Todd County Middle School Drama Teacher's Fundraiser

Remember the story of Michael, Larissa and Matthew visiting the drama teacher in Mission, SD, on Rosebud Reservation?  

"Though we had made several unsuccessful attempts to contact her by phone, we drove over to the Todd County Middle School to try to meet with Rhoda Stoecklin, the drama school teacher there. We'd been told by Chaya and Marla that we should connect with her, she was described by both as "very enthusiastic". At the school we were directed to the school stage, which also serves as her office. She was, indeed, very enthusiastic. She seems very eager to have us meet with her students when we come back in the spring, and was really excited to meet Larissa, who she often tells her students about. She's been a teacher at the school for twenty-one years, and is planning a trip to NYC for some of her students for the first time. The seem to do two plays a year, from what I understood, and one is a musical. Or usually; she seems to have a challenging and most certainly adversarial relationship with the assistant principal, who this year, for some reason, has decided that they should not do a musical. Sad."

Here is a link to Ms. Stoecklin's (ambitious!) Go Fund Me to take students to experience theater in NYC.

A Field Trip Day in HP - a report from Peter

We began at Rock Rose Gallery this morning at 10:30. Paula supplied the hot coffee, and once we had a little group assembled, we headed around the corner on foot to the Lummis House. 

Charles F. Lummis (1859-1928) is bound to end up in our show somewhere. Author, Editor, Historian, Poet, Librarian...among his many interesting accomplishments, he:

• wrote ten books on the Southwest and California
• founded the Southwest Museum
• was City Editor for the Los Angeles Times
• was director of the Los Angeles Public Library (1905-10)
• "awakened Anglo-Americans to the value of Spanish American culture" 
• initiated preservation of the California Missions
• created the slogan "See America First" (truly one of my favorite slogans) 

His former home is a beautiful stone structure (that he apparently built most of by hand) on a few acres that is now a public park, open on weekends with a knowledgeable docent named Christian on hand to answer your questions. 

I had never been to this place, and I will return. The gardens are lovingly maintained, and the compound is currently undergoing some city-funded renovations. Perhaps some potential as a performance venue? 

There's a Lummis Day Parade and arts festival in Highland Park every June. Something tells me there will be a Cornerstone float in the next Lummis Day Parade. 

After an hour or so, we headed back to the gallery for some more conversation and a few more structured activities: a five senses activity, some list-making about Who's Who in Highland Park, some writing about places on our personal maps of the neighborhood (i.e. Where in Highland Park do you feel most comfortable? Unsafe? Where do important conversations happen?) All of this writing was gathered up, and will be given to playwright Mark Valdez for perusal at his leisure. 

On occasion throughout the day, folks would pop into the gallery to say hi to Rosamaria, or wander in off the sidewalk because they were curious about the place. She treats everyone as a guest and a friend, and takes everyone's photo. Rosamaria is a self-declared "incubator," educator and a real community treasure. We are lucky to have her on our team. 

We ate pupusas for lunch, brought in from a restaurant just up Fig. Then most of us ventured on foot up toward the Southwest Museum, to see a beautiful mural on Marmion Way that is currently undergoing restoration. It was great to take some walks through the neighborhood today, and put a visual on some of the places and ideas we've been discussing over the past few days. 


Our numbers have been small but mighty over the past three days of conversation at Rock Rose. I want to especially acknowledge Rosamaria Marquez for her extraordinary positivity and hospitality. 

Other friends, old and new, who joined us for some or all of our time:
Doug Jacobs, theatre artist, co-founder of San Diego Rep, and font of historical info on All Things Highland Park
Jeannette Godoy
Natalie Venegas, of Cafe Vida and Homeboy Industries
Carmela Gomes...another font of history and community connections 
Jane (last name?), a local artist
Eben Garces

I'm sure I'm missing some folks. We have names and contact info for everyone who passed through, and we have many, many ideas for folks we need to contact and follow up with as this project moves forward. I won't try to summarize what I learned about HP over the past few days, but I feel it's been a lot. It's a neighborhood with a very vivid history and a churning, changing present that includes some very real tensions. It's a confluence of arroyo, freeway and Gold Line...all rivers rushing through day and night. It's full of artists and folks who are actively working to preserve what they love about their place. One of our recurring themes among our longer-term residents: the newcomers don't say hello, or even look you in the eye when they pass you on the street. Rosamaria and her gallery seem intent, in part, on countering this phenomenon by saying hello to passersby, inviting them inside, having them sign the guest book and taking their photo. 

That's it for now. PH

Talking Highland Park, day 2 of 3 at Rock Rose Gallery

Michael, Eben, Peter, Bruce, Bahni and I all headed to Rock Rose Gallery for our 5:00 Story Circle. Shishir and Page met us there, too. 

Rosamaria was already setting the space up for us. Doug Jacobs who was with us last night joined us a little early again. We decided to just begin a conversation with these 2 folks and settled in around the heater with warm beverages in hand. Jeanette Godoy joined us soon after. 

