It's about the kids - Celebrate!

Classroom Happenings and Unexpected Lessons

I thought the class room meeting yesterday was very good. I've been thinking about Eric doing the photography, climbing up on the box, changing lenses, etc. I'll bet that the students talked about it later among themselves or at home. They've probably heard about fashion shoots, etc., but they witnessed a professional photographer working with a group of artists who were intently doing creative stuff. It just so happened that the creative stuff was with the students' boots. It was an experience that probably showed them quite a few things. The value of their boots as ART, working together, a creative atmosphere where new ideas -even strange ideas -are valued. All the ALRI artists were focussed on helping Eric with a good, artistic shoot, and the boots were the center of attention. I think there were lessons in that which we never thought about and which the students benefitted from.

Bill and I talked about what we were teaching the students on the drive up. I think we taught them something yesterday that we never thought about. It came naturally from our creative cores!

Evelyn

And Eric, our photographer responds:

I thought about this on the way home, too. I wish that we had included the students in the process... Had them arrange boots, shown them the final images and what we thought were the better images... We were so intent on getting the image that we passed up an opportunity. Next time....
... and, believe me, you're not talking about a professional photographer!
Be of good cheer,
Eric

Coming to the End

The boots are being completed. Kids who had thought the task impossible when introduced in the Fall, or thought it just another art project are discovering a whole new side of themselves. 

Reflections in a Down Economy

The project has been very different this year than last. We have had to steel ourselves for the trip to Central Falls High School. The foreclosure rate in Central Falls is the highest in the state (57/1000) with Rhode Island being the highest in Southern New England. On each trip there are more boarded up houses on the streets leading to the school. These are not detached single family homes either - these are triple deckers, some with units fore and aft, so as many as six families might be affected by a single abandoned house. 

The nativism promoted by the current governor in his policies towards immigrants has added to the tension among the students.  We see this particularly this year because we know some of the students from last year whom we are encouraging to apply to college. We promote college without being able to address the elephant in the room of immigration status - and hope they will have the courage to see themselves as college students. 

This year it is all the more apparent when the downturn arrives, those least prepared are the ones most directly and deeply affected. 

Coming to the Holidays

As we look towards the break for Christmas we are coming to the end of the design phase. Some students who had settled into the design quickly, have even begun painting their boots. 

The designs this year are seem less focused on identity -- my national flag, my soccer team's colors. the flora of my homeland, or my favorite thing -- and more on an escape. There are boots with medieval worlds, boots with fantasy characters, and boots with mythical plants. Some boots still reflect ethic heritage or national identity but this year more are personal. 

For many reasons this year feels different from the last time. We feel constrained in the materials - the paints that were new last year, are sometimes thick in their pots, hardened and impossible to reconstitute. The paints and Sharpies from last year have become art supplies - that sense that the materials were special, were part of a singular project, has been subsumed into the class routine. 

But still, there is joy - hard work and focus on rework to make things perfect.

Project Launched for 2008-09

Mimo Gordon Riley mentors a student as he begins to experiment with the designs for his boot template.

2009 Edition Welcomes New Artists!

The project kicked off the other day. We have two new artists, Mimo Gordon Riley and Kenn Speiser. Both are a great addition to the project. Susan has a new room this year - just as warm and creative as her former space only this time it is bigger and architecturally more interesting with overhead beams running through one section. (I wonder if it has been decorated for this Hallowe'en). 

Mimo Gordon Riley

Mimo Gordon Riley is primarily an oil painter, with a particular interest in trees. That interest may result from her having completed her formal arts education  at the Portland School of Art in Maine, the pine tree state. She has also studied in Florence, Italy, New York, NY, and at the School of the Museum, Boston, MA. 

Mimo has exhibited extensively in Rhode Island and Maine - most recently at Gallery Agniel and the Space at Alice in Rhode Island, and the Seven Knots and Mulford galleries in Maine. Her website at http://www.mimogordonriley.com showcases her work. 

The 02863Project 2009 Edition!

