Awesome Foundation - Projecten

Kingston – Farmer to Farmer Forum

2012-01-19T00:00:00Z

The CRAFT Kingston organic farmers' network is made up of roughly 12 farms and focuses on knowledge transfer and social networking as ways to build the capacity of member farms to run successful farm businesses and supply the Kingston region with fresh organic food. We have recently decided that a "Farmer to Farmer Forum", an online interactive communication tool, needs to be developed in order to improve our ability to share knowledge, resources, and other information about opportunities to collaborate. This would enable an entirely new way of communicating, one that could archive the exchanges for future reference by many Kingston area farmers and decentralize the coordination responsibility maintaining a limited dependence on outside funding. We have been operating as CRAFT Kingston for three years now and have been developing our ability to train new farmers and share knowledge through workshops and farm yours to support one another. We have discussed the importance of effective and simple communication to our network and the Farmer to Farmer Forum could not only amplify the effectiveness of CRAFT Kingston but also help educate and network with the community!

Ottawa – Apartment613 Lecture Series

2012-01-15T00:00:00Z

The winner of the January Awesome Ottawa grant is Ryan Saxby Hill and the Apt613 team! Apartment613 hosts a popular blog and weekly radio show focused on great events and happenings in Ottawa. Boasting over 20,000 readers a month, the team has been exploring different ways of spurring on the growth of Ottawa as an awesome place to live. The team has started Apartment613 Community Initiatives and will host a series of lectures and discussions that will explore themes on how to make Ottawa a better place. Topics range from creating a public library that would be the envy of the country to engaging Ottawa’s youth through city-funded skate parks. They hope to host these lectures seasonally starting in February 2012 and will disseminate each session through www.apt613.ca and on CHUO FM. The grant from Awesome Ottawa will allow the team to rent the necessary equipment and space costs for at least four lectures, allowing them to host a full year of events. We are excited to have this initiative in Ottawa and eagerly look forward to being a part of it!

Seattle, WA – Safe Sex Kits for Homeless Teens

2012-01-10T00:00:00Z

I work at a Crisis Residential Center for teens in Seattle and King County. We get a monthly average of 40 different teens staying with us due to some sort of crisis in their housing. We take care of their basic needs and try to provide them with tools and resources for improving their situation. One of the things we notice is that teens in this situation are more likely to engage in sex without having the knowledge or the resources to do so safely. We address the knowledge by having the folks from www.scarleteen.com come and talk to them in a non judgmental, inclusive and positive way about STI, Pregnancy & healthy relationships. However access to everything one would need for having safe sex is limited, also what is limiting is a way for them to keep this stuff together during unstable housing situations. One of comments from a teen in class was how cool it would be to create a "Safe Sex Kit", something that would hold all the little things needed and would roll up and be discreet. We looked around, didn't find anything that was specific for this purpose and came up with a prototype that would safely hold a variety of materials (condoms, dental dams, lube, birth control, gloves, cleansing clothes, etc) and could easily been sewn together by teens and volunteers. We would pull this together by giving volunteers the materials and the pattern to sew them, collect the completed kits and then stock them with the various items needed. We would offer these to the teens that come to our shelter when they do the classes or if they identify that they would use this kit. The educators from Scarleteen.com could also distribute them in their outreach. Our goal would be to create and distribute 50 fully stocked kits by the end of 2012. This is doable because we have the knowledge, a prototype and access to other organizations who would be willing to provide materials, volunteers as well as items needed to stock the kits. We will also like to be able to provide at cost a copy of the book "S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College".

Sydney – The Dollar Shop

2012-01-10T00:00:00Z

Our project is The Dollar Shop. The Dollar Shop is a concept developed and curated by us; Alex De Bonis and Louise Helliwell. We established and run Tough Titties (toughtitties.com.au) a website which is dedicated to showcasing Australian female creative talent. At last years Sydney Design Festival we curated an group show with 20 local female artists and designers who all exhibited their work on giant dollies. City of Sydney have recently awarded Tough Titties a short-term lease on an empty shop in the city for a reduced rent, but with no funding or grants to help establish and run the project. So what is The Dollar Shop? It is a multi-purpose space that allows collaboration between creatives and is both an artistic statement, a learning environment (with workshops and talks) and a shopping experience! A reaction to the current economic crisis, the main prerequisite for the shop is that all products, despite having a low price to attract customers should nonetheless allow a profit margin for the artists. It is a unique retail experience that will sell well designed products at economical prices. The idea of The Dollar Shop is that local designers and artists sell their goods under the conditions that items must be sold for no more than $1, $5, $10 or $20. All items must be made or designed by the artist. What makes the The Dollar Shop awesome is that it’s the ultimate low cost high quality shopping experience. It challenges the idea of what a commercial retail space should be. It isn’t just a shopping experience, but is a place of value, not only economically, but in a cultural way to the community that it inhibits. Based on the model used by McSweeney’s Superhero Supply Company in Brooklyn or their Monster Supplies Store in London, The Dollar Shop will also be a space with a dual function. The back section of the shop will be a place for workshops and talks which will also be available at Dollar Shop prices. It is our intention that this space will provide the opportunity for the wider community to learn new skills, listen to talks and participate/communicate directly with artists and designers. The Dollar Shop isn’t about making money – it’s about opening up design to everyone, making it accessible and inspiring; it’s also about learning and sharing skills and knowledge by encouraging people to contribute in many different ways.

Grand Rapids, MI (Inactief) – Heels that Heal

2011-12-28T00:00:00Z

I am a mom of two girls who is passionate about youth and their struggle to be youthful. I am a LPN, I work in Public Health as a HIV/AIDS tester and counselor and Disease Intervention Specialist. I am in constant company of youth and hurt when I cant afford to take just one worry away from them for atleast a moment. My project is focused on providing Heels for young girls to wear to their school dances ie:(homecoming, sweetheart swirl, prom etc..). The original plan was to solicit donated heels from celebrities with a message along with their donated pair of heels but as I continually talk w/ my daughters, their friends and parents, alot of them need dresses as well. I plan to ask for those w/ dresses already to donate a dress, ask for a cleaners to donate the cleaning of the donated dresses, ask celebrities for donated shoes, but hold a sell, 3 times a year with the donated dresses and shoes, by selling tickets for $10. Your ticket allows you to pick a dress and a pair of shoes. The $10 fee goes towards purchasing what ever dresses or shoes are needed so that there is a pair of shoes for every dress, for every young lady who needs it. It would be awesome to have this spin off into suits and shoes for males as well. This work is planned to be carried out by Volunteers, hopefully the youth that will in return benefit from their involvement as well.

Toronto – Flamin' Rainbows

2011-12-27T00:00:00Z

My name's Alex and I run Site 3 in Toronto, which helps people make amazing things. I also like to make amazing things, some of which you can see on my website. My friends mostly like to make extremely big, noisy things with fire, and I'm interested in fire art as well, but a different aspect of it: I'm interested in interactions. Flame art interactions are quite straightforward at the moment, black and white, on or off at varying brightness and fury. I think this could be improved, and therefore have designed a system to dynamically colour LP-Gas flame effects on the fly. What I would like to do is build the system for demonstration, very possibly into a steel display sculpture of an incredibly tacky rhinoceros. The goal is to have the system shoot six-colour rainbows in bursts of flame. Full rainbows, because flaming rainbows are funny and a good indicator everything is working properly. All six really-visible colours, ROYGBV, the ones you can get out of metal salts and water. I want to make this into a system that can be taken apart and mounted to any other different _future_ sculpture, so we end up with a relatively safe system for responsively coloured flame effects that will not hose people with methanol, the most common safety risk of coloured fire after burning. This system could then be used by other people in ever more interesting interactions. Essentially, I would like to make coloured flame where the blinky LED on the demo usually goes, then install it into different things that look better with fire than floodlights. I have full schematics, designed with the help of an engineer. I also have my Record of Training for handling large amounts of propane, MIG art-welding experience, and a working demo of the Venturi effect colouring a torch green. I know this will work! I built a large part of the Heart Machine, and run an awesome workspace, and I love working with my hands. I might manage this either way, but funding would make it happen much, much faster. And I think it's funny! It is a _flaming rainbow_, for mounting to a _unicorn_. How is that anything but totally awesome? I present to you that it is, in fact, rad. Thanks for your attention.

