CONFLUENCE PROJECT and GRACE ACADEMY

Project manager(s) names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses:

Käthe Swaback, Academy Director, 503-331-8155 ext. 124, kathe@grace-institute.org.

Artworks/Project description summary:

Through the arts, we will begin to explore the complexity of American history and the multiple narratives that have shaped the diversity of American culture. After studying about the lesser known stories and heroes of the Corps of Discovery, we will focus our attention on the neighborhood of Grace Academy, Sullivan’s Gulch. Our goal is to complete our own “Corps of Discovery” by exploring the history of our community: discovering how the environment has changed in the last 200 years and researching the “untold stories” of our community.

We propose to integrate history, interviews and art by creating:

· An 8ft.x24ft.mural that will depict the changes of the environment in the last 200 years and highlight the unsung heroes/heroines and untold stories of the Lewis and Clark expedition and those of Sullivan’s Gulch. (Completed on panels at Grace Academy that will be framed to the Irvington Corner Business back wall, but can be removed if needed).

· Working with City Repair and the Village Building Convergence Project, Grace Academy will create a Cob Bench using sustainable products from the environment

· We also will create a book and/or video to honor the stories and the process of this project.

Community partnership(s), either confirmed or planned:

· Oregon Historical Society has many resources that will help enrich our understanding of both Lewis and Clark and the history of Sullivan’s Gulch.

· We are looking to conduct interviews with PSU historians and authors who have researched and written about the lesser known stories and heroes of the Lewis and Clark journey (e.g. Ron Craig’s history of York)

· We will rely upon Sullivan’s Gulch long-time residents to provide an oral and factual history of the area.

· We will be working with the Owner of the land on NE 17^th and NE Weidler, the Owner and Manager of the Irvington Corner Table restaurant, the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Coalition, and the City Repair and the Village Building Convergence Project. We will continue conversations to formulate the most effective plans for involving the community and other organizations.

Number of Teachers, students involved:

A total of six teachers will work with the youth with additional guest speakers. Over 30 Grace Academy middle school students will join with approximately 10 additional youth from the Sullivan’s Gulch community.

Number of people (both internal to the school and public) who will benefit from the project:

Over 30 Academy students from eight different middle-schools, 1000’s of Sullivan’s Gulch residents, and the Portland public will benefit from seeing the mural, book, and or video. (Approximately 5000)

Vision for how the project leaves a legacy for the community and embodies the Confluence Project mission of preservation of our natural and cultural resources:

As a visual depiction of both the history of select untold stories of Lewis and Clark’s journey, as well as those of Sullivan’s Gulch, the mural will serve as a permanent historical and artistic educational tool through which community members of every background may learn more about their familiar and esoteric collective past. The mural will add vital artistic richness to our community that will be experienced by thousands of people each day. Further, the mural will serve as a means through which the already strong ties between the local community and Grace Academy can be strengthened. As a collective project, it will serve as a reminder of what can be created when diverse members of a community come together to create, celebrate, honor and commemorate a common vision. Perhaps most importantly, the project will provide a lasting legacy in the minds and hearts of the youth that will take a central role in helping to create it. As they grow into adulthood, the mural will serve as a lasting reminder of their own accomplishments, of the power of artistic creation and historical/environmental remembrance and of the power of a diverse yet unified community.

Project Background:

Bounded by Northeast 15th and 33rd avenues, Broadway and Interstate 84, Grace Academy on NE 17^th and NE Halsey rests in the NE center of Sullivan’s Gulch. Without a public neighborhood school, Grace Academy serves a role for creative education for the community. Staffed by professional artists, art therapists, and educators, Grace Academy offers in-depth arts instruction to over 30 underserved, culturally diverse middle school students each year. This program is grounded in the arts, self-discovery and in community. Grace Academy follows the Portland Public School Calendar and utilizes the National Standards as well as the State Benchmarks in the Arts. With over 70% of our students qualifying for scholarships, Grace Academy has for the past three years empowered over 75 underserved youths to integrate their own unique ideas and perceptions through the arts and prove to their own success.

