ALF and Garden Stories partnered in 2017 to launch a series of interdisciplinary workshops for the Children’s Workshop School and the Campos Community garden.
Carolyn Ratcliffe, Artistic Director, Art Loisaida Foundation
A multidisciplinary art exhibit at Theater for The New City with works by 26 artists which runs from November 5, 2018-to January 2, 2019. The Gallery is open from 4-to 10pm Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 12-4pm.
We didn’t just create the pizza, we grew the veggies!
Gnocco’s staff showed the children how to create a pizza. We then all created pizzas together using herbs and vegetables we grew at Campos community Garden: oregeno, basil, thyme, marjoram and tomatoes.
Claudio and Rossella shows us how to make the pizza dough.
The dough is super elastic. Rosella stretched and stretched a little ball of dough to make a big pie. The dough was squishy when I poked at it.
The pizzas sure tasted super good. The children documented the process by drawing and writing in their notebooks.
You can see some of our drawing in the book we published at the end of the year:
Thse working bees are all girls? That’s fantastic.
Dan Rothchild came by and introduced us to bees. Did you know that all of the bees are girls? The queen bee lays all the eggs and the workers bee do all of the work. The drones freeload and the only thing they do is inseminate the queen at the very beginning of her life. Isn’t that typical. This is what Dan said.
Dan had the children draw different parts of the bee to understand how they work.
Since 2017 we have designed and implemented a comprehensive program for third graders at the Children’s Workshop School. Our participating partners for our interactive program include the Campos Community Garden near the school and a local community restaurant, Gnocco.
Children’s gardening program at Campos Community Garden John Marty – Videographer
Our programs add the “A” (arts) to STEM programs by encouraging children to tap into their creativity and try out new ideas. Garden Stories draws inspiration from life lessons learned through gardening and the arts.
Our current workshop program, sponsored by the NYCC Cultural Immigrant Initiative with a pass through grant through Downtown Music Productions, with support from Children’s Workshop PTA and Gnocco restaurant ran from September 12, 2018 through June 14, 2019.
Saturday, September 8th, 2018 @ 6BC Botanical Garden
I Ain’t Lazy, I’m Just Dreamin’ 2015, 7 minutes A concept music video that harkens back (…or forward?) to a time of hobo prophets, mulligan stew, orange ladies, bowery boys, bawdy vaudeville acts, and the fuzz. A burlesque club musician en route to work imagines magical dreams . . . or is he living them? Featuring cameos by several Downtown NYC filmmakers and performers. Director: Bill Poznanski
SunnySide Up 2003, 26 minutes A comedy from NYC… Where do babies come from? Marie doesn’t want to know, but she’s going to find out. Director: Charles Krezell
Downfall 1989, 6 minutes An experimental documentary, shot between 1988-1989. The East Village May Day protests, interspersed with New York City Marathon footage. The demolition and beginnings of gentrification in Alphabet City… a neighborhood under siege. Director: Kris Enos
Willow Weep For Me 2017, 8 minutes After 41 years of Cher, a willow tree beloved by her community and strongly identified with La Plaza, she’s dismantled for the neighborhood safety. Her life is celebrated with a wake in the garden, officiated by community members. Director: Alvah Holmes
Mahagonny Songspiel Animation Reel 2018, 5 minutes Hand-painted animation inspired by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht’s early operatic work. The city of Mahagonny offers prosperity, but its citizens prove to be its undoing. Director: Klay-James Enos
Penelope & Kennedy 2017 19 minutes Two women face the challenges of their unique relationship. Director: Anthony Laura
We screen films on the environment and neighborhood such as “Home” and “Viva Loisaida” at the Tompkins Square Library, 6th St. Community Center, and at 11BC Garden. Currently the Alphabet Short Film Festival is curated by Kris Enos with work shown at 6BC Garden. We’ve sponsored screenings at 6&B Garden.
I want to create a film that will tell the story of one family, in their own words, as a voice for every family who went through this atrocity – and to honor those who survived, and remember, with deep reverence, those who did not.
I want to share this story so it will never be forgotten.
“They Survived Together” is a story of endurance, unity and hope.
“They Survived Together ” is the incredible, true story of the survival of the Neiger family, as they desperately try to stay together as a family while escaping the Nazi invasion of Poland.
The Neigers were living a peaceful life in a tight-knit Jewish community in Krakow when the arrival of World War II changed their life forever.
When Nazi soldiers forced the Neiger family from their home and into the harsh life of the Ghetto, they made a vow to escape together and survive as a family.
The family was able to stick together, from their daring escape from the Ghetto, through arduous treks through snow-covered mountains, to illegal border crossings, and brutal work camps.
But when circumstances forced the family to separate from their older brother Ben, the family’s will to survive was put to the test.
Siblings Cesia, Benjamin, Hanka, Basia, and Tosia remained together as a family well into thier senior years, supporting each other while dealing with the horrors of the memory of the Holocaust.
This film tells their story, in their words, from their hearts.
We are seeking funding to finish the production phase of “They Survived Together”. We will continue to interview the siblings and relatives, film family gatherings and events. We will organize and catalogue historical footage and photos.
We are so fortunate to have this first-hand account of their incredible journey.
Our mission is educational – to create a film that will tell the true story of one family, in their own words, as a voice for every family who went through this atrocity – and to honor those who survived, and remember, with deep reverence, those who did not.
The film is intended for screenings in Jewish institutions, schools and museums, to preserve this true family story of the Holocaust.
Art Loisaida has its roots in the gardens of the Lower East Side/East Village and it has organized many different events in collaboration with Community Gardens such as 11BC Garden, de Colores Community Yard, Campos Garden, LaPlaza Cultural, Albert’s Garden and Carmen Pabon Del Amanecer Garden.