Chicago, IL – Da Favela to the Guetto: Pinhole Photography

2011-12-17T00:00:00Z

Hello, I'm Paco Barba, designer and photographer who works with a cultural center in Brazil, (Centro Cultural São Paulo), I hope this email finds you well. Interested in the compromise with our community, the work I have developed through out the years, working with a record label in Chicago, a museum and a community radio station, has given me the tools and opportunity to pursue my dream, creating a harmony on our community where cultural exchange is our door to the world. Therefore I'm pleased to present you with this project: Working in conjunction with a Brazilian photographer who lives in Rio de Janeiro, we are creating a workshop about creativity using handmade photographic images as cultural exchange that reflects the differences and similarities of everyday life on the Favelas in Brazil and the Ghettos in the US through the eyes of kids, teenagers and young adults within the communities. By using a simple homemade camera (pinhole) made with recyclable materials (can, matchbox, soap box, etc.) the youths are taught how to make a camera, how to shoot as well as well as how to develop the film through a homemade inexpensive process. Think about an handcrafted photographic postcard project made by kids and young adults, as if they were sending these postcards to each other from abroad to let the world to see their world. The idea is to create a workshop with teenagers and young adults in a Chicago community and in Rio de Janeiro or/and Salvador, Bahia Brazil and have Yollocalli Youth Center in Chicago U.S.A and the Museum Da Imagem e do Som (Museum of Image and Sound) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to organize, get the kids together throughout their extensive network with non-profits and, at the end of the workshop to organize and exhibition, therefore show the work of the kids. The objective of this project is to integrate the kids to a program that allows them to work with their familiar surroundings and, through all different steps of the workshop create a positive impact on them by awaking their creativity at maximum. The result, images of everyday life with a camera made with recyclable materials. We have H.O.L.A. organization (L.A.) and Yollocalli Youth Center (Chicago) and Pierre Verger Foundation in Salvador, Bahia Brazil on board to organize, recruit kids and let us use their space for the classes. We are looking at a month or a month and half per city and we are hoping to have from 10 to 20 youths per workshop.

Kingston – Jeannie's Place

2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

There are many things that put smiles on people's faces! Big positive events can be some of the obvious ones, but often it is the small things in life that really can bring a lasting smile to the faces of many people. Our idea is to provide some laundry facilities to those in Kingston who are low income. HIV/AIDS Regional Services is an organization that serves people who are living with HIV/AIDS, while not all of our clients are low income a large number of them are. They are marginalized within the community, often in many ways and experience discrimination daily. For our clients many of life's small joys are out of reach. Even something like laundry, which is something most people often take for granted, when you don't have enough money to buy food, scratching up the cash to go to the Laundromat, or even buy the soap required, can be daunting or even impossible. By giving people a place where they can get something as simple as clean clothes will go a long way to improving their quality of life. There is something special about putting on a sweater on a cold day that is fresh out of the dryer. This is one simple, small thing that may seem like a stretch, but just picture how you feel when you slip into bed with clean sheets, or pull that warm sweater over your head. It's one of those moments that go unnoticed by many, but is unreachable for others. This grant would allow us to make those moments a reality for many.

Airdrie, AB (Inactief) – SLAM (Support Local Airdrie Musicians)

2011-12-14T00:00:00Z

The first Awesome Airdrie Pitch Party lived up to its name. More than 60 people came to TAJ Restaurant December 14 to cheer on the four finalists in their bid to win $1000 cash to support their awesome idea. SLAM (Support Local Airdrie Musicians) sold the judges on the innovative concept of their organization, their well thought out list of objectives and how the $1000 would jumpstart their action plan. Jay Stoudt presenter for SLAM and one of the founding members said he was up all night after the pitch party, he was “so stoked”. “We thought all the pitches were awesome and we were so surprised to win,” Stoudt said. “This gives us a really good kick start to getting our initiatives into gear which includes getting our society papers registered, booking the Bert Church Theatre for an open mic night in March and creating promotional materials to reach out to all the local basement and garage solo musicians and bands to get them involved.” The judges, who were Winning Edge finalists, faced four awesome ideas and collectively agreed that each one deserved to come to life. Guest judge Dr. Terry Rock, CEO of Calgary Art Development, who had donated the $1000 from his speaking fee in October at the Winning Edge Awards, made the announcement after the judges deliberated for twenty minutes. “There was palpable enthusiasm from all of the presenters last night!” Dr. Rock said, “The judges thought that all four ideas had merit and hope that they find a way to happen in Airdrie. We settled on SLAM in Airdrie primarily because we thought that the injection of $1000 would make the biggest difference to their plans, and would create long lasting ripples into the community. Music is an integral part of all of our lives, and music created from people who live around resonates strongest. Good fortune to all involved!” SLAM in Airdrie Objectives: - Hold musician open houses to share ideas - Organize FLASH JAM Performances - Host Battle of the Bands competitions - Sponsor song writing competitions - Plan musical equipment swap and sale events - Promote member showcase events SLAM in Airdrie Vision: - Continue to initiated local music events - Purchase instruments for local youth groups - Organize an annual Music Festival - Raise funds for a Performing Arts Centre Photo Credit: Creative Airdrie

Seattle, WA – Sunny Spot

2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

My name is Tracy Hartford, and I have a BS in Computer Science, a BS in Psychology, and an MA in Education. It rains a lot in Seattle. Even on Sunny days, particularly downtown, there are grey shadows cast from the buildings. Sunny Spot would be a mobile app that would help people on their lunch break or happy hour find a spot where the sun is shining through. It would use information about building height and the sun trajectory to model and pinpoint sunny spots in the users's area. I've worked on a couple of mobile apps with friends. One day when a friend and I were searching for the elusive sunny spot in the tiny little summer we had, this idea was born.

Washington, DC – Audio Warhol

2011-12-11T00:00:00Z

CounterPoint is a groundbreaking new conductorless string chamber orchestra that will revitalize the typical classical music concert by transforming it into a concert experience and bring relevance to repertoire spanning centuries and continents. Within a few months of our founding, we have already collaborated with a National Geographic photographer, a painter, a tabla player and a woman singing traditional Pakistani ghazal. We have raised a substantial amount of money for flood victims in Pakistan and are scheduled to use our experiences to raise money for research in colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease within the next few months. The project that we are proposing currently is based on the conceptual themes of 20th century Minimalism and pop art and the guerrilla spirit that have been realized by artists such as Andy Warhol. While the techniques and conceptual spirit employed by Warhol and other Minimalists were revolutionary and groundbreaking at the time of their inception, many of the materials used to create these new works were very old, employing paint, canvas, screening. The spontaneous punk spirit of re-purposing materials and techniques for new and fresh interpretations that subvert the status quo have become even more relevant in today’s age of cultural regurgitating, repackaging, fusion, mashup, and deconstruction. CounterPoint will highlight this concept by performing in one or many museums in Washington DC among the collections of minimalist painting and sculpture by performing works ranging from ancient to contemporary. What will truly make this event “awesome” will be the manner in which we will carry out the performance. We will station musicians scattered among pop and minimalist works of art, sometimes playing independently, sometimes in unison. At times museum-goers will go from a room in which music of the 17th century is performed to a room filled with the dissonant strains of the 20th and 21st century. The music will phase, just as many minimalist visual works of art present repeating content appearing all to be the same but upon closer inspection, is constantly varying. Musicians will be dressed in attire either reflecting or contrasting with their surrounding works of art. This guerilla event will begin spontaneously with musicians taking their places gradually without alerting the public as to what is happening. In this way, we will subvert the traditional image of what people expect from a concert and a visit to the museum.

Washington, DC – Bluebrain's 'The Living House'

2011-12-11T00:00:00Z

'The Living House' transforms an empty, multi-room home on H Street into a singular sound piece -- each room becomes a stem of a larger, multitrack recording that includes melody, ambiance and sound design. Speakers are placed in 7 rooms (4 downstairs, 2 upstairs) with accompanying colored lights that flash in synchronization with their respective audio. Sound, quite literally, runs through the house. For instance, a singular synth note might start at the back of the house, gradually spilling over and spreading into the next room until it finds its way to the stairs and snakes up the house. Or perhaps the sound of actual footsteps travel from room to room, like ghosts. The sound of the floor creaking under pressure in a room upstairs is followed by the sound of that floor giving into the weight of an imagined bathtub as the speaker in the room directly below takes over and amplifies the sound of a collapsing floor. Sounds may be isolated to a single room at times, at other times each room might harmonize with one another, the entire house singing as one. 'The Living House' will run for 2 days over a weekend, with 30 people admitted entrance at a time through reservations. -- Bluebrain is the Washington DC-based music duo of brothers Hays and Ryan Holladay. In their two years of existence, they've gained a local reputation for executing imaginative projects throughout the city and in collaboration with area institutions. Projects range from staging a 150-plus people 'boombox walk' to their most recent endeavor, a "location-aware album" designed for The National Mall. They've been featured in WIRED, Engadget, TIME, Fast Company and, for their National Mall project, a Style-section cover story in the Washington Post. More information available upon request--

Washington, DC – DC Sound Garden

2011-12-11T00:00:00Z

I'm an audio artist and sound enthusiast. I've lived in the DC area for about 6 years. Over that time I've been committed to creating cool audio events and meetups that generate conversation and listening, including the Annual Interactive Sound Scene which combines recorded, live and interactive on-site-constructed sound for District residents to play with (imagine a giant Slinky sound forest that responds to stretching and swings or an audio collage about hunger). I've led audio workshops for artists and sound enthusiasts across the arts and journalism fields. (I've produced and reported stories with National Public Radio and helped develop and launch a weekly BBC radio program -which I mention to illustrate that I know how to produce quality audio not just interesting stuff). For the DC Sound Garden project I'd like to record, construct and install a sonic garden in one of the less appreciated areas of Washington DC. I figure like planting a row of flowers on a blighted corner, planting some beautiful sounds in an under-utilized part of town will help make it more beautiful, intriguing and fun to visit. In order to pull it off, I've identified a sound "plot" with ZestFest (they're a team of local DC arts coordinators who have arranged access to a variety of public spaces in the NOMA, north of Massachusetts Ave neighborhood, of Washington DC as part of a 10day long celebration of arts and creativity aimed at attracting people into the neighborhood). The plot is on a very stark street that has mostly government buildings- essentially the area is dead quiet when its not 5pm on a weekday (that's when commuters pour out of their offices and flee the city). I will produce 7-10 distinct audio "plants" for the DC Sound Garden. These will each be a different sonic shape (from a beautiful burst of something undefinable, to a bouquet of snippets from local bands, to voices from the streets of dc (collected and edited especially for this project). Each of the 7-10 audio plants will then be planted in the DC Sound Garden in weather-safe containers (they will be decorated or tucked in among the existing grass and plants at the site). Working with a local artist (to help decorate), architect and a sound engineer (both will help build) and one producer (to help select, edit, load, and install the audio with me) we'll construct these weather-proof, but sound liberating structures and install on location to play off and on over the course of the ZestFest.

