Workshopping on the mall

This week we had our first mall workshop. I was really nervous going into it. I was worried if people would enjoy it and if we would be organized enough. We were very lucky to have Jessie's mom help us out bringing most of the supplies from BICAS and some extra tables. Setting up went well even though we definitely need help learning how to set up the BICAS tent. I thought the first couple hours of the workshop were great. It was the first time that our class got to sit around and talk to each other on a different level. I was also really excited to have Marissa sit and create art with us. I think that changes the dynamic of a teacher and allows us to see her in a more personal way. I was amazed that Casey (Kacie?) came for the whole time. I think it demonstrated her support to us. Overall I was a little sad that more people didn't come and make bike wallets but I was happy with the curiosity about them. I think a lot of people were curious and interested in making them, they just didn't have time. I had two friends come and start to make wallets. One of them doesn't normally see him self as creative and I was happy to see him getting into it. The other one had never sewn before and is very proud of how his wallet is coming along. I think we need to raise more awareness for our events going on so more people have the chance to make art. I also think it might be a good idea to make a handout of the list of workshops that we are doing at BICAS. A lot of people had questions about BICAS and were wondering if they could come make art at a latter time. I was overall very happy with the organization of our group all thought it was a lot of work.

workshops, workshops, workshops

The art action group kicked off it’s first workshop of the semester at BICAS last Friday. There was an abundance of supplies and even a well organized idea and direction manual on jewelry making tips, thanks to Shana. Michelle brought a bunch of great examples of bike jewelry she made in the past. For me, having all of the examples out among the bike parts and beads was very inspiration. Unfortunately, I could only stay for two hours because I had to go to work. During my hours, I untangled and disassembled old jewelry to reuse the beads. This potentially tedious process turned out to be therapeutic. Sometime when in a less creative mood, I enjoy observing the people around, which is what I did while unstringing beads from old tacky necklaces. After all the supplies were set up and a few visitors had joined our class group, Michelle led a demo that included a few basic skills such as wire wrapping. The materials were small, but she did a great job and I think everyone got a chance to see what was going on because of the comfortable size of the group. People were not shy about browsing through the bike parts. I spent the little time I had left cutting up bike tires into little rings. I had been inspired by a website posted on our D2L page (I think, or maybe it was the BICAS facebook page) and wanted to provide others easy access to the materials to make the tire necklaces if they desired. One lady who was doing work hours in the shop had very curious about the group of girls sitting in the back. She sat down to join the workshop and told me that she was doing work hours to earn points to buy a bike because she wanted to ride with her kids but didn’t have enough money to buy one. The woman remarked again and again as the workshop proceeded, that she had never seen or heard of such a class that collaborated with community groups, or that even specialized in art education at all. She said she had never done anything like jewelry making before and was astonished by the opportunity we were providing. It really hit me at the moment that this is what Casey was striving for when she said she wanted different types of people to attend the auction, people that may be unfamiliar with art events or art making in general. I really hope that this woman decides to come to the auction to see the piece she made.

Tuesday was the wallet (and coin purse) making workshop on the mall. I arrived around 9:45 am to pick up the event permit from the events office in the student union. The other members of the group arrived at 10:00 am with the supplies, which I helped to carry and set up. We had tables with the craft materials, as well as promotional materials to inform people that walked by but may not have had time to make a wallet. Behind the tables were blankets for people to sit on and make art. Most of the class ended up sitting in a circle on the blankets, sewing little wallets and coin purses. I thought it was very cute and laid back, something that if I was walking by and saw I would think looked fun. A few

people were sitting at the table sewing and others were simply handing out fliers and informing people about BICAS and the auction. Even though most of the people that participated in the workshop were students in the class, I think that it helped to strengthen our class community and gave a positive view of the BICAS community to the university students.

Getting Creative

As for my responsibilities as they are set up now, I have spent some time at the Pima County Public Library utilizing their Grant & Nonprofit Information section. As of now, I am set to research documentation after receiving grants and hopefully set up a system for BICAS to track how money is used after receiving grants. I found one book, After the Grant: The Nonprofit's Guide to Good Stewardship, edited by Judith B. Margolin which outlines various grant data collection and documentation.

• use of funds
• records and audits
• coding the grant for financial and data documenting (income sources, appeal/campaign code, department receiving and spending funds, project fund code)
• monitoring the grant
• managing departures from the grant proposal, budget, timeline, and deliverables
• evaluation of results due to grant
• keeping required records
• organizing the official donor and grant files
• and last, but not least, renewal funding

There are also helpful charts to use in organizing all of this information.

It has been a bit of a challenge to meet with BICAS with their busy schedules and art auction planning, so it looks like I will need to be turning directions from looking into grants specifically for BICAS and possibly look into grants to aid the next community, culture, and art education class in their efforts with BICAS (i.e. workshops and programming). Casie and Whitney have started in on the Wells Fargo grant to support BICAS, and another grant should aid us in feeling through the process of grant writing. As a group, we will need to really take a look at our next step to see where we can really be of use and get the most out of this experience! I found information regarding grant writing at the Pima County Public Library as well. Promoting Community Change: Making it Happen in the Real World, by Mark S. Homan has great tips and practically step-by-step guides for grant writing that I think we will be able to utilize. It walks you through all of the basics such as, cover letter, title page, abstract or proposal summary, etc.

We are definitely on the right track; we just need to start getting creative on how this will pan out!

-Heidi

Café Magic

This week, Casie and I had a writing session at Shot In The Dark Café. It was great to finally dive in! We developed a good rough draft/outline during our meeting, and we have another writing time scheduled for next Tuesday evening.

During our meeting, Casie and I decided we should do some research on Wells Fargo’s past giving amounts. We learned in the introductory grant webinar we viewed that it’s important to match how much you are asking for with the amount usually given by an organization. I was able to find this information using the Foundation Center’s grant database at the public library. Not only was I able to find how much Wells Fargo gave, but also what organizations received grants in the past few years in Arizona. (A side note: I can’t imagine having to do this before the internet!) I found that Wells Fargo is very diverse in their giving in both the amount of their grants and the organizations they give to. This is good news for us because it means we have a good chance of matching with their objectives. We fall in the middle in terms of the amount we are thinking of asking for, so this research shows that we can move ahead with our plan. Great!

Las Artes and Weekend Goals

Just got back from Las Artes! It was awesome and opened my eyes to a whole other side of community based art. It's one thing to talk and read about it, but to actually see and experience being in a place that offers people my age a chance to turn their lives around is really amazing.

This weekend(tomorrow) is my Ju Ju Necklace workshop! Woo hoo! I'll arrive early to set things up and just dive right in. I'm trying to get my family to come, but we'll see how that turns out. I have both of my lesson plans done. I do have to edit a few things on one of them, but they are basically complete. Then on Sunday is the Ben Bell's workshop that I plan on trying to attend. It sounds like fun!

Week of the 1st Goals

Week of the 1st Goals
My individual goal is to complete both my lesson plans and get them to Angie to be finalized. Once I finish my lesson plans I will then focus on my documentation and reflections. I will go to BICAS early this Friday to set up for my Ju Ju Necklace workshop. I will also take time right afterwards to reflect and write about about how things went, as Angie suggested, while the experience is still fresh in my thoughts. I look forward to making my Ju Ju Necklaces!

It all starts at the café...

Whitney and I are meeting Tuesday to discuss the Wells Fargo grant and hopefully get some writing done. We're meeting at a café because apparently this is where all the magic happens! Thanks to Megan we have a detailed and concise outline of types of grants and funders. This work can be really confusing and daunting at times, but I really think our group is doing a wonderful job at categorizing their research into manageable sections.