“What Makes a Great Place?” What are Streets as Places?

"Art is Business" https://www.pps.org/article/uses-activities

Like a few other places, streets are a public stage where life unfolds. From town parades and trick-or-treating to markets and public gatherings, they celebrate and come together with our neighbors. They're where we bump into friends and one of the few places where we routinely encounter people different from ourselves. They're where people have gathered to protest injustice for centuries. That's why Project for Public Spaces has advocated that streets are more than just a means of mobility. Streets are critical public spaces that can enrich our communities' social, civic, and economic fabric.

The four elements of great places: Uses & Activities; Comfort & Image; Access & Linkages; and Sociability.

Resources

1. PRINCIPLES

2. ACTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS

3. ACTIONS FOR COMMUNITIES

4. ACTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT

5. A PLACEMAKER'S PRIMER ON ROAD DIETS

6. STREETS AS PLACES ACTION PACK

What are Streets as Places?

Donald Appleyard may have said it best: "Streets have been where children first learned about the world, where neighbors met, the social centers of towns and cities, the rallying points for revolts, the scenes of repression." Streets showcase the lives of our communities, and being exposed to the good and bad of the world on our roads can make us more compassionate, empathetic, and connected citizens.

Of course, an essential function of streets is facilitating travel from one place to another. But many of the roads in our communities - especially those in our downtowns, Main Streets, and residential areas - can be so much more than just a conduit for traffic. Streets as Places is about helping people begin to see streets in their entirety: not just their function in transporting people and goods but their vital role in animating communities' social and economic life. It's about communities owning and reclaiming their streets, participating in civic life, and directly impacting how their public spaces look, function, and feel.

Streets typically represent the largest area of public space a community has - for example, Chicago's streets and sidewalks represent 24 percent of the city's land area and over 70 percent of City-owned public open space. We also spend tremendous money to build and maintain our street and highway networks - $155 billion a year between federal, state, and local funding sources. Shouldn't we be getting the most we can from these investments?

Designing streets that function as great places is more than just a "nice" thing to do. As Peter Kageyama, founder of the Creative Cities Summit, explains: "No longer is it sufficient to build places that are merely functional and safe. Our placemaking aspirations must be as high and grand as our economic goals because they are bound together." In an age when people are more mobile than ever, and cities and businesses compete to attract talent, great streets are essential to boosting economic development and tourism.

That Project for Public Spaces developed, where streets become part of a network that links a city's best assets and places together, making them easily accessible. At a local scale, which could encompass several blocks in a distinct neighborhood, Streets as Places have 10 or more essential destinations, while each of those individual places has many things to do. The Power of 10 speaks to the importance of layering multiple activities. It uses together - opportunities to sit and relax, eat, socialize, recreate, shop, and so on - to create dynamic streets that attract many people and encourage them to spend time there.

SOUNDSCAPE TAPESTRY EXPERIMENTAL FILM SERIES

"Art is Business" 

JOIN US ON FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2023, FOR AN EVENING OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM DURING THE BRONZEVILLE ART DISTRICT TROLLEY TOUR. FEATURING TACTICAL URBANISM IN THE HORIZONTAL LANDSCAPE-- SOUNDSCAPE TAPESTRY.

Alpha Bruton, lead artist, and the Phantom Gallery Chicago is my curatorial practice. I'm collaborating with composer and musician Reggie Nicholson. This project is designed as an intensive experience.

We are creating a work with an interdisciplinary approach and will present the final product during community programming. This project occurs in and around the Bronzeville community, collecting sounds from the horizontal landscape to produce the Soundscape Tapestry.

