ArtSeed Annual Newsletter,  2004

 

Dear Family, Friends, Artists, Students, Patrons, Mentors, Advisors and Volunteers in the Arts,

 

Happy Chinese New Years and warmest wishes from all of us at ArtSeed!  “Journey,” and the discoveries and adventures that come along with this connecting theme, infused many 2004 projects.

 

-At the Spring Open Studio we celebrated the beginning of our webmasters’, Arwen and Heather Vaughan’s, 6-month, 2,200-mile trek along the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. Not only did the hike serve as a fundraiser for ArtSeed it awakened the imagination and broadened the horizons of our students at Burnett Child Development Center (CDC) in the Bayview Hunter’s Point district of San Francisco. The hikers exchanged photos, drawings and letters with the students through their web journals and by post including handmade storyboards collected from fellow trekkers along the trail and studio visitors here.

 

-The Fall Open Studio served as a showcase for ArtSeed private students, Manual Berry, William Scott, Ganesha Balunsat and Xiani Wang, (Ganesha & Xiani were accepted to School of the Arts this year.) Also on display were individual works by selected artist volunteers and classroom students (some of whom sold work!). Special attractions included home made apple cider and “Plinko”, an interactive sound sculpture by brand new ArtSeed Board member, Justin Hoover. We happily noted a significant increase in attendance of Hunters Point residents as we celebrated our various participants’ work and applauded Arwen and Heather for completing their heroic hike on August 19.

 

-Burnett CDC, in what the San Francisco Chronicle called “a war zone,” has been our home base from which we are pursuing exchanges and connections with other communities in the Bay Area and beyond.  We are happy to announce that the original class (made possible by Robert and Betty Klausner Philanthropic Fund) has grown to four classes and will continue through Summer 2005 thanks to a generous grant from the San Francisco Education Fund. ArtSeed’s Burnett-related Apprenticeship Program received vital seed money from the Shipyard Trust for the Arts and Kelly Wert of The Rothwell Group. A matching employee gift from the Levi-Strauss Foundation, Alison McKleroy’s “Young Art Lives” art auction and your individual gifts made this past year’s programs possible. We are very grateful for this support!

 

-ArtSeed’s 2004 Summer Intensive brought Bayview Hunters Point youth together one-on-one with a wide range of artists. Participants took field trips to artist studios, galleries and museums and planned their own art exhibition at the San Francisco Art Institute’s (SFAI) Swell Gallery. Portfolios with drawings, paintings and prints of still-lives, portraits, landscapes, abstracts and conceptual pieces were produced in this gallery and at the Graphic Arts Workshop printmaking studio. We are very grateful to have had access to such auspicious facilities. New potential mentorships and partnerships were forged by this extraordinary and fun learning experience. As a volunteer-based, artist-run organization with an annual budget of less than $19,000 (including in-kind donations) we move forward into 2005 confidently with the three things that have taken us this far: hard work, good people, and passion!

 

-2005 comes into focus with great news. We are planning a program with volunteers from Philadelphia’s Drexel University Society of Women Engineers who will lead a San Francisco Arts & Engineering Intensive for ArtSeed in March. Come join the fun during your spring break!

 

-Mayor Gavin Newsom has agreed to be the Honorary Chairman of a fundraising event for ArtSeed in the month of June. We are excited to have this first-time event and look forward to reaching out and working with all of you in 2005 to raise funds for our Apprenticeship Program. Stay tuned for details and updates as they develop.

 

-Going public by February 1st, Arwen Vaughan’s brand new, cutting-edge version of the ArtSeed web site you all loved (www.artseed.org) has more interactive and dynamic content that we can now administer ourselves (and teach students this skill)! New under “Community” there are three interactive features: 1) live chat rooms 2) web journals for students, apprenticeship matches, and team projects and 3) interactive discussion modules for General Conversation, ArtSeed Topics and About This Web Site. You do not need to register to use the interactive features. In the future, however, as a registered visitor you may gain privileges which include greater access to the web site for your own publicity and educational purposes besides having a forum for sharing your ideas and being one of the first to find out about upcoming opportunities and events. This new technology makes it easier to add the newest features as they become available. Thank you Arwen!

 

And of course we must acknowledge the people who made 2004 happen. Mary Midgett and the other teachers and students at Burnett CDC have taken profound leaps toward a collaborative project with Alvarado Elementary School. Volunteers from Hamlin School in Pacific Heights prepared panels for this new body of work. Gabriela Falcao Vieira and Peter Carson refurbished our Bylaws. Lisa Hoffman and Lynn Lampky helped with grant writing and development. Board members and advisors like Marissa Kunz, Anna-Lisa Froman, Justin Hoover, Lydia Titcomb and Diane Scarritt have given their guidance, countless hours and substantial funds. They and volunteers like Mike Dovbish, Claire Frances, Beth Grinberg, Emily Hughes, Mehrzad Khajenoori, Devan Miller, Richard Mitchell and Gabrielle Thormann have made our mission, (to build long-term mentorships between artists and under-privileged youth through innovative arts projects), feel inspired. For their efforts and everyone else’s who made gifts of time, money, supplies and encouragement we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. May you and yours have the best year ever!

 

Sincerely,

 

Josefa Vaughan
Executive Director, ArtSeed

 

P.S. Fridays, 3-6pm, ArtSeed is going to try having drop-in office hours at 937 Capp Street (between 24th & 25th Streets) and live chat room time on our website, www.artseed.org. So log in or come on by!

 

Make sure to take a look at the Community News for February 2005…

 

http://www.artseed.org/Default.aspx?tabid=270

 

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Josefa Vaughan, Director
ArtSeed
P.O. Box 401177
San Francisco CA 94140-1177
415 641 5909
415 641 4442 fax/alternate phone
www.josefa.com
www.artseed.org
info@artseed.org

 

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