Grace Academy Brief Timeline and Evaluation Plan

Formative (process) evaluation

Each Month: Project Manager will email progress to involved community members. A contact person from the Sullivan Gulch Board will be assigned to this project. They will help to submit information to the Sullivan Gulch Board, to the website, to the Newsletter. Project Manager will also be in contact with the chair of the Sullivan’s Gulch Communications Committee, Dave Brook as well as will give monthly reports to the Board of Grace Institute. Finances will be perused each month and funds accounted for.

July

· Attend intensive training session for Confluence Project

August:

· Attend Sullivan’s Gulch Board Meeting and present plan to Board Members.

September:

· Begin Grace Academy and introduce project and artist Maya Lin.

· Attend the Gulch-O-Rama in Sullivan’s Gulch (500 people attended in 2004). Have a booth set up with flyers and a display of the 9-month project with opportunities for community members to be involved. Hand out the Confluence Project Surveys and collect them.

· Begin to teach and explore about the Lewis and Clark story with a special interest in the “untold stories/unsung heroes.”

· Form list of Community Members to interview and begin interviews.

October:

· Academy students divide up into three groups. Those that want to interview and write, those that work on background history and understanding of the environment, and those that want to design. May rotate groups mid month. Groups report and educate Academy each week.

November:

· Groups continue to work in Academy

· At the end of the month, complete design for mural. Meet with Sullivan Gulch Board and Business Owner and Managers and Land Owner.

December:

· Present design to Community

On November 24, 1805, when the expedition reached the place where the Columbia River emptied into the Pacific Ocean, the captains held a vote among all the members to decide where to settle for the winter. Sacagawea’s vote, as well as the vote of the Clark’s manservant York, were counted equally with those of the captains and the men. As a result of the election, the Corps stayed at a site near present-day Astoria, Oregon, in Fort Clatsop, which they constructed and inhabited during the winter of 1805-1806. We will honor this bicentennial event of Unity and Dignity by having our semester’s exhibit on December 8^th, 2005 where we will invite the entire community to see the progress of our project and give their response. We will provide audience response cards for feedback.

· Complete mid-year evals for Grace Academy Students.

· At end of the month, send out mid-project evals to all community members/businesses directly involved in project.

· Formal Review of Budget and Actuals

January:

· Begin study on environmental design and sustainability.

· Sketch out design on panels

· Begin to paint on panels

February:

· Continue history, environmental, and social studies learning

· Continue painting on panels

March:

· Continue history, environmental, and social studies learning

· Finish painting. Begin design of Cob Bench

· Complete rough draft of book/video

· Careful review of budget

April:

· Construct panels of mural and work on it as a “whole.”

· Construct Cob Bench

· Finish final draft of book/video

May:

· Produce video/print book

· Finish all projects and plan for celebration

· End of May CELEBRATION for entire Community. Audience Response Cards available to community. Showcasing mural, bench and book/video

· Final evaluations with Academy students

· Final evaluations with Community partners.

KEY TEACHERS: Grace Academy Artists and Writers (please see attached resumes)

· Käthe Swaback, MA, ATR (503-331-8155 ext. 124)

Director of Grace Academy and Manager of Project. She will teach painting, provide oversight and will steer project with collaboration of community members, businesses, and organizations.

· Jenny Belote Wells, BA Special Education (503-331-8155 ext. 123)

Education Director and glass artist. She will lead the historical and cultural aspects as well as the project design of a Cob Bench.

· Renee Davis, BA in Drama (503-331-8155 ext. 126)

Outreach Coordinator. Renee will use theater games, writing and discussion to help youth explore, conduct interviews, integrate, and present what they discover. She will guide students in the production of a book that will serve as a record of this project.

Guest Artists:

· Michael Maguire: muralist, artist and sign painter. He will guide us through the process of designing and creating the mural.

· Christine Paul: graphic designer, painter, and videographer. She will document this new “Corps of Discovery” in Video that will be presented to the public in May, 2006.