CEFF 

Featured Speaker: Ife Olatunji

Topic: Collective Voices Ethnographic Film Festival Preview

Olatunji is a visual anthropologist, documentary filmmaker, and film critic. Born into a family of artists and activists, she graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in Anthropology ('06) and a minor in photography and African American History. Ife completed her MA in Visual Anthropology from the University of Manchester, UK ('10) after creating a short documentary on daily life for girls in Rajasthan, India. She has since lived in Chicago, teaching documentary and film production to youth as young as 6 to adults at community centers and The Art Institute of Wisconsin. She has been a media educator with Facets Multimedia for the past four years, teaching media literacy, narrative editing, and documentary filmmaking. As a Diverse Voices in Documentary fellow with Kartemquin, Ife developed her own short observational film and worked with others to produce and edit their projects. Ife has continued to work with The Community Film Workshop, Reel Black Filmmakers, and Collected Voices: Chicago's Ethnographic Film Festival. An advocate for diversity and inclusion, Ife believes race and gender should not be categories of film festivals but rather the very topics film seeks to explore: www.collectedvoicesfilmfest.com.

Raymond A. Thomas, Studio/Film 12 MINUTES | 2001

CINEMA

N'spire Entertainment Inc. is the film and video production subsidiary of Raymond A. Thomas Studios.

In 2000, Raymond A. Thomas wrote, directed, and produced his first film project, 12 MINUTES. The 30-minute film short was an official selection to over 20 film festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards and honors. The film, which deals with the issues of mass incarceration and the death penalty, continues to be used in community arts engagement efforts with screenings in correctional facilities nationwide. Thomas has written over a half dozen feature screenplays, several of which have been optioned by major motion picture studios. In 2013, Thomas won an EMMY for serving as an associate producer on the documentary COLORBLIND: Rethinking Race, which aired on television station WYCC in Chicago.

Lavon N. Pettis, project manager for the 2023 Phantom Gallery Chicago Tactical Urbanism Film Series.

A Published ethnographer/researcher with program development, piloting, pre and post-evaluation, and background for hire. Civic and community engagement project manager. Best practices, technical savvy, and additional perks include negotiation. Skills include but are not limited to infrastructure setup, operations, lead planning, special events, capacity building, arts, and entertainment. Career experience includes public/social policy strategist, state director, sponsorship procurement, and fundraising.

TBWIG "MOTHERHOOD" EXHIBITION

"Art is Business"

Karen Seneferu

 THE BLACK WOMAN IS GOD

Founder

Karen Seneferu is one of the most thought-provoking visual artists of our time. Born and raised in Oakland, California, her childhood was fed by revolutionary politics and the Black Panther Party's complimentary breakfast program. She has dedicated her life to working as an educator and artivist. Self-taught in her artistic craft, Seneferu is obsessed with gathering information, imagery, and ideas. Senefuru is grounded in the philosophy that space dictates meaning. What enters that space is dictated by the meaning of the space or can change the importance of the space. 

As founder,  Artistic Director, and curator of The Black Woman Is God, Seneferu seeks to transform the meaning of space for Black women and intergenerational artists. She is interested in these artists speaking and dialoguing with each other as a vehicle of change. She does this by having well-known, emerging, and veteran artists in the same space to show the dynamics of their contributions to the historical legacy of Black women artists to the globe.

In 2021, the virtual exhibition of The Black Woman is God asserted that celebrating Black women is essential to building a more just society and a sustainable future. The project will explore the intersectionality of race, age, and gender and dismantle Black women's stereotypes. TBWG will reach out across global communities to reclaim physical space historically denied to Black women artists. In doing so, generations will reclaim the legacy of Black women artists.

TBWIG exhibitions reconfigure communal trauma, employing African Diaspora traditions and practices, connecting dance forms rooted in cultural, historical, and cosmological recognition in public spaces with recognizable African motifs embedded in the form. The program will provide a bridge to the expressions' meaning, exploring the artists' deep cultural connections to their work. The mission is to assert that we are moving beyond embattled ideologies and communities toward African spiritual growth.

The community connections will address the various artistic mediums of visual and performing arts, workshops, and artist talks, all designed to re-remember that Black people are the first human beings to contribute to global society beyond African culture.

