public.

Detroit, MI (Inactive) – The People of Detroit Photodocumentary

2012-09-21T00:00:00Z

The People of Detroit is a media project that uses vivid portraiture and engaging essays to change how people think about living in Detroit. Since its inception in April 2012, TPOD has received national and international attention. Portraits from the project have appeared in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company and other national publications. In early 2011, a creative director saw the project on flickr.com and hired TPOD founder Noah Stephens to shoot an ad campaign for McDonald's Corporation in Shanghai, China.

Pittsburgh, PA – Zip Line: Mt. Washington to the North Shore

2012-09-20T00:00:00Z

The goal is to connect Mt. Washington to the North Shore with a zip line. Here's a video of what the zip line style will be https://vimeo.com/48903726 A zip line alone is great. A zip line off of one of the most picturesque urban vistas in the world is fantastic. Imagine riding the incline up, zipping over to a field trip at the Carnegie Science Center, a concert at Stage AE, Casino, or a Steelers / Pirates game. The seat (as opposed to a harness) will allow a greater audience to use the zip line and the automatic retrieval system increases throughput. (80-90 riders per hour with 4 zip lines)

London (Inactive) – upReach – improving access to the professions

2012-09-19T00:00:00Z

I want to improve access to the professions for undergraduates from less-privileged backgrounds. My vision is to achieve this in partnership with employers, universities, and policy makers by running a targeted, three-year professional development programme. The on campus programme will empower participants with the non-academic capabilities critical to realising career potential. Evidence shows that equal achievement at university does not translate into equal progression into the professions. What’s more, those graduates from less-privileged backgrounds who do access the professions earn less. These academically talented undergraduates often lack the mentoring, soft skills, knowledge and professional experience critical for entry. As recruiters increasingly value these non-academic capabilities, fewer graduates from less-privileged backgrounds enter the professions, leaving their potential contribution unrealised. (Briefing: ow.ly/cfjja) To improve access to the professions I aim to run a professional development programme that empowers these undergraduates to realise their career potential. I am therefore seeking funding for a six-month pilot, which will precede the launch of the full programme. The pilot and full programme will run concurrently with participants' degrees in collaboration with employers, and universities. Workshops, networking events, professional mentoring, and internships will provide participants with the knowledge, contacts, role models, and relevant experience that they tend to lack and struggle to build. My objective is to empower students from less-privileged backgrounds to achieve graduate outcomes that they may not otherwise have attained. For the wider community, this delivers improved social mobility and greater economic output. A report commissioned by the Sutton Trust revealed that ‘failing to improve low levels of social mobility will cost the UK economy up to £140 billion a year by 2050’.

Ottawa – Ottawa Mini Maker Faire

2012-09-19T00:00:00Z

September’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Remco Volmer and Britta Evans-Fenton to support a Mini Maker Faire in Ottawa. Maker Faires, they explain, “have been called everything from a digital quilting bee to the greatest show and tell on Earth. In the last six years, since the first Maker Faire was held in California, this futuristic arts and crafts fair has become a global phenomenon. The World Maker Faire in New York City draws over 100,000, while small, community driven “Mini” Maker Faires have moved from North American suburbs to Europe, Asia, and even as far as Cairo.” Their Mini Maker Faire, which will be held on the weekend of October 13-14, will brings together families and individuals who celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, sustainability, and science — and those who embrace the Do-It-Yourself or “DIY” spirit. “At Maker Faire,” explains Remco, “the focus is on the process of making — not just the finished product. The real story is the curiosity, vibrancy, and passion of the Makers themselves — individuals and communities drawn together by a common delight in the magic of tinkering, hacking, creating, and reusing materials and technologies.” Remco and Britta are organizing the Mini Maker Faire through Artengine, an Ottawa-based collective of artists, technologists, and interested members of the general public with strong ties to the local, national and international community of technologically-based artists. Artengine board member Luc Lalande is supporting Remco and Britta as a volunteer and consultant. To learn more about the Mini Maker Faire, which will be free and open to the public, visit makerfaireottawa.com.

