Kreate & Konnect

New Look

2009-04-25T19:09:00.008+01:00

To celebrate the blog's new look, I'm uploading a slideshow of images taken by students at Thomas Tallis School this year that have featured on their Flickr photoblogs. This really is a very small sample of a host of exciting pictures. It would be great to collaborate on a shared project involving images and text so that young people have a chance of making a transatlantic creative connection.

Slideshow

2009-03-20T20:14:00.004Z

Here's a slideshow of recent mural work.

Short Stories

2009-03-15T20:08:00.001Z

I have connection with a vice president of an elementary school who has great enthusiasm in foreign language education. He will be more than happy to use short stories from writers to educate his students about literacy and the English language, as they are not fluent.

WeBook

2009-03-07T22:23:00.004Z

I'm not sure if you know of this site already but I've just stumbled across it and thought of you immediately. WeBook claims to be a new kind of publisher:

"WEbook is the vision of a few occasionally erudite people who believe there are millions of talented writers whose work is ignored by the staid and exclusive world of book publishing. It just makes sense: If you create a dynamic, irreverent, and open place for writers and readers to meet, write, react, and think together, the results will be extraordinary. Cue WEbook.com, an online book publishing company that allows writers, editors, reviewers, illustrators, and others to join forces to create great works of fiction and non-fiction, thrillers and essays, short stories, children's books and more."

I had a quick look around the site and thought this was a great idea for anyone suffering from writer's block. What really caught my attention was the possibility of collaborating on a publication featuring text and images. Do you think this is something we could try together?

The power of imagination

2009-02-14T08:45:00.003Z

I'm reading Ken Robinson's excellent book "The Element" at the moment and I came across this statement this morning which seemed to relate to our recent discussions about sharing transatlantic perceptions:

"We don't just see the world as it is; we interpret it through the particular ideas and beliefs that have shaped our own cultures and our personal outlook. All of these stand between us and our raw experiences on the world, acting as a filter on what we perceive and how we think."

I'm really excited by the idea of exchanging beliefs, either in the form of podcasts or even skype enabled webcasts. Let me know how far you've got with your planning so we can shape something together.

Harmony Middle School

2009-02-03T16:19:00.004Z

Monday morning I went to visit Ronda Hassig, a school librarian at Harmony Middle School. I met Ronda last year at Shane Evans Studio in Kansas City, MO. She was there showcasing the artwork & poetry her 7th grade english students created during the on site residency of poet Bonnie Lynn Tolson.

The project was based around 'homelessness' and the importance of understanding--being empathetic to plights of others. Bonnie worked with Ronda's students and the end result was poetry depicting the students' understanding of what it means to be homeless.

Harmony With Voice was published as the end result. 77 pages of student poetry... and the creativity doesn't stop there...

The students have been paired with art students, who have or will create empty bowls that reflect the sentiment or "golden line" from each specific poem. These bowls will be auctioned off in two weeks at a silent auction. All proceeds will go to TruLight, a homeless shelter in Kansas City, MO.

I hung out in Ronda's library for two hours and alongside picking up all this great creative information, I was able observe Ronda interacting with her students.... and I must say I left her library smilin' and inspired.

A Visit?

2009-01-25T22:06:00.002Z

Hello Jon!

My name is Leslie Goodwin and I work with Angel at the Central Resource Library. Currently I am interning here for College credit hours. I am the facilitator for the Creative Commons group here, which is a creative writing group that meets once a month at the library.

Angel and I have been hitting our heads against the wall attempting to figure out a way to connect with the students in London. After a couple of concussions Angel and I have finally come up with some ideas that we wanted to run by you.

First off, I want to create a sort of Pen Pal system with your students. Three of the females in my Creative Commons group (along with me) want to start a creative inspiration process with your students. We want to write pieces and then send them to your students, who will then read them, and be inspired to either take photographs, draw pictures, or do some creative aspect and then send it back to us. Where we will then look at the pieces they have sent and be inspired to write more pieces. Each of us would have one person who we creatively connect with (so the pen pal effect comes into play here).

