“Culture Shock” journeys through many sacred places in the Bronx, Borikén (Puerto Rico), Cuba, Guatemala, and Tanzania, Afrika. It celebrates identity and aims to strengthen the unity of the international Hip Hop community.

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#NativeEyes #Mixtape and workshop materials arriving Fall 2013

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#CultureShock #ArtsEducation #HipHop

On Tuesday, 50 students and staff members worked together to install black and white portraits of ROADS Bronx High School students. “I was…I am…I will be” was the idea that drove the project. This statement encourages reflection and goal setting, connected by the significance of our present day choices. Today can separate us from our past, and propel us toward the futures we want for ourselves.

Our project is the 655th group action of the InsideOut Project, (www.insideout.net) a global art movement which encourages participants to make portraits and publically post them to create curiosity, a sense of community, and beauty.

The immediate feedback from neighbors was overwhelmingly positive. One woman said to me, “These are so inspiring hanging up here. You look at (the students) in the eyes and you feel like you can be someone too.” Another person said to me, “I don’t know who these young folks are, but they look like our neighborhood’s next graduates!” The installation from the “inside” took a lot of dedication, energy (it was 90 degrees and sunny!), physical strength, a willingness to get dirty, encouragement, music and laughter. The process and product for the team was meaningful and an opportunity to strengthen our bonds.

More photos here.

Destroyed by Sandy, artwork is back in Bronx park to comment on Sandy

It was a victim of its own subject matter.
Just days after last October’s opening reception of Columbia Fiero’s latest installation — a nature-themed work meant as a commentary on climate change — Superstorm Sandy tore it apart.
But that which doesn’t kill you makes your art stronger — Fiero’s piece, “Object of Land, Sea, Clouds: Hover on the Line,” is back in Brook Park, rebranded as “Hover on the Line: Climate Chaos.”
A massive willow fell and shattered the original work. This time, Fiero bought tougher materials to withstand strong winds.
“We want to make it more flexible and durable to the climate changes that are more intense then ever,” she said.

40 Secret Gardens, Parks And Green Spaces Hidden Across NYC
Friday, June 14, 2013, by Hana R. Alberts

Now that summer is really and truly upon us, we thought we’d explore some of the lesser-known green gems tucked away in far-flung corners of New York City. When everyone you know is spreading an old sheet out on a grassy knoll in Prospect Park or taking their cousin for a stroll along the High Line, a storehouse of under-the-radar spots becomes crucial. From unexpected oases in the atria of office buildings (Ford Foundation, we’re looking at you) to 17th-century farmhouses that still keep piglets in a pen and crops a-growin’ (oh hey, Queens County Farm Museum), there’s a destination for every stripe of flora- and fauna-lover in all five boroughs. Follow our map, and you’ll be trading in that concrete jungle for a real one (well, almost) in no time.

“This is a quirky green space run by a dedicated group of gardeners and avid horticulturalists from the area, who have banded together to form Friends of Brook Park. From a coop with 15 chickens to arts and culture events, the park is a true community gathering place.”

Thank you Community Board #1 for the opportunity to present and share at a Committee about our exciting community driven initiative the other evening.
Here it is for your enjoyment. Any feedback, do let us know!

Raingarden Presentation by No Farmers No Food

We got this photo from our friends at East Side House’s
High School for Excellence and Innovation.

Thank you!

Soil on wood makes a raised garden bed that can support your favorite garden plants all summer without irrigation.Organic Farming & Gardening ‎ While hard to spell, hugelkultur is a simple gardening technique that’s easy to understand and implement.

Our Friends of Brook Park coop is featured in the newly-published book Farming the City. Check out some of the spread below.
See more about the book here on Fedbook.

The blossoms were grand! Thanks to the many students and educators that helped us in April!

Bronxites vote for a greenhouse, laptops, security cameras to benefit Mott Haven in City Council District 8’s participatory budget
Voters in two counties choose each other’s projects, from solar greenhouse to kid’s laptops

From: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, BY KERRY WILLS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2013

Security cameras and a greenhouse in public housing and laptops for public schools were among projects Bronxites voted to fund in an innovative city budgeting process.
City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito and seven other council members let residents choose how to spend at least $1 million in discretionary funds, called participatory budgeting.
“People are expressing their voice and what priorities are for their communities,” Mark-Viverito said. “That’s definitely something that, to me, means a lot.”
Mark-Viverito represents District 8, which includes East Harlem, the upper West Side, and Mott Haven.
The process got constituents in the two boroughs interested in each other’s concerns, Mark-Viverito said.
Ray Figueroa Jr. of Friends of Brook Park said, “It was really gratifying to see the response…folks from the west side of Manhattan and El Barrio would say, ‘Hey, I like your project. I voted for it.’”
His group won $300,000 to build a solar greenhouse in the Millbrook Houses.
Last week Bronxites were among 1,770 District 8 constituents who chose up to five projects from among 21 possibilities.
First place went to a plan to use $500,000 for installation of security cameras at the Millbrook Houses and three Manhattan complexes.
Second place was $450,000 for new laptops for P.S. 369 Young Leaders School on E. 140th St. and eight Manhattan schools.
A mobile cooking classroom, proposed by Sisterhood Mobilized for AIDS/HIV Research and Treatment (SMART) won voter approval for $180,000 .