ART... the fence keeps giving

In light of some exciting news about Project 851, which I’ll share in a minute, it was with a skip that I headed to the fence today to hang “piece flags” for a project of another sort. The Art Project started back in August, 2 months after the homeless campers moved into the park. It started out as a dialogue and the dialogue has continued and evolved over the months. A group of us gathered to stitch on “piece flags” and talk about issues of homelessness. CAWM is the collective of stitching participants that gave energy and work to the fence installation. abOut Damn Spot was a phase of the Art Project that came out the gate with attending the Park and sharing.

and then the fence spoke back and the dialogue was established.

CAWM was not discouraged but rather regrouped and came together to do more “piece” making.

Once the fence had enough “piece” flags to represent a good number of the tents, like 200 or so, we decided to take the project to another level. That was a layer of meaning in Connecting Threads through meanings or slogans of thought about homelessness.

The fence continued the dialogue as visits to the fence revealed missing flags — like someone was shopping and taking the ones he or she wanted leaving the fence with only the threads/ skeletons behind. It’s been interesting to note what flags were being removed; french knot designs, dream catcher patterns, letters F,L,O,A,T,B,H… Walk, Talk, Gimme, Shelter, Never x 3, life, wait, won’t, calm, kind… Can’t help but wonder where the “pieces” have gone and what’s been done with them hmmmmm?

The gobbling of one “piece” at a time or a random few continues. There was also another major exhale of the fence that resulted in all the “pieces” pulled off. This time one kind of had to wonder about the mental health of the fence and also the creepy discard that made it not desirable to save any. It did kind of reflect what was happening in the park as that’s when we were told that actually 108 tons of garbage had been removed from the park site since October. hmmmmm? So coming into 10 months of Park occupation Connecting Threads evolved yet again.

The present layer is about gratitude and community so the inhale on the fence, the continuation of putting the “pieces” back up, names the friends, CAWM members, neighbours and contributors trying to make a difference.

It is an honour to be living in a community with such amazing people.

Oh I almost forgot to share the exciting news of today! Project 851, referred to as UNION by Marianne (architect) just won the award for Heritage BC in the category of conversation!! As I reflect on skipping to the fence I wish our city, bc housing, the province… gets an award for humanizing homelessness and coming up with a human solution to people living in parks, streets and alleys. (We might have to wait a bit for this one).

PEOPLE... to women and men who celebrate them

Happy International Women/s day!! Today is that day so hopefully you’ve all celebrated with a great woman that you know. Perhaps she’s kind, generous, strong, loving, beautiful and independent. Whatever quality it is in that human being take a moment to say you’re awesome.

Often the world races forward and we don’t take the time to say thank you, and/or point out the positive in that other person. I started trying to focus on this action years ago but life only too many times can take us in other directions. Slowing down is key to putting important things into the forefront of our minds until they become a part of who you are — admittedly I’m working on this still.

Today luck, fortune and a moment came into play and the stars aligned to recognize a few of the great woman who have helped with the Park art project in “Piece flags”.

This is just the beginning and the names that have been completed are Wendy, Connie, Caroline, Suelina, Katie, Maux, Evelyn, and Carlyn so far. It’s been an honour to stitch by stitch complete these women’s names.

I am so grateful for each ones generosity of spirit to be involved with the abOUT damn spot and Connecting Threads art project on the fence at Strathcona Park. Here are a few words to represent them: Kind, Strong, Determined, Enthusiastic, Supportive, Powerful and Inspiring.

Sending the love!!

COMMUNITY...the delayed week

Monday came and gone so now it’s 2 weeks of catch up. Last week last year we were on a trip to Barbados; last weeks vacation from posting had me reflecting about that year. Who knew what lied ahead that Feb. 2020? It’s a great exercise to pick a time pre-covid that is strong for you and then check in with yourself on thoughts, feelings and physical health. The thing that stood out for me was how loooooooong 2020 seemed. Was it because of no travel? uncertainty everywhere on every level? the going back to simpler times with non-simpler technology? All things to reflect on.

The bonus to “2020 lockdown change the world and never going back “ phase of evolution on the planet is the shift in interconnectedness. I’ve found using technology more and in different ways has become pretty much the norm in let’s say 90% of the population? There may be a few geographical and cohort group exceptions but over all people are now connecting on the computer more and more. Zoom bingo, zoom yoga classes, zoom weekly dinners…. Some friends recently told me about their book club they’re on that came out of the zoom yoga class they’re taking. Hmmmmm, who would have thought of that a year ago.

This year, last week, I shared my last years trip to Barbados with my friend who went with me. We did it via, text, phone, and zoom from the base of my old fashioned diary as a reference point along with icloud photos of yummy food and adventures. Since we live in different cities it seemed so natural to plant those few minutes a day to relive the good moments. Mind you with all the shifts it really doesn’t matter where you are to do that. Communicating with my friends here, there or anywhere has become so easy.

In fact, my friend now living in Cambodia was helping give his input on his art work as we installed it here last week. Here are a few shots of the work going up.

blah blah…in other words a lot can happen in a week!

PROGRESS... after the Scatter

What can you say? We’re baaaaaaaaack….

Apparently things are moving along between Parks Board, City, Province, BC Housing and the Feds; are there enough players in this game? Here’s a close up of the Parks Board sign and apparently they plan to make the sign a reality by Wednesday??????

Is it just me, or am I the only one who thinks these timelines are completely ridiculous?

(really? 9 months in and this is what we’ve got? Hmmmmmm)