NPR - "Finding Solid Ground" Stories of rebuilding NOLA

This was a radio documentry that I heard on NPR a few nights ago.
They have a website and so far at least 3 parts which are individually
broken down into 3 segments each which are available in MP3 format
for download.

http://www.findingsolidground.org/stories.html

I'll be posting more very soon (I promise).

pics are constantly being added to the flickr site.

www.flickr.com/photos/ihelpednola

NOLA Volunteer Trip #3 - Xmas 2007

I just returned last week from my 3rd amazing trip to NOLA for volunteering.
There are many stories to be shared and a rediculous amount of pictures.

I've begun uploading the pics to my flickr site, but the really good ones i am
posting last, because I want those to be the ones people see when they initially
go to the page. I'll also have as many smaller sets posted so they are grouped
in a theme or place etc. Hopefully the balance will be up by Jan. 12. There will
even be some comparison shots!

I spent a lot of time documenting the people, places, and projects I have previously
worked on in April 2007, and Dec. 2006 in order to track the progress and be
able to show people what "progress" actually is. Some of the homes I gutted have
not been touched for the most part since last december. Others have begun having
drywall done, and i'm hopeful that Pam's House is close to being moved into.
Unfortunately she was the one person i didn't have an address for, which makes
it very difficult to locate her house. One house we drywalled in april is now
being lived in, while another is having carpet put down.....basically untouched
in 8 months.

I spent 2 or 3 hours almost every night talking with the residents who eat dinner
and hang out at Camp Hope.

Anthony, Tommy, Joyce, Steve Gonzalez, John Wilkes Booth, Dagmar, Murial,
.....and those whose names escape me for some reason.

I also went out and saw some real jazz music on frenchman street.

There was the xmas dinner at camp hope, the santa/presents/meal event at
the St. Bernard Community Center, working with ACORN, St. Bernard Project,
Common Ground, and staying at Camp Hope the entire 10 days.

I will post other items on this blog and need to update the links and volunteer
info as well as video and book suggestions.

I hope to have many volunteers and residents contribute their stories to this blog.

I've found that seattle is fairly unaware regarding the current conditions.
The rest of the country probably is too, but I have to focus on my little corner of
the country first.

So my new years plans are to take time off from the print zero stuff......the big
print exchange organizing and gallery shows that i do in my studio will be put
on the back burner so I can focus on creating a body of work in response to my
recent trip, maybe get some guerilla style art or propoganda put together for
postering the city. There is the keeping in contact with people that I am going
to do...which means hand written letters sent via the real mail.....

If you are reading this or linking me please drop me a line.....I have no idea if
anyone even checks this thing out or not.

Cheers,

brian

Goin' Back To New Orleans (Dec 19 - 29)

Hello Everyone,

I'll be returning to New Orleans to do more volunteer work
from Dec. 19 - 29. My plan is to work w/ 3 different organizations
rebuilding & gutting as well as taking some time to continue my
documenting / awareness project. We did an art & awareness
show here in Seattle and raised $350.

I'm hoping that I might have time to see a few of you when I'm in
town, and if any of you are also going to be down there volunteering
drop me a line.

Here is my trip info. I'll be staying at Camp Hope until 12/27

Wed. 12/19 arrive, work w/ St. Bernard Project
Thur. 12/20 St. Bernard Project
Fri. 12/21 St. Bernard Project
Sat. 12/22 * maybe gutting w/ ACORN
Sun. 12/23 ?
Mon. 12/24 ?
Tue. 12/25 xmas
Wed. 12/26 Gutting w/ ACORN
Thur. 12/27 Common Ground
Fri. 12/28 Common Ground
Sat. 12/29 early AM flight back to Seattle

Also, I have my volunteer photos and soon the awareness
show photos posted on my flickr page.
www.flickr.com/photos/ihelpednola

I'm also selling my art work w/ half of any sale going to
Common Ground Relief. The link is directly to my art
portfolio on my other flickr site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/printzerostudios/sets/72157594172469319/

I probably won't be on myspace while in NOLA,
Camp Hope only has 2 or 3 computers for all the
volunteers.

Cheers,

Brian in Seattle
printzero2@gmail.com

NOLA Show @ Print Zero Studios

I intend to keep this blog updated much more frequently now that the
time consuming print exchange is over and I can focus my energy on the
NOLA show and my return trip to NOLA in late November.

On with the show info...

---------------------------------------------------
Print Zero Studios presents:
"New Orleans: Art & Awareness"

OPENS: Sunday Oct. 7th, 5 - 8pm
(show runs for the month of October)

Through photos, video, audio interviews, art and words
we focus this show to make people more aware of the
current situation in New Orleans, the experiences of both
the volunteers and survivors, and how you can still help.

We will be selling prints to raise money for two grassroots
organizations that I volunteered with down there. The money
will go towards purchasing Home Depot cards for each organization.

