A Magic Portal

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

At TED's annual staff retreats, everyone has to get up and talk about something -- either about work, or about something interesting from their own lives. In fall of 2012, TED's Lisa Bu prepared a talk about her love of reading. The quiet, funny and efficient Content Distribution Manager brought down the house, with a story that was too good not to share. Lisa is the first TED staffer ever to be invited to speak on the mainstage at the TED Conference.

As a young girl of growing up in Hunan, China in the 1970's, Lisa had dreams of becoming a Chinese opera singer, but received little encouragement or support from the adults in her life to pursue her dream. Chinese Opera students start their acrobatic training from a very early age, and at the age of 15, Lisa knew that she had missed her window of opportunity.

My dream would never come true. I was afraid that for the rest of my life some second-class happiness would be the best I could hope for.

She was determined to find another dream. With no one around to teach her, Lisa realized that books could help her to discover who and what she wanted to be.

Lisa talks about comparative reading, gaining insight by reading books in pairs, a standard academic practice that she used in her job as a researcher. She began thinking about her reading in a new way.

“Compare and contrast gives scholars a more complete understanding of a topic.  So I thought, well, if comparative reading works for research, why not do it in daily life too?” 

She thoughtfully pairs the books that she reads using a kaleidoscope of criteria. She reads books about different people involved in the same event or she might read the same stories in different genres. She reads similar stories from different cultures, and she even reads in different languages.

“Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people of the past and the present. I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again. Having a dream shattered really is nothing compared to what many others have suffered. I have come to believe that coming true is not the only purpose of a dream. Its most important purpose is to get us in touch with where dreams come from, where passion comes from, where happiness comes from.” 

The Common Core Reading Standards for Literature K-5, “Integration of Knowledge and Ideas” invites students to “compare and contrast” while reading.  

Will the grown ups remember that books and reading are a way for kids to discover dreams, passion and happiness?

Be sure to watch for the signs...

Literary Lots

There's a great entry on the Library as Incubator blog, Literary Lots: The Library as Place Maker, about Literary Lots, a Kickstarter project that was funded to bring books to life in vacant lots in Cleveland. 

The idea of a Literary Lot is to bring children’s books to life by re-creating images, scenes, and ideas from those books in tangible, visible, and physical ways over a few weeks of summer.  While many urban neighborhoods are close to institutions (such as museums or non-profits) with programming, families in many of these neighborhoods may not have the means to attend.  Being geographically close to a cultural or institutional asset doesn’t mean that someone can access that asset.  One of the main goals for Literary Lots is to bring institutions together in a place they may have previously  dismissed as vacant or empty.  Literary Lots wants to transform once-empty spaces into new experiences for kids to see books in a way they never have before – by walking through them. We want people to bring their kids, participate in programs, play, or just sit and read all day in a place that’s there, in their neighborhood – someplace literally “out of a book.”

This concept of place-making and storytelling through books could be a great idea to explore in our art show, "A Slice of Life."

Stories are at the heart of Flo's reason for art-making.

For her show at the Luggage Store,  75: Flo Oy Wong . . .The Whole Pie, she has invited 75 local, regional and national artists to submit art pies.

All of these works created by Wong and the invited artists share a common thread. They are narratives which either address the deconstruction of a stereotype or tell the stories of under-represented men and women whose lives and hard work have made a significant yet unknown difference in this country. 

Gwah Gai: Crossing the Street, the performance that came out of her collaboration with Marcus Shelby and Rooftop School, captures and honors the childhood stories of her husband Ed, also known as Baby Jack.

Family is a major theme that Flo has explored through her 35 years of art-making. Our opportunity to hold an art show in the Luggage Store Gallery comes with Flo's induction into The Family of Rooftop, the incredible roster of hard-working creative people who have brought the arts to Rooftop's community over the past forty years.  

Coupled with the creation of Little Free Libraries and an invitation for the extended community photographic installation based on The Family of Man, the Literary Lot concept could be a really fun way to engage classrooms in the curation process.

Teachers, families & artists coming together to enjoy a big slice of the Rooftop Art Pie. 

The Tree of Life

Today, in celebration of Jack Mayeda's Birthday, 
let's revisit Victor's 2011 poem, "The Mayeda Tree."

The Mayeda Tree 

Oh Tree of future shine here so bright,

Among Goat Hill’s slope, Rooftop’s height

Sun dance fancy, shapes of bird in flight

Bountiful fruits in this Garden growth site.

Oh Tree of memory on cheerful grin, 

Yesterday was here by yesteryear's fleet,

drifted, lingering innocent, precious beams

wishing to be young again, to my Rooftop bliss.

Oh Tree of teachers guiding new crop spring

Touch of gold, hearts to know, making different

richer than a life time growth, encouraging,

praising, giving theme to love redeem, Love Supreme.

Oh Tree of mission, education endures

Be School the Tree, blessed in endless spring

Art, Auction, Garden, Run, Sensory, Trim-a-Tree

Tree of Mayeda, fare you thrive, wishing you free.

Nancy attended the May 10, 2013 re-dedication of the Mayeda Library.

That day's view of the city from the windows of the Mayeda Library.

Two smiles that can brighten up any foggy day.

Recommended reading: 

Artist Lily Yeh's story of The Tree of Life and the Tree of Problems, 

an exercise for groups interested in engaging their communities in collaborative problem solving.

The Barefoot Artist: Trailer from The Barefoot Artist on Vimeo.

In April of 2013, Lily screened her Barefoot Artist documentary in the community center at the Survivor’s Village in Rugerero, Rwanda, to get the blessings of those interviewed in her film.

Jean Bosco Rukirande had this to say about Lily's art:

When the film was projected in Rugerero, the people saw themselves. Others saw their friends. So they started remembering where they were, and where they are now. And that made them think to the future. Not to stop there and think of how they were, but even thinking and asking themselves “then, from here, what’s the next step?”

Another thing, it helped them to see that the dreams they dreamt came into reality. Like their drawings they are drawing. Some drew a cow, and now they are drinking milk. They drew airplanes, and they are saying, “Maybe one day, our children will be pilots, will be piloting airplanes.” All those were dreams that can be a reality.

Outside the country, it teaches to people that people who were neglected, people who are not considered, to see that a person, an artist, a simple artist, can come to use simple art, teach people, help people, using art. And the people stand up. With confidence, with boldness. And start working through art. And they develop themselves, lead their selves out of the past. Out of the bad history. And they continue to develop themselves and think of the future. That’s a very big thing. It challenges others that they can use that art to help other people.

http://barefootartistmovie.com/a-note-from-the-directors/rwanda-responds-to-the-barefoot-artist/