The Savannah Project!

As part of the Savannah Stories/ Designing Relationships class that I just completed with SCAD I worked a lot with the kids at the YMCA on documenting "our Savannah."



A city is made up of invisible landscapes, as well as the street names that we know that cross into our lives despite our background or personal history and geography.



To create a functional and happy town, we must MUST be aware of these invisible landscapes and the parts that we play within them.


(Kamerion's Grandma taking in the show!)

This is the beginning of a long conversation, it started by drawing the place that we know in Savannah. Drawing and telling stories about our important places and what happens in each of them.... which people are we near in each place??




Vandell and Kamerion, both 4th graders at Gadsden and longterm Loop It Up kids, helped me install the piece for the Savannah Stories//Designing Relationships Show, which opened last week at the Creative Coast Office and Gallery -- 15 West York Street Savannah GA.

The installation of the piece prompted us to talk again about what Savannah looks like, what Savannah feels like, why each of us is here.



An exciting off-shoot of this project comes in the form of designing and creating NEW relationships, which in turn transform the landscape that we carry with us always.

A few weeks back, Loop It Up Savannah took a field trip to Jane Fishman's Garden. We (specifically Vandell and Kamerion) learned that she needs a dependable watering system for the garden. I've been working with Vandell and Kamerion to take a deep look at our resources and design a watering system.

Here the boys explain their design ideas to an excited Richard Shinholster



The watering system design project will have several positive outcomes. The first of which is of course that Jane will be able to water her garden. The second and perhaps most important od all is that through working towards coming up with a functional solution to this design problem, many people will become involved and resources will be shared. We will form new relationships and have real ideas about things that may otherwise never have crossed our minds.



We're working on getting a blog up for this project... stay tuned!