Just got back from the Community Built Association Conference in New Orleans, LA on Sunday night and am feeling SO inspired. About 13 years ago I attended my first CBA conference and this time I stepped up to volunteer for the board and was elected by the membership. CBA is just about to receive their not-for-profit status from the IRS and it feels like a pivotal time in our history. There were several hands-on activities that conference attendees could participate in. Most of them were at The Lower 9th Ward Village, a community center that was founded after huricane Katrina. There was a mosaic project (led by Laurel True), a mural project (led by Dave Lowenstein!) and a marimba making workshop (led by Bond Anderson). Mack McLendon, the founder of the Lower 9th Ward Village, wanted us to paint a mural with the theme "Where's your neighbor?" We made a map depicting all the places that displaced residents of New Orleans had gone after Katrina. (That's me working on it above.) Using multi-colored telephone wires connecting back to New Orleans we indicated people who had left and weren't returning, people who had left and wanted to return but hadn't been able to, people that had returned but couldn't move back into their homes, and people who are back in their homes.
McLendon emphasized that the message is larger than the community of New Orleans. He talked about how any natural disaster can separate people from their families and their communities. He talked about how loosing everything in the storm had made him realize what is really important in life. "It's about people."I couldn't agree more. And that is why I think working with communities is so important.
Just an update on the community made mosaic in Ithaca (sponsored in part by the Ithaca Public Education Initiative and the Fine Arts Booster Group): It is being installed the last week in May by the metal frame fabricators and the City of Ithaca, and will be ready by Ithaca Festival! YEA!!