Washington, DC – Awesome Students Reinvent the World

2011-12-11T00:00:00Z

What if we...asked students to invent creative solutions to problems in their communities and then gave them the encouragement, resources, and motivation to go do it? What if we trusted them enough to take charge of their own education? What if we exposed them to all of the awesome projects other people are doing and then asked them to be awesome in the pursuit of bettering their own communities? I am a high school English teacher on a mission. I want to redesign our students' senior thesis project into an engaging authentic task that asks them to change the world. Instead of asking students to research a topic and write the longest paper they can about it, I want to ask students to identify something in the world that they think needs to change and then to think creatively about how to change it. Piggy backing on the "What if we..." project (www.whatifwe.us), I want to ask my students to come up with their own "What if we..." for a problem they see happening in their community. I want them to research the problem and ways other people have tried to solve it. Then I want them to imagine a personal action they could take to change the course of this problem. Then I want them to do it. I want them to go out in the world and take some action and see what happens. This action could be public art that is meant to evoke thought or conversation. It could be connecting people in need to resources. It could be teaching people in their community something they feel they are an expert at. It could be just about anything the student can imagine and can implement on an individual level. It must impact as many people as possible and it must be supported by their hypothesis about how this action will alter the path of the problem they have chosen to work with. Throughout it all they will interview people and take pictures and collect information about what kind of an impact their idea had. Ultimately they will reflect on why their project was or was not effective and how this project impacted themselves as well as their community. We will end the year with a celebration/presentation of all of their work and the ways that they changed the world and ultimately themselves. This is the kind of creative and authentic learning that I believe will help my students develop into compassionate, thoughtful, engaged citizens capable of problem solving and creative thinking that will benefit us all.

Washington, DC – CodeNow

2011-12-11T00:00:00Z

Originally from Los Angeles, I’m a social entrepreneur with ten years of experience at the intersection of technology, entertainment, and social activism. From producing two feature films, (one of which was selected to the 2003 Sundance Film Festival) to launching two start up tech companies to overseeing youth outreach in the Bay Area for the 2008 Obama Campaign, I’m driven, passionate, and have achieved results across sectors. In February of this year I launched CodeNow, a non-profit focused on developing the next pioneers in technology by working with underrepresented youth to provide foundational skills in computer programming. Programming is the literacy of the future. Teaching these skills to underserved youth will give them the power to innovate and create. CodeNow teaches high school students the basics of computer programming through free, extra-curricular, off-campus trainings hosted by community partners. There are 5 parts to our program: 1) Weekend Training - CodeNow partners up with other organizations to hold weekend trainings. Each student selected for the program will attend one of these trainings, which will include instruction in: -Scratch: an educational programming language developed out of MIT that allows people of any experience, background and age to experiment with the concepts of fully versatile computer programming by snapping together visual programming blocks to control images, music and sound. -Lego Mindstorms: are programmable robotics/ construction toys, manufactured by the Lego Group. 2) Project - Each student will be assigned a project after the weekend training which they must complete to attend the weeklong bootcamp. 3) Bootcamp - Students who have attended the weekend training will be invited to participate in a 4-5 day training where they will learn the programming language Ruby. 4) Netbook- Each student who attends the weekend training and bootcamp will receive a Netbook. 5) Alumni Network- Once students have completed the bootcamp they will become part of our Alumni Network. They will receive mentoring, assistance with finding internships, and will be invited to participate in student hachathons throughout the year. In August we launched our weekend program in DC. Working with 13 students age 15-18. In 2011 we will hold two more weekend trainings and a bootcamp over Christmas break. Here is a video from our pilot: http://youtu.be/VTCGDmYnhhM

Ottawa – The First Kagate Dictionary

2011-12-11T00:00:00Z

This month’s grant goes to Lauren Gawne (The Academic Linguistics of LOLspeak) for her project to document and digitize the Kagate language, spoken by a thousand people mostly living in the mountains between the Likhu and Khimti rivers at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) above sea level in Nepal. Lauren is currently doing her PhD in linguistics and has recently published a dictionary of Lamjung Yolmo, a neighboring language to Kagate. In her words: “While on a field trip in 2009 I met speakers of a language called Kagate through a friend. These people had a linguist come and work with them in the 1970s, she published a paper on the sounds of the language and left them a single copy typewritten dictionary. The language is endangered with only around 1000 speakers and one of the youngest is now 26. He’s also computer literate and speaks Kagate, Nepali and English. He wants to record his language before it’s too late.” For the project she’ll be working with her friend to make the dictionary better and share it using a small custom press to make copies and creating a web version. The dictionary will become the first major publication made in this language and will be a chance for the speakers to proactively work to maintain their language. This also offers us the remarkable opportunity to merge LOLspeak and Kagate to make us truly knowledgeable internet users. Well done Lauren!

Pittsburgh, PA – The Puppet Photo Booth

2011-12-06T00:00:00Z

I propose a project so surprising, so fantastic, so magical, you will require a keepsake from the event to remember it forever. Its name: The Puppet Photo Booth. The Puppet Photo Booth will be a week long installation at Market Square in Downtown Pittsburgh. Using plywood, found objects, and fabric I will construct a structure that appears to be an old-fashioned photo booth. Unbeknownst to passersby, a real live puppeteer (me) waits within to give any person who sits inside a seven-minute puppet show. When the participant enters, they are transported to another world – an under the sea themed live action puppet spectacle. And of course, during the course of this show, I will secretly snap a photo, fulfilling the booth’s promise to capture a moment forever. My name is Murphi Cook and I am a playwright and puppeteer in hot pursuit of my M.F.A in Dramatic Writing at CMU. But why should Murphi Cook in hot pursuit of an M.F.A be the person to make this Puppet Photo Booth happen? The answer is simple: the Puppet Photo Booth is a product of my three major interests manufactured into a compact, effective, artistic experience for any Pittsburgher. My art is one of atmospheric transformative creations. Currently, I am working on The Society For the Advancement of Miniature Curiosa, a Pop Up storefront installation that replicates the feeling of Victorian Cabinets of Curiosity. Visitors may view live shows, visit our toy theatre parlor or step inside a gallery space filled with rotating cabinets that house fantastic objects. When not transforming spaces, I am performing and writing plays for the stage and other unlikely locations. These plays have been workshopped and produced from Valdez, Alaska to New York City, and feature voiceless circus hustlers, lobotomies, lovers at the bottom of Lake Tahoe, ageless women inside lighthouses, and spam after the apocalypse. And finally, to top it all off, I am a certified Master Scuba Diver giving me the experience to serve as an authority on all things under the sea.

Pittsburgh, PA – Pop-up Co-op

2011-12-06T00:00:00Z

We are a team of incredibly awesome Pittsburgher’s that work hard every day, as individuals and professionals, to make Pittsburgh a better place. Our team includes, Grant Ervin: policy wonk and passionate neighborhood leader, Christina Robertson: marketing expert and baking entrepreneur and Talia Piazza: community builder and communications guru. Our project, the Pop-up Co-op is a revitalization strategy which will benefit a neighborhood, its residents and local entrepreneurs. Our project will repurpose an empty storefront into a locally run and organized co-op and incubator for small retail businesses. Those looking to open a small business are challenged by the start-up building expenses and find it difficult to succeed while working to keep the bills paid. Similarly, a challenge for neighborhood commercial districts is that while they may have market potential and an untapped customer base, matching product availability with customer demand is perceived as “risky”. The inability to solve this “chicken and egg” scenario for small businesses and commercial districts–of what comes first, the people or the businesses, has not had an answer...until now. Pop-up Co-op has come up with a solution! The empty storefront can comfortably house 4-5 local vendors as well as a small seating area for guests. Vendors will rent space at the site and sell their homemade and organic goods under one roof, sort of like an indoor farmers’ market. Each vendor will commit to operating the storefront and selling the other vendors’ products one-two days/week. This model will eliminate the need for each small business to purchase or rent a storefront and will relieve the burden of operating a shop 7 days a week and let the vendors share other operational and marketing costs. We have a property, located in Morningside, identified (with a cooperative owner) for use and interested vendors on board. We want to create a temporary co-op that will allow us to conduct a feasibility study as well as on the ground market-research while actually operating the business. During the 3-6 months the pop-up co-op is operating, our team will be gathering data and market information, and the vendors will be gaining experience in running a business as well as feedback from customers that can be used to create a better product. Based on this, we will create a business plan and strategy for the creation of a permanent community co-op that sells local goods to local people at a local price.