Some prompts: 
What was your first experience of Highland Park? 
When did you fall in love with HP? 

We recorded the conversation. We were joined by Jane McCary (?), an artist living here for 8 years, and Natalie V. Natalie doesn't live in HP but she wants to participate in all the activities she can during the Dutch residency. She brings great energy and perspectives to the conversations.

I’d forgotten that MJG lived at Nona’s place in HP when he first moved to Los Angeles! That place is pretty close to where he lives now. 

Bahni facilitated a spectrum: Connected <—> Isolated re: HP 

Page facilitated some on our feet mapping and navigating about where we come from and finished with directing everyone to find an object that represented a less apparent part of ourselves— this place is jam packed with artistic items of all kinds. We closed the circle with each person sharing a sound or word— but more often more— about the object they’d chosen. 

I might have forgotten some things. It was a good event. The ratio of company to community was gentler tonight than it was last night. 

Afterward I went for a bite to eat with Jeanette but really just to spend some time with her and hear about the many many projects she worked on/created the past year. She has been a host/MC for Highland Park Independent Film Festival events for multiple years. The film festival takes place at the Highland Theater on Figueroa, so when Jeanette and I walked by there she introduced me to guy who for a long time had a tattoo shop on same block, but got displaced. He countered by opening a mobile tattoo shop and parking it in front of his old shop space. 

Figueroa from Ave 52 to Ave 60 feels pretty different late on a Friday night. 

At Rock Rose Gallery: Doug J, Jeanette G, Natalie V, and Rosamaria's dog Tuxton:

Rock Rose Gallery- Story Circle including Dutch guests

An HP event report from Bahni:  

This evening we had the first of three meetups at Rock Rose Gallery in Highland Park as part of our engagement with that community. The director of the gallery made a short Facebook live video to hopefully entice some neighbors to come in.  The video features mostly folks you already know, but some of those are actually community members, like Micheal Garces and Jeanette Godoy. Delores Chavez turned up too!

We went around the circle and as an ice breaker talked about our name, some story about our name. Then we did an exercise prompted by Michael where we counted off into 1s and 2s and separated into groups containing a 1 and a 2 and we told each other stories about a transformation we had witnessed caused by art. Or was it a way that art had caused a transformation within ourselves?...... something like that.

Then Lillian (from the Netherlands crew) lead an exercise. She brought out a deck of cards that had incredible pictures/artwork of various scenes all very thought provoking. We were to choose a card that told a story about ourselves, and then we again broke into groups of two and told the story that we saw in the card.

After a short break Rosamaria, the director of Rock Rose Gallery brought out one of those heaters that looks like a fireplace or a wood burning stove and we turned out the lights and told campfire stories about our cards.

Then we got to talking about the neighborhood and changes, and conspiracies, and my feeling that Nextdoor is a gentrification app, and how things used to be, and what’s changing, displacement, respect, culture,and where are folks gonna go etc etc.

We checked out with one way that we are each “being the change."

The community members who attended were Rosamaria, Michael, Jeanette, Delores Chavez, Carmela, Olga, Natalie from Homeboys, and Doug. 

Marcel from the Netherlands, tootled around on the guitar to accompany the stories while they were being shared. 

Nite nite, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.
See you in the morning bright.
Xo
Bahni

po-po patrol of Figueroa

re: new police patrol on Figueroa in Highland Park

and from Eastsiderla.com --

Highland Park -- The  LAPD's Northeast Division will begin deploying officers today to conduct foot patrols in the North Figueroa Corridor in response to what the councilman said are recent criminal activities.

Officers will be "highly visible," said a statement issued by Councilmember Gil Cedillo, when conducting community engagement with Angelenos who travel and work along the corridor, where new restaurants, shops and bars have attracted more visitors.

"I am happy to ensure the safety of my constituents in Highland Park with the new foot beat patrol on North Figueroa corridor that I am underwriting," said Cedillo. "The shifts will be during the late afternoon and evening hours to coincide with recent crime trends and pedestrian traffic."

Cedillo's office said the officers will meet with community members, business owners and business patrons to educate the public and enforce laws in an effort to reduce crime.

There has not been any noticeable change in crime in the past year. However, "we have seen an increase in hate graffiti vandalism in the last month," said a council district spokesman. Last month, numerous storefronts were tagged in the area amid anti-gentrification protests.

Two officers working eight-hour shifts will be deployed during foot patrols, and Cedillo secured $500,000 from the city's general fund for the patrols in the area for the next two and a half years.
Funding was also committed to the LAPD's Northeast Division to further facilitate safety of local nightlife, businesses and restaurants to encourage people to walk the Figueroa corridor.

Capt. Arturo Sandoval, the area commanding officer for the LAPD's Northeast Division, said enhanced patrols will take place alternating three days weekly on either Friday, Saturday and Sunday; or Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

"It is the mission of the Los Angeles Police Department to facilitate the enjoyment of local nightlife and restaurants, as well as establish an environment that encourages patrons to walk the Figueroa corridor," said a statement issued by the Northeast Division.