NEWS

Hand + Heart Winning Design to be exhibited at 92YTribeca

This Spring the Where Do You Give? National Design Competition asked designers and to translate the Jewish tradition of giving to others, tzedakah‘s meaning into a compelling and contemporary design.  The design contest explored ways that in current times people can give to others and how the values behind our giving can inspire us to expand our universe of obligation around where and how we give.

The contest had 3 categories which included Interactive/ Web, “Out-of-the-Box’” and  Tzedakah  box category.  All of the winning entries show creative ways that philanthropy can work in our increasingly interconnected, global, and technologically accelerated world.  The winning designs, including my Hand + Heart Game design that was a winter in the Interactive/ Web category will be in a show that will travel across the United States this year.

Next week – on June 20th at 92YTribeca the show will be exhibited.  There also is a panel discussion and event about the current and future state of giving which includes Rebecca Stone of the American Jewish World (AJWS), Karen Pittelman, author of Resource Generation’s Classified:  How to Stop Hiding Your Privilege and Use it for Social Change, Ryan Clifford, a judge of the contest and Faculty Director of the MICA Design Coalition.  Sasha Feldstein, who works in the department of education and community engagement of AJWS is the facilitator for the event.

If you are in New York next week – get a ticket for the event, and stop by to see the exhibition at 92YTribeca.  It might get you thinking about how you give to others.

 

Links:

Tickets for the June 20th Event at 92YTribeca

www.wheredoyougive.org

 

Restaurant Day in Helsinki : Anyone Can Setup a Restaurant

Restaurant Day in Helsinki : Anyone Can Setup a Restaurant

Restaurant Day is an event where anyone can set up a restaurant, café or a bar for a day.   You can set it up at your home, office, street corner, your garden, the park, or the  beach.  This unique day of restaurants started in Helsinki Finland, and now is happening four times a year in Finland and other countries.

The first Restaurant Day happened in May of 2011,  and 40 restaurants opened in 13 different towns. By the fourth Restaurant Day, held in February 2012 nearly 300 restaurants opened in almost 50 different towns in 12 different countries.  The next Restaurant Day is May 19th, 2012.

The idea of Restaurant Day is to have fun, share different restaurant experiences with other people and enjoy creating an environment where you can interact with others.   Want to make a restaurant that serves flavored flatbread, cake, coffee, or vegan hot dogs?  Check out the Restaurant Day website which has planning documents and information to get your Restaurant plans started.

Image Source:
www.restaurantday.org/

Links:

www.restaurantday.org/

Restaurant Day on Facebook

Stretch Your Euro Paycheck – Heading to Helsinki, Finland

Stretch Your Euro Paycheck – Heading to Helsinki, Finland

This week I made a new large stretchable  image for my Stretch Your Paycheck interactive performance.  The new money image is a Euro paycheck that features a 100 Euro bill.

I am heading to Helsinki this weekend for Camp Pixelache, a festival/conference event where I will be presenting my work, and also plan to invite others to stretch their paycheck. The event focuses on the main theme of “DIWO” – or Do It With Others – and I am interested to see how stretching the Euro translates and is received and interpreted.  This year, the Euro has been critiqued and discussed, and it will be interesting to see what meaning the piece has to others.  There are others coming to the festival from Spain, England, France, Finland, Sweden, Hungary and other countries – so it will be interesting to see what money slogans and sayings other countries have.

Stretch Your Paycheck is a interactive performance where individuals are invited to stretch a large latex image of money, get their picture taken that they can later download as a souvenir picture online.  The pictures can be saved or sent to a bill collector, Senator, or your boss.

Links:

http://stretchpaycheck.tumblr.com/

 

Pump up Your Bike Tires – It’s National Bicycle Month with Ride to School and Work Days

Pump up Your Bike Tires – It’s National Bicycle Month with Ride to School and Work Days

Do you hear bicycle bells ringing in the air?  You might see more kids and teachers on bicycles tomorrow on May 9th on the first National Bike to School Day.  Schools, cities, bicycle groups, and public health organizations are organizing bike rides and bike rides to school to highlight and celebrate the benefits of choosing bike transportation to school.  More than 700 Bike to School Day events in 49 states and the District of Columbia are registered on the official website.  Here in Cleveland Heights, the city is promoting the Bike to School day.

May is National Bike month, and there are lots of of bike activities, rides, and events including the national Ride to Work day on May 18h – where everyone is encouraged to bike to work, and the Ride of Silence on Wednesday May 16th, where cyclists do a silent slow-paced ride in honor of those who have been injured or killed cycling on public highways.  Check the air in your bike tires, and check out your local bike site to get riding!
Image Source:
Thurston County Bike Commuter

 

Links:

www.walkbiketoschool.org.

bikecleveland.org/month

Connect the Dots: 350.org Climate change

Connect the Dots: 350.org Climate change

Today is Climate Impact Day, an international day that 350.org organized where various groups gathered to help “Connect the Dots” between climate change.

The idea was for people to organize rallies and events in order to generate images in places that have been affected by climate change or that create climate change. All of the events included taking a picture of a dot in some way. A huge black dot on a white banner, a “dot” of people holding hands, encircling a field where crops have dried up, or a “dirty dot” of something that is contributing to the high levels of CO2.

Today I participated in an event at 12 noon. Since Cleveland is one of the top producers of coal we met up near the First Energy Coal plant, and held up two “dirty dots” in front of the gate of the coal plant which said CO2 and the amoint of coal burned each year at this plant.

I sent in the image to 350.org, and the image will be added to the slideshow of events from today that is on the 350.org site. Check out the slideshow which already has images from India, Bali, the U.S., and other countries.

Links:

www.350.org