Ann Arbor, MI – Peddle Powered Vegetable Grow Rack

2011-12-04T00:00:00Z

I'm Nate Ayers, a permaculture researcher and educator in Ann Arbor and Detroit. Permaculture is a design system based on bio-mimicry, appropriate technology, and renewable energy. With permaculture, we can transition our neighborhoods and communities to sustainable food and energy production, without using fossil fuels. I am lucky, because I get to teach people solutions to many of our world's problems, and this makes people hopeful and inspired. In permaculture design, there is the concept of "stacking functions". This is based on observing how nature works, and that nature likes to use a lot of different plants and animals working together to create eco-system balance and resilience. Using those same principles, I have designed a food and energy production system that will solve a lot of the problems found in our communities, namely, access to healthy organic food, clean energy production, and the American obesity epidemic. My design, called the "pedal powered vegetable grow rack", is an example of closed loop, whole systems permaculture design. It works like this: 1. An individual pedals a stationary bike, which is hooked up to a small generator. The person gets valuable exercise, while at the same time, the generator produces valuable electricity. 2. That electricity is stored in a battery, and then used to power super efficient, LED grow lights. These lights are really great (they were developed by NASA). They allow vegetables like lettuce, kale, chard, herbs, peppers, tomatoes and spinach to be grown indoors, in a small space. 3. The Individual eats the vegetables, getting healthy vitamins and energy, which then allows them to return to step 1 the next day. This is a closed loop design system, where the output of one element, becomes the input of another (stacking functions). Here is a prototype that I developed: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=214862881920587&set=t.1378442260&type=1&theater The best part about having the money to properly make my design, is that I would get to use it while teaching permaculture to K-12 kids. This type of design would get kids really excited about science, making their own food and energy, and taking care of their health. It would also allow me to teach all kinds of people how to make their own vegetable grow racks, further increasing the locally produced food and energy supply. Thanks for considering my project, I hope you think its Awesome!

Grand Rapids, MI (Inactief) – GR Creative Youth Center

2011-11-30T00:00:00Z

My name is Lori Slager, and I am the sole owner of The Sparrows Coffee Tea & Newsstand, and a founding ArtPeers board member. I have a degree in Art Education from Calvin College, and have been an art teacher for Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities for the last eight years. My proposal for The Awesome Foundation is for the Creative Youth Center, which I have been working on for just over two years. Cecile Fehsenfeld (co-owner of Schuler Books) approached me about opening an after-school creative writing center in or near the Baxter neighborhood that would serve the area’s underprivileged youth between the ages of 6 and 18. I agreed to work with Cecile on the idea, and the Creative Youth Center project began. The goal of the CYC is to empower area youth with the growth mindsets and creative capacities necessary to become successful adults. Through one-on-one attention and project-based learning in an inspiring, non-school environment, we will work to help local children find, develop, and share their voices. We believe that making students published authors gives a tangible credibility to their accomplishments, which creates an empowered sense of self and an enthusiasm for developing their voices and unique communication skills. This will help them to become creative problem solvers and increase their chances of staying committed to education, in turn decreasing drop-out rates and improving positive participation in the classroom. To move that belief to action, we will publish yearly collections of student work to be sold at local bookstores and other retail outlets. The sense of accomplishment has already driven some really creative work from children in my workshops. For example, in two hours, a group of children can write a book together and have it illustrated and printed before walking out the door. The excitement over being “published” instantly helps grow their passion for writing - when they realize that their books are for sale in area bookstores, they truly see the value in their creative work. When we open, the CYC will host story writing field trips for classes each day and will also send tutors to classrooms to help teachers achieve their “dream projects”. The CYC will also offer after school tutoring, and offer ESL classes during the summer. However, at the outset of launching the center, we plan to focus on the book publishing experience as a flagship program and provide students with other similar creative writing projects.

Boston, MA – Lightening Fast Snow Slide

2011-11-30T00:00:00Z

Hi there. My name is Sadie Urban and I'm the events coordinator at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve (KVR), an 8,569 acre tract of land located between the villages of La Farge and Ontario in southwestern Wisconsin. Every January we hold an awesome winter festival with skating, sledding, skiing, archery, snow sculpture, ice cave hikes, chain saw carving, birds of prey presentation, face painting, horse-drawn bobsled rides, snowshoe exhibit & hike, dog sled race, weight pull, and mutt race, horse-drawn tours and snow cave. The local Lions Club hosts an annual chili and bread contest for the public. We also hold an auction of art produced in the Kickapoo Valley to raise money for our education program. What a great line-up, right? One thing I've always wanted to offer is a snow sculpture slide. We have a very small budget for Winter Festival and we like to keep it free to the public since we're located in one of the poorest areas in Wisconsin. The kids would really get a kick out of sliding down a sculpture in their lightening fast snowsuits. I hope you will seriously consider funding a lightening fast snow slide for the 2012 Kickapoo Valley Reserve Winter Festival on January 7th, which draws over 600 people (a lot for our rural community). Thanks for your time.

Boston, MA – Operation Dinoblasters

2011-11-30T00:00:00Z

Dear Awesome Foundation, For two years I have been a volunteer. I am an AmeriCorps member serving at DotWell in Dorchestah and I have a brilliant idea: Dinosaurs. I serve (not allowed to say work) with kids in a Boston Public School called the Joseph Lee Elementary. The students there are OBSESSED with dinosaurs. One student, Devon, tells me all there is to know, “Have you ever seen a plateosaurus? They grow up to 10 meters tall!!” By the way, did you know a pterodactyl is not considered a dinosaur? It’s in fact a pterosaur. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I am Colin Hunt, a 23 year old graduate of the University of Vermont, an Adirondack 46er (#5427) and a recent convert to veganism. I love to hike (hence the climbing the 46 highest peaks in New York) and am an adventureholic. Last year, I taught Tai Chi and yoga to senior citizens in Burlington, Vermont for my first year of service with AmeriCorps. Now, I am a transplant to Boston. Here, I am trying to make a difference by hooking up under-privileged families with much needed community resources. Originally, I am from Washington, D.C: a city full of dinosaurs. This is where Project Dinoblasters comes into play. As a well traveled, adventureholic, I have had the privilege to learn outside of my community. I want to bring that privilege, that right, to my kids in Dorchester. Many students are confined by resources, unable to even get out of Dorchester to see the museums of Boston. I am dreaming big and I want to bring these kids to my hometown. My dinoland. There, we would turn the kids into archeologists, initiating a city-wide 24 hour treasure hunt! A treasure hunt for what? Dinosaurs of course. Devon is the kind of kid with a perpetual goofy grin on his face. At the age of 7, he is already positive he will be professional paleontologist. I once made the ‘mistake’ of telling him that I had seen a Tyrannosaurus Rex at a museum in D.C. Since that day, Devon has been exuberantly interrogating me on every single dinosaur I have ever seen. To help make dreams like Devon’s come true, I would love to help inspire an overnight trip to the museums in Washington, District of Dinosaurs. Thanks for your consideration, Colin Hunt For your imagination and entertainment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PPf3aaZmUw

Houston (Inactief) – Treat Em Right

2011-11-30T00:00:00Z

Six months ago, we moved our kennel to a large warehouse in Klein. While the space was large and open, it was empty and needed a lot of work! We have been able to do some construction, but are still in great need of completing the project due to money constraints. We house 30 of some 80 dogs in our program at this facility (the others have been placed in foster homes) and are eager to get the facility up to par with the dogs' needs. We have devised a plan as follows to complete the outdoor space as well as give the dogs some interior space to play.

Toronto – Ikea Hack Installation

2011-11-29T00:00:00Z

I'm a designed-minded writer who has recently been inspired by the Ikea hacking communities that I've discovered; there are a growing group of Ikea enthusiasts who make slight modifications to their out of the box furniture. I want to take this idea further and create a large piece from various Ikea components (chairs, tables, etc...). The project would focus on the notion of housing/shared space for the homeless. The completed project could take one of two routes, depending on the interest it receives. One, it could be installed in a public location; Nathan Phillips Square for example. The project might build from that initial location and others could be created and set up across the city (much like the spray-painted bikes). The second route would be to partner with Ikea and have them put the installation in of their Toronto stores. This idea fits in with Ikea's brand of finding interesting ways to inject itself into the public dialogue; for example, Ikea has just recently announced that it has plans to build an entire micro-city in East London. A piece, made from the company's furniture, that deals with space for the homeless would bolster the brand's social agenda and spark the imagination of customer's coming into the store. The building aspect of this project is something that I've wanted to do for some time but haven't had the opportunity to purchase furniture that wasn't going to be used for a functional purpose. For the PR component: I'm a Contributing Editor for TrendHunter and I have contacts at an array of design publications, both in the city and abroad; amongst which: PSFK, Springwise, CoolHunting, Vertical Review, Toronto Standard, The National Post, DesignBoom. I also have a strong grasp on effective social media practices and would generate interest in the project through various channels.

