ART.. what happens at a fence?

Today’s post I’m writing while still in shock but feel it’s important because no one is immune and it could have been in your neighbourhood and likely is and all across the country.

Here’s the link to the Art Project on the fence — https://wendydphoto.wixsite.com/aboutdamnspot

Some photos of the last 4 weeks of work: Koko ArtDog on guard

We just reached one of our goals of 200 “piece” flags flying and then this happened:

Yes every last one of the “piece” flags were torn DOWN. Every last one after weeks of coming together; using the needle to create a positive visual (not used to inject drugs); to create a beautiful visual (or at least a pleasant one); threading connections between shapes (connecting us to humanity); heading for a positive change in dialogue about ugly issues… So I received a text from Katie who came with sizzors to help out, sent a message to Maux to please help and then there was Suelina who magically appeared to help out — hood serendipity!! The result:

Yes, yes, yes these amazing human beings on the planet made it all come together!! The installation on the fence restored to tell it’s story and how great was it talking to people who came along while we worked: several people from the camp and tents, some liberal minded community members, and even a young journalist from BCIT who was doing her do diligence before tomorrows protest at 7:30 am.

But this is where the post begins. While we were working the fence Maux noticed 2 young people by the tree at the end of the fence by the baseball diamond. She said ‘look at those 2 openly using’, while I said “Oh ya I saw them vaping but didn’t see any needles”. About 2 minutes after that one of the 2 went into an over dose. Maux knew immediately what was happening and ran down the length of the fence yelling “Narcan! narcan!” after telling me one of them is ODing!!! I stood there in shock and watched the whole scene unfold — I recall calling out Narcan narcan too but had no idea why or what it meant.

A guy in a sweatsuit ran past me to the couple and was holding a needle in the air, preparing to inject the person in OD mode. He was calm and paced and looked like he knew what he was doing. Maux came back towards the scene on her phone as she was talking to 911. The guy who was trying to revive his friend did not really know what to do and people gathered. Another woman on the scene brought out another Narcan kit and they injected the person who died another time to bring them back. After 2 hits it worked and the guy said “she’s breathing, she’s breathing”. The ambulance attended and eventually went away. She lived.

Maux had saved her life, along with the others. OMG I still can’t believe this happened in the park today. There were 5 or 6 of us who witnessed this incident and Maux was so upset, understandably what an experience. The woman came back to life in time to reach for her beer can as that was what was on her mind, while all the others around her were scrambling to save (or witness saving) her life.

Today I learnt what “Narcan” is. I learnt what to do when someone is in an overdose situation. It’s so confusing as I’m happy this person is alive and I’m happy I learnt what to do but I’m also sad that I now know these things. I’m also upset because if Maux hadn’t been on the fence with me today surely that woman would have died because I had no clue as to what was going on.

I’m also mystified that as a city, province and nation we have not solved the issues that go along with “homelessness” so that people have a safe and clean place to live and practice whatever they practice without the risk of dying. This happened to be my experience today but it is happening in your neighbourhood too, in your province, in this country and around the world every single day.

PEOPLE...it took a village to build this place

Today’s post is a BIG congratulations to Marianne Amodio and MA & HG Architects along with Reece Terris and his contracting work and the team of people that make the village. Congratulations are in order as Project 851 made the cut and was published in the September issue of Canadian Architect! Wow, what a great job in execution and patience by all involved. For those who haven’t seen this pre-curser to the piece please take a browse through the mag. Marianne made at the beginning of the project; those were the days when we were deciding what to build. 851 Union the mag.

Marianne’s magazine for us was the start and here is the full circle accomplishment where Canadian Architect magazine recognizes the good work of MA&HG!! We’ve come a long way baby!!

I had hoped to embed the link into this post but alas all I could figure out was how to hyperlink so enjoy.

(more on abOUT damn spot next week — we’ll be at 150 plus “piece” flags by then.)

COMMUNITY ... it takes a village to get the ball rolling (Week 2)

…Or is it the prayer flag flying, or the peace flag flying? Anyway you look at it the project is happening. As the piece, abOUT Damn Spot , evolves more exciting things come to mind and what I love so much about ART is the randomness of its nature. For instance, a conversation with others can shift, solidify, or transform a project as it comes to completion — often the mistake of a paint splash can take a painting in an entirely different direction! As we roll into week 2 this kind of shifting has happened.