Sydney – Pop up Ping Pong at Green Square

2012-09-12T00:00:00Z

Community is the most important element for cities. Our project builds upon this premise and will provide the Green Square community with 2 pop up ping pong tables. The outdoor ping pong tables are relatively cheap, light weight and will be moved around Green Square activating previously dead spaces. The project is simple - foster community spirit through the best game ever invented- ping pong! This activation reflects the communities need for visibility and self expression. It will also help bridge language barriers between existing residents, some of whom may be from other backgrounds, and new residents, 30% of which are from China. To ensure longevitiy I'll be engaging with local businesses to 'look after' the tables and where possible bring in at night for safety and weather protection. Community Benefits: - knowing your neighbours - healthy living and sport - excitement and interest - improved liveability It would be great to have the Awesome Foundation support this project and help foster great community connection at Green Square. Thanks for the opportunity to submit this application. John

Boulder, CO (Inactive) – Yoga classes for Boulders Homeless youth

2012-09-12T00:00:00Z

Ally for youth is a partner non profit that offers food and support to homeless people between the age of 18- 24. I would like to offer a weekly yoga class to these youth. This would be the stepping stone to intreats participant in a meditation class and pranayma skills development. I would then have yoga therapists work with individuals.

New York City, NY – Illicit Couples Retreat

2012-09-10T00:00:00Z

The Illicit Couples Retreat is a guided adventure through an abandoned honeymoon resort a short distance outside of New York City. Twelve intrepid couples are taken on a Lynchian tour of a sexy, swinging 1970s getaway set in the current backdrop of the resort’s decay. This illicit event introduces the audience and the staff to a tragic site once was a hopping resort for romantic getaways that has fallen into ruin through family conflict. Guided through a series of buildings in the expansive complex by trained stewards, the couples both mingle with each other and have private time alone in one of the guest cottages. The experience is designed to deliver something unique to each couple. The full story is only be revealed when they compare notes in the bus on the way home. During their time in one of the kitschy suites, they receive a phone call with an audio recording produced by Project Wanderlust partner Audio Smut. The recordings are based on the documentary research on guests who stayed at the resort between the 50’s and 70’s. The project has been well-documented so everyone can enjoy what the attendees were able to experience first-hand. The Awesome Grant made possible numerous essential aspects of this project — from transportation to candles to champagne to extra-sheets at check-in.

Ann Arbor, MI – Field Trips For Tutoring Students At YMS!

2012-09-09T00:00:00Z

For the past three years, 826michigan has operated an after-school tutoring program at Ypsilanti Middle School. This program pairs trained volunteers with young people for an afternoon of sustained silent reading, homework help, snacks, and creative writing games. Tutoring occurs in a classroom at the middle school and runs from Monday through Thursday, 2:30pm-5:30pm. Students commit to attending at least once a week, although many choose to come more often. This program makes a real impact in the lives of the students. One parent told us, “I’ve seen a difference with my daughter. She had a glow in her face that she wanted to be part of the program, without hesitation, without us twisting her arm. She comes home and tells us what’s going on, and she speaks so highly of all the tutors. . .She likes the program because she sees improvement in her grades.” This fall will mark 826michigan’s fourth year at YMS, and we’re ready to make this program even more awesome. There are many benefits to hosting the program right in the school: it’s convenient for students and parents, it helps us build connections in the Ypsilanti public schools, and it works well for our Ypsilanti-based volunteers. However, one major drawback is that it means that students end up staying at their school for quite a long time. Once the program ends at 5:30, students have been in the same building since 7:15am -- a day of over 10 hours. This would be challenging for anybody, but for active middle schoolers it is grueling. 826michigan’s tutoring lab in downtown Ann Arbor is a colorful, comfortable space where students feel welcomed and excited to learn. (Not to mention our robot store, which has a magnetic attraction all its own.) Unfortunately, many of the students who participate in our program at YMS have never seen it! In the 2012-2013 school year, we want to connect our YMS students to this beautiful space with a series of field trips to 826michigan.