Calgary, AB (Inactief) – Haysboro School Dream Catcher Edible Garden

2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

I am the key facilitator of a group of incredibly talented and dedicated parents who shared my vision to create an edible garden for Haysboro School. Not only did they share it, they took the idea and turned it into something AWESOME. In the spring of 2012, my committee and a veritable army of volunteers will build the most unique edible garden in Calgary. It is our vision to blaze a trail for other schools to create one of a kind gardens of their own; to start an AWESOME revolution in education where it becomes as common place to dig in the dirt to learn as it is to sit at a desk and study subjects like science, math, and reading. We will create a beautiful outdoor classroom which will inspire the children to learn where food comes from, concepts of environmental sustainability, multicultural diversity in cuisine, social responsibility, and patience. A crucial requirement of the garden design for me had to be uniqueness. I really wanted more than a bunch of cookie cutter boxes filled with dirt. I had visions of a classroom of students sitting on benches underneath a beautiful pergola looking out onto their garden. This would be an integral component of the outdoor classroom design. But equally as important, I also wanted unusually shaped raised beds. I gave these criteria to a fellow parent within the committee with the request to design us something AWESOME. She came up with the Dream Catcher concept. Half would be the seating under the shade of a pergola, the other half created by 7 raised beds (one for each class) and a seating area for the teacher in the middle. The ground surrounding the beds will be a 38 foot diameter circle made from Holland paving stones in multiple shades to depict the inner mosaic of a dream catcher. The "feathers" will be beds designed by the students in shape and form as we expand the project into the second year. In the space of 8 weeks we have grown from a group of 7 to a list of more than 50 volunteers willing to build, and maintain our vision. This is an AWESOME number when you consider there are only 133 families with their children attending our school. We have sold the idea to the community stakeholders and will create a Green Thumb Grandparents mentoring group. These are senior citizens in the community who would love the opportunity to share their knowledge with the children. The teachers are equally as excited about this venture as they currently work to tie curriculum requirements into the garden.

Los Angeles, CA – Urban Roots Field of Dreams

2011-11-23T00:00:00Z

Hello Awesome Foundation! I'm a documentary filmmaker that could not just walk away from the issues featured in my latest film Urban Roots. Urban Roots call to action is to put farms in schools. Across the nation, schools cover large areas of land that are often covered in asphalt. This asphalt-covered land offers up a terrific opportunity to turn it into organic, food-producing land while also creating a valuable, outdoor classroom. Currently, school budgets nationwide do not provide for this activity, so we are taking the lead. Urban Roots has partnered with Sarah Didvar-Saadi and Gina Gambill of The Green Schoolhouse, a Los Angeles-based school garden consulting and design build company, to create a pilot program to build school farms. We are calling these farms, “Field of Dreams”. A Field of Dreams Farm is an outdoor classroom where High School students learn the sustainable practices of planting, composting and water con-servation to grow food with the highest organic nutritional value. Each school will experience the growth cycle of Seed to Harvest to Table. Students will take the message home that growing your own food is a simple and vital process. Also, schools will have the opportunity to parti-cipate in their communities by growing food for their local community’s food banks and homeless shelters. The Urban Roots/Field of Dreams pilot project starts in Los Angeles and soon after, Detroit. The five LAUSD High Schools in the pilot program have Environmental Academies within their curriculum. The following schools have been selected to receive funding for a Field of Dreams. Alexander Hamilton High School Global Studies Network Academy Van Nuys High School Academy of Health Careers, Nutrition, Culinary Arts Phineas Banning High School Global Environmental Science Academy Roosevelt High School Academy of Environmental and Social Policy James A. Garfield High School Green Architecture and Design Academy For more info: www.urbanrootsaction.com

San Francisco, CA – Little Opera

2011-11-22T00:00:00Z

I started Little Opera two months ago, with the goal of creating a professional children's opera company where everything is done by kids. I've worked as a teaching artist for San Francisco Opera for four years, and led over 40 classes through the creation of their own operas (I'm also a playwright by night). The class operas were so good, I wanted to find a way to take the idea further. So I start Little Opera. My funding plan relied on tuition at first, but then I got our first scholarship inquiry. Right below the checked box that says the family survives on food stamps, it read: X is the middle of five children. The arts seem to be the area where she belongs. It's where she can stand out from her siblings. This opportunity would really boost her self esteem and set her on a path that she will probably continue for life. That's when I changed my mind about what I wanted to do. I didn't just want to start Little Opera for privileged kids, I wanted to start Little Opera for kids like X-- the precocious, creative child who is probably not signed up for any after-school arts programming because the classes are either prohibitively expensive, or at a location their parents can't get them to on time. So I re-worked the budget, fronted all of my savings, and started Little Opera. We are now in our 4th week of classes, and have eight young artists (aged 6-9) who are currently writing their own opera about an unfriendly forest (read: werewolves, lost children, alligators, swamps, goblins, evil trees). Only one of our students is paying full tuition. They perform in March. Some more nitty gritty details about how it works: Over the course of seven months, our students work together twice a week to create, rehearse, and perform an original opera. They do everything themselves. Everything means they will: Write an original story Turn it into a libretto Compose music Choreograph dances and movement Design simple sets and costume pieces Build simple sets and costume pieces Peer-direct scenes throughout the rehearsal process Perform their original opera How will they do all of that? One step at a time (and with help from local professional working artists). In fact, half of our fall classes are specialized Master Classes that focus on things like: Stage Combat Set Design Dance/Choreography Masks/Puppetry Music Composition Singing Technique I know I'm biased, but I think it's pretty awesome. Check it out for yourself: www.youtube.com/user/LittleOpera

Chicago, IL – Poetry + QR Codes

2011-11-19T00:00:00Z

QR codes are boring as hell. Right now, they're glorified spam and mostly added to movie posters and billboards like an afterthought. I'd like to find some way to play with this technology, and have it resolve to something more meaningful than a coupon. My name is Felix Jung, and I love exploring the intersection of poems and technology. I have a MFA in Poetry, and have been a tech geek for the last ten years. Currently, I'm very interested in creating projects that allow for easy, group participation/collaboration. My project idea involves the creation of QR codes that randomly load up a YouTube video, featuring someone reading a favorite poem. On the viewing side - the QR code would resolve to a specific URL on the project website. Code on that page would then randomly select one of the many submitted videos, and display one at random. The hope is that, over time, more and more videos will be created/submitted. The goal would be that no two scans would yield the same poem. On the creation side - users would be encouraged to record a video of themselves reading a favorite poem, and to upload it to YouTube. From there, they would visit the project's website and submit their video (name, poem title, YouTube link). As submissions are approved, they appear on the project website and also become available in the larger pool, when someone scans a QR code. Ultimately, I want to create multiple QR codes for this project. One basic QR code would randomly select a poem from all poems submitted. Another QR code would only display sonnets, or poems with a given tag. Inspiration --------- Swez's QRadio project: http://sweza.com/2011/07/qradio-my-latest-qrt-project/ You Are Beautiful: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=%22you+are+beautiful%22+project&m=text http://avoision.com/2003/11/15/pics_from_the_evening.php

Kingston – Tympani Time

2011-11-17T00:00:00Z

Tympani Time is an initiative of Orchestra Kingston to procure four used typmani. In addition to being used for the non-profit orchestra, they could also be made available to other Kingston community groups as well, and will also feature in a new composition by conductor John Palmer, which will premiere in a celebratory public performance. It all started six years ago when a small chamber group that met every two weeks to read through classical works observed that Kingston needed a good community orchestra to open up more playing opportunities. Now, six years later, Orchestra Kingston has grown to a 40+ piece orchestra that provides local musicians with the opportunity to play Canadian and international orchestral repertoire. We also provide an accessible, affordable music experience for our community. Orchestra Kingston's goals include: - preparing three concerts per year with a mixture of Classical, Canadian, and shorter repertoire, currently playing at the Salvation Army Citadel. - providing opportunities to community groups and musicians to perform with an orchestra - supporting one another in our efforts to provide quality music to the community The tympani will be valuable assets to Orchestra Kingston as well as to the local musical community!