We would like to do this in the upcoming spring. With that said, we have an even bigger hurdle to leap. Angel and I want to actually do some fund raising and come to London and meet you and the students involved in Kreate and Konnect. We're aiming for it to be at the beginning of August and we would like to stay for a week to ten days.

What we would like to know from you is what dates would be the best for us to potentially come and visit, we would like to know how many of your students are willing to do this with us, how we could meet online possibly (video chat), and what other ideas you have that could make this even bigger.

The last thing I would like to mention is that I have a young man in my Creative Common group who is from Korea and he believes that he knows a teacher there who would love to make this communication a triangle effect, so that we have yet another group in the world that we are creatively inspiring.

We would love to hear your ideas about this possibility.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

: )

-Leslie

Elementia's reception

2008-12-09T01:59:00.015Z

well I made my deadline.... just in time. ;-)

Elementia's reception was last tuesday and once again we pulled in a sweet crowd. ;-) it always makes me feel nostalgic to dim the lights and pull out the mic for these super talented young people.

the magazine will be available online by January 1 and I will have more copies to distribute by next week.

The cover for this issue was... of course ... courtesy of the one and only... Jon Nicholls.

In this issue we had young adult writers, artists, and photographers from the UK, Zambia, Africa, and the United States. And I must mention, I was just contacted by a librarian, to whom I met in Sofia, Bulgaria, from Bermuda that has students for our next issue.

cheers, eh?

;-)

Tree Dressing

2008-12-05T21:25:00.009Z

This year's tree dressing event was held in Telemann Square on Friday 5th December. Organised by the Greenwich Food Co-op, New Horizons and Thomas Tallis School, participants created lanterns in the shape of fruit and vegetables to promote healthy lifestyles and paraded through the Ferrier Estate to the accompaniment of the Bollywood Brass Band. Emergency Exit Arts created a brilliant firework display and everyone was treated to Rosa's fabulous soup in the Community Centre at the end of the proceedings. We are already planning an even bigger and better event for next year.

Photos by Jon Nicholls

it arrived.

2008-11-26T16:33:00.007Z

what a delight to find a package from jon. I will put the book to work immediately.
I am on massive deadline with elementia as it must be printed by next tuesday's reception.
being away in bulgaria for 2 weeks has made elementia much more difficult to complete this go around... but I pushing through it.

in this issue I am ecstatic to say we have writers and artists from the US, the UK, and Zambia, Africa.
yes Africa!

more soon.

It's in the post

2008-11-25T20:05:00.003Z

I've finally managed to put the sketchbook in the post after having promised to do it ages ago. I'm so sorry. I'm also keen to know how the trip to Bulgaria went. My journey to Denmark was fascinating. Great country, lovely people, amazing schools. More anon.

Love 'n' Stuff

2008-10-11T15:34:00.007+01:00

I must apologise for not having sent you a copy of the drawing book promised several posts ago. I will try very hard to get it in the post this week. I have, however, begun to circulate my copy at this end and the drawing above is the inaugural work of art by George McCallum entitled "Love n Stuff". If you remember, the book has the phrase "How to Improve the World" written on its cover. This seemed to be as good an inspiration for creative responses as any. I'm really looking forward to seeing what else folk come up with. Maybe when the books are half full we should exchange them so that they form part of an ongoing dialogue between our two communities?

A new organic conception of human capability

2008-09-23T19:19:00.006+01:00

Apologies for the rather grandiose title, but this is essentially the text of Sir Ken Robinson's recent lecture at the Royal Society of Arts in London (where he received a special award). Sir Ken opened our specialist arts college in 1998 and has since gone on to chair national committees advising government on the importance of creativity in education and working at the Getty Centre in Los Angeles as a special advisor. Click here to watch a video of his speech. It's not short (about 50 mins) but it contains much wisdom about human nature and a powerful plea for an urgent paradigm shift in our thinking about education.

creative writers...

