Audrey Hollis visits the Bread & Roses Program!

Briana's Sketchbook

During all of the excitement of our program, one person keeps documenting her process through her Sketchbook! Check her out!

A wonderful Trip around town!

After the holiday break, and Saint Louis' many snow days- the Bread & Roses crew were able to take an artistic, socially just tour to our funders and community collaborators.

1. We started at the Regional Arts Commission www.art-stl.com and viewed an awesome photography exhibition of two local artists. Many of the students were compelled by the work of Leo Callazo, and his reflections.
2. We zoomed to Jobs With Justice. We met a couple of awesome organizers, including Aaron Burnett. Thank you Charlie, for getting us some tasty pizza. Everyone loved the Mother Jones film that Joan put in, but no one loved it more than Joan.
3. We made a visit to St. Louis Urban League. Kim Love gave a great pressentation on the work and history of the Urban League, and the area scholarships they offer to outstanding students (We had two of our own apply for it... and we are crossing our fingers!)
4. Lastly, we visited Bruce Feldacker who has a beautiful collection of labor union artwork and collectibles.

All of the students were fired up when returning back to Riverview Gardens High. One student wrote, " I really didn't have a least favorite because they were all uniquely different and good."

We look forward to seeing how these experiences influence the young peoples' artmaking practices!

Your Mind in an Abyss by Chris.

Art work, Sketch books.

Pictures from the first few sessions.

Here are some pictures from our first few sessions.

WE DID IT !

We found a sponsor for our program! Jobs With Justice agreed to be our fiscal sponsor and we became a "Bread & Roses" project. That made it possible for us to pursue funding. We polished up the mock grant we presented at CAT and submitted it under the JWJ banner to the Regional Arts Commission. Just then Kresge Arts in St. Louis announced they were coming back for 2010. Only ten groups would be funded. It sounded like a long shot, but we submitted our letter of interest and we were one of the ten groups selected! Talk about excitement! RAC came through as well and we were sufficiently funded to go back to the Riverview Gardens School District to work out the details of our community arts program.

There had been some changes at the School District. Brian Jones,the Drama Coach we had been working with through our six months at CAT, along with all the teaching staff in the District, had been layed off when the State Board of Education took over the school district. He had reapplied and was waiting for confirmation that he had been re-hired. And there was a brand new District Superintendent. Dr. Rainey was good enough to meet with us in the middle of all the re-organization. He liked our program! Brian was re-hired and we were back on course!