Sunday, March 15, 2015

Welcome to a little slice of history!

Thanks for dropping in on this blog. 

The artists, dreamers, doers, thinkers, growers, makers, and teasers at Project Grow collaboratively spun this world that you are seeing the documentations of. 

This beautiful experiment existed in an unexpected setting, growing within a sheltered workshop as an alternative to a sheltered workshop. As one might expect, this contradiction of environments posed many challenges but with humor and resilience the team met them all. 

What started as a tiny urban growing experiment and a small art studio grew into a phenomenon. We hosted lectures, built and curated an art gallery, traveled to residencies, hosted residencies, joined movements, instigated movements, we held creative workshops, we gleefully planted seeds in more and more empty lots, we played, we pushed back against discrimination with humor...in short, we created a stunning universe of radical possibilities. 

 If you'd like to peek inside the studio, we have many videos on youtube, you'll find some of them linked on this site: Week in Project Grow. 

In 2012, our parent organization was acquired by a much larger non-profit (the largest in the State of Oregon) whose primary role is in providing residential support to people intellectual disabilities (this term is reluctantly used as it is unjust, inaccurate, and has caused unthinkable pain for many years, yet it is the one most prominently used to refer to the artists we had the joy to work with). With this shift in priorities, Project Grow could no longer remain the same radical experiment. The team that was present for the years 2008-2012 was replaced shortly before and after the transition. 

This blog now serves as a documentation of those years when this place of dreams was formed collaboratively among people who lived with and without unjust labels. We hope that this is not just a place for memories, but that these experiences help instigate a celebration of ambiguity, possibilities, and justice.

Friday, August 19, 2011

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED!

The Project Grow blog has a new home, it's now more integrated with our main site. All new posts will there from now on.

Find it here...

» » Our new blog « «


Friday, August 12, 2011

To my sweetheart, forever and ever

I'm happy for my wedding
I hope
I hope and I pray it comes through
with all my heart and soul
For I want this
With more than anything else on earth
I hope and I pray
that he will love me too

He told me
a number of times
He loved me.
I told him that right back.
I hope and I pray
That he comes closer and closer to me
I want to get
closer
and closer
to him.

I don't want to ever leave him.

If anything is wrong
I want to hear about it
I don't care if it is
bad
good
or sad
I don't care
I just want to be there for ever
and ever.

-Ginger Matthews

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

Team Together: Gets together every Friday

What a way to end July. Ideas! Celebrations! Shared information!
Below are our notes from our Friday Team Together Meetings. They are amazing. As always, you are welcome to crash them.

Love,
All of us from Project Grow

Minimum Wage:
Patsy: "Watch your P's and Q's. No arguments. No fights. No nothing. Just do your jobs."
"That's the only thing I will ask. "
Catie: Do you want me to keep making you homemade calendars?
Patsy: Yes. I made up a choice. Instead of painting, you guys going to be secretaries. The whole ship kaboom.
A friend of mine, is going to be sit side by side by me. She is my secretary. Everyone will get minimum wage.
stacey: What is minimum wage?
Eleanor: Minimum wage is how much money we get by the things we do as Project Grow. Gardening farm, studio management. My father and I have been fighting this for people and adults with a minimum wage.
Everyone celebrated the idea of minimum wage. Yay!

Stacey has an idea for a show
Stacey: My own gallery. Painting, Crochet. Knitting. Wants to have a show! The weaving. Various

Not everyone wants to be an actor
Chanel: cried all night and day about people at Safeway not wanting to be her movie.

Going to the beach
Sonya: Will be on vacation next month. But will call us to say hi!
Dan: Caught us up on the beach trip. Everyone went to look at galleries. Charlie was buried in the sand. The road was blocked off.

Rummage Sale
Eleanor: Rummage Sale on August 27th.Sonya thinks this is amazing and wants to help as does Stacey and Dan and David C. with handing out fliers.
Stacey wants to sell clothes!
Ginger: What is for sale?
All sorts of things?
Can we sell cothes?
Tim: as long it is really clean.
David C: Rock and Roll! Cds too.
Stacey: What will happen with the money?
Dan: We can pay our bills and buy more art supplies?
Stacey: Can we give it to homeless?
Everyone: sure!
Catie: Big surprise we made home made waffles!
James: sounds delicious.
Zach: mmmmmmm.
Patsy: Will there be something to drink that is sugar free?
Emese: We had talked about sun tea.

Coffee run today!
Eleanor would like to organize one. Who wants to go?
Coffee run: Eleanor, Eddie

New time sheet system for
Time sheets:Patsy, Stacey, Eric, Tim, Tina, Dan (phone answering when Patsy is not here)
To learn new job skills
To self manage and self motivate

Exciting things!
Chanel: Turn new york into Tokyo! Residency!
QT: First solo show!

Brainstorming creative ways to get Catie's art out there
Catie: sell art pages
Emese: Make original art
Shannon: she could make I spy books!
Stacey: Where's waldo kind!
Catie: yea!

Picnic!
Dan: where?
Zach: Here
Emese: Maye we can even bring in some healthy food!
Dan: like grapes.
Monica: How about pineapples?
James: Pineapple helps digest beans!
Fascinating.
Steven: I like watermelon.
Ginger: Kiwis.
Chanel: Blackberries. Raspberries.
Stacey: Fruit Salad.

Today instead of burritos...a new idea
Tim: Instead of burritos, truck style diner for lunch!
Who else wants to go?
Kristin and Dan

Street art show
Zach: wants to be a curator of the Street art show.
Stacey: also.

Bowling
Dash: Will contact the bowling alley at PSU to see if we can go there for free.

Tina and Tanya's birthday today!
Zach: it's tina and tanya's birthday!
Let's sing them happy birthday!
Lorna: Speech!
Tina and Tanya: Thank you!
They went to visit baby bunnies. Heaven.

newly fired pottery from the kiln!
Tim: Look at the stuff that was fired!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The best night EVER!: Reflections on the World Naked Bike Ride part of Pedalpalooza.

Forrest Hellum-Willits joined 10,000 other bikers for Pedalpalooza's World Naked Bike Ride.

One million people. Naked. And Nuded.
All through town. A nice guy.
It feels good with our naked bodies. Nude People. Lots of people are cheering. Music and noises.
It's really fun.
We're going to do it next year too.
by the way, I farted on Saturday. There's going to be a whole lot of people there...a whole lot. There were 200 people on skateboards.
It feels like heaven.
There were a whole bunch of cops.
I was so excited to go! Tons of lights! All over the city.

Beautiful! Sexy.