The 2020 Black Woman is God exhibition will explore the intersectionality of race, age, and gender and examine Black women's contributions as artists, healers, and social change-makers. The exhibition will feature over 80 new works by Black women employing painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film/video, mixed, new media, and performance, showing that when Black women create, they are God.  

2023 Summer Solstice Oasis in The Woods: An Art & Wellness Festival

"Art is Business" Escape to a serene oasis in the woods and immerse yourself in a weekend of art, music, and wellness activities that will rejuvenate you.

"2023 Summer Solstice Oasis in The Woods: An Art & Wellness Festival: This festival is hosted by Junipers Garden, Liminal Grace, Aunt Caryls Art and Herbs, and Phantom Gallery Chicago Network.

Post Discussions:   CREATIVE CONVERSATION on BlogTalkRadio July 5, 2023, 10:30 am EST.

July 5 - July 14, 2023.

For one week, June 12-16, 2023, artists of diverse disciplines and ages will converge at Juniper's Garden for a week-long residency. Their collective goal was to build generational bridges while working with ideas and materials from the land to create installations that answer the question, 

"How we will rebuild our communities to be stronger and recreate sustainable places to live." 

Importantly, this conversation addresses environmental justice's physical and psychological dimensions and impact. The residency occurred in Maryland's Prince Georges's County, the Southernmost region and its remaining rural tier.

On Friday, June 16, 2023, 6–9 pm, as part of the 2023 Summer Solstice Oasis In The Woods: An Art & Wellness Festival at Juniper's Garden, the artists hosted an open house where they presented and offered free and open to the public gallery walks. In addition, they contributed stories of their experiences with the South County ecosystem and the process by which their installations came together. 

About The Host/Artist

HOST: Samaria Marley 

Samaria is a musician, farmer, and herbalist. Her music and art are inspired by her relationship with nature and her experience as an adoptee and healer. Samaria's music blends traditional folk with afro-beat, R&B, and hip-hop elements. Most recently, she has been exploring the history, music, and construction of the Banjo. As an herbalist, she works to reconnect her community to traditional ways of healing.

About The Artists
Caryl Henry Alexander

Bittersweet, found wood, metallic copper, fabric

Caryl building the sculpture.

For more than 40 years, Caryl Henry Alexander's Work has harnessed the power of creative collaboration with multi-generational, multicultural, and interfaith communities to conceive, design, and implement community art projects in diverse public settings around the globe. In the studio, Caryl's Work includes painting, printmaking, papermaking, textiles, installations, and sculpture. Her media are both traditional and experimental, often incorporating recycled or found objects and natural plant materials. Out in the community, she combines her roles as a visual artist, teaching artist, curator, researcher, lecturer, writer, and social activist to support communities in clarifying their shared goals and turning their ideas into action. Her long-term focus is on culture, environment, and nature. She has exhibited throughout the US and abroad. Her media are both traditional and experimental, often incorporating recycled or found objects and natural plant materials.

Alpha Bruton

Grandmother's Circle: A Tribute to Sallie Alpha and Crecy Ivory

Smudging Ceremony Performed by Rabiah Al-Nur

Chief Curator Phantom Gallery Chicago Network. The Phantom Galleries are temporary exhibitions in nontraditional gallery settings. The mission of the (PGCN) is to promote the betterment of the visual arts community through the arts, promote personal achievement in striving for excellence and continual growth as an artist, and promote cultural activities in exhibits, workshops; galleries exhibitions; art centers; artists in residence projects. She is the Co-founder of the Visual Arts Development Project (VADP), formed in 1996. Is an art service organization - developing projects as living experiments for sustainable practices and an incubator for personal and collective transformation. Visual Arts Development Project is a community-based art organization that provides children, adults, and emerging artists with resources, workshops, and a venue to show and express their art form.

About The artist GIGI

Gigi is a 200-hr certified yoga instructor and eternal student of life. In 2021, she founded Liminal Grace to help folks navigate life with mindfulness, confidence, and ease. Gigi's teaching reflects these intentions by honoring the nuances and complexities of the human experience while encouraging individual power and curiosity along the way. Liminal Grace offers live yoga and meditation sessions, corporate wellness programming and retreats, and educational mindfulness courses, and hosts mindfulness events and retreats.

