Awesome Foundation - Projects

Melbourne (Non-active) – Growstuff

2013-09-26T00:00:00Z

Growstuff is a website to track and share data on home food production. I founded the project in 2012 and we had our public launch in July 2013. The software is open source and developed by me and a team of volunteers from around the world. We currently have over 500 members from 6 continents (none from Antarctica yet!) tracking what they're growing in their veggie gardens, but we want to expand to 50,000 worldwide over the next couple of years. Growstuff's different from most other food/gardening websites. Some of the things that make us special: * We're open source, because we believe that making our software available for free and being transparent is key to running an ethical business/social enterprise. * We release our data for free, under a Creative Commons license, to benefit other social enterprises, researchers, community groups, and local government. * Our software is built collaboratively with our community, and we invite everyone to take part. * We encourage, train, and mentor software developers from non-traditional backgrounds and marginalised/minority groups. But the important thing here -- and the way we measure Growstuff's success -- is that we want to get more people growing their own food and learning that there are alternatives to our unsustainable global food system. It doesn't matter if it's a twenty acre hobby farm or a pot of basil on the windowsill. Growing stuff, any amount of stuff, is empowering and worthwhile, and we think more people should have a go at it!

Portland, OR – Billboards O'Joy!

2013-09-25T00:00:00Z

I would like to put up 10 billboards in Portland with short, simple positive messages like this: "something wonderful is about to happen", "YOU are totally awesome...yes, YOU", "smile...more", "think positive", "one kind word can change the world", "be-YOU-tiful" and more. Here are billboards I put up with the help of local sponsors: http://thejoyteam.org/billboards/spring-2013-billboards/ I'd like to be able to keep one positive billboard up at all times. With $1,000 I can have a positive billboard up for 10 months.

Philadelphia, PA – New books for kids in need

2013-09-25T00:00:00Z

We have a very simple model. First Book - Philadelphia is the only source of new books for many children and is regarded as a precious resource by parents and literacy program directors in Philadelphia. Our Advisory Board, composed of citizens from a variety of professional backgrounds, meets regularly and identifies with programs from all over the Delaware Valley - including after-school programs, school classrooms, and summer reading camps - that meet our criteria for free books. We would select one of these deserving recipient groups to be our "Awesome Kids Read!" program and receive 400 new books, thanks to The Awesome Foundation. How awesome is that! Our Advisory Board liaison would stay connected with this recipient group, making a site visit when the books are delivered and confirming that "Awesome Kids Read!", thanks to The Awesome Foundation. We would also collect an evaluation at the end of the distribution period. The books would be selected by a literacy instructor for his or her group of children from The FIrst Book Marketplace, which is run by FIrst Book National and allows us to provide books from nearly every major publisher in the country. The instructor will choose the books and incorporate lessons to go with the books. At the end of the lessons, the books will go home with the kids and become their personal property.

London, ON (Non-active) – The Vending Art Project

2013-09-24T00:00:00Z

The Vending Art Project would involve buying a vending machine (second hand) which would sell greeting cards made by local artists in the city of London. The project's purpose would be to support and encourage the arts in the city of London. The vending machine could feature up to 20 local artist's work. Cards would cost approximately $4.00-$5.00 to purchase from the vending machine. Potentially, each artist whose work is sold from the vending machine could write a short bio of themselves and their work and would be included in the sale of the card. This would allow each customer the opportunity to know who they are supporting in the London community by their purchase of their card. The first vending machine would potentially be placed at a retirement home where seniors could purchase cards for their friends and family while supporting local artist's work. In terms of promoting the opportunity to London artists, I would post a call for work on London's many artist networks including but not excluding the London Arts Council, London Fuse etc. Management of the vending machine would be handled by myself (ie. stock, repairs, community relations).

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Beauty And The Endangered Species

2013-09-23T00:00:00Z

I run a non-profit that is trying to reverse the decline of an endangered bird - a top order predator and also culturally important - in rural parts of Africa it is the rainbird, the thunderbird and is revered in traditional cultures. Me and my team work to remove threats, create awareness and also run the reintroduction programme for the species. Without conservation intervention it has been modelled the birds will be gone in less than 50 years. We are doing a lot of research - marking techniques, genetics, reintroduction biology, vocalisations and much more- also working with a number of local and international collaborators. I will use the money for an education roadshow throughout the eastern Cape Province - a province that has very little information known about the species and most are in very rural remote areas. I want to visit every tribal leader, school, clinic and beer house to talk to people - so not just gathering information but also spreading information. And I want to give out false eyelashes as part of this - they are cool (even in rural areas) and these birds have the most luscious lashes!

Boulder, CO (Non-active) – Boulder Flood Relief

2013-09-23T00:00:00Z

Boulder Flood Relief is a local, boots on the ground, all-volunteer group organizing immediate relief for displaced and in need individuals. We are currently providing physical labor such as cleanup help for those affected by the flood.

Toronto – World's First Interactive Project Gallery by Kids

2013-09-21T00:00:00Z

[Maker Faire TO] Kids love showing off their projects, and people love seeing them! We plan on displaying kids projects in our front window, and want to do it in a crowd-sourced, interactive and awesome way! We'll display projects made in our shop, and also encourage kids from around the world to send us their projects. This will give them their first opportunity to display their projects to the world and see reactions. The MakerKids front store window will be set up with 9 squares in a 3x3 grid. The centre square will have an LCD touchscreen in it for controlling the display. It will use projected capacitive touch technology so that it will be interactive through the store window glass for people outside on the sidewalk. The 8 surrounding squares will contain projects. Each square will have LED lighting. The touchscreen will first allow visitors to select a project square to view. This will turn on the LED lighting for that square, and activate any electronics. If the project uses the SparkCore arduino-compatible board, the interface onscreen will allow them to control it. For example, a dinosaur robot with servo-controlled toothy grin would allow the visitor to make it bite. The SparkCore API is very simple, and the kid who built the project will be able to easily make their project controllable with the interface. A message will be displayed: "Like this project? Let the maker know! Send a tweet with the hashtag #MakerKidsWindowProject3 to @Maker_Kids and we'll forward it on to them! Don't forget to include a picture of your amazement! Another button next to each of the 8 projects will allow the visitor to view reactions to it. This will display the twitter feed for the matching hashtag. An accompanying web page on the MakerKids site will show a picture and the details of each of the 8 projects. If the project is SparkCore enabled, the visitor will be able to control it from the web page. Kids can view the reactions at the store and online

Oahu, HI – Recycling Containers for O`ahu Beach Parks

2013-09-20T00:00:00Z

B.E.A.C.H. is making wire recycling containers and these will be placed at beach parks on O`ahu. This is a "do it yourself" Hi5 recycling project where people can leave or take recyclables from the bins. The City and County of Honolulu recycling program has trained eight B.E.A.C.H. volunteers in how to make the wire bins and will provide the wire. B.E.A.C.H. has to provide all the tools and safety gear as well as a secure way to chain the bins at the beaches. B.E.A.C.H. will be holding recycling bin making workshops for volunteers starting in September 2013. This project will greatly improve the situation at beaches by providing much needed separate containers for recyclables. This will help prevent trash from ending up on the ground when people go through the trash container looking for recyclables and will provide everyone with a means to recycle when they are at beach parks. This project will encourage more people to recycle and will create a cleaner environment. Each wire recycling bin takes 1-2 hours to make. This project was featured on the "Going Green" segment of the KITV4 news on Monday 5th August, 2013 and on Hawai`i Public Radio on Monday 12th August, 2013. For links to these news stories, please visit: www.b-e-a-c-h.org Also the Star Advertiser is planning a feature story about B.E.A.C.H. and this project. B.E.A.C.H. volunteers will place the recycling containers at beach parks and will have educational booths at the beaches to educate the public about the new containers as well as checking them to ensure the project is going smoothly.

