New Use For Drywall

Bernie Mitchell with one of his sculptures at a trade show.

DRYWALL is composed of gypsum plaster. In most cases, it becomes pressed between two sheets of thick paper to make a panel. It is used in construction to make interior walls and ceilings. If you have a house or apartment, that is the substance from which your walls are made. It's not really a substance used for intricate creative work.

Meet Bernie Mitchell, a drywall contractor from Ennismore, Ontario. He has spent the past 20 years refining drywall compounds to the point that he can make drywall reliefs, or sculptures on the walls in order to give homeowners something really special.



First, he tapes over the wall area he uses for the sculpture and applies several coats of primer. Then he takes drywall compound and thins it with water. Then he adds dry setting compound to the point that this new mixture can stick on the walls, but won't sag. Then he uses various knives and tools to make the 3D sculpture in the wall. He can add additional texture to the creation with dry brushes, but he's not averse to improvising, either. Something as simple as a plastic bag can add the detail needed for a creation.

The sculptures aren't painted, but are left the same color as the drywall. The end result gives the impression of the scene popping out of the drywall. Mr. Mitchell explains his end result, "The key is to work on a wall where the light comes in at an angle. When you're done, you have something that's always responding to the light moving across it. I never get tired watching it change throughout the day." So, each unique piece is more about the play of light across the details and it becomes a play of shadows and light. And a delight for anyone privileged to engage Bernie's services!

How angled lighting plays over the 3D surface.

Thanks to this article from Little Things: http://drywall.littlethings.com/dry-wall-art-sculpture/?utm_source=TS&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=misc; and this article from The Journal Of Light Construction: http://www.jlconline.com/drywall/mud-michelangelo_o.aspx.

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Farm Stand On A Mission

Tree Rub at the Free Farm Stand.

TREE RUB, who lives in San Francisco, has been involved with community food programs and gardening for more than 20 years. He founded the FREE FARM STAND to distribute fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables to those who earn low incomes or who survive on tight budgets. Tree explains, "Free Farm Stand was born with the idea of sharing the wealth of urban farms and gardens. I thought let's grow food, get our neighbors growing food, and share the surplus with those in need." The Stand also provides education to participants regarding the connection between good nutrition and health, as well as how to plant and maintain gardens. The group is entirely run by volunteers.



Basically, the site on which the Stand is located serves as a gathering place and clearing house, besides collecting and distributing excess food from community gardens, neighborhood gardens, food markets, and local privately owned fruit trees. Tree also grows his own foodstuffs, as much as he can, with the output also distributed by Free Farm Stand.

A combination of local nonprofits come together at the gathering place, which is located on a 1/3 acre lot owned by ST. PAULUS LUTHERAN CHURCH. That is also where Tree Rub maintains his farm, where he grows and gives away more than 1,000 pounds of food in a six-month period. PRODUCE TO THE PEOPLE, another nonprofit, harvests organic fruit from private and public property and shares it with Free Fruit Stand.

Free seedlings available from Free Farm Stand.

In addition, the group has provided workshops on gardening and urban farming, and invited community, religious and school groups to this friendly gathering place. As Tree states, "We take steps towards rebuilding communities by bringing people back into the commons for the Free Food Stand, creating space for communities to talk, learn, and work together at the Free Farm and other gardens." By the way, it is Tree's labor at some of the local farms, that leads to hundreds of pounds of food being added to the provisions offered at Free Food Stand. Tree lives and works his own dream, with the help of volunteers, of raising and distributing nature's bounty to those in need.

Some produce ready for transport back to Free Farm Stand.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/tree-free-farm-stand/; and the above links.

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An Extraordinary Wish

Emma (left) with her friend, Levi.

When Levi Mayhew was five years old, he could do most of the things other five year old boys could do - run and jump and participate in sports. But a year later, that little boy has a different reality - he can no longer sit on his own, talk, and he is losing his sight. His health is deteriorating as a result of a rare genetic disorder on the ZELLWEGER SPECTRUM. At most, he may only have two years of life left.

However, Levi wasn't alone at his school in Martinsville, Indiana. Ten-year-old Emma Broyer became his companion, greeting him with enthusiasm, bringing him to his classroom, making cheerful drawings and paintings for him, and encouraging her classmates to bring him small gifts and cards. She has been a bright light in Levi's days. As mom Rebecca Drake says, "Emma was one of the few people who could bring him genuine joy.... They had attended the same school at the time of Levi's diagnosis. Since finding out about his condition, Emma has written Levi letters of encouragement and has asked her friends to do the same."



So, when MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION got in touch with Levi, he had an unusual wish. He wanted his friend Emma to have his wish - to go to Disney World. The big reveal took place at a surprise party, held at a local restaurant. Emma had been out shopping with her grandparents and believed she would be meeting her parents for dinner. Instead, her friends and family were all gathered together and when she spotted Levi, she went over to greet him, which calmed down his anticipatory excitement. Levi had a gift for her and she found a Disney World t-shirt inside, complete with the wish he wanted her to have.

