Polls
Loading ...
Kingfield Neighborhood Association Board Meeting, June 13, 7 PM, MLK Park
Dr. Martin Luther King Legacy Council, June 14, 6:30 PM, MLK Park
Crime Prevention and Safety Committee: May 15, 6:30 PM, Graffiti Clean-up Event! Meeting location 40th & 3w at the pedestrian bridge!
Youth & Schools Committee, TBD, MLK Park
Green Committee, no meeting scheduled.
Redevelopment Committee, May 23, 7 PM, MLK Park
Event Committee, TBD, MLK Park
Please consider donating to support your totally local non-profit and the work we do to address community issues and implement community solutions.
Aug
4
Kingfield’s 2010 Summer Public Art Project is a partnership with the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC), newly located at the intersection of 38th and Chicago. The art is being created through the CAFAC SPEAK project by students at the VOA Phoenix High School. These youth are creating metal artwork for Nicollet Square, 3700 Nicollet. This project is also supported by Metropolitan Regional Arts Commission, the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, and Hennepin County. Join us for a community celebration of this artwork and collaboration!
Artwork Unveiling and Community Celebration
Saturday August 7, 4-6 PM
3749 Chicago Avenue S, Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center
About the Artwork:
The youth at the Phoenix School spent two weeks working with spoken word artists, exploring the emotions and actions behind the concept “Home is not a place, Home is….” The poetry was passed onto another group of students who interpreted the poetry into images. Both the images and words are built into the finished artwork including the phrase above the front door inviting residents inside because “home is a place to recharge yourself.”
The lifecycle imagery of the phoenix comes from both the poetry, “home is where the bad feelings that lay beneath come to the light,” as well as from the name of the school. The phoenix is a mythical bird whose story weaves through many cultures. Besides being known as a phoenix, which comes from the Arabic culture, in China it is known as Feng-Huang, in Japan the Ho-oo, in Egypt the Benu, and by Native Americans as the Yel. The bird embodies both the male and female, the ying and the yang, and lives for up to 1000 years. It is a symbol of wisdom and its tears can heal all wounds and even restore life. When it is time for the phoenix to die it explodes into flames. An egg arises out of the ashes and the phoenix is reborn, carrying all its wisdom forward into its new life.
Like the phoenix, students at the Phoenix School are gathering wisdom and recreating their futures by pursuing their education. Like the residents living in Nicollet Square, many have experienced homelessness and are proud to help build a welcoming home for its residents to recharge themselves, and restore and renew their lives, much like the phoenix.
Comments
One Response to “Celebrating Community Through Public Art”
Leave a Reply
[...] Filed Under affordable housing, art, youth The Phoenix Rising The first step of installing two rising phoenixes into bike racks at Nicollet Square! Read more about this project’s origination here! [...]