Pictures from Village Free School

We visited the Village Free School last Wednesday. Here are some pictures. Thank you Paul & Chris for being lovely hosts.





Some more interesting sites
http://portland.freeskool.org/
http://www.albanyfreeschool.com/
http://www.brooklynfreeschool.org/
We talked quite a bit about Summerhill, here's the web http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/

High Tech High

I saw a report on High Tech High that I thought may be of interest regarding our exploration of alternative education models. The high school is part of the San Diego public school system. It is for students interested in technology, they are admitted by lottery because there is so much interest and too few spots. I think you can find a short video of interview I saw on PBS if you follow the link above.

Fellow artists and creative companeros, this is a creative opportunity for us to collaborate with out art and thoughts. Have at it!

open house

Ezra
635 N Fargo st
pdx
610 505 5539
ezraduke@yahoo.com
fri 5-9
be there or be somewhere else
you have no choice
all my love
ez

Our field trip to the Village Free School

http://www.villagefreeschool.org/home

We will be meeting at the school at 2:00. If you need to take public transportation you can do this:

-From SW 4th and Lincoln (near the art building)
-Get on bus #17 at 1:18pm.
-Exit at SE Holgate and 62nd
-Walk to SE Foster and 63rd
-Board bus #14 at 1:50ish
-Exit at SE Foster and 86th

-Walk to 5747 SE 87th Ave.

bunny colored rainbows.

Here's the commercial my picture of choice was taken from. It's for the SONY "bravia", which appears to be some badical television.



And here's a picture to show scale:

Also, the website is rather entertaining, so click this if you feel so inclined.

LASTLY---for those of you who enjoyed and or cant get it out of your head, the song we listened to today is called "Ce Jeu" by YELLE.

Stella

Well, its a beautiful day in the Peoples Republic of Sellwood! Stella is seen in this picture! Its the oldest beer in the world started in the 11th century. I am doing research into the impact of beer on socialism in a communal sense, looking out over the Willamette on Saturday.

Helen Gordon Child Development Center

Today we visited the Helen Gordon Child Development Center which is Portland State University's full-day infant/toddler, preschool and kindergarten program and laboratory. Click the link for more school info and learn more about Reggio Emilia program.
I found some sites below.
direct link for the original one in Italy
http://www.reggioalliance.org/
http://www.learningmaterialswork.com/
http://www.cdacouncil.org/
http://www.projectapproach.org/
I have some old pictures that I took from the first time I visited (with permission).

off the subject

If you are intrested in propoganda about our government, you should check out Zeitgeistmovie.com I think you'll find it very interesting. It is a movie that you can actually watch on line, sharing hidden information about our government, 911, and other stuff. I'm not big into politics, but I think this does reinforce/remind us of our innate desire for justice if nothing else. I bought the movie and it should be arriving soon. If anyone is interested in watching it together or anything about it... I would love to share.

touching people

We didn't really get a chance to talk about Justin's excersise...But, I was thinking about how interesting it is when others (or myself) do something that breaks the rules of the social "norms". Personally, I think it usually seems acceptable if the person is sincere (and ofcourse, the action isn't offensive). There is a definite difference though, when someone does something out of the "norm" and there intentions arn't sincere. This is when I find it harder to accept and or do myself. I tried to find a way to be sincere in touching these people even though I was going out of my way to do it because of our instructions. I appriciate the push out of the comfort zone, however.

just for grins

i just stumbled upon some hilarious posts under the best-of-craigslist heading, have a good weekend!

A New Term

It's a new term and we have a new class. Please stay posted for updates.

Thankful-osity!

Today we did the mentor room cleaning gig!

It was awesome, i will be posting the pics and writeup on the unst blog.

I also told my MDT that I had put the notes in boxes. They said it made them feel good. It sparked a converation about appreciation. Here are some things that Mentors are thankful of:

Making connections with students
Relationship with faculty partner
Students inpiring them in their own academics
learning to love the learning curve
Thankful for differences in student background and expirence
Thankful for the mentor community.
Not just giving but sharing.

I got the warm and fuzzies.

Meet at Blackfish this Monday!

Remember that we are meeting at Blackfish Gallery this Monday to visit Susan's window installation. Please bring an object of to share with the group and contribute to the installation. Items should be "ordinary objects imbued with an essence or spirit." For details on the Project visit smallmonuments.blogspot.com

Ally will also be leading a discussion on "whether or not studio art is dead"

here are some directions.

Blackfish Gallery-420 nw 9th Ave.
Between Glisan and Flanders on 9th, directly across the street from Elizabeth Leach Gallery.
From PSU, take the street car to Glisan and 11th, walk 2 blocks East.
Or if you have the time, it is a lovely walk.

See you there.

"Collective Practice"

I judged this magazine by it's cover(s) and it turned out to be super! Have a gander if you'd like, I thought I'd share seeing as this seemed pretty pertinent in our ever evolving understanding of the beast we call "SOCIAL PRACTICE"...

Oooh, click meh.

CLUI residency program

another residency program to look at.

WENDOVER RESIDENCE PROGRAM

This one is run by the Center For Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), who will be lecturing at PSU Monday Feb, 18th.

In a Ball of Yarn

les maladies des femmes

How can I be sick? Its no good. On a brighter note, I did work on the weekend, I produced a drawing for the WRC tshirt that they produce annually to sell at their events for fundraising. The request was for a depiction of PSU women-- with a multiplicty of ethnicites, body types, and activities. I wonder if my drawing will work for the ladies at the WRC-- if the drawing I produced might not be too "pretty" to conform to the standards of feminism, or if I am in fact "free to be me". Contrast and compare my drawing to the cover of a BITCH coloring book.

Open Engagement - Post Conference Catalog

Hello everyone,

I want to let you all know that the post-conference catalogue is now available for free download online:

http://jendelosreyes.com/openengagement/post_catalogue.html

Please feel free to circulate this.

There are also hard copies available, but due to budgetary limitations these can not be free. In order to cover the cost of printing, shipping and promotional copies a minimum donation of $10.00 CAD is requested.

I will be distributing copies of the catalogue to various artist run bookshops/centers. If you have any suggestions of where I should send some copies please let me know and I would be happy to send some out.

Also new to the conference website: photo galleries, conference archive, press and blog links.

All the best,
Jen

hey guys

remember when we were talking about an open equipment exchange thing?  well if anyone has a camcorder/video recording device of some kind that I could use on a tuesday morning, preferably a few tuesdays in a row, I'd really appreciate it.  it would be from roughly 9:30 or 10 am till noon.  

also, if anyone needs access to a digital camera, let me know!

claire

ps: does anyone know about an oil drilling proposal around Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty?  my roommate told me they were going to drill really close to it and that it would essentially ruin the piece, but that's just what I heard.