Sukhbaatar (Inactive) – Youth Dental Education in Baruun-Urt

2012-09-06T00:00:00Z

After holding an essay contest in the spring to determine the winner of our first Awesome Sukhbaatar grant, we finally awarded the winning students with the grant on September 7th in front of their classmates! The 14 year old students designed a dental education program that they will organize and teach with the help of local hospital workers for the two schools in our town. The students started off their program in style, presenting their idea to their classmates after they received the grant. When they finished presenting, they asked when the next deadline is so that they can try to submit another project this month! We’re looking forward to seeing what they and the other students come up with!

Toronto – LITTLE FREE LIBRARY FOR TRINITY BELLEWOODS PARK

2012-09-04T00:00:00Z

The Little Free Library idea began in Wisconsin three years ago and has spread to 9 nations worldwide. Little buildings the size of a doll’s house have a sign that says: “Take a Book-Return a Book”. They are for the public’s pleasure. There are now probably over 1000 of them world-wide and growing fast. The first Library opened in Toronto 9 months ago. There are now 7 in Toronto with another 8 under construction. They are in front of public homes and in city parks. We are presently a committee of three of me and two others promoting the idea by presentations, operating booths at fairs and talking to city officials, business and private groups. We also have a builder who offers attractive libraries at a reasonable cost for those with no construction prospect. We offer whatever help we can from the inception to final installation of any Little Free Library. Our target is 20 libraries operating in Toronto by year end: either privately owned or in public parks and playgrounds. The response of the Toronto press and TV is exemplary, for example see http://torontoist.com/2012/07/a-new-chapter-in-book-borrowing/#more-180388 The response of city council members, parks and playground staff, business initiative associations and business clubs is very supportive and positive. We realize that we must pursue financial opportunities so that individuals and communities are able to install Little Free Libraries regardless of their financial limitations. We are now spending 15 hours a week supporting and assisting the public park and playground sector and in communities that may be financially challenged and who want to get involved. We are presently communicating with the people in one of Toronto’s largest parks: Trinity Bellwood. The park always filled with people of all ages has a very active “Friends of the Park” association. This is an ideal place for a Little Free Library. The project has the support of city councillors, park staff and the “Friends” association.

Toronto – Park Yourself Here

2012-09-04T00:00:00Z

‘PARK Yourself Here’ will transform a Toronto downtown street parking spot into a temporary urban park. Rather than a placeholder for a single car this installation will become a place for people to gather. Interacting under the floating silhouette of a car, the passerby will have a chance to escape the hustle of the urban core. This installation is to celebrate Park(ing) day, an annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists activate the metered parking space as a site for creative experimentation, political and cultural expression, and unscripted social interaction. On Friday, September 21, hundreds of cities around the world will participate in transforming metered parking spaces into healthier and more beautiful places for their inhabitants. In Toronto, the parking authority operates approximately 17, 500 metered parking spaces on City of Toronto Streets in the core commercial areas. Using the standard parking size in Toronto (5.9m x 2.6m), that is a total of 268, 450mô for the use of private vehicles, an equivalent of 66 Yonge-Dundas squares (4, 047m²)! We will transform one of these metered parking spaces into a colorful and interactive experience for pedestrians. Our proposal is to place a rectangular enclosure on a parking space. It has a full scale silhouette of a car cut out at the bottom. By lifting it up to the proper height, a public space is revealed. Showing how much of our actual environment is occupied by cars, as well as an invitation to pedestrians to enter. Once underneath, they will find themselves immersed under a canopy that made out of recycled pop bottles. Each person will be given an opportunity to fill one of these empty bottles with the color they like. Throughout the day, these colored bottles will be transformed into a colorful canopy. We like to call it the Sunroof. Note: The original idea of the canopy design is by Garth Britzman called (POP)culture: http://www.behance.net/garthitecture