London (Inactief) – Circle Cycles

2011-11-16T00:00:00Z

Hello, am ildefonso Am currently trying to make my own business which can help our local community by taking volunteers and training them in bike maintenance. This can help lower repair costs and boost cycle usage in the uk while also giving the employment opportunities upto management level. My project is about getting youth's back into employment by getting them to learn about bike maintenance, repairs and customer services. Currently the local police station have been providing me with 10 free bikes. Also i have been getting bike maintenance training and management training for free through Cycletastic. Furthermore I have 8 level 3 bike Repair maintenance trainers ready to help start the project as they are being paid by Westminster. They will be willing to work for free and help train our youths in bike repairs as long as we can find a larger venue

Ottawa – Hello Ottawa

2011-11-15T00:00:00Z

Our grant this month goes to Anne Patterson of the popular blog Hello Ottawa! Hello Ottawa photographs and interviews Ottawans about their relationship with the city and their lives. It’s an exploration of the city and its people, and anyone can participate. Participants are photographed somewhere meaningful to or representative of their life in Ottawa, and the long-form, in-depth interviews follow on that theme. Past participants who have been profiled include a homeless youth (Corey), a local artist (Colin), a sex worker (Lindsay), an urban dancer (Sucre), and many more. Anne says: “I’ve always been fascinated by the way people experience place, and how where we live shapes our identities and lives. Hello Ottawa started in September 2010 as a way for me to explore and learn about Ottawa, and get to know the people who live here. The project is also a great way to help people in Ottawa learn about some of the amazing people who share the city, and who they might not otherwise meet or hear about.” Since starting Hello Ottawa a year ago, Anne has posted 23 profiles and interviewed more than 50 people; right now has a waiting list of about a dozen potential participants. She will put our money to use with transcription services as each profile take her 10-15 hours to complete. This will allow her to post more frequently to her blog and bring more of these fascinating stories to life! Good luck Anne!

Seattle, WA – OF / ONN

2011-11-08T00:00:00Z

I currently run an exhibition space out of my apartment called Vignettes. It exists as a gallery biweekly for one night only exhibitions. I have worked on a number of self funded collaborative pop up exhibitions and this will be the first grant I've ever applied for. In January 2012 I am looking to curate a light festival in the city of Seattle with artist Susan Robb. It would take place in a large warehouse- I am currently in discussion on what the exact location will be. There are a few options that would be free venues to house a number of art installations for three days. January 29th is considered one of the hardest days in the year for people who get seasonal affective disorder. In response to this I would like to hold a weekend of light installations by artists from Vancouver, Seattle and Portland to welcome the winter days and the lack of light. I hope to co-curate three days/nights of events/installations open to the public and all ages. Artists involved have yet to be decided upon- If you would like to know the list of artists I am considering this can be included at a later date. Please take a look at the creators page on www.vignettes.us in order to see the list of artists I have worked with already. Each artist would be asked to create site specific installations in response to what it is like to live in the pacific northwest in the winter. To create a warm, embracing festival to celebrate of all kinds of light. If it is a success it would become an annual festival.

Sydney – Guerilla Lego project

2011-11-08T00:00:00Z

We are Nick and Anna: quirky, creative and long time friends with a passion for awesome (awesome is a noun now). We both work at a Medical Research Institute, but there is only so much advancing the cause of human health that one can do without a creative outlet. So we want to start a guerrilla lego project, and we need the Awesome Foundation to help pull it off. This project is inspired by guerilla knitting projects in sydney and guerilla lego projects around the world. The Aim is to use lego to make the world a slightly more surreal, somewhat more hilarious, and certainly more awesome place. To reach this goal we would build temporary lego works in the public space that are influenced by the environment. For example using lego to fill in gaps in walls, creating lego recreations or covers of objects, or building lego scenes inspired by our surroundings. Some of these pieces would be left in place for the public to view and puzzle over, others may be taken down after photographing - the safety of the public of course will always be foremost in our minds. We would also document our exploits with an online photo journal, which we would make available to the pubic and advertise through social media.

Houston (Inactief) – Ride 'em Cowboy

2011-10-31T00:00:00Z

We need financial support to allow one of our group home residents to continue receiving therapeutic horseback riding services. Kelvin is a 29-year-old client of Avondale House whose life has been severely affected by autism. Unable to live at home with his family, he has lived at one of our group homes for almost 20 years. He experiences seizure disorders, has an intellectual disability, is non-verbal, and is profoundly autistic. On top of all that, Kelvin suffers from cerebral palsy; so much so, that he walks essentially “bent in half,” looking at the floor. To overcome his severe muscle and joint contracture, his doctors have recommended therapeutic horseback riding. For the last year, Kelvin has been riding horses at the Sienna Stables in Missouri City, operated by SIRE, a therapeutic equestrian center. Joelle Devlin, his instructor, comments, “It took Kelvin very little time to learn how to crest mount the horse, and then just a few weeks to learn basic horse commands. He was a little shaky at first and required constant adjustment on the saddle.” “Now, as he rides each week, I have seen Kelvin straighten inch-by-inch in the saddle. He is smiling and excited when he arrives at the stable, and has almost perfect alignment on the horse -- from ear to shoulder to hip to back-of-the heel.” Kelvin has not been miraculously cured -- he still has spinal curvature, but his horseback riding activities have helped his mobility and balance. “He seems so content on his horse,” says Patti Kelly, Avondale House’s Program Director. “He has a little better posture and does not stumble as often. He cannot verbally tell us, but he really seems to enjoy the sessions. Plus, it is so important to keep him active, so that Kelvin does not ever become wheelchair bound, a circumstance that might cause him to be placed in a different group home setting. He is happy to live here, and we want to keep him here at Avondale House.”

Toronto – ChocoSol's Off-grid Chocolate Factory Mini-mobile

2011-10-30T00:00:00Z

Our Awesome Food project is to retrofit ChocoSol’s Subaru Sambar mini-truck with everything it needs to be an off-grid mobile chocolate factory and one-stop shop for education and demonstration of all things chocolate and renewable energy. We have pedal-powered machinery, solar panels, battery packs and a one-of-a-kind solar roaster, which, together with our retrofitted mini-truck will give us the ability to travel to any location and make chocolate on the spot with no emissions, educating passers-by about renewable energy, horizontal trade relationships and our community while connecting them with cacao in a way they’ve never experienced before. What makes our project awesome is that we are using pure photons to connect people to chocolate through a groundbreaking platform that is a step on the path towards a fully functional, self-contained, off-grid shipping container chocolate factory. We will set up around town and people will get to pedal a pedal powered grinder to turn the beans they just roasted with sunlight into chocolate and cool them in the evaporative cooler near at hand. In 30 minutes someone will be able to experience each step of the process that turns a cacao bean into a chocolate treat, all while learning about the producer communities in Mexico, the nutritive value of cacao as well as our blossoming community of actionists here in Toronto. We have a great team of technologists, builders and eager monkeys who have what it takes to turn this dream into a reality. ChocoSol is a learning community and a social enterprise. Chocolate has been the vehicle that fuels the commotion and contagion which accompanies our research into sustainable agro-ecological processes and we are taking it to the next level now with our 7th generation Solar Fire powered electric hybrid cacao and coffee bean roaster.

Calgary, AB (Inactief) – B.J.'s Gym Show - Honouring 40 Years of History

2011-10-27T00:00:00Z

We are a Calgary art collective who has acquired an awesome space in the historic Stampede Wrestling gym and are holding a showcase event to honour some of Calgary's finest artists and community of progressive vibrant culture who cares about and has shaped Calgary history. On November 25, 2011 some of the best of Calgary fine artists, musicians burlesque troupe and graffiti artists come together to celebrate 40 years of Calgary’s history at the legendary BJ's Gym in the new downtown Calgary east village . Our event will present a live band BARLEY HEP CATS, burlesque troupe KABUKI GUNS, DRUNKEN PAW graffiti collective(Janet, Lesley Mark) and the renowned OILMENS REVIEW fine art collective ( Frank Keller , Darcy Lisecki, Harold Pendergas , Sylvia Prochownik ) showing their new works. We will also honour the legacy of Stu Hart, the Hart Family and all the wrestlers who trained at BJ's Gym throughout the years.

Boston, MA – CRONICAS DE HEROES

2011-10-26T00:00:00Z

I am a researcher in urban issues with a master's degree in Architecture and Urbanism from MIT. I devote most of my research in border issues between Mexico and the United States, throughout my projects I challenge the notion of pair-cities as separate entities, instead I look at them through a unilateral lens where the conflict manifested in opposing relations between needs, values, interest, and concerns of the two different entities can become the tool for negotiation among multiple systems. Currently I am the lead of CRONICAS DE HEROES- an instance of the Center for Future Civic Media/Media Lab MIT. CRÓNICAS DE HÉROES is a campaign of positive thinking that aims to transform the perception of cities with high levels of social disorder and reignite civic pride and hope in those communities. It accomplishes these goals through campaigns using new and old media as well as grassroots activism. CRÓNICAS DE HÉROES encourages ordinary citizens to report acts of courage, kindness, respect, honesty and other positive contributions to society. Reports are shared and promoted through civic spaces and events, public art, and various media outlets. We have implemented this initiative in Juarez, MEXICO, http://juarez.heroreports.org/ as you can see on our website we have more than 1,000 positive stories which all are linked to a map showing courageous acts in different areas of the city.Additionally, in the webpage on the BLOG part you can see many of the activities that we have been doing in Juarez. Building on its recent success in that city, I have decided to replicate the model/project in several U.S.A.-México border regions. A week ago we launched our first bi-national platform in Tijuana/San Diego, http://tj-sd.cronicasdeheroes.mx/ our page in this instance is in English and Spanish. As a native of México who has lived for nine years in border cities in the United States, and who travels back and forth between these two countries regularly, I see the tremendous contradictions and complexities that exist within borderland regions. Through personal experience I have gained a deeper awareness of these issues such as how these particular regions and their populations attempt to adapt, not only to each other, but also within their own country.The present conflict in Mexican cities and the disparities between pair cities is a subject that cannot be ignored; CRONICAS DE HEROES works with these communities for constructive change for a better present.