Newmarket – Raven Robotics

2013-09-19T00:00:00Z

Raven Robotics was launched 4 years ago by our current teacher and coach, Joseph Siconolfi. His hope was that by encouraging students to join a competitive atmosphere while learning more about STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Currently, his hopes are a reality as 12 of the most committed and dedicated students at Mulock spend an average of 2 hours a night 5 nights a week EVERY school week of the year in his classroom after class building robots for competitions, holding design meetings, holding scouting meeting, traveling to meet other teams and become allies with them so we can team up on other teams in competitions and even attending competitions we don't compete in to scout out our enemies. Although this is a very serious competition to those on the team, we always remember that we are there for fun and that whether we win or lose, we've done our best. The team is currently struggling to afford material costs for the robots (often many thousands of dollars) and we are also trying to expand our team by adding a new robot so that more students at Mulock can have the opportunity to learn in this fun environment. Our hope is that through community outreach (going to local events to advertise our cause), we can raise enough funds to continue Raven Robotics but with a $1000 grant, those dreams would instantly because a reality. If we win a tournament in the upcoming season, Raven Robotics will have the opportunity to represent Newmarket, Ontario and even Canada at the VEX robotics World Championship held in Anaheim, California. We are currently the only team in all of the York region district school board competing in these robotics competitions.

Ottawa – The End of Your Tale

2013-09-19T00:00:00Z

September's Awesome Ottawa award goes to Andrew Conte to support the production of a very personal film, The End of Your Tale, about death and dying. "Since my Dad passed away two years ago after having faced a terminal diagnosis," explains Andrew, "I've wondered how a 'right to die' option might have shaped the last days of his life with us. The investigation of my personal story has led me to the related examination of our death-phobic culture, and community fora where stories of living, dying, and eldership are being told." "Andy and Red from The Shawshank Redemption proposed to 'get busy living or get busy dying.' When you think about it, these are not mutually exclusive ways of being busy," says Andrew. "Investigating the inerwovenness of living and dying, my film will not only tell my own family's story, but also explore the deeper meaning of the dying with dignity policy debate. And it will seek community participation through interviews on what dying means to you, and how it has affected your life experience so far." "As constitutional rights for physician-assisted dying are to be challenged in the Supreme Court of Canada sometime in 2014, and as legislation has already been tabled in the National Assembly of Quebec as of June 2013," Andrew notes, "the timing for this investigation of how our culture shapes our experience with death and dying is of particular importance." Andrew is a writer and musician, as well as a recent graduate of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He keeps a blog at http://unbeauconte.wordpress.com.

Kingston – The Smile Team

2013-09-19T00:00:00Z

Imagine a group of boys wandering the streets in a pack. What is the first image that comes to your mind… is it that they might be up to no good? Au contraire – this group of boys wants to spread cheer and niceness. They want to make smiles, not frowns. The Awesome Superheroes of Kindness are born – aka the Smile Team! The boys are between 7 and 10 years old, they are from three different schools. Some speak English, some speak English and French; some are shy, some outgoing. The idea is to empower the boys to choose a voice for good, to see community workers as integral to our well-being, and people in need as equal members of our community, who all appreciate a reason to smile, who are connected to us in many ways thus forming our community. We want the boys to influence each other positively, to make good choices that make themselves and others proud and happy; to see that having different clothes or different living arrangements and different families does not mean someone isn't a member of our community with the same feelings as us. By creating an environment of caring and empathy, we hope to open their eyes to the bigger community they are a part of. Julie has made capes for them: a visible sign that everyone can recognize. No masks, though - this is not anonymous work. They have chosen their name - Smile Team! - they have fleshed out what they want to do as missions and they made Thank You cards and awesome badges to hand out. More crafts/creations to follow (we talked about making flowers at a future meeting). They will also collect some of their own clothes and toys for donation, perhaps organize a food drive in their respective neighbourhoods then come together and compare their results. In order to make this project easily reproducible, we will start a FB page to document the process and the missions. We would love inspire Smile Teams to form all around Kingston!

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – You&Me

2013-09-16T00:00:00Z

You & Me... Europe is an extension and expansion of You &Me... Tara's House - Created by Tara Rynders premiering on the 10th of April 2010. You & Me... Provides an intimate, evening-length interdisciplinary dance performance to an audience interested in alternative live art that incorporates local talent, one-on-one performances and site-specific stage. It creates an experience that cultivates interactions with the audience without losing the integrity of high-art performance, resulting in a full embodiment of art, where the roles of performer and audience coexist and merge within the same shared space. The core of the performance identifies, understands, and encapsulates the role of intimacy in a socio-political community that is conscious of the presence and, or absence of intimacy within and between the community's members. As a member of You & Me I have created a one-on-one performance titled "Happy Mourning". This 10 minute performance gives the audience a chance to discuss a person or thing which they have lost. Creating a safe-space, the audience feel comfortable sharing their story with me. Once the person or thing lost is talked about, we then proceed to create a small movement phrase - usually gestural - that embodies their loss through a personalized dance. We repeat this dance together until the audience member recalls the movement without my assistance. before leaving the space, the audience creates a paper sculpture of the person or thing they are mourning, and places it on a wall - where others have mourned as well. They create an artifact and leave with one. I have performed this piece in San Francisco and Reno and am looking forward to extending the experience to a European audience, as each culture mourns in its own unique way. My goal is to adapt Happy mourning to each culture, and to discover similarities and differences between them, if any exist.

Seattle, WA – Eyes From The Streets

2013-09-13T00:00:00Z

## Purpose The purpose of this project is to help serve as a bridge between homeless youth and the "general" public. By bringing these two communities together, I hope to create an environment where both sides can learn about and from each other, candid conversation can occur, and ideas for action can be generated. ## Summary 1. Portraits of youth 2. Photos taken by youth 3. Exhibition with a combination of photography, zines (written work), and talks ## Portraits of youth I would like to create portraits of willing youth aged 18-25. In doing so, I hope to put names and faces together, to un-anonymize a group of people who are often denied an individual identity. I will be working with UDYC who hires homeless youth to create zines. ## Photos taken by youth Each youth will be given a disposable camera to take with them through their six weeks of the Zine project. They are free to take pictures of anything that helps them share their story. If they want, we can provide prompts to help organize their thoughts and themes. At the end of the six weeks, I'll collect the cameras, develop them, print, and frame them for exhibition. The youth will get a copy of the prints as well as all of the original files for them to have and use anyway they wish. ## Exhibition When the photographs are prepared, I hope to find a location that will allow us to showcase our work for at least 30 days. For the opening, I would like to invite the participating youth to speak about their work and the inspirations and stories behind them. I have relationships at The HUB, BGI, and others that can serve as a backup locations to a standing gallery. Also, this might be a good venue to sell the zines and spread the work UDYC is doing with the Zine project.