Oahu, HI – Sound Project

2012-09-01T00:00:00Z

The goal of Sound Project is to create a Non-Profit Organization that strives to incorporate local youth into Hawaii’s thriving music industry. The project seeks to: 1. Involve students in the process of creating music on the professional level with guidance from established artists, producers, and experts in the field. 2. Educate students on the production and business aspects of the music industry through real life experience 3. Encourage artistic creativity and musical innovation in our islands youth through educational outreach, competitions, and hands on learning 4. Elevate musical aspirations and promote socially and culturally constructive uses of music 5. Connect reputable island artists, producers, and studios with up and coming musical talent to nurture and mold young musicians and pass along musical ingenuity to future generations. The project idea was formulated between myself and several other well connected members of the local music scene. Using our existing connections, distribution networks, and access to studios we came up with a simple method to achieve the above goals of the project. The basic concept is to hold bi annual or quarterly youtube competitions open to students k-12 around the state. Students submit a video as an individual artist or band and can be in the form of an acoustic performance, live performance, or a recorded track. Selected winners will be brought into the studio alongside experienced producers/musicians to create original songs that will be released on Sound Project Series albums for ITUNES & radio airplay as well as an opportunity to open at a concert event. The online competitions encourage students to not only continually practice and enhance their sound throughout the year but also allow them the time and comfort to produce quality music while even giving them exposure in an medium with massive viewership potential.

Houston (Inactive) – Emmaus Ministries Houston

2012-08-31T00:00:00Z

When “J” got out of the hospital with 42 staples in his chest from being stabbed two days prior and couldn’t afford to buy a $15.00 medicine prescription, the first person he came to was me, knowing that Emmaus would help him out. When “B” got of jail and was finally ready to go to drug rehab, the very next day he came to our Monday lunch knowing that we could assist him in this process. Houston is an “awesome” city and I love living here. But Houston has a dark side as well, and one its many dark secrets is the issue of male prostitution. Emmaus Ministries reaches out to these men letting them know that there are other options apart from the current life most of them feel forced to live and that there are people who are willing to help them get out from the habits that are literally killing some of them. We currently have Monday lunches and Wednesday breakfast every week, and also provide toiletries, clothing, a place to do laundry, counseling, bus passes to run errands, and assistance to help obtain Texas ID, housing, or rehab. Emmaus Ministires Houston has been around for more than 8 years and in the past 18 months alone, we have assisted over 90 men who have come to us seeking help. A few stats we gathered about these men from their intake forms 49% Have Been Shot or Stabbed 32% Have Overdosed 82% Currently are, or were Addicted to Drugs 23% (at least) Are HIV Positive 55% Have Experienced Violent Crimes 36% Have Been Raped ...others wouldn’t say 55% Have Been Molested 84% Are Homeless We are unique in that we are the only organization in Houston that specifically reaches out to this population and we are also unique because we have a very positive and trustworthy reputation among the male prostitute community. Having been around for so many years has given Emmaus the chance to establish a solid presence with these men so that many of the new guys that come are invited by older ones who know that Emmaus really cares and can help.

Detroit, MI (Inactive) – I Am Young Detroit 2.0 & CitySpotters

2012-08-31T00:00:00Z

Using I Am Young Detroit's new web application CitySpotters, citizens are incentivized to "spot" young citizen entrepreneurs and play supporting roles; earning points simply by championing them as nominators, customers, mentors, and resource providers. We’re not only using civic engagement as a tool for data-gathering, we’re making it easier for everyday people to find and support the under-the-radar and next-gen businesses, and really get involved in creating the news! I Am Young Detroit successfully collected soft “data” for three years by accepting nominations through its website. CitySpotters is simply a next phase nomination system that allows us to gather more advanced data—still gathering informative content—but also finding new ways to share this data and new tools to allow citizens to champion local businesses. We’ve launched the beta version on July 2nd, 2012. We’ll be using IAmYoungDetroit.com and Google Maps API to populate the city’s “bright spots” of young entrepreneurs and movements, tell their stories, and encourage users to engage and interact with them online and off. We’ve also organized several drop-off locations that will allow people to “spot” in physical spaces around Detroit, and plan on introducing our mobile and SMS app in the near future. You can check out our newly launched app in beta at www.thecityspotters.com