Boston, MA – Animatronic Monster Suit

2011-10-26T00:00:00Z

Hi, I'm Matt, and I want to build a monster costume to support fundraising efforts for new playground equipment for the nursery school my 3 year old daughter and nephew attend. Every year, they have a Halloween Fair on the town common, and the nursery school has a bake sale to raise money. This year (and next), they need to raise quite a bit extra in order to replace the badly broken playground equipment. I'd like to support that effort by building a crowd-drawing kid-friendly monster. Basically, what I have in mind is a colorful fur-covered larger-than-life "friendly monster" costume with animatronic eyes mounted on/in an over-sized head that look wherever my head turns inside it. I'll just need to build a simple servo motor gimble system for the eyes, and control them with a head mounted accelerometer... possibly a Wii nunchuck. I have experience with latex prosthetic makeup, electronics, and costume building, and have in the past won several "best costume" awards and even had people stop me on the street on Halloween to have pictures taken with me. I'd like to have the big monster help draw a crowd to the fund raiser.

Chicago, IL – City of Big Shovels

2011-10-25T00:00:00Z

Those who know me know I'm a radical pedestrian and obsessed in particular with sidewalk snow removal (that's pedestrian as in feet, not everyday ;-). I sit on the Mayor's Pedestrian Advisory Council and the Board of Directors of the Active Transportation Alliance. With winters like we have in Chicago, snow removal on sidewalks is absolutely critical for year round walking especially for the elderly, people with disabilities, children, and those reliant on public transporation. Senior's call it Hip Replacement Season and those with diabilites are often homebound when the snow falls. There are laws on the books requiring landowners to shovel, but its rarely enforced. As a result, after a snow the City is usually a patchwork of clean sidewaks and and neglected ones. I've tirelessly spoken out on the issue with policy makers but there is feet dragging since they're worried that it'd be unpopular to crack down. So, while announcements of snow rules parking gets top billing every winter, there's hardly a pep about the basic requirmeent to shovel. What I dream of, what think would be awesome, is a sidewalk snow removal equivilant of the legendary "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign-- http://dontmesswithtexas.org/. I want to appeal to Chicagoan's sense of pride about our shoveling prowess. Yes it snows here. Thats why we live here. We love to shovel! We've very good at it. We' are The City of Big Shovels (apologies to Carl Sandburg). The idea is to launch a campaign called City of BIg Shovels that 1) reminds media about the law 2) encourages residents to shovel 3) Celebrates those who have big shovels by posting images of Chicago's burly shovelers 4) Shames our scofflaws by posting images of neglected sidewalks and businesses. I'd reward those who submit images by sending the a City of Big Shovels button for thier winter coat and a sticker for their big shovel.

Los Angeles, CA – Bicycle Helmet Cop

2011-10-23T00:00:00Z

My name is Greg. I've been riding bikes since as far back as I can remember. I had training wheels for about a day before I begged my father to take them off. A few shaky hours later, I was riding my bike all over the neighborhood. I rode through high school, to my classes in college and now to work every day. Biking is a passion. A way of life for me. So it worries me when I see all the bikers in LA riding without helmets. It's such a simple thing that can do so much good. Helmets save lives. It's as simple as that. Sure, helmets are not sexy. But neither is a concussion or worse. My project is called Bicycle Helmet Cop. It involves me dressing up in a uniform that looks official but not too much like LAPD too get me into trouble. I would stand on busy streets and stop bikers under the guise of giving them a ticket for riding without a helmet. Instead I would give them a free bicycle helmet and only ask in return that they encourage others they see to wear helmets. Maybe in a small way, that could make a difference.

Zürich (Inactief) – Take care of your hair

2011-10-22T00:00:00Z

Mein Name ist Anne Riewoldt, ich bin 27 Jahre jung und lebe in Zürich. Ich arbeite als Coiffeuse und lebe und liebe meine Beruf. Interessiert habe ich von Ihrem/EuremProjekt gelesen und habe beschlossen mich zu bewerben. Gern möchte ich ein Projekt starten , welches anderen Menschen Freude bereitet. Mein Projekt soll "Take care of your hair" heissen und alten Menschen , welche nicht mehr in der Lage sind , für längere Zeit das Haus zu verlassen,die Möglichkeit bieten sich die Haare machen zu lassen. Ob schneiden ,fönen oder nur eine Kopfwäsche. Manchmal sind es doch die kleinen Dinge im Leben, die einen glücklich machen. Um dieses Projekt zu finanzieren ,möchte ich an diesem Wettbewerb teilnehemen.

San Francisco, CA – Ourshelves Lending Library

2011-10-18T00:00:00Z

My name is Kristina Kearns, and I just opened a lending library in the back of Viracocha on 21st and Valencia St. Ourshelves offers a curated selection of international writings, new releases and classics, many of which are not readily available in the public library and which are, for some, unaffordable to buy outright. Curators include myself, a handful of longtime editors and booksellers here in the city, and local authors eager to share our favorite works with fellow bibliophiles. For $10 per month, Ourshelves members take out one book and exchange as often as he or she likes. They can also request titles I don't already have, as I purchase 20-40 new titles per month based on member suggestion and request. Sliding scale options are available - some members leave a book of their own in order to borrow, and other members pay $20 per month to take out up to three books at a time. I came to the idea of a lending library after spending eight months helping run an international bookshop in Greece. There I learned both the administrative aspects of maintaining a business/artistic space, and the intimacy of putting one of your favorite books into someone else's hands. I learned that the relationship between readers and printed books is stronger than our media contends, and that people's access to good literature greatly decreases in times of economic recession. Government's tend to cut off funding to public library's and buying books - even used ones - can be out of some people's budget while they try to find work. I returned to the States a year ago and worked five jobs at a time, for eight months, in order to raise the funds to start this project. Open just six weeks, we now have 53 members and received positive coverage in Bay Citizen, Bold Italic, litseen.com, as well as in upcoming articles in the Guardian, SFWeekly and theRumpus.net. Michael Chabon granted us access to his personal library to start our stock. The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library let us do a 1:1 trade for 250 books. The public library donated 5 copies of the new One City One Book pick, and McSweeney's - a publishing company I assisted for a year with their oral history human rights nonprofit - has kindly offered Ourshelves copies of their books. Ourshelves recognizes San Francisco as one of the most literary cities in the world, and we hope to foster a physical space for writers and readers to meet, create, and explore the changes in today's publishing world.

Chicago, IL – Open Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope

2011-10-15T00:00:00Z

My project: Let's say you're an average Joe evil genius trying to make a sentient nanoswarm in your underground lair. How do you see the little guys to prove you've succeeded ...or troubleshoot in the unlikely case of failure? Traditionally, you'd need a $30,000 microscope to accomplish that task. Let's say you don't have that kind of cash on hand (your take-over-the-world plots haven't been terribly lucrative since the start of the Great Recession), what's an evil genius to do? You could make an inexpensive scanning-tunneling microscope from scratch, but the projects out there for you to follow are out of date, analog-only, spread out across many theses and papers, and/or poorly documented. Frustrations abound. Enter the Chemhacker Open Source Scanning/Tunneling Microscope (STM) project: a project whose goals are to produce an easy to assemble digital scanning-tunneling microscope, with well documented software and hardware designs, for a complete cost of about $1000. Me: Mad scientist who knows how to complete large/weird/technical projects. A portfolio of large/weird/technical projects I've completed: simpleswitchlabs.com MS Chemical Engineering, U.C. Berkeley Founding member, 2009 board member, 2010 president of Pumping Station: One, Chicago's Hackerspace extraordinaire. How I'll pull it off: Using tools and expertise available at Pumping Station: One, I'll assemble the microscope prototype, troubleshoot my design, and prove that this is a realistic goal.

Ottawa – Top Secret Project

2011-10-13T00:00:00Z

We are pleased to announce that our October Awesome Grant goes to Terri Ann Daniels! Her project, which she has asked us to keep secret for the time being, will help educate and empower young women to make informed decisions regarding their bodies. She is currently drumming up volunteers and other support to get the site up and running. Best of luck Terri!