Sydney – Re:make

2013-09-12T00:00:00Z

Re:make has a mission: to rescue unloved and discarded art projects and give them a new life, with the help of a group of Sydney artists. The transformed artworks will be exhibited and offered for sale, with the proceeds going towards establishing an art workshop program at East Sydney High School. Every day artworks people have spent hours of work on are discarded, tossed out on the street with rusted woks and broken clothes racks, destined to become landfill. The Re:make team have been collecting unloved landscapes, discarded portraits and rejected still life compositions from the streets of Sydney. From our collection we're picking 12 artworks and approaching emerging and established artists working in a variety of mediums, from painting, sculpture, millinery and photography, to remake them however they wish. Leading up to the exhibition, the Re:make blog will reveal the process of transforming the original pieces at all stages: from the original rescued artwork, to the artist's process working with it, to the finished piece. The works will be exhibited in early 2014 - we have approached the Rocks Pop Up for a potential venue, and aim to exhibit the works in a gallery or pop up space around the Sydney CBD. All profits from the sale of the artworks will fund an art workshop program for East Sydney High School. This school provides education and support for young people who aren't able to access mainstream schooling. The workshop program will involve Sydney artists conducting workshops for the students. Their website is: http://eshigh.com/ We're aiming for this project to be fun and fresh take on the concept of reuse, highlighting its creative potential. We love the element of chance involved in finding these artworks on Sydney streets, and look forward to seeing them transformed by artists in ways we couldn't have imagined.

Oahu, HI – Adopt a GSA

2013-09-11T00:00:00Z

One of the biggest challenges GSAs report in sustaining their club is really a simple one - food and supplies. Most of our GSAs meet during the lunch hour, so being able to offer pizza for students attending is a huge incentive for both new and existing members. Supplies for activities and outings are also key. Currently, almost all of our GSAs have no source of funding for their clubs other than GSA Hawaii's adoption program. For just $500 per year, anyone can adopt one of the GSAs in GSA Hawaii's network. 100% of the money is for the GSA to spend on food, supplies and outings for their club. GSA Hawaii manages the money simply to make sure all the funds are going to benefit the students, and GSA Hawaii takes no administrative cut of the donations.

Liverpool – Synaesthesia Feast

2013-09-11T00:00:00Z

The Synaesthesia Feast will take place on the week commencing the 19th of September. The Synaesthesia Feast does not just intend to satisfy the taste buds, but to interact each course with audio and visuals to create a holistic feast of the senses. Synaesthesia is defined as a sensation usually found in one sense modality that occurs when another sense modality is stimulated. Resent research has found that although not every person has synaesthesia, most individuals can make associations between stimulants in different sense modalities. For example most people will associate the taste of a lemon with a high-pitched sound, spiky font and bright white colour. The synaesthesia feast draws upon these associations to create a multidimensional experience that is part experiment part artistic endeavour. It aims to enhance the experience of music, food and visuals through the integration of the senses. We are working alongside FACT to produce the event in their Gallery One space. A small group of visual artists, musicians and chefs, meet up once a week to create a truly multisensory and interactive experience. The feast will consist of four courses of food with music and visuals to compliment each one. We recently did a tester session at the Camp and Furnace. We made three different bites of food and had a piece of music to match each one. We then asked people to give us feedback on the taster. ‘The wild wirring in my ears oddly sounds just like the spicy stabbing in my mouth. Helicopter blades - burning. Totally different but similar.’ ‘Music made the popcorn seem like it had a crackly texture.’ ‘Vegetable popcorn! Ooh I felt a pop in my mouth.’ ‘The deeper tones of the music made me focus more on the richer flavour of the cake. I felt as if the room vibrated under the bass which detracted from the food.‘

Liverpool – Beerdfest

2013-09-11T00:00:00Z

I invented Beerdfest last year. Beer, music and beards. What's not to love? I have a beard blog (www.tashwags.blogspot.com) and I thought it about time we celebrated the local talent. I made all the posters at home, enlisted friends help for manpower and convinced Camp & Furnace to host the eve. I made national radio and press with my newly discovered flair for PR haha Over 100 people turned up and it was properly awesome... Beerdfest 2.0 is November29th and I want to up the awesomeness with more music, more marketing and a credible big name judge!

Vancouver, BC (Non-active) – The Rain Barrel Project

2013-09-10T00:00:00Z

The World In A Garden. We are converting 55 gallon empty food barrels (donated by LUSH) into rain barrels that are designed by local artists from Emily Carr. We are planning to convert 250 barrels that will be placed in private yards, school gardens and public spaces in order to engage the community and monitor how the presence of the rain barrels will effect the water use/consumption Vancouverites. Our goal is to educate through community events and to save a minimum of 1300 gallons (4921 litres) for every 55 gallon barrel sold. With a sale of 250 barrels. We can save an estimated 325,000 gallons (1,231,750 liters) of water! An average of 1300 gallons of water is saved in the summer season when using a 55 gallon barrel. Proceeds will fund The World In A Garden's youth education programs. It is imperative for Vancouver to start diverting our water from sewage systems where the rain water picks up toxins from impermeable surfaces and carries them into our fragile water ways like streams, rivers and the ocean. We know this is an action based and community engaging solution that can help us all make better choices and think about how we use our water to grow food, garden, wash cars and more.

New York City, NY – The Love Motel for Insects: Anax Junios Variation

2013-09-10T00:00:00Z

The Love Motel for Insects: Anax Junios Variation will be on display as part of Notched Bodies: Insects in Contemporary Art, on view September 13 – November 13, 2013. It will be located outside of Central Park Zoo next to the Arsenal Gallery at 64th Street and Fifth Avenue (inside the park). Opening reception: Thursday, September 12, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Since 2001, Love Motel for Insects has been an ongoing series of interactive public outdoor artwork that is both an art piece and a life science project. The works use ultraviolet lights on enormous sculptural canvases to attract insects. The arthropods visit (unharmed) and the public watches and have the chance to learn about these amazing creatures. This is combined with Eco-Actions, where people help to collect scientific data on urban species. Produced around the world (Asia, Europe, Central and North America so far), the Love Motels have become the backdrops for trans-species community events such as eco-festivals, green graffiti jams, environmental rallies, citizen science investigations, musical events and even pheromone paintings created by the bugs themselves. Why love bugs? Insects are one of the least understood and under appreciated groups of animals. Yet, the majority of our food crops rely on insect pollination. Countless ecosystems would collapse in their absence. Recent demise in bee populations and Monarch die-offs have attracted public attention but still how many of us have taken the time to look closely at these remarkable creatures? My sculpture in Central Park will create this opportunity!

Los Angeles, CA – mictlam murals restoration project

2013-09-09T00:00:00Z

(Mictlan Murals) began painting murals to help stop Gang Graffiti in our community, raised in Aliso Village Housing Projects, and Estrada Courts Housing Projects, Mictlan Murals was created due to the need for unity in the community and the pain of loosing friends and family to gang violence.We made art that show our common ground as people, Involving the local youth in the creation process and putting images that project culture, family values, respect, knowledge of self and pride which we hoped would raise our self esteem as a people and community. Many of the murals lasted over 8 years without being vandalized at minimum 5 years, but everything changed around 2003, community artists started losing all public and private funding, when the country entered into War with Iraq and the economy collapsed, as a result there was no consistency in maintaining a relationship with the youth and the murals in the most neglected areas in our community. A new generation of youth grew up without having direct contact with the murals; without the continued oral tradition and maintenance of the messages on the walls, for many youth the walls loose relevance and some fell like disrespecting them because they don’t have a connection to it anymore. We can't blame the youth! We have started a restoration project to introduced the community to these murals, to restore the most damaged of walls. Some of them are tagged, others have been damaged by the elements. The main objective is to introduced community youth to murals, to show them how to tell their stories and have ownership of the painting on the walls. They are learning how to properly clean up and restore a mural as well as designing and drawing and painting of the murals. Out of 15 murals So far 3 murals have been restored. Murals tell the story of a place in time. Its the story of us all and those murals need to be restored and new murals need to be painted and that's what we are doing in LA.