Boulder, CO (Inactive) – AwesomeBoard

2012-08-31T00:00:00Z

I want to set up a giant whiteboard in the middle of campus for students to brainstorm, collaborate, and ideate on. The primary focus of the whiteboard would be to promote the idea of entrepreneurship and innovation to students. By introducing them to the fact that their are groups like CUNVC and AwesomeBoulder, they could be inspired to write/draw ideas on the board. Another possible thing that could be written on the board is what they like about Boulder, and what they want to see improved. From there, the thought would be that there is a giant object right in the middle of campus that everyone can't help but stop for a second and check it out. Once we have their attention, the ideas on the board can only lead to more inspiration and better ideas. One of the other goals of the project for me is to inspire more involvement in entrepreneurship by students, so the whiteboard can be heavily promoted through pictures and social media after the event, and hopefully a few new Awesome Boulder or Startup projects can be started. This project was done by a friend of mine at NC State, the picture I uploaded is from the day they did it.

Austin, TX – Burnet-Ohlen Treescape

2012-08-30T00:00:00Z

We're planting a forest on Burnet! We've mapped out every location on Burnet from 2222 to 183 where a tree can grow. We know all about the utilities, the City's corridor plans, the businesses that are most likely to be supportive. Season by season, we're planting 10 to 50 trees until Burnet is transformed. The next tree-planting project is in October, when we will plant 50 trees near Steck and Ohlen.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Inactive) – Historical Building Preservation Posters

2012-08-30T00:00:00Z

Ilan's posters are kicking off Keren Baktana in Tel Aviv! Ever walked passed one of those neglected, sad looking buildings in Tel Aviv and thought to yourself - this building was probably once the king of the street! Well, Ilan has drawn these buildings in all their former glory and, with a little help from his friends at Keren Baktana, is producing massive sized posters to show off the beauty to all passers-by. You can't escape it now - this edu-street art is enriching the whole city with injections of beauty, reminding us how special our historical city really is.

Boston, MA (Inactive) – Rescuing Cold-Stunned Ocean Sunfish off Cape Cod

2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) is a volunteer nonprofit that focuses on marine wildlife off New England. Since 2005, we have maintained a community-sighting network for basking sharks and ocean sunfish in the waters off New England. Each fall, we now respond to stranded ocean sunfish along the north shores of Cape Cod or in back bay areas. Ocean sunfish are the heaviest bony fish in the world and can reach lengths of over 10 feet. They migrate to our cold waters each summer to feed on jellyfish. As winter approaches, they head south to spend their winters in warmer, more tropical waters. However, some individuals get trapped in the arm of Cape Cod and become cold-stunned as water temperatures continue to drop. For live ocean sunfish that strand, NECWA staff and interns push them back into the water. When responding to carcasses, we conduct a necropsy to learn more about their biology and eoclogy. NECWA now has the largest database on ocean sunfish off Cape Cod including the largest tissue bank that we share with other researchers worldwide. This fall we created a portable weighing tripod that allows us to weigh ocean sunfish carcasses that wash up on beaches. So far, we have been able to collect weights on 3 carcasses with weights ranging from 350 to 650 pounds. When rescuing live, cold-stunned ocean sunfish, the act of pushing them back into the water is not productive since they will more than likey re-strand sometime in the future. To assist these animals on their southerly migration, we need to relocate them to the southern side of Cape Cod or get them to the Cape Cod Canal. To do this, we need to make a portable sling that can be used to tow a live, cold-stunned ocean sunfish behind a small boat. Even though these fish are quite large, they can be easily moved given their hydrodynamic body shape. And since they are cold-stunned, they are not that active when handled. We also need to come up with a way to tag all rescued sunfish with some type of metal dart tag. Tags would display NECWA’s contact information to allow anyone finding a rescued sunfish to contact NECWA about its condition and location. This would help us determine the level of our success regarding the relocation of cold-stunned ocean sunfish.