"Common Ground Relief"
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/
They are based in the 9th Ward and are helping to rebuild as well
as provide social services, and legal support for the residents.

H.O.P.E. Project
http://hope.okcancel.org/abouthope.htm
They are working to rebuild the gutted homes of residents
in St. Bernard Parish.

for more info/pictures regarding the show please visit

www.flickr.com/photos/ihelpednola
http://ihelpednola.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/printzerostudios

This show will remain up throughout the month of October,
please contact Brian 206-363-2997 if you would like more
info or would like to make an appointment to come by.

Print Zero Studios
323 N. 105th St.
Seattle, WA 98133

Located near the corner of 105th & Greenwood Ave. We are
across the street from the Rickshaw Restuarant, and directly
above Ken & Lea's Salon.

Trip #2 to NOLA - APRIL 2007

I returned to NOLA in early April and had an amazing experience.
There will be much more posted here in the very near future in regards
to the experience, pictures, the art show & awareness night we are
working on, as well as general info..... very soon.

A few days after returning from NOLA my computer died its final death,
and I just received my new computer a few days ago. We are transferring
everything from the external drive (nola pics etc) onto the computer so
i can begin posting them.

Life has been crazy since getting back.
The good news is I have been able to share stories with people in person
and some of the prints I made. People have asked me about volunteering
and donating to help the cause.

This is how progress begins.

more coming soon.

b

Post Katrina NOLA - Postcard Book (art book!)

I was telling a friend about one of my NOLA related art projects and
it looks as if someone has beat me to it, in some regard anyhow.



statement from the myspace page:
"Degrees of Separation started out as a postcard magazine on the web for designers currently living, originating from or belonging to the New Orleans, Louisiana area. However, after Hurricane Katrina it became an outlet for many of us to share our experiences and reflections upon what had occurred. This book showcases post-Katrina work and serves as a medium to share our personal design narratives."


Official project site www.degreesnola.com
Offiicial myspace site www.myspace.com/degreesnola
Location of Book Release Bouncing Wall - Seattle

Ihelpednola on myspace

I just created a myspace page in hopes of networking and bringing
more traffic here. Please spread the word.

www.myspace.com/ihelpednola

Salt in the wound, now a Tornado hits NOLA

Story from today (Feb. 13, 2007) found on CNN.com
CNN.com story on the Tornado




TORNADO HEAPS MISERY ON KATRINA-HIT AREA

• Woman, 85, dies in FEMA trailer; about 30 people are injured
• Official says FEMA teams are assessing damage in the area
• Powerful storms strike region still recovering from Katrina
• About 21,000 people are without power in New Orleans area

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Eighteen months after Hurricane Katrina, Stella Chambers' modest red-brick house had finally been repaired, and she was waiting for one last utility hookup to move back in. But the 85-year-old woman never made it.

A tornado tore through her neighborhood in the city's Gentilly neighborhood before daybreak Tuesday, flattening her house, ripping apart the front-yard FEMA trailer in which she was living, and killing her.

At least 29 people were injured, including Chambers' daughter, Gail, as the twister heaped more misery on neighborhoods still trying to recover from Katrina. The storm destroyed at least 50 FEMA trailers and dozens of homes, and damaged many others -- many of which were in various states of repair. (Watch witnesses describe how area will cope with latest setback )

"We were trying to get my mother back in the house. Now there is nothing to repair," said Mervin Pollard, whose 81-year-old mother's Katrina-flooded home was reduced to a pile of lumber Tuesday. "How do you start over again when you are already trying to do that?"

Firefighters went door to door, once again searching for victims of a storm. They spray-painted bright orange rectangles on the buildings and trailers and, as with the circles searchers used after Hurricane Katrina, they listed the date of the search and whether bodies were found.

"Some of these houses still have the circle on them from the last search," resident Patrick Clementine said. "Now we're doing it again."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco became teary-eyed as she talked to residents of the suburb of Westwego whose homes were destroyed.

"It's incredible. It just looks like pickup sticks," she said. "People's lives just torn asunder again."

Blanco issued a disaster declaration, authorizing state aid for the area. She said the state would send in National Guard troops for security.

The tornado hopscotched a 10-mile path from the west bank of the Mississippi River to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, striking some neighborhoods that had been hard hit by Katrina and have been slow to recover.

In Gentilly, there are vast stretches of abandoned, gutted houses, dotted by trailers and occasional reoccupied dwellings. Some abandoned houses collapsed in the twister's winds.

Blood covered Gail Chambers' face and was running down her side when she banged on the door for help at about 3:30 a.m., said neighbor Hellean Lewis.

"She was crying and screaming, 'Help me! I can't find my mother!'" Lewis said. Searchers found Stella Chambers, crying for her daughter and clinging to life in the rubble. She died at a hospital, where her daughter was listed in stable condition