2008-09-22T23:03:00.004+01:00

I have two pieces I'd like to share with you.
two of the images you've shared with me inspired
some very interesting prose.

I will type them up and share by next week.

do you think any of your photographers/artist would
like to take a poem or two for inspirational purposes?

if so, let me know.

I hope you are well.
~A

who said this?

2008-09-22T22:57:00.001+01:00

'it's the fall
the unfallen
apple
holds its' brightness
a little longer into the blue air
holds the idea
it can
be
brighter'

How to Improve the World

2008-09-01T11:27:00.007+01:00

Talking of new books, I've been looking for a suitable artifact our respective communities could use to begin some cross-cultural creative collaboration and yesterday happened across this book. I bought two copies for the knock down price of £10. It's a spiral bound sketchbook full of blank pages but it was the cover that caught my eye. I presume, since I bought it in the Royal Festival Hall, that it's part of the promotional material for an exhibition at The Hayward Gallery. I think the artwork is by Bob and Roberta Smith (the typeface is quite distinctive) who, you may not know, is actually one man who specialises in these kinds of text based messages. Anyway, I thought that maybe if I sent one of the books to Angel and kept one here, we could begin to fill them with ideas, drawings, photographs and dreams about "How to Improve the World", maybe just focusing on our own communities to begin with. The books could be passed around for a while and ownership of the book, even for a short period, would confer special status and a unique responsibility on the incumbent (see The Gift). Then perhaps we could swap books and compare notes, so to speak. What do you think?

a poems begins...

2008-09-01T00:56:00.005+01:00

i picked up a new book today from reading reptile.

the title I will share later-- i left it in my car. ;-)

but it's a book for aspiring poets; I plan on using

it next monday at Cristo Rey High School in Kansas City MO.

The opportunity to work with creative writers at this high

school is an endeavor come true for me and I'm trying my

best to be prepared and such....

the book I bought is full of writing activities and on the

very first activity page...

read the quote, "a poem begins with a lump in the throat'.

by the infamous Robert Frost....

which instantly made me pause and think of Mr. Nicholls

and all the hopes we have and share.

cheers... to collaboration, eh?

si'.

fiction submissions

2008-08-26T19:25:00.003+01:00

submissions for elementia are rolling in...
the deadline is september 15th.

I am amazed at the high number of partial novel (chapters)
and short story submissions.

Due to space constraints it will be hard to publish such legnthy
submissions....

what do you think about some peer sharing, reading, feedback...
do you know any short story/novel writers that would be interested
in exchanging works?

we could set up a google docs?...

;-)

2008-08-23T22:43:00.003+01:00

Ayah is easily one of the most dynamic young writers I know...
Check out one of her stories here:

http://www.jocoteenscene.org/upload/teens/i/programs/elementia/elementia5.pdf

pg. 34.

making time to change lives...

2008-08-23T22:03:00.011+01:00

click image to see large view.

After nearly a year of hopes (meetings/discussions) tutoring and programming will be offered to the young adults in Rosedale.

The nearest public library is too far to walk to from Rosedale Middle School. Thus, it has been my push since I became involved with Rosedale Middle School and the Rosedale Development Association that the Medical Library needed to offer services to the young people of the community.

I am overjoyed that Dykes Medical Library will push against the status quo of academic librarianship and offer services to their community.

This paired with the start of the mural at 42nd and Mission Rd makes my heart race and my mind wander within the sweet notion... the only constant is change.

Our new Flickr Group

2008-08-21T09:31:00.007+01:00

Kreate and Konnect now has its very own Flickr Group. Check it out. This will be a great place to share images of our respective communities and set creative challenges for group members. If you know anyone who would be interested in taking part, please point them in the right direction!