Grand Rapids, MI (Inactive) – The Best Prom Ever

2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

How much time, energy, or donation would you give to help a fellow human have the best day of their life???? Think about it! Well, that's what our mission is all about. What started out as a dance for the 16 special needs kids at the local high school has blossomed into a West Michigan event that had over 270 from several surrounding cities last year. We have outgrown our facility in the local church and want to keep the dream alive by renting out one of the nicest facilities in Grand Rapids. This event is so extraordinary to young adults with special needs, as this is their one opportunity each year to get together with others who share their unique gift, to get dressed up in formal attire, to socialize with new friends, to enjoy different compilations of music and to just have fun in a safe and supportive environment.

Boston, MA (Inactive) – The H.E.L.P. Foundation

2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

Wouldn’t it be awesome if any high school student who needed a private tutor could find dozens for free right at their school? The average cost of a high school student’s time for tutoring is around $30 an hour. Steep for someone without a job and parent busy paying the mortgage. Learning this fact just a now made me even more proud of my organization’s ability to provide well over 100 hours of free high school tutoring in its first year at only one location, pretty awesome right? Unfortunately, the program has reached its limits and then some, but don’t worry, you can help! With just this one grant we could run for more then two years at any number of schools and likely sustain ourselves indefinitely afterwards! The idea for the HELP Foundation was born from the peer tutoring program, called the HELP Club, that I started that brought the intelligent and driven students desiring community service hours and work experience together with hard working students struggling to learn a particular discipline from their teacher, a common problem in a school with 25 student classes and overworked teachers. The program was extremely successful, ending the year with over 80 members in a school with little over 1,000 students. Though I was extremely proud of the program it inevitably fell apart after my failure to receive any grant money or fiscal sponsorship. The fact of the matter was that no one was able to put in the immense amount of time required to operate the club without a website smoothly. For this reason I spent many 15-20 hour weeks working to find a way to build a cheap website to assist the organization process so that not only Somerville High would be able to smoothly run a peer tutoring program, but any other school. Once the website is acquired I plan to file for incorporation and a 501c3 for the HELP Foundation, a non-profit that would monitor the website and provide it to any school that had an individual who desired to start a HELP Club.

Airdrie, AB (Inactive) – Green-Lighting Creativity

2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

It was just another awesome night in Airdrie on Wednesday March 21, when ten Airdrie citizens (and trustees) listened to four pitches from the community on how $1000 could turn an awesome idea into reality. The winning idea, to turn 28 plain traffic signal boxes into 3D works of art, was the choice of the ten trustees who each committed $100 of their own money. “What really set our winner’s idea of traffic signal box artwork apart from the other entrants was the potential to start a movement, which was fantastic in all our eyes. We saw this as an opportunity for Airdrie to be reminded of our commitment to this awesome city and involve more people with each project, as artists, and as sponsors. We could see a tangible piece of artwork and feel “WE did that! That’s awesome!” said trustee Keith Wilkinson. He also noted that if Awesome Airdrie was recognized for helping the project get off the ground, it would encourage everyone to submit ideas. Called “Green-lighting Creativity” the project was pitched by Sherry Shaw-Froggatt based on conversations she had with the City Public Works Department. The City owns the boxes but could not cover the costs associated with the project. “Traffic signal boxes and utility boxes are painted in cities around the world, including Calgary,” says Shaw-Froggatt, “it just takes paint and an eager artist to turn a boring metal box into something beautiful to brighten up the community.” Shaw-Froggatt says the next steps are to put out a call for submissions from the arts community on a design for the first box. Once an idea is selected (with City and community input), special paints will be purchased and the box could be finished early this summer. Choosing the location of the first box is also a critical factor. “Once we have one completed traffic box, we then have a tangible piece of art to show to those who would like to invest in the arts community and from there we can sell the sponsorships of the remaining boxes to cover all of the costs. “The added bonus is we are employing our local arts community and showcasing their talent while beautifying our city,” Shaw-Froggatt added. Photo Credit: Airdrie Echo