The ALRI-Timberland 02863Project will fly again for the 2008-2009 academic year. We will be working again with Susan Vollucci and the students at Central Falls High School. Thanks to generous contributions from ALRI we were able to purchase the boots this year. (Timberland's fortunes in the marketplace, have, well, stuttered, like the rest of the market). The calendar this year will allow for a little more time - we plan to begin the project in November and end it in May 2009. Looking forward to another exciting year. 

Boots Go on Tour - United Kingdom

The boots have made their splash in Rhode Island, but they have also been on tour in the United Kingdom. Johanna spoke about the boot project in Aberdeen, Scotland and Cardiff, Wales. 

These are the boots at Castle Eilean Donan on the shores of Loch Duich. 

It's a Wrap for 2007-2008

The 02863Project has a summer vacation before we start up again in the next school year. Our visits to Timberland have been rewarding and it looks as though they will again support the project. This time will be much easier as we know the teacher, the process, and have all the materials.

We raised over $10,000 for the project and awarded three $1000 scholarships that will be renewable for a second year. The funds are for books and art supplies - an increasing cost for college students and a barrier to many who have worked hard to get to college and put together packages of grants and loans to further their education.

Thanks to all who supported the project and I look forward to seeing the boots on the streets in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York and many other states.

Celebration!

For the celebration, Max Covill, RWU 08, made a video to explain the project to the attendees. In the video, three of the participating artists, Evelyn Rhodes, Bill Heydt, and Felica Touhey, reflect on the project. The video also shows the classroom interactions and students' finished boots.

Celebration and Auction - 6 June, 6:30 - 9:00PM Sponsored by the Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI

The 02863Project will close out this year's events with a celebration and auction at Roger Williams University, Friday, 6 June 2008, from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. The auction features sixteen pairs of Timberland first quality boots, each uniquely hand painted by an ALRI artist. Images of those boots and a description follow. Each artist and their boots are profiles - there are two pages so click to go to the next page.

The funds raised will go to the 02863Project Scholarship Fund to support Central Falls High School Art Students who pursue higher education. The fund has already raised over $6000, so we hope many people will come and bid at the auction.

The celebration and auction will be held in the courtyard of the architecture building. This allows us to use the jumbotron to view the videos and slide shows that document this project.

Looking forward to seeing you there. As it says on the invitation card, enjoy a light supper, bring your enthusiasm, and bid high and often.

We are the world...

Priscilla Malone (whose collaboration with Dan Butterworth is below) was inspired by the multicultural mix of the great class at Central Falls. With students from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Pacific Rim, and the good ol' USA as well as other places, it seemed fitting to celebrate all of us.

Froggy Slipped from the Tropical Pools

Jane Gavin must have sensed the students from Puerto Rico missed their coqui's - the symbol of the new Puerto Rico where its rich and unique tropical flora and fauna are leading to a new world. These bright creatures, with the allegory of the one missing from the pond, make a pair of boots as different from each other as they are unique together.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

There is something about paisley that has always reminded me a patchouli - a synesthetic experience that give a lightness to my step, and youthfulness to my spirit. These paisley's, however, are not your mild swirls from a tire, but little balls of fire, spinning wildly across the boots. They'll light up your life!

I Gotta Crush on Picasso

Carole Stone, who discovered the project after the events at the school had ended, but was inspired by the project to support that arts and challenged to transform boots in a unique way, has offered her take on Picasso, one of her favorite artists. Ladies to the left, gentlemen to the right of me and we can all dance!

Getting Wild in Central Falls..

Evelyn Rhodes confronted with a pair of size 12 Timberland boots, asks, how to make them smaller, maybe even disappear? Use what the animals use and try camouflage. Like Ellsworth Kelly, who found inspiration in camouflage to disguise and hide tanks in World War II, Evelyn takes the patterns of animal hides to transform her boots. There are few people with sharper eyes for the natural world and Evelyn has captured the patterns of tigers, leopards, and giraffe in these boots.

Miles - Kinda Blue

Felicia Touhey approached her boots as a printmaker - taking in large part cues from her experience with the monotype process and her work as building collages. This pair of boots reminds me of Miles Davis - the cool blues of Kinda Blue playing off the yellows in Sketches of Spain. The motifs, repetition, a flow of line have echoes of decorative arts of the Mediterranean.