Sydney – Compos(ur)e

2011-10-11T00:00:00Z

My name is Peter Wildman and I have been inspired by an experience of being aware of my presence. After being introduced to mindfulness meditation techniques last September I quickly realised how in a fast paced, modern world, we are encouraged to perspire to aspire to be better people. This self reflective and project driven approach is rarely coupled with time to sit with the product of the moment - our presence in this body, mind, heart, soul and environment that is here and now. We can find ourselves reacting to our world because we need to survive. We need to know what every opportunity or threat is present so we can divert or capitalise as we traverse with a spacial velocity set upon the future and sometimes caught up in the past. My project is one that will place our obsession with time travel as close to the present moment that is possible. I am currently studying interactive art at COFA (College of Fine Art) in Paddington. My interest is centred around our mobile phones and how we can reframe the way we interact with them. There is a potential space that can be created when calls to our attention are listened to as calls to mindful awareness. We create space for composure, through being mindfully aware of our presence in each moment, rather than being cramped by reactionary behaviour. Compos(ur)e is a mobile phone application that enables a social network of people to create technological bells of mindfulness for one another. This interconnection is materialised as a network of installations and kinetic sculptural spaces that are composed through these mobile interactions. I have developed a prototype of the application, where you breathe into the phone's microphone and ring a bell for yourself. I am now in need to develop the social network element and also develop it so it is compatible for a wide range of 'smart' phone users. Also the first of the installations will be presented at this years COFA Honours show. The installation will be a proof of concept, a prototype showing the interaction that will possibly take place in the network. This is a link to a concept video that shows what the installation that represents the network usage will look like. http://vimeo.com/28605430 Thanks for the opportunity to put my project out there as a potentially awesome endeavour. Cheers, Peter Wildman

Seattle, WA – Stories of Seattle

2011-10-11T00:00:00Z

To be brief, I want to revive the oral story tradition and at the same time feed the homeless and hungry in Seattle. Interested? Okay. Basically, I want to get a sandwich board that says 'TELL ME A STORY AND I'LL GIVE YOU A SANDWICH' and sit out with a cooler full of BLTs and PB&Js and collect stories from the hungry, the homeless, and the needy. It is my personal belief that everyone has a story that should be shared and preserved for, if nothing else, posterity's sake. Then, I'd upload them to the site and to a podcast; and then, when I get enough stories, it is my intention to self-bind them and make a book to sell, all proceeds going directly to the making of sandwiches and homeless programs in Seattle. It is not my intention nor goal to profit off of this. I would not be making any money that I would be spending on me; it would all be going right back to the community. After all, they're not my stories. They're everyone's. I've been trying to drum up interest at the school I attend (Cornish College of the Arts), and lots of people would love to jump on into the movement by helping me collect the stories and make sandwiches. And, if it inspired others around the country to do the same, what harm could come of that? A bit about me: I'm a novice author/playwright and partially professional theatre designer, with a background in charity and helping others. Also, I love stories, all kinds of stories.

New York City, NY – Urban Free Farm - Producing free food in Brooklyn

2011-10-10T00:00:00Z

Bushwick City Farms is a network of open spaces run by neighborhood volunteers that provide free food, clothing and educational programs for the community. We believe in the importance of community self-sufficiency, food justice, responsible food production, and land rehabilitation. This is especially important in our neighborhood due to a lack of access to affordable, fresh, organic food; for this reason all the food we produce is free to the community. We plan to transform a vacant 10,000 sq ft lot into a urban community farm that will serve as both a much needed public green space and as a model of responsible food production. We will build raised vegetable beds to grow organic veggies, a chicken coop to house a free-range flock and a recreational area where kids can play. We will also host weekly free educational workshops at the farm on topics such as composting, farming, food education, ect. We have constructed two gardens previously in Bushwick, Brooklyn; we have lots of volunteers and sources for recycled free wood for farm construction. Now, we just need some funds for clean soil and building supplies.This project will provide crucial resources to an underprivileged urban community while also promoting environmentally sound farming practices and community empowerment. For more info check out our website - http://bushwickcityfarm.wordpress.com/ and our facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002422390841&sk=info

Berlin (Inactief) – FigureRunning

2011-10-04T00:00:00Z

Everybody loves playing outside. FigureRunning is a new sport that encourages you to get creative, go outside and discover new places while running and getting fit. The competition is not about your running speed or distance, it’s all about drawing. Become a master in the art of FigureRunning. Do it when and wherever you want and be sure to share your art with your friends. The world is our canvas and you are the pencil! FigureRunning iPhone app We want to make FigureRunning big, very big, Olympics 2016 big. Sometimes the technology seems to be a hurdle when motivating people to start running art. The growth of our movement is hampered by the complexity. To make the sport accessible to a wider audience, we have recently launched a mobile application. The iPhone app is based on GPS (Global Positioning System) technology, enabling your mobile phone to track your position. While you are running a line is drawn on your screen. The app is designed using game principles and mechanics to make the actual running more fun. We like to say that we are developing the Photoshop for running. And when your art is finished easy sharing with your networks is facilitated. How I got this far After running figures for a year I found 2 very inspiring people (@leolovestwtr & @jankroon) who, just like me, were willing to invest time into building great stuff. We didn't have a budget and didn't have time really, but we pulled it off and released our first iPhone app August 27 2011. So far we have had a very exciting journey of designing, developing and promoting a new sport that motivates people to work out in a new way, by using affordable sensorbased technology. Receiving great pieces of running art from people around the world, being featured in a broad spectrum of media and getting motivating endorsements from initiatives like PSFK and Quantified Self Labs. http://figurerunning.com/blog/press/

Houston (Inactief) – Sleep Out Saturday

2011-09-30T00:00:00Z

Noah's Kitchen's Sleep Out event was the winner Of September's grant. The Sleep Out is one night where Noah's Kitchen asks Houstonians to give up the luxury of home for one night and sleep outside. The event kick's off the National Homelessness Awareness week, and their main goal is to raise awareness first-hand as well as to gather additional funding for their mission to help the homeless. They hoped to hold this year’s event at City Hall, but due to a “no camping” ordinance on city property or parks, they will be at the courtyard of Caroline Collective again this year. You can stay tuned and find out more about the event on their website www.noahskitchen.org

Toronto – Guerrilla fish taco stand

2011-09-29T00:00:00Z

I make great fish tacos - seriously great. Beer battered cod, hand made tortillas, crisp finely shredded cabbage and a habanero white sauce that will make you cry. Simply awesome. And street food in Toronto sucks. We are not children, we don't need to eat hot dogs or have STANDARDIZED food stands. Please. So, I'm going guerrilla. I propose to put a fish taco stand on a bike trailer and ride around to the parks and gathering places of the city, bringing awesome fish tacos to the people. Sure, it's risky. I could get caught. I'll probably get a fine. But fuck it. Food unites. It brings people together. And disobedience ignites. And besides I'm in love with the idea.

Montreal, QC (Inactief) – Alley Kids!

2011-09-22T00:00:00Z

We live in Mile End and have a potentially awesome alley (with practically no vehicle traffic) behind our building, shared by dozens of neighbours with children, who would like to transform the uninspiring, dirty space into a green, safe and awesome space for our kids to play, interact with nature, and for adult neighbours to enjoy, collaborate and positively relate to each other. This transformation will take the form of a neighbourhood clean-up, followed by child-inspired mural painting party and a seed and perennial planting party as well. Each of these parties will include music, potluck and opportunities for neighbours to share their talents, skills and stories. I will photograph/videotape the process and create a facebook group that helps everyone interact and share their photos, ideas and experiences with each other, and to help with future event planning as well . [Got this by email afterwards - Patrick] http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cour-verte-Nouvelle-Querbes/145690458811407

Calgary, AB (Inactief) – Reel World Youth Documentaries (Vids for Kids)

2011-09-22T00:00:00Z

The best education for kids is the kind that engages them with real world challenges and encourages them to have the audacity to do something about it. Vids for Kids is a semester long course that teaches kids how to use documentary filmmaking as a tool for investigating and learning about the stories in their neighbourhoods, their communities, their city, and beyond. Film topics can range from exploring how their immigrant parents overcame adversity to discovering local community leaders... anything to help kids cultivate an eye for what is awesome Calgary! At the end of the course, kids will be sharing their film (and hence their learning) with friends, family and the broader Calgary community through a locally organized film festival. To support this project, we would like to use the money from Awesome Foundation to build eight to ten video kits that can be used and reused each semester by different schools. Each kit would contain video, sound, and light equipment to be assigned to video teams within the class. The first pilot run of Vids for Kids will start this September with a grade eight class from the Alice Jamieson Girls' Academy (a public junior high). The course will be jointly taught by videographer Chris Hsiung and teacher Kathryn McKenzie. Chris will provide his technical knowledge and experience on telling stories with video (such as storyboarding, shot framing, interviewing techniques). Meanwhile, Kate will integrate formal curriculum by fostering critical thinking and empowering girls to use technology. After the test run, the Vids for Kids project will be taken to other schools in Calgary where partnerships can be formed with other imaginative teachers who see the potential of using video to cultivate learning. Follow the progress of this portion of the Worldviews Project here.