Chicago, IL – Milwaukee Avenue Mini Golf Course

2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

The Milwaukee Avenue Mini Golf Course is a one day event that will transform a series of public parking spaces on Milwaukee Avenue [from Kimball to Central Park] into a 9 hole mini golf course for one day; Friday September 21st, 2012. We have been working in partnership with Alderman Colon for the past year to rezone the above section of Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square/Avondale to allow for live/work artist storefronts and thus create a vibrate arts corridor over time in an area that is experiencing serial vacancy. In order to draw attention to the new zoning change, the potential of the new space to the community and building owners, we are proposing a one day activation of public space along this commercial strip. Each course hole would be designed by an invited local artist, creative business or individual with the funds going to cover material costs. The course hole would be located in front of a particular vacant storefront that has been rezoned. The date corresponds with PARK(ing) Day, an annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The mission of PARK(ing) Day dovetails with the goals of Alderman Colon and the newly rezoned art spaces of generating critical debate around how public space is created and allocated and to improve the quality of the urban infrastructure at all scales.

San Francisco, CA – Sonic Kung Fu Battle

2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

I am applying for the Awesome Foundation Grant to create my project, “Sonic Kung Fu Battle.” For this project, I want to choreograph and orchestrate a street battle with vocal and sound performers. Instead of staging physical fights with bodies and prop weapons, the performers will use their voices and noisemakers to mimic the sound effects produced in a cinematic battle scene. So, rather then throwing a punch, the performers will vocalize “swoosh” of their sleeves and slap their thigh to signify their punch landed. The concept behind this project begins from a basic fact that most sound we hear in a film is not the actual noise recorded from where the scene takes action. They are usually created, added and manipulated after a film shoot. Most of the time, they are noise created by objects that are unrelated to the visual cue in the film or created through digital technology. By having performers “fighting” without contacts and only using voices and instruments, I intent to emphasize the importance of sound effects in filmic experiences, while at the same time, noting how the experience is also fabricated. I have recently created and directed this idea in my performance on a smaller scale, “Sonic Kung Fu,” for Southern Exposure Gallery. Please check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt7t4Se8UnU I have already secured a venue for this project to take place. I was invited to perform at ZERO1 Biennial as part of their Emerging Artist Network Outdoor Exhibition. The festival will take place between September 14th-16th. While I will receive a micro grant from them, the funding will only allow me to recreate a piece similar to the scale of “Sonic Kung Fu” from Southern Exposure Gallery, which incorporated 7 performers. For “Sonic Kung Fu Battle,” I want to create a larger-scale performance, but more importantly, an epic-physical-sound-performance outdoors.

San Francisco, CA – The Golden Hour

2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

WHAT: I want to produce a San Francisco version (The Golden Hour) of my established Oakland show (Oakland Nights...Live!). It will have all the fun elements of a talk show including a house band, an announcer, and regular guest spots. WHO: Collaborators include Julie Crossman, Christi Ginger, Marcus Philips, Patrick Ewing, Karina van Schaardenburg, and Lloyd Rivera. WHY: The aim is to highlight the artists, academics, activists, and communities of SF in a fun and entertaining way. The Oakland show has created a lot of interest / demand for a San Francisco version. WHEN: The show will be held every third Saturday of the month. WHERE / HOW: This is where we need help. We're currently booking guests and creating sets. But before we can start we need a venue. Depending on the venue we may need sound and projection equipment. An Awesome Grant would enable us to rent a space for our first show. BACKGROUND: The show I do in Oakland is performed live. That means no internet viewing, no podcast, no TV, no radio - it's all live! It's called Oakland Nights...Live! and has a monthly audience of about 100 - 150 people. It's a little bit Johnny Carson, a little bit Pee Wee Herman, and a lot Oakland. http://www.facebook.com/Oakland-Nights-Live OR www.oaklandnightslive.com