About the artist Chantel

Her crochet spread that comforted her during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Chantel (she/her) is a Caribbean-American multidisciplinary artist and spiritual diviner. She has yet to find a medium she won't try at least once and often cycles through periods of focusing on one or three mediums more than others. She is currently focusing on fiber arts and collage. After learning how to knit through TikTok and YouTube University, she is working on replacing her storebought sweaters and knitwear with clothes she knit or crocheted. She learned how to crochet from her mother at a young age and often has at least two fiber projects going at once. She uses collages for emotional expression and has led therapeutic art journaling and collaging sessions for over 7 years. After completing her Master's in Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in May 2023, she plans to become an art therapist and incorporate creative self-expression into her therapy practice.

About this event

Oasis In The Woods: An Arts & Wellness Festival is an immersive intergenerational experience where art and nature intertwine to bring you beautiful and thought-provoking nature-based art installations, wellness experiences,s and more.

Phantom Gallery Chicago, Grandmother's Circle

Five Black and Indigenous artists-healers from DC, PG County, and Chicago will reside at Junipers Garde in Brandywine, MD, for the week leading up to the festival. During their residence,y they will build nature-based art installations and wellness experiences inspired by nature, the plan, and the vision of creating a more just and sustainable ecosystem in the face of climate change.

The culmination of the residency was a two-day festival where guests had the opportunity to experience these art installations and wellness experiences, contribute to the land through community art projects, and enjoy good food, live music, and community.

The Pause Portal is a space of presence, reflection, and rest. Step into this liminal space for a mind, body, and soul reset. Before walking through the art installations, pause with Gigi at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm for a yoga nidra (yogic sleep) to prepare you for your walks. The yoga nidra sessions are meditative experiences that can be done lying down or sitting in a chair. Cushions, blankets, chairs, and more will be provided in the portal.

Caryl Henry Alexander facilitated the Gallery Art walk/Art talk.

Saturday, Gallery Art Walk

Passed on the flame to young artist "Z" during the AIR.

On Friday, June 16, join the artists for an Artist Reception, Gallery Walk, and Artist Panel. This evening on the land, you will meet the artists, hear the stories andWorkpiration behind their work, and experience the installations. Enjoy delicious gourmet pizza and drinks during the reception.

Art Installations and Community Art Project, guests took self-directed walks on the trails at Junipers Garden and experienced the nature-based art installations designed by the artists in residence.

Food Vendors

Green Things Work will offer a plant-based loaded nacho bar, chlorophyll lemonade, seasonal fruit cups, and popsicles. Vonte's Kitchen will offer Grilled Chicken Wings, Crab Cake sandwiches, and Beer Brisket sandwiches with Mac & Cheese or Fried Rice.

Enjoy live music from the DC-based music collective Too Much Talent Band, with one purpose, Make Good Music.

Fire Spinners We experienced an exciting show from fire spinners Umber and Ember.

We celebrated the summer solstice with a massive bonfire, great music, and dancing. Planning is underway for June 21st, 2024 Summer Solstice. 

                                            Folks sat around the fire and watched the flames.

On-site Camping-site was only available on Saturday, June 17. 

Several campers spent the night in the woods at Junipers Garden and woke up on "The Land."

Thank you for all the work that was invested into this project. It is the beginning of a more extensive conversation. 

Resource: https://review42.com/resources/types-of-sage-for-smudging/

Sage as a Spiritual Tool

Although burning sage is used by healers and laypeople in traditional cultures to achieve a healing state or solve or meditate on spiritual difficulties, this practice could also have a scientific basis—certain types of sage are best for smudging for cleansing and spiritual purposes, like white prairie sage contain thujone, which is somewhat psychotropic and present in a variety of plants used in cultural, spiritual rituals to boost intuition.