TRACE CPD at Hamilton Park Cultural Center: Saturday February 6th, 2016

#FlashbackFriday

Teens Reimagining Art Community & Environment (TRACE) is meeting at Hamilton Park on Saturday February 6th at 10:30am. Youth from all across Englewood are invited. Build and grow with us.

Cornell Square Week 4 Update

The TRACErs at Cornell Square having been working very hard to pull their project together and are on track in week 4. This year, the TRACErs wanted to address the topic of bullying in their piece. There are three groups working on different aspects of the project which include sculpture, knitting/crocheting, and an audio/photography.

For the sculpture group, they have been building bodies that will serve as a place that the community can share their stories about bullying by writing directly on them. The group has almost finished their first body and are working on attaching the arms and legs for the second body. The bodies are simple paper mache structures that the TRACErs have built themselves.

As for the audio/photography group, they have been getting out into the community recording stories about bullying. They have interviewed several people in the community about their opinions on what they believe bullying is and how it has affect them in any way. They also worked with the Inferno to create an audio piece that will include a rap by a few of our TRACErs.

Last, the knitting/crocheting group has been busy working on the last component to the project. They have been creating a small piece that community members and other TRACErs will be able to take away to remember the importance of the subject as well as give them the power and knowledge to be activists against bullying in their own communities.

BESSEMER PARK WEEK 2: PROCESSING CONFLICT/RESOLUTION

                  During the second week at TRACE, we focused on conflict resolution. We defined conflict resolution as: Problem, violence, fight, altercation, disagreement, verbal abuse, etc. Using these words we found the six conflict resolution styles which were, compromise: meaning to talk things out with that person, and find a way to come to an agreement. The second style was Direct and control which means when one person demands everything their way for example the quote it’s my way or the highway. The third stage was collaborate which means to work as a team. The fourth stage is to avoid/deny this means to walk away from the situation, and don’t resolve the situation. The fifth stage was to accommodate which basically means to give in or work through the problem. Lastly the sixth step is appealing to authority or a third party which means since you can’t solve it on your own, get someone involved.

                  Results to conflict resolution: is involving action, negative connotation, violence, weapons, relationships with law enforcement, love ones, retaliation, attention, poor cases, hospital reviews, etc. the cause and effects of conflicts is a problem, and then resulting to violence. For example in many cases you see people on the news getting into arguments over something that could be resolved another way, but instead someone gets shot, murdered, or seriously injured. Many people don’t know of other ways to resolve their issue other then violence, violence is the easy way out of a conflict. So we at TRACE became aware of different resolution to avoid the easy way out. Creating awareness gives our community a better chance and a better solution of life.

BESSEMER PARK: First Day/Week In the Garden

As the first week of TRACE began, the new interns were eager to know what they would learn throughout this experience.  Even though Bessemer is known for gardening, it was more than that. TRACErs learned to expand their mind to different and broader forms of oppression, creative activism, structure building, and team work. Before starting work in the garden our artist Tim showed us how to make soil using: rich soil, cow manure, and worm manure. We also learned how to transplant our, vegetables, and herbs into the garden bed.

As TRACErs worked hard all week, it was tragic to see that one of our garden bins were burned down. Everybody was disappointed to see our hard work had been damaged on the first week. Besides that, we still continued to build up our garden and we’re making GREAT progress.

Week 1 West Pullman TRACE

West Pullman Park TRACE puts an emphasis on the performing arts and theater. The first few days were spent doing team building exercises and trying to get everyone acquainted with each other. We set a few ground rules and created an environment where everyone is comfortable giving their opinion.   We tapped into our inner thespians and brought to life Gwendolyn Brooks We Real Cool poem, an authentic account of the youth in Harlem. Mama Zahara helped with the staging and in no time we were on stage and had characters  singing sin and thinning gin.  On Thursday TRACE saw the play Broke-ology. Broke-ology explores the relationship between two brothers, one who went to University of Connecticut and the other who worked at Lord of the Wings. While the brothers are sorting out their difference they try to unite to find a solution for their father suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Friday we saw two different interpretation of the one act play Rock, Sword , Firecracker. It was amazing to see how each group envisioned different ideas for the same play.

“ The first week of TRACE was different, it was different in the sense that I never opened up to a group of people so quickly.”  Kassidy

                                                                                                                                                              

The Where I Live Alphabet Poem

Anger

Beating

Cursing

Dying

(d)Egenerate

Fighting

Gangs

Hurting

Invite people to gangs

Jumping people

Killing

Learning how to kill

Mean

Never stop

Our lives are ruined

Popping Pills

Quiet people get killed

Robbing

Scare

Terrifying

Understanding how people die

Voices screaming

Worst

Xray bodies that are getting hurt

You are scared to let your kids out

Zoom goes the police cars.

by Markiesha Shaw

Fall in Love with TRACE in October and November

TRACE isn't only a summer program. In fact, youth from all over the city are taking advantage of TRACE's October and November video and audio training sessions. Every Thursday, youth are invited to drop-in and learn how videographers, filmmakers, and music producers make movies, documentaries, and music.

Highlights
Camera angles
Capturing ambiance
Editing video
Editing audio
Creating audio slidecasts
Publicizing work on social networks


We hope to see you at Cornell Square Pak on 51st and Wood at 4:30 pm - 6:30 p.m. this Thursday.