If wishes could come true, Emma would have wanted her friend Levi to have been on this trip with her, but he was too weak to travel with her. So, she decided to make a cardboard Levi to take with her to Florida, where she had never been before.

It was sort of like the story book character "Flat Stanley"; this was Flat Levi, a cardboard boy with Levi's face on it. And Flat Levi went everywhere with her - into the ocean, on all the rides she could get onto, and even into the cockpit of the plane on which she flew. Many pictures were taken and placed in a scrapbook to be shared with Levi's family. Of such things, a special friendship is made!

Emma on the plane with her homemade Flat Levi.

Thanks to this article from Kindness Blog: http://kindnessblog.com/2015/05/06/a-terminally-ill-6-year-old-boy-decides-to-do-something-very-special-with-his-make-a-wish-gift/; and this article from WTHR: http://www.wthr.com/story/27598563/family-of-terminally-ill-indiana-boy-donates-wish-to-best-friend.

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Theater To Consciousness

Some of the girls participating in the program in Uttar-Pradesh.

It started out for Melanie Closs when she created her own solo performance for The Other Side in San Francisco, to tell a story of cultural consciousness and being on the outside. After engaging in another performance in NYC, she departed for nine months on a world journey, ending up in India. She ended up teaching and directing theater at PARDADA-PARDADI EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY in Uttar Pradesh.

Meeting teenage girls in this area of India was eye-opening. Eighty-five percent of the girls from this part of India do not receive any education and usually end up in arranged marriages by the age of 15. That was the venue into which Melanie brought theater education. It wound up making a big difference in these young women's lives, giving them confidence, the ability to share experiences, and realize they could be leaders.



What if the theater process and experience could be shared across national boundaries, between the women of two different cultures? That led to the establishment of THE OTHER SIDE NYC. The outreach on this side of the ocean involves 13- to 16-year-old girls in Brooklyn. Theater for this group allows them to become introspective about their own experiences and be able to communicate with the young women in Uttar-Pradesh.

Why add the international element? Melanie says, "I added the cross-cultural component, so that girls from two sides of the globe could learn about each other, tell stories of their struggle, and come together as a collective of support for one another and for girls around the world." It may also lend a sense of commonality among women across cultures, that women face challenges related to their gender, frequently relegating them to second-class citizens and vulnerable to exploitation. But it happens in different ways, since the girls in Brooklyn have had access to an education that the girls in Uttar-Pradesh did not.

The Other Side NYC works with a small group of staff from different backgrounds, coming from the fields of education, theater, women's studies, and other expressive arts. It allows the staff to wear many hats, while they create meaningful experiences for the girls at such a geographic distance from each other.

Some of the NYC girls getting stage time.

According to the website, the group is holding two summer camp sessions for the girls from Brooklyn. There are also school workshops in various schools in the NYC area and also in Uttar-Pradesh, and now in a rural area of Chile. The program is still growing and that's a good thing for the marginilized girls for whom the group gives a voice.

One of the signs about the group posted in the NYC area.

Thanks to this article from the Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/melanie-closs-side-educational-theatre/; and the above links.

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Special Photo Series

One of the children whose photo is part of the Superhero Project.

A woman, who lives in Bellingham, Washington, has taken on a unique project that utilizes her talents. Renee Bergeron is photographer who specializes in newborn and birth photography. She is also raising a large family (with husband), consisting of 14 children (5 adopted), 10 of whom still reside at home.

Renee's youngest child, Apollo, was born with a double aortic arch (the main artery from the heart to the rest of the body), requiring major heart surgery. Even that wasn't easy for the family, since it was found that he also had a compressed esophagus, from the double arches taking up so much space in his chest. That meant that the normal way most people eat was not available for this young boy, since the passage was too narrow to allow most food to move to his stomach. A feeding tube, placed directly into the stomach was critical to allow her child to get needed nutrition.



When one child has special needs, life changes for a family. There is necessary focus on the care needed for a child who is different and needs more from the parents. It is also more expensive, since multiple surgeries and special education, among additional needs, can add to the cost of caring for the child.

So, when Renee was photographing her son, Apollo, dressed as a super hero, she noticed the effect on his spirit. There was a change, a confidence evident. She wanted to be able to share some of that experience with other families, who had special needs children. Thus, THE SUPERHERO PROJECT was born.

It was part of Renee's business, but it wasn't. It was a service offered by her photography business, but she charged no money for it. She was particularly interested in that change that happened with her son, Apollo, that resiliency and strength that shines through.

How does the photo shoot help the parents? According to Renee, "[T]he response from the parents has been overwhelmingly positive. They have told me I have been able to capture their child like never before on camera and that they felt like they saw their children's inner strength shine through in the photos."