Los Angeles, CA – The Silver Lake Chorus

2013-09-09T00:00:00Z

We are a co-ed group of 20 Angelenos who came together to share of a love of singing and a desire to share that love with the masses. We think huge, uplifting harmonies and intimate, soul searching melodies should not be confined to churches, opera houses, or schools, but should be in bars and cafes and daily life as well. We're currently trying to wrap up our first album so we can share the music with people who can't make it to our shows in LA. We meet once a week in an abandoned church to sing together, and try to perform for the community once every six weeks or so. During the day our members are accountants, waiters, writers, book store managers, architecture students, college counselors, and masseuses, but when we're together we're just twenty people who really love to sing. We've performed at dive bars, rock clubs, cafes, street festivals, weddings, churches, and colleges. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K95_UZvvKZk

Detroit, MI (Non-active) – Neighbors Building Brightmoor newsletters

2013-09-09T00:00:00Z

Neighbors Building Brightmoor publishes a 4-page, full color, monthly newsletter that spotlights good news in the neighborhood (block clean-ups, new gardens, children's activities) and shares information about resources and upcoming local events (kids' art event, teen night, NBB meetings, safety patrol dates, and so on). In addition, one recurring column profiles a neighborhood teenager who is a positive role model for other youth, and every month we publish a contact list of our block captains. The newsletter is an important vehicle for sharing information about local happenings, and because we hand deliver them to over 400 houses in our target area, it is also a way for our organization to maintain personal connections with neighbors. While we do publish an electronic edition of the newsletter, we believe that distributing a print version is critical in our neighborhood where many people lack at home internet access or simply aren't interested in it.

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Coconut Climbers

2013-09-09T00:00:00Z

In this project, 50 economically backward and vulnerable women between the age group of 20 to 35 will be identified. They will be formed as Women Livelihood Groups (WLG) and given orientation on importance of coconut trees and opportunities of livelihoods from coconut trees. The women from WLGs will be given intensive training on coconut tree climbing with the help of climbing machine for 10 days in two phases. Once they develop confidence, they will be encouraged to take up coconut tree climbing activity for their livelihoods. They will be involved as peer groups in promotion of coconut trees in Kanyakumari District. Machines will be procured by WLG through revolving fund assistance by CREDSO and the women using the machine for their livelihoods should repay the revolving fund. This revolving fund will be utilized for promoting coconut based micro enterprise activities.

San Francisco, CA – Poetry with Elders

2013-09-05T00:00:00Z

much to the dismay of myself and my elder students (who range in age from 55-97!), the institute on aging has cut all my teaching contracts for the fall. that means the 3 sites and 40+ seniors will no longer have the opportunity to meet with me on a weekly basis to learn and practice the art and joy of writing poetry. here's the thing about the way we approach what we do: nothing rhymes (boring!) and if you can't hold a pencil (most people can't) no problem! all you need to do to be a poet is be in the room, see what you see, imagine what you imagine, think what you think, speak up when you feel moved, or, if you can't speak, then a gesture of any kind suffices. if you don't remember what we just talked about 5 minutes before, no worries. we'll say it again. or we'll change it. we'll make sure you get to be you as we create poems and explore words together. my goal is to give students a place to freely express, to become something they'd never become (an ocean, a puff of fog, a letter enclosed inside their mother's pocket). poetry is not just a genre made up of rules and forms and terms you need to learn and remember. poetry is an act of discovering things about yourself you did not know (see especially how your imagination works). poetry is a place you can forget about what ails you for 1.5 hours a week or write about it if you need. poetry is a community of other people like you, people who become not just fellow writers but friends. poetry is an act of spontaneous utterance--say something and i write it down. someone says something more and that gets written down too. we revise as we go. we have big ideas and small. we laugh, a lot. and we end every class with a rousing round of applause. you see, we're not just writing poetry, we're using our minds and our hearts. we're creating a space where we feel like we're alive and seen. a place where we belong in a world in which we've become so invisible. and we feel oh so proud of ourselves. and it's priceless.

Sarnia (Non-active) – Dîner en Blanc

2013-09-05T00:00:00Z

I have recently attended Dîner en Blanc in Montréal and I wish to bring this awesome event to Sarnia next year as part of our Centennial celebrations and to continue on a yearly basis afterwards. Launched with just a handful of friends by François Pasquier over 25 years ago, Paris' Dîner en Blanc now assembles nearly 15,000 people each year in Paris alone. Dîner en Blanc is a non-profit organization based in Montréal that now has about 40 cities world- wide participating. At the last minute, the location is given to thousands of invitees who have been patiently waiting to learn the “Dîner en Blanc's” secret place. The event is open to any couple but due to logistics at the locations, a cap is always put on the number. The attendees arrive, dressed all in white, and conducting themselves with the greatest decorum, elegance, and etiquette, all meet for a mass “chic picnic” in an outdoor public space. Everyone sets up their folding table and chairs, white table cloth, centerpiece, candles, real china and wine glasses and lays out their dinner for the evening within 15 minutes. In Montréal this year, 5,200 attended. A choice is given to bring your own food or buy from the partnering caterer (I have one in mind). At 7:30 everyone waves their cloth napkin and the evening starts with a background of beautiful music. You have an hour and a half for dinner. At 9:00, everyone light the sparklers and pops their balloon which gives a fireworks effect. The DJ then changes the mood with the music we can dance to. The evening closes at 11:00 pm. Everyone packs up their belongings and puts their garbage in the white bag they brought and takes it all home. We leave the location as we found it. There is also entertainment such as musicians, and an opportunity to have a professional photo taken for the hat contest. Words cannot describe what I felt that evening in Montréal but enchanting and magical come close. This event truly warms your heart.

New Orleans, LA (Non-active) – Listen! Literacy & Arts Festival

2013-09-05T00:00:00Z

The third annual Listen! Literacy & Arts Festival, to be held October 2013, is an outdoor cultural arts event organized by 2-Cent through the help of our youth volunteers. Listen! provides New Orleans' youth with an opportunity to use their talents in the literary, musical, visual, and media arts to inspire change. Focusing on the violence and education crises within our community, Listen! offers an opportunity for New Orleans' young people to form alliances for social activism, to voice their concerns, and to strategize for community betterment. All we ask is that the city come and listen. We partner with Scholastic, Inc. to give out 10,000 brand new books and also to provide literacy training for parents at the festival. We reach out to local schools to encourage student participation by way of performances and essay contests.

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Bat Cloud

2013-09-02T00:00:00Z

BAT CLOUD is a project that aims to bring awareness and greater public visibility to bats as a critical part of our ecosystem. Bats serve as pollinators and ‘natural’ pesticides, assisting in the control of mosquito and other insect populations. Yet despite their ecological significance, bats are often overlooked or seen as pests in urban environments and subsequently exterminated. Further, since 2006, bats in the northeastern part of the United States have been dying in great numbers due to White Nose Syndrome. BAT CLOUD is an installation that aims to combat the aesthetics of disappearance and indifference. As such, its disposition is that of an urban ‘spectacle,’ tapping into strategies of publicity. The project is comprised of a hanging canopy of vessels, which from afar appears like a large shimmering cloud, hovering in the trees. Closer up, viewers from below would be able to see plants hanging from each vessel. At dusk, onlookers would hopefully be able to catch sight of bats or other wildlife emerging from the habitation vessels. Each vessel is formed in a way to allow bats to enter and inhabit its uppermost portion. The lower volume of each vessel is filled with soil and native plants. The vessels are also designed so that bat guano would collect in the soil-filled planting area, thus fertilizing the vegetation. The lowermost portion of each vessel is constructed in a way to allow for slow water drainage. BAT CLOUD is installed in the Tifft Nature Preserve, a park-like wooded setting developed on a former landfill in the industrial zone of Buffalo, New York, USA. Recently, I was selected to build and install a second iteration of BAT CLOUD in Rotterdam, Netherlands, as part of the 2014 International Architecture Biennale of Rotterdam (IABR 2014: http://iabr.nl/en), the theme of which is "Urban by Nature." After the exhibition in Rotterdam, my intention is to donate the BAT CLOUD project to an interested community in need.