Arts Summer School

2008-08-18T17:42:00.004+01:00

Today, our annual Arts Summer School got off to a flying start. 45 young people, mostly aged 9-11, joined artists from Emergency Exit Arts and staff members from Thomas Tallis and Kidbrooke Schools to prepare for performances at the official start of the Greenwich Cultural Olympiad at the 02 next weekend, The Mayor's Thames Festival Lantern Parade on 15th September and our local midwinter street procession, Eltham Lights Up in November. The theme of this year's summer school is the Elements, specifically Fire and Water. Participants will be practicing a variety of skills including costume making, animation, drama and movement, storytelling, sculpture and drawing in order to create a magnificent street parade. Click here to find out more about previous summer schools. You can also check out a video of last year's parade. Today was all about getting to know everyone, idea generation and problem solving. Tomorrow we begin to work in smaller groups exploring all the available activities.

Photos by Jon Nicholls

the gift

2008-08-13T01:15:00.000+01:00

i received the gift via inter-library loan today. ;-)
i hope you enjoyed your time away.
~A

an idea...

2008-08-09T19:25:00.003+01:00

i think your ideas are all wonderful & quite feasible...
we should approach the joint flickr page as soon
as we can. the artefact idea...oh, how I love it!

after watching the opening of the olympics last night
we certainly must do something together creatively
when they come your way in four years... we can pine away
at the idea with time though, eh?

my one idea as of now, is to have a creative exchange~ a bridge of sorts.
writers and artists/photographers paired up or paved together on the inspiration road.

a photogragh would inspire a new poem. a poem would inspire a new photo exhibit focus or piece of art work. I would also love to pair a few teen artists with any writers you may know...

I actually picked up this idea this past spring after interviewing two teen editors of high school literary magazine. they sponsored such an event with artists and writers at their school and it was a huge success...

Some ideas to mull over...

2008-08-06T13:00:00.002+01:00

Here are a few ideas for joint projects that have been blowing around inside my head for a while:

* set up a shared Flickr gallery and encourage participants to post images on particular themes e.g. community, creativity, my space, room with a view etc. These themes could change periodically and a prize/award could be given for the best image(s)

* produce a book (Blurb?) containing a mixture of writing, art work, photography about the experience of living in a community - dreams and aspirations, fears, celebrations, family life, education, activities etc. It would be great of this could inter-generational and reflect the history of the communities being explored.

* create a postcard exchange a bit like Post Secret but with each postcard describing an unusual aspect of life in the community from which it emerges. This could be a pretty creative, design led project with the message appearing on the front. It could also encourage some amusing/quirky/surreal observations to be exchanged. The postcards could also be videos and posted on either YouTube or Tallis Shorts - a kind of community TV station.

* I'm really keen on the idea of gift exchange (The Gift). Would it be possible to set up a scheme where hand crafted artefacts are exchanged between our communities? Perhaps there could simply be one meaningful object from each community which is passed around between individuals so that they become keepers of the gift for a period of time. Maybe there are additional responsibilities/privileges that accompany this honour?

That's all for now, although there are more ideas bubbling away.
Happy holidays.

thought for today...

2008-08-06T00:05:00.000+01:00

"Dearest dumpling, one day your imagination is going to get you into trouble," whispered his mother.

"He would never do that," Pecorino replied. "We're best friends."

--Pecorino's First Concert, by Alan Madison and AnnaLaura Cantone.

Welcome

2008-07-31T20:44:00.004+01:00

Welcome to our new blog, Kreate & Konnect. We hope that this site and all the other projects we plan to initiate over the following months (and years) will help to forge a creative connection between our communities. The connection began through Flickr. Angel used some of my photographs in a youth publication she was co-ordinating. We soon realised that we shared more than an interest in photography. Both of us work in community contexts and are committed to the idea that fostering creativity is an important part of building social capital and promoting community cohesion. We don't see thousands of miles and different time zones as being significant barriers in attempting to connect our communities. Indeed, this is a challenge which we look forward to tackling in the coming months. This blog will serve as a journal of our attempts to discover creative ways to link the work we do, find meaningful connections and celebrate the talents and ingenuity of local people where we live and work. Who knows, we may even get to meet in person one day!

Please check back soon for more information about Kreate & Konnect.