 So, why provide this session at no cost to the families? As Renee says, "I decided to offer these sessions free of charge because I know from experience having special needs kids is expensive....I knew it would not be in the budget for many of these families to splurge on custom photography. And aside from that, many of these kids (like the ones with autism) can be difficult to photograph, so some of these parents have had unpleasant experiences in the past with professional photography."

Fairies can be superheroes, too.

Sometimes, it takes someone who has been there, who has walked in similar shoes, to understand situations that other families also undergo, to provide a service that will brighten their lives.

Apollo (left) and his older brother.

Thanks to this article from HLN TV: http://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2015/05/04/superhero-project-special-needs-kids-gallery; and this blog article from Renee Bergeron about her son: http://bakersdozenandapolloxiv.com/apollos-story-double-aortic-arch/.

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Meeting The Needs Of Those Incarcerated

One of RedBird's gatherings.

There is a small movement in Columbus, Ohio, whose focus is on inmates. If the group has an ultimate goal, it is for there to be no more prisons. But for now, this group, REDBIRD PRISON ABOLITION, seeks to meet the needs of inmates caught in the prison system of today, through corresponding with them.

RedBird is an all-volunteer movement, with several different ongoing projects. They have workshops every other month, in which they focus on some aspect of prison reality, including grand juries, FOIA requests, legal representation, and policing issues. There is an event planned that will commemorate the Lucasville prison uprising next spring. There have been art exhibitions, with inmates being able to submit their art work for public exhibition. A pen pal project helps prisoners keep connected with the world outside prison. An important project is the group's petition opposing the use of a private company which overcharges prisoners to maintain commissary accounts, a virtual lifeline to provide necessities to prisoners and which the poorest inmates cannot afford.



Then there is the postcard project, linked with Redbird's Books To Prisoners project. Post cards are a quick link with prisoners, in which they can jot down information about the conditions within the prisons that need to be addressed. The link to books allows inmates to request educational and reading materials, which the group then tries to obtain and send to the inmates. This aspect of the program has grown to the point that the group handles more than 100 requests each month from around the state of Ohio, especially those in prisons with no libraries or access to books.

Picture for a minute what it would be like being incarcerated, with very little contact with the world outside prison, no programming to occupy your time, and you have no books or magazines to pass the time, either. It's boring; it's mind-numbing; it stifles growth; and it surely does nothing to help you return to the world outside prison.

RedBird does a vital service for inmates, keeping prison issues alive, making sure politicians and the average citizen knows what the conditions are. Even more important, it keeps inmates in touch with their community and gives them the knowledge that someone out there does care.

An inmate letter thanking the group for a dictionary needed for GED classes.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/redbird-books-prisoners/; and the above link.

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A Walk Home Leads To Friendship

Bob Malloy (left) being escorted home by Christian Trouesdale.

It started as a normal work day for 18-year-old Christian Trouesdale, who works part-time as a store assistant for Aldi in the village of Horwich, UK. Along came customer Bob Malloy, around 95 years old, making a few purchases that he needed. However, since the day was rather windy, Mr. Malloy became concerned about how he'd manage the walk home with his bag of groceries.

That's when Christian stepped in, "I asked my manager if it was ok to walk him home and he said that was the right thing to do, so I did. Then when the gentleman came in a week later, he asked for me and asked if I would do it again and I was very happy to....We had a good chat about everything from the General Election to the history of Horwich - he knew lots about everything."



Samantha-Jayne Brady, who works at Jons Fish Bar across the road, noticed the pair making their way down the sidewalk together. One of her customers thought the young man had made such a wonderful gesture to accommodate the older gentleman that she asked if she could take their picture together, as they were walking hand in hand together. The picture was posted on facebook and became viral, as people all around the world saw this picture of both men.

Besides working at his part-time job, Christian is a student at Rivington and Black Rod College. He's also somewhat quiet and shy, and he remains puzzled by his new-found fame. He just thinks of his act as something he would just do at any time, as a matter of course. He reports, "The reaction has been completely crazy, my facebook is just overflowing with messages, I can't even start to read them all....One woman posted on my wall from America saying that she wished there were more people in her country like me, it has been really amazing."

And his fame has even given Christian a sort of celebrity in his home town, too. Chris said, "I went back into Aldi this afternoon and a lady came up and hugged me and said she loved what I had done." But that's not all. Christian has been spotted making visits with Mr. Malloy since they first met. From what can be gathered, they have developed a true friendship and are keeping in touch.

Christian and Bob visiting together.

Thanks to this article from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/teen-grocery-worker-walks-man-home_n_7161610.html?1430317656&utm_hp_ref=good-news; and this article from The Bolton News: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/12914084.Teenage_shop_worker_who_walked_elderly_man_home_from_Aldi_becomes_viral_sensation/.

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