Melbourne (Non-active) – Mini Free Library

2013-09-02T00:00:00Z

To build a mini free library in front of the East Maryborough Community House. I had the blokes from the Men's Shed lined up to build the library, but they all have health problems at the moment and cannot build the library. I have the design for the library, which was done by the kids who use the East Maryborough Neighbourhood house, and the specs, from some local artists. Maryborough is the lowest socio economic council area in Victoria. Literacy is a basic right, and is so important. The mini free library will brighten the area up, give the residents a sense of pride and ownership (there is only one other mini free library in Victoria that I know of) and be a source of good quality, free books and magazines. The library will be "staffed" by volunteers Donations of books will come from locals, and will be topped up on whatever donations I can get my hands on.

Austin, TX – Citizen Node

2013-08-31T00:00:00Z

Citizen Node is an idea that arose in the aftermath of the "People's Filibuster" at the Texas Capitol in June and July of 2013. Social media and quick personal messaging were viewed by many to be an invaluable tool in trying to understand events as they unfolded. The fact that participants’ personal experiences and observations varied so widely from old-media reports that were released many hours or days after the event further reinforced the belief that on-the-ground information is a powerful tool that can be harnessed to create and maintain a body politic that votes for and supports policy that truly represents its beliefs and ideals. Towards that end, the Citizen Node kit aims to help by ensuring that people have on-going access to a means of communication and engagement in two ways: first, by providing various way of charging devices that may not carry enough charge to get them through the event otherwise; second, by providing supplemental network bandwidth to ensure access to the Internet even in crowds with heavy data usage. Volunteers will be entrusted with Citizen Node kits containing MiFi hotspots and charging devices for the common use of attendees at important civic and cultural events. Individuals given Citizen Node kits would have to agree to attend events they are dispatched to, obey all lawful orders of law enforcement officers while at events, and provide access to all people who meet the terms and conditions of the service, regardless of political affiliation, unless the Citizen Node volunteer believes that an individual is using the service to engage in overt criminal activity. The first Citizen Node Kit, "Molly," was named after the legendary journalist and political commentator Molly Ivins, who famously described Texas politics as "the finest form of free entertainment ever invented." Over the coming months, more Citizen Node kits will be assembled and tested by volunteers at various social and civic events, with the aim of being of service during the 2014 off-season campaign and election events, and during any periods of citizen activism during the 2015 Texas Legislature.

Denver, CO (Non-active) – LaunchUR Labs Denver

2013-08-31T00:00:00Z

LaunchUR Labs Denver is the first entrepreneurial challenge of its kind in the area. We have a unique collaboration with coworking spaces, like Galvanize, as host, local startups, like Ubooly, posing a business challenge and 6 Denver based schools/nonprofits, like West Generation Academy, sending teams of their teens to solve the challenge. During the day over 36 teens will be work on modules based on design thinking, lean startup methods, and 21st century skills with guidance from mentors from the startup world as well as local entrepreneurial focused college students. Teens will embark on solving the challenge posed by the business case and then pitch their solution getting real time feedback from our online system. The winning team gets $500 to donate to their favorite nonprofit or school, all teens get a chance to apply for our monthly $250 micro-grant on our other learning platform LaunchUR Ignite. Our Labs are unique in that they: - are as hands on as it gets, even making finances come alive. - connecting ideation with real world business problems - put partnership and collaboration at the forefront as models for what work can and will be for teens. - utilize a low cost, easy to replicate, model to access as many future teen as possible.

Pittsburgh, PA – Cupcakes & Culture Series

2013-08-30T00:00:00Z

I want to make Pittsburgh awesome by hosting a series of five events that will use cupcakes to bring the community together around diversity, specifically around Asian American culture. The events I am envisioning will collectively be called the Cupcakes & Culture Series, where education and entertainment will blend together into something fun, vibrant, and wonderfully enlightening for our city. My three main objectives/goals for the Cupcakes & Culture Series events are: 1) To bring the local Asian American community together, 2) To bring the wider Pittsburgh community in touch with the Asian American population and culture, and 3) To build retention of young diversity in Pittsburgh by enriching its multicultural atmosphere. Unlike the more traditional Asian cultural events that happen in Pittsburgh, my approach is to be as organic as possible while also focusing on a primary target audience of college-aged students and the young professional crowd (20s-40s). From what I have observed, Asian cultural events in Pittsburgh tend to primarily showcase traditional art or dance. These events are worthy and important but lack the fostering of any interaction and tend to perpetuate the portrayal of all Asians as being foreign. There is a huge lack of Asian-themed events that offer a strong pull for both younger Asian Americans and non-Asians to come together in a relaxing and fun environment to interact with one another in the celebration of Asian American culture. The Cupcakes & Culture Series will build a bridge for the college-aged and the older young professional crowd and the general Pittsburgh city to come together and learn more about the local and national Asian American identity. The five events will each be themed around a different element of Asian/Asian American culture and a Yummyholic cupcake flavor. Every event will feature free cupcakes, finger foods from Pittsburgh's finest Asian eateries, music/entertainment, and local Asian/diversity organizations.

San Antonio, TX – SATX Pedal Power

2013-08-30T00:00:00Z

SATX Pedal Power is using the renewable resource of pedaling to start a revolution. Without going too deep into the physics of it all, you pedal and AWESOME things happen! We are looking to change the norm of finding the closest electrical outlet or going for the gas can to make things work. Our project takes a bicycle, a generator bike stand and YOU to turn pedaling into power! You pedal, you power something. Our goal is to encourage local san antonians to venture out of their homes via bicycle or walking and enjoy the beautiful downtown skyline. How better to entice them out than to offer them an evening of movies, but with a twist. An outdoor movie venue powered by a bicycle generator and the viewers are doing the pedaling! We would also like to reach out to underprivileged communities and offer movie screenings at local schools or any underutilized local green spaces. The possibilities are endless with what can be powered. With our current system, we can supply most of the power needed to project a movie on a large screen. With more generators we could utilize several cyclists to generate energy, with which to power an entire venue. Our goals are to have events that are fully sustained by pedal power. Our past two showings people have been so excited to sign up to pedal the generator. Our events help to bring together the community and give them a sense of camaraderie amongst each other, a sense of contribution to the cause. We can take this as far as we dream, but we need to get the word out about this AWESOME project we are kicking off. We have had two showings already, with the attendance doubling from one week to the next. We are currently running movies every Thursday at the Main Plaza.