Last week the take away was about the police training here and in different countries. We also had some first hand experience with visuals of mental health episodes which revealed the umbrella of Homelessness is a mixed bag of tricks.

Over the week I watched a Netflix series called Burden of Truth which was worth the watch and connected to traumas and tragedies that are housed in Strathcona Park, previously Crab Park and Oppenhiemer Park. This show takes place in Winnipeg revealed through a journey of legal action weaving through the layers of social complexities and racism . I encourage you to take a look.

This week also enlightened us with a few take aways. One of those being the role of the Parks Board. While stitching what got tossed out was what that role should be? How did the expected role of park stewardship relate to an encampment (spot) on the land? Isn’t the Park’s Board’s role to be stewardship to protect the park? What role did they play in getting the 120 young people volunteering to pick up dirt and feces around the park? Should the Vancouver Park Board be sued for failing to do their job in protecting the land? These are some of the questions that came up along with should Strathcona property owners pay their taxes?

Food for thought don’t you agree? Here are a few shots!!

The fence of peace triangles and circles grow… (a ways to go to match the tents in the park). One of the best moments today was when a friend came by and made the connection between the needles used for the stitching and how it was a contrast to the types of needles used in the park. Yeah!! random moments in are appreciation!

He got it. (so many layers to this work)

PROGRESS...and the games begin

Well it’s started the art project called “abOUT Damn Spot” has begun. Here are some of the images from today’s work.

The images don’t do justice to the many flags we completed and were installed onto the fence today BUT it does give you an idea of the love and positive energy that took place. First of all getting up for a 7 am start was a challenge but we did it and arriving at the park early made me feel safe. I tried not to feel bad about the first encounter that took place before set up. It was unexpected as I had never experienced this before, even though I’ve lived and used this park for at least 12 years.

A woman was riding her bike towards us and she began screaming and then rode her bike into the fence and fell into a heap by the fence. She was several feet away and as we approached II asked her if she was okay and she just kept screaming and incoherently making sounds. Obviously, someone with a mental health issue was what came to mind. To avoid making things worse I told her” well we’ll just walk away then and if you need anything you let us know”. We proceeded to the part of the park with the least amount of tents to set up our art project. As we set up I kept an eye out for our crumpled new friend and eventually she got up and remounted her bike and rode away with some continued yelling, shouting and random vocalization.

Oddly , even with this awkwardness, I was happy to be back entering a piece of the park again; even though I felt this park has been transformed into a completely different place. I kept my dog on leash and set up my chair and we began our stitching project. It felt good to take back a place where we could do something meaningful and enjoy each other’s company. It also was evident that the “spot” in the project was alive in this park. As we worked away and chatted our calm stitching and easy dialogue was broken by the sounds of women fighting, screaming and yelling at each other in the distance (not the crumpled woman who crashed her bike — these were others).

It made even more sense that WE CAN DO BETTER. It’s just not okay to discard people into a park, alley, doorway or street and think it’s tolerable or good enough.

It made my day to see some of my neighbours come out and say hi!! They expressed their frustration not being in the park for a long time and one woman, with her dog, took a triangle/circle home to stitch. She was happy to see us in the park and thanked us for doing something positive. That was a good moment!

Over all I’d say it was a successful first day. When we debriefed there were a few take aways to think about:

• remember to tell people to bring a chair. Also if anyone has sewing kits and thread bring it on!!

• if you’re not comfortable staying you can always just come and pick up triangles and circles and bring them back the following week to install

• the conversation is always the best!! — ie. I had no idea that the police training program in some european countries, like norway take 4 years and in the first year the focus is on ethics…

• having good weather is always a plus.

• Wendy is amazing and will be setting up a website where all the photos and info can be seen.

• Amy is a wiz bang with materials and can that lady cut a straight line or what!! Those kits and cutting will make the work look fabulous

I think Shakespeare would have been happy with todays work and the nod to his Lady McBeth in the title of the project — if we don’t see the spot and talk about it openly how can we DO BETTER? Clearly the issues we face are deserving of attention; so let’s draw some of that attention to the issues through the prayer flags of abOUT Damn Spot.

See ya next Monday I hope!!