Where will you place your Charms in your garden?

NEXT SATURDAY
Gratitude Garden Saturday June 23 10am!
Charms for your garden are very cool visual affirmations.

For me they bring my creative energy into the life of my garden.
They can hang, be staked or lean, depending on the specific site where it will reside.







This design would be great with a vine sphere! Bring your imagination!
Register here: 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/caryl-henry-alexander-artist-with-purpose-invites-you-to-gratitude-garden-2018-tickets-44822253567

  

Rollingcrest/Chillum CC Heros and Sheros Totem Project March 2016

It was a beautiful day when we installed the totems 

at Rollingcrest/Chillum CC

The young artists who participated in the project were too cute and too proud of their community's Heros and She-ros!

Got it installed just before dark!

Greetings!
Well we just got back to the studio-
my How do like Bernie Now sign has been installed at Green and Woodyard.

It was back in 1988 that NY artist David Hammons created an artwork that shook up the community. His work "How do you like me now" is explained in this NYT article.

                                 

I loved the artwork, it gave a visual start and when you really look at the painting it is interesting looking, the features and the colors that the artist used are otherworldly.

So here in Prince Georges County it is time to vote on Tuesday and from where I sit, it looks like neither candidate is expending much capital in our area. The Clinton campaign sent the mothers of black men who have been killed by police, to a local church and it looks like Hillary is presumptive. This is how the painting was handled when it came to DC.

There are not any signs around our neighborhood for the candidates. It's hard to believe that it was just 4 years ago that Creative Currency sought to bring words of compassion to the political sign pollution.

The sign was interesting to create.
I had to choose the ideas that Bernie advocates that I thought would speak to this community.
It was also a challenge to draw Bernie and then paint him black, which really changed the energy of the painting.  We'll see what happens

Lake Wales is an excellent site for our project!

The space where the conference was held is sited on a lagoon

 that is connected to Lake Wales.

 

The camp was full of air plants, all over the trees, hanging in tendrils! There were oaks, palms, water plants and grapevine, philodendron, pine, white vine and oh so many more plants.

This old building that is being taken over by the local plants, was an excellent site for gathering materials. 

The camp was full of air plants, all over the trees, hanging in tendrils! There were oaks, palms, water plants and grapevine, philodendron, pine, white vine and oh so many more plants.

We had some great fun feeling the Mother under our feet and exploring the property.

Gratitude and Gathering with Gabby

I had met up with Gabby Milch on my way down
to DelRey Beach.
Yeah! Gabby is coming to the conference with me to collaborate on the plant based visioning project,

It was late in January and she took some folks on a plant walk in her local area. 

I have to say that Gabby brilliantly shared her knowledge of the local plant history and growing habits. Offering a memorable experience

We walked talked and gathered examples of Lakeland’s interesting plants.
I saw flowers, roots, fungi, reeds and seeds, vines, trees and grasses.

At the end of the path was a beautiful burned out great great great grandmother tree. Ancient tree that was burned down by someone smoking meth!

Collaborative imagining is at the center of this year’s Florida Herbal Conference project for this Artist With Purpose.

 I know that collective imagining around our community’s future 

is a fun and fruitful creative action.

So this year for the Florida Herbal Conference I proposed, to Emily, that Our Beloved Herbal Community imagine what we see for the community in ten years time. I asked that each participant envision their role in actualizing their vision. and to create a symbol of that imagining for the community mandala.

In preparation for my Florida creative plant adventures,  I challenged my self to learn a bit about Central Florida’s botanical family. Most specifically migratory plants. And in a community of plant loving people, 

there was a lot of wisdom sharing at the site.

Three Part Harmony Farm Community Mural Project Recap

Hi friends, I want to share one of my most favorite community projects in 2015. It took place at Three Part Harmony Farm in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington DC.

 

When I first met Gail Taylor two years ago at the Annual EcoHermanas/ Centro Ache Herbal Encuentro in DC, she was selling strong healthy seedlings. I’ve since learned that Gail is such a brilliant woman with spirit, a beautiful sister with love for la madre tierra, community and growing healthy food!

So, happily in 2015 EcoHermanas partnered with 3PH to bring a USDAC Imagination Station to the farm’s Fall Festival and Garlic planting.

Our creative project involved creating an Imagination Station that offered participants a chance to envision their community 25 years into the future. And to see their role in making this happen. 

At the station there were two activities

Poet Jesse Alexander facilitated a community poem

I facilitated a community collaborative mural.

A good time was had by all as documented in a video of the day by Jordan Mendys and

An awesome photo slide show by TylerGrigsby

Enjoy!

Art as a Tool for Community Building audio

Greetings friends,
I was a panelist at this conference representing our DMUUC Green Sanctuary Committee. I was the “and many more”. We were asked to speak about art as a tool for community building around greening our church community. Here is an audio of my presentation.

Goodnow Garden Totem Project

This is an awesome project! I was invited to a 6 day residency by Amy Macht (The Macht Foundation) and Gloria Jenkins from the Goodnow Community Center in Baltimore. I have worked with them before to create Good Character Banners, Ancestor Masks and even a fiberglass Baltimore Crab sculpture with the young people who come to them for after school activities.

When I arrived at the center for a planning meeting, I saw the new community garden that they had created last Summer. I immediately envisioned the totems in my mind's eye! I was told that their neighborhood has new residents who are refugees from Bhuton and the Congo. The fact is that they had requested the opportunity to grow food on some unused land at the center. Out of this sprung a Community Garden.

Six workshops later, our participants had reviewed totem history in the Americas as well as abroad to inspire them. The created shapes and sketches for each piece on the poles. They then painted their shapes which were assembled onto the poles to bring the energy of growth, partnership and sustainability to their own garden.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Finally Prince Georges County Artists Network

I attended an interesting meeting today at the Gateway Arts Center located at 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD. The Network, organized by the Prince George’s County Arts Council. Organizing around supporting art and arts orgs, art education and community outreach.

Interested in getting involved? Contact the arts council. 

http://princegeorgesartscouncil.org/

Dick Blick's green packaging

 

I suppose this Dick Blick packaging is a bit better than last year's showing. 

Actually the only difference is that the bubble stuff is made from recycled plastic.

I can't help but think that there has to be a better way. I am continuously working to develop new projects that are made entirely from recycled materials. I really miss my East Bay Depot!

http://www.creativereuse.org/

Collaboration

Within each residency, students achieve success as individual artists as well as in collaboration with fellow students.

Charles Drew ES Character Banners 2009

2009 Character Banner Project, Charles Drew ES in Silver Spring MD

Caryl Henry Alexander and Jesse Alexander present:

Baltimore Ceramic Mask Making Residency

This is definately an exciting opportunity. I am working with an awesome art teacher and students to create "self portrait" masks. I have 4 days with the students, day 1 we worked with clay to cast faces, day two we shared a cool presentation on mask history and current uses from all over the world. We then created unique surface designs for our masks. Here are some pics from the first two of four workshops.