Tel Aviv - קרן בקטנה (Non-active) – UNDIGITIZE.ME

2013-08-28T00:00:00Z

More times than none, we let technology run its course unhindered, relishing it, believing it to be innocuous. It's only much later that the pitfalls come to light, and by then we've grown fully-accustomed to using them on a regular basis. Our current digital devices are no exception. In this mobile era, with smartphone serving as an extension of the human hand, we are always connected, constantly bombarded with information, and this is only a local maxima. Smartphones serve to augment our productivity; they make us smarter and keep us constantly up-to-date. At the same time, however, smartphone use affects us in ways we would be wise not to ignore. A Stanford University survey on iPhone users among students showed that 75 percent admitted to falling asleep with their handhelds, and 69 percent said they were more likely to forget their wallet than their iPhones when leaving their home in the morning. This addiction is real. We've all been there: while having coffee with friends, at the table with our families, or in bed with our loved ones – we can't help noticing that some or all are looking at their handhelds. For this reason, a few months back, I came up with "UNDIGITIZE.ME" - a social venture that aims to reshape our relationship with the Smartphone. This project has three major objectives - (1) raising awareness to smartphone addiction and the ways by which it affects our lives; (2) calling on developers to create less addictive applications; and thirdly, bring people together and have them come up with ways of dealing with this addiction. The first move was actually a viral campaign we've whimsically titled “Phone Faced Down”, that seeks to alter some of our more deleterious smartphone habits. Each campaign item depicts people going about their day-to-day pursuits while their handhelds are visibly face down and unobtrusive. These photos were shared on Facebook and Instagram, and went viral immediately.

Miami, FL – Wynwood Brewing Company Mural Project

2013-08-27T00:00:00Z

Boulder, CO (Non-active) – Sources of Strength at Fairview High School

2013-08-27T00:00:00Z

Fairview High School in Boulder, CO, in concert with the BCPIP, piloted the Sources of Strength (SOS) program in the spring of 2013. SOS is an evidence-based, nationally recognized strength-based comprehensive wellness program that focuses on suicide prevention, but also impacts other issues such as substance abuse and violence. The program is based on a relational connections model that uses teams of peer leaders mentored by adult advisors to change peer social norms about help seeking and encourages students to individually assess and develop strengths in their life. In February SOS trained 12 adult advisors and 47 peer leaders at Fairview High School to create messages of Hope, Help, and Strength that impacted the entire school community. Examples of SOS activities at Fairview High included the following: Peer Leaders held an SOS week in March, focusing mainly on the messages, "There are Sources of Strength around us that can help us get through tough times" and "Break the codes of silence! Don't keep suicide a secret - tell a Trusted Adult" through posters, personal conversations, presentations, a video and manning a resource fair table for two days, impacting not only school staff and students, but also adults and youth in the community. In early May, the group put up posters and made presentations in school focusing on "There are Sources of Strength around us that can help us get through tough times." The results of our efforts, which were evaluated by the University of Rochester in conjunction with Sources of Strength, were quite positive. Two key markers of a successful Sources of Strength program were accomplished this first year: (a) student peer leaders adopted more positive coping norms, which prepares them to disseminate those norms to peers, and (b) peer leaders were engaged, had positive views about the intervention, and led activities to create a healthier school climate supporting positive coping and youth-adult connections.

Calgary, AB (Non-active) – Linked - Crowdsourced 3D Printed Sculpture

2013-08-27T00:00:00Z

Engineering+Art: The world's first crowdsourced 3D printed sculpture. Our award-winning 3D printing startup has partnered with an internationally known artist to create this sculpture in Calgary. We currently have hundreds of people around the world 3D printing the pieces of our sculpture and mailing them to us. In September at Beakerhead and Maker Faire, we are assembling the vibrantly colored pieces to form a hanging chainmail mosaic to form an image or pattern. Each display will have a different visual associated with it. “Linked” will be the world’s first collaborative 3D sculpture, created by makers and hobbyists across the world. 3D printing is bringing open-source creativity to the physical world, and that's why we're making "Linked" - it's a celebration of the new-found power of the community. Our community has built the pieces but now we need to build a frame to hold the pieces together and to transport the sculpture from one venue to another. With Awesome Calgary's help, we can pay for the materials, art, and labour associated with this frame. It will need to scale so that we can continue to grow this sculpture. We want to transport this sculpture to many festivals. In 2014 we hope to display at the bay area Maker Faire, which is the center of the maker universe.

Montreal, QC (Non-active) – Illuminons les pianos publiques

2013-08-27T00:00:00Z

Le concept des pianos publiques est de mettre à disposition un piano à l'extérieur que les passants peuvent utiliser à leur gré. J'aimerais personnellement agrémenter ce projet en créant une installation lumineuse interactive pour les différents pianos publiques. Le piano comporterait différents éléments lumineux, la couleur et l'intensité des lumières pourrait varier en fonction de ce qui est joué sur le piano. Ayant déjà réalisé différents projets de lumières interactives, je crois être en mesure de réaliser ce projet efficacement. Voici un prototype (très primitif) monté en une soirée pour vérifier que le concept est réalisable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_OLgq8k5to Et un exemple de lampe interactive que j'ai réalisé en 2010: http://vimeo.com/15996525 Je crois qu'agrémenter les pianos publiques de lumières interactives peut augmenter l'achalandage en plus d'embellir le paysage urbain. L'idée est aussi de rendre le piano plus accessible même à des gens ne sachant pas en jouer. Le public, même si'il est néophyte pourra ""jouer"" des lumières. Je pense que ça pourra attirer et intéresser particulièrement les enfants et possiblement leur donner le goût d'apprendre le piano. J'aimerais faire différents prototypes lumineux. Une première idée serait d'avoir une rangée de pots massons lumineux sur le dessus du piano. Si la personne joue dans les notes graves, les pots au dessus de ces notes s'illumineraient, si la personne joue dans les aigus, les pots vers la droite du clavier feraient de même. Une autre possibilité serait d'éclairer l'intérieur du piano ce qui permettrait de faire mieux comprendre le mécanisme.

Open Web (Non-active) – International Word of the Day

2013-08-26T00:00:00Z

Traveling the world for studies and work, I was very lucky to learn many languages and I am currently fluent in 5 (Italian, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). I have always thought that speaking foreign languages was a great way to understand different cultures. On the other hand, not everyone has the chance to travel the world. So I have started a facebook community almost as a game about a month ago: www.facebook.com/fivelanguages . The idea is simple: every day I post an image and the word associated to it translated into 6 languages (I have added German to my list so that I can learn a new word per day as well!). The community has gotten a lot of engagement and I reached almost 15,000 fans (and growing)! Some members are adding translations in other languages ranging from Greek to Japanese to Russian. Some others are providing me with translations in local dialects. All are writing amazing feedback! I have decided to extend this communities to other social networks such as twitter and tumblr (www.internationwordoftheday.com). I have now decided to create a game, which is still in development: http://quiz.internationalwordoftheday.com because I believe that learning has also to be fun. My vision is that people of all ages should be able to be continuously learning, no matter what their education level or social status is. I believe in the concept of school for life as, even I am not a student anymore, what gets me thrilled is learning new things. Whilst I enjoy unstructured and informal learning, I also truly appreciate the idea of having something small and simple I know I will be learning every day. Eventually I would like to expand this concept across multiple disciplines but there is still a lot to be done to make this international word of the day community truly awesome and I want to keep on working until I can teach (and learn) a lot more languages in the most effective way!

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – China's Magic Hospital

2013-08-26T00:00:00Z

Imagine you are 5 year old, sick and alone in a hospital 1000 miles away from your home, feels pretty miserable, but then the doors opens and magic happens. Childhood should be a time for magic, fun, adventure, unfortunately this can be easily depleted by illness , economic misfortune and tragedy. We desire to help children in their time of distress and try to restore some moments of a carefree childhood and boost the spirit. In August 2012 we even had help from the Harlem Globetrotters Basketball team to do that. We currently have four regular programs and four ad-hoc programs such as the Abracadabra program which magically fulfils a wish, outdoorsy day to visit exciting locations, the holiday gift giving for special occasions such as Xmas or Chinese New Year, and last but not least My Inner Olympics , our medal for bravery and encouragement.

Rio de Janeiro (Non-active) – Favela Painting

2013-08-25T00:00:00Z

Our dream has always been to paint an entire community in Rio de Janeiro. Currently we are setting up a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to return to Brazil and involve a whole group of youth, train them and then employ them. They will completely transform their own community, involved in every step of the proces, including the design. Everything will be filmed, blogged and eventually a documentary will be made. We hope to be able to start by the end of this year and have an ongoing presence to long after the World cup and Olympics are over. The idea is to try to make the project self sustainable by introducing economic elements like creating our own project merchandise and one day even create our own brand of paint. the revenue would be used to support the ongoing project! *This awesome project is raising funds via kickstarter - Support it here:* http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1953408692/painting-an-entire-favela-in-rio-de-janeiro

Oahu, HI – Papakolea Mural Project

2013-08-24T00:00:00Z

Our awesome project starts off with two art workshops that we hope will bring the community of Papakolea together. The first workshop will be painting recycled cans, and the other workshop will be painting hats. The workshops will help us fundraise for a mural we want to paint at their community center. The children of the community can bring out their artistic side for a day and it only cost $3-5. Our main audience goal is children/teens because they currently do not have an artistic outlet that they can utilize. The mural we are planning to paint will bring light to the community and let the kids in the neighborhood have an outlet for art and an oasis for the communities rich history. With every mural we paint we want to display a story, and for the Papakolea Mural we met with community leaders, and Kapuna’s to learn stories and the history of there home. One main thing that we are going to display in the mural is the power and love for the Women of Papakolea, because that is something that is very strong and prevalent in there history and current day. In the ancient Hawaiian days Papakolea was something called a City of refuge, where if you committed a serious crime such as murder and ran from the authorities or Ali’i and you made it to Papakolea you would be ridded of your crime. The community leaders of current day Papakolea still believe in Papakolea being a safe place for there community, a place of love and aloha. And we also want to display that message through our art. When meeting with the Papakolea Community members we learned that the younger generations of Papakolea are increasingly loosing touch with the history of there neighborhood and we want the mural to be a daily reminder of there roots and there history. Also by doing this wall we are not only giving the youth a creative outlet but it can show the community that street art is another medium and not vandalism. We want to inspire the kids and grown ups of Papakolea with our project.

Newmarket – The Career Exploration Club

2013-08-21T00:00:00Z

The Career Exploration Club provides step-by-step career exploration, guidance & coaching to youth in High School who are unsure what career path is right for them. Deciding on a career path & University/College program is difficult. Picking the wrong program through trial & error can lead to program changes that cost students more time in school, and over of $15,000 in additional costs for tuition, housing, transportation, books, & food per extra year. Our program facilitates early career exploration & planning to help youth find careers that match who they are. It is effective & greatly increases their confidence. Our career exploration process is structured, hands-on, comprehensive, and unique. It includes 6 steps designed to help a student go from saying “I don’t know what I want to do or what program to take in University/College”, to saying “These are my interests & strengths; this is the right career path for me; this is the education I need; and this is my plan to get there.” Our program helps students decide on their career path early, removing the costly alternative of career trial-and-error. Through interactive workshops, exercises & discussions in each of the 6 major steps, students: 1) Discover who they are (e.g. interests & academic strengths) 2) Explore & research different careers 3) Select and 4) Test-drive top careers 5) Develop a career plan from A - Z including post-secondary institution & program research, help with the application, exploring financial options etc. 6) Learn life skills to be better prepared for post-secondary such as budgeting, study habits etc. They also learn to strategically position themselves to get employment as soon as they graduate. By investing in career exploration, youth are more likely to find a career path that they like, are good at, & will enjoy. They’re more likely to break into the job market easier, & stay in their chosen career long enough to recover their investment and succeed.

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Community Garden Yields Wellness for Alabamians

2013-08-19T00:00:00Z

Seattle, WA – Artesian well water to food gardens

2013-08-18T00:00:00Z

An artesian was discovered on the community garden property and now we need to develop the capability to irrigate the gardens.

Ottawa – Ottawa Past & Present

2013-08-15T00:00:00Z

August's Awesome Ottawa award goes to Alexandre Laquerre to support the continued development of Ottawa Past & Present, a website which juxtaposes urban archival photos against ones taken in the present day. By dragging a slider back and forth, viewers can closely compare how a particular spot once looked with Alexandre's recreation of the original shot. "With the site," explains Alexandre, "I want to show how Ottawa has evolved (or regressed) over the last 100 years. I question the decisions what were made and shaped the Ottawa that we know today. To have the most impact," he continues, "I try to be as accurate as I can between the original archival photo and the one I shoot. It is not a particularly verbose site, but I think the comparisons speak for themselves." Alexandre currently has more than 300 comparisons on the fully bilingual website, and shoots new ones weekly. The award from Awesome Ottawa will help pay the fees for accessing photos from the City of Ottawa's archives, and also offset part of the cost of a tilt-shift lens, which will allow him to more faithfully recreate the composition of some of the archive photos. Alexandre is an engineer working in nanotechnology, and moved from Quebec City to Ottawa in 2006. "I have a real passion for urbanism and photography," he says. "I live downtown. I am not a fan of the suburbs."

Sydney – Laneway Learning Sydney

2013-08-14T00:00:00Z

Laneway Learning hosts cheap, fun classes in anything and everything. We started in Sydney 2 weeks ago at Cowbell 808, a cafe on Bourke Street in Surry Hills. Last Wednesday our classes were "Pottery: Meditate on a Pinch Cup", and "A Bad Dancers' Guide to the Dance Floor". Below I'll tell you why this is an awesome project, but first take a look at our Melbourne chapter to see the aspirations I have for Sydney (www.lanewaylearning.com). We'll host classes in different venues across Sydney's community hubs (next place to open will be in Bondi, then Marrickville) that care about their community's culture, not just their business. A bigger dream: check out the 'Spectacular' tab. Imagine something like that, partnered with other great community organisations and the City of Sydney, at a place like The Grounds of Alexandria... THAT would be amazing! So, (only some) reasons this is awesome: - The current options for learning new stuff are limited. Either you make a huge life change and go back to uni, or you brave night school -- week in week out, classrooms with harsh lighting and cold plastic, other tired, hungry people you never really talk to. Ugh. Our 'classrooms' are places you like spending time in anyway -- cafes and bars. They're near your work or local community. I like to think of it this way: deciding to learn something new should be as simple and spontaneous as deciding to go see a movie. You commit just one night, and take on a longer course if it sparks your interest. (Rather than sign up for 6 weeks before even trying it, and spending 300 bucks). - We intentionally don't have a devoted space. A good thing, because: it lets me keep our costs as lean and flexible as possible (so classes usually only cost students $12); we become part of a community’s existing culture and community; we can reach more students more quickly; and using otherwise unused space is environmentally responsible and has a great impact on street life and ‘vibe’.

London (Non-active) – Money No Object

2013-08-13T00:00:00Z

‘Money No Object’ uses new wearable technologies in order to bring humans closer together, for the benefit of the whole community. Adopting a broad line of enquiry, this project questions prevailing concepts of value, and playfully explores alternative economic ideas. For example, 'Money No Object', considers a new significance for material and physical currencies in an increasingly immaterial world, where smart payment transactions are imperceptible, but human emotions, creativity and culture, remain something that money can’t buy. Alongside sex and war, physical money has been a constant in human history. But coins, cash and credit cards, are arguably obsolete now that digital representations of currency are beginning to substitute these material objects. Yet trading still relies on trust. So how can we trust what we cannot tangibly experience, what we can no longer touch, see, smell or hear? 'Money No Object' has re-imagined the designed object of money, exploring what could happen if financial transactions offered a different kind of value proposition, and in a new creative economy, could trigger invaluable and enriching points of exchange. Watch a six minute video illustrating 'Money No Object' here: https://vimeo.com/64412606 Wired magazine loved the project here: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/money-hugs Heidi Hinder was awarded one of three Craft + Technology research residencies, in order to develop this proposal for exploring the Internet of Things; smart technology embedded into everyday objects. Supported by the Crafts Council and Bristol’s Watershed Media Centre for three months, Heidi researched the far-reaching themes of money and value in ‘Money No Object’, producing innovative new work at the dynamic intersection of material making and digital interaction. She now plans to take this project further by introducing it to a museum ecosystem as an entertaining method of fun(d)-raising. Thanks for reading!

Chicago, IL – Love Life Balloons (Johnny's Red Balloon Project)

2013-08-13T00:00:00Z

I started this thing where I walk around with big balloons and give them to people. While building a brand called LoveLife, I needed a way to say hello to people and make a memorable moment. The red balloon would become my thing, the result is a genuine human interaction that gives me an exhilarating feeling leaving them with a universal gift of happiness and a joyful spirit. For a while it was just me wandering around being a one man ballooning machine, but of recent I've been able to recruit some teams and the project is really beginning to take shape and rise to new heights. But it's also getting more expensive. On each balloon I handwrite and attach a uniquely positive message. The back of each tag explains the project and gives instructions on how to share the joy - and also how letting go makes litter (because being responsible is awesome. Hey now!) Often times the balloon will travel throughout the day and change hands multiple times. Later, I'll then search through the shared photos, connect with someone and send a package full of good things for helping us spread our message. It's a lot of fun and pushes me way outside of my comfort zone. I’ve been told by people it makes their day and I’ve seen first hand countless people - worries running through their heads, staring at their shoes - look up and give the big o’l balloon a pure and simple smile. The balloon is a reminder that there are still good things in the world, the smiles are my reminder to keep it going.

New York City, NY – Climate Models Calendar

2013-08-12T00:00:00Z

My Columbia University colleague, Francesco Fiondella, and I are designing and producing a Climate Models Calendar, based on climate scientists, their data and its importance. We work alongside some of the world’s most renowned climate scientists, from those examining and mapping ancient beaches around the world to predict how high sea level may rise as the planet warms, to others who are improving the very models that tell us how rainfall and temperature patterns will shift in the coming decades. They are all eager to engage the public and share their work. Photography is a powerful medium that instantly connects subject and viewer. Our Climate Models calendar project brings climate research into the realm of the everyday public. The photographs break barriers between scientists and non-scientists -- literally bringing a face to this important research. Most of what the public knows about climate science comes from distillations of scientific papers. The people behind these papers, their passion and their everyday working environments are rarely seen. In collaboration with Jordan Matter, a NYT bestselling photographer (Dancers Among Us), our Climate Models project will create powerful and compelling portraits of the researchers. Each month, the calendar features one of these renowned climate scientists, in a portrayal of their interests and work (think something like a NYC Firefighters Calendar, but with much less skin)! Overlayed on each photo is a stat-box with climate information, such as the scientists' favorite dataset, chart or climate phenomenon. The calendar will also include dates of extreme weather/climate events that live in infamy (i.e. Hurricane Sandy), dates of key scientific meetings... and more. The calendar will increase awareness of climate change and its impacts by facilitating understanding of climate research: Who’s doing it? Why? Where? And what are they learning? We imagine the calendar audience to be the public and scientists alike.

Awesome Without Borders (Non-active) – Twistedly Dandified

2013-08-12T00:00:00Z

My larger work, being made up of mobile suedo-architecture, fits into the genre of architectural intervention, which includes wonders as diverse as Barnum and Bailey’s Circus to Chip Lord’s Ant Farm. As the world continues to move into the built urban environment, and the current generation tries to find its place in the world, this field is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. My project, Twistedly Dandified, brings together ideas from formal sculpture, the automobile, playgrounds, the circus, and Robinson Crusoe. Recently, I found a surplus supply of seatbelt webbing, and have been weaving this webbing at a modest scale. As a material, seatbelts are protective, strong, and colorful. When woven this strapping not only creates simple textile patterning, but a large sturdy surface, allowing the viewer to climb and explore the object. I am proposing to create 5 or 6 small woven rooms. For each room, I will make large spherical aluminum structures for the seatbelt material to be woven onto, articulating a conical basket large enough for an adult to comfortably stand in. These rooms will provide an alien environment ripe for exploration, in which the viewer might return to a childhood curiosity and children can run wild. I have been constantly reminded of a quote from Richard Dattner, who explored the playground as the connection point between humans; he states that playgrounds exist “Between the world of fantasy and the world of reality, between the world of intuition and the world of logical things, and between the world of solitary play and the world of social cooperation and mutual understanding.” Twistedly Dandified consists of 6 large-scale, interactive objects that entice participation from the public. It’s a large, colorful-tactile installation, which will undoubtedly draw the attention of anyone who sees it; taking on the role of an architectural intervention, to conceptually connect ‘high art’, architecture, playgrounds and participatory installations.

Portland, OR – Piano! Push Play!

2013-08-11T00:00:00Z

I will organize and execute a 2 week public installation of 5 pianos placed at various community spaces in downtown Portland. Our 5 locations are Pioneer Courthouse Square, PSU's Urban Plaza, PGE park, Salmon Fountain at the Waterfront and 13th and Burnside; the original location of Piano! Push Play!. During this period, July 22nd-August 2nd, the public will have access to these pianos from 9am-9pm to play for themselves and others. We will be having local artists paint each piano to go along with the essence of each specific location. I will also be curating one scheduled concert at each piano throughout this 2 week period that will include a variety of performers/groups that can highlight the diversity of piano music as well as showcase just how much magic a real piano can bring to a live music ensemble. At the end of the project each piano will be donated to students that can't afford their own instrument as well as community spaces that would love such a gift. Continuing this project I now understand that almost everyone has a connection to the piano. Maybe they studied when they were younger, maybe someone in their family played, maybe there was one in the home growing up or perhaps they've just always wanted to learn to play themselves. Piano! Push Play! has shown me that when put into close proximity to someone playing this instrument everybody stops to listen and conventional ideas of who a piano music listener is go out the window. People of every style, means, age and attitude can't help but enjoy themselves during one of our concerts. I am lucky enough to be able to play the piano and want to extend more performance opportunities to the larger musical community. Music only exists as it is somehow performed and for us pianists its a bit harder to play for others than most instrumentalists. I want to change that.

San Francisco, CA – The Mobile Wishing Well

2013-08-07T00:00:00Z

Join artists Erin Colleen Johnson and Kari Marboe on October 27th, 2013 for the debut of their MOBILE WISHING WELL on the Sunday Street Richmond route! Sunday Streets closes stretches of city streets to automobile traffic, and opens them to people for several hours so participants can enjoy a large, temporary, public space where they can bike, walk, run, dance, and partake in art projects like this one. Historically, the wishing well comes from European folklore and was based on the idea that water was a portal to deities who, if given a small gift, would grant a wish. As the caster-footed well rolls from one end of the route to the other from 11am-4pm community members are invited to participate by making a wish using the Mobile Wishing Well’s coins and discussing wish making traditions. What will you wish for? Learn more! Sunday Streets - http://www.sundaystreetssf.com/ Kari Marboe - www.karimarboe.com Erin Colleen Johnson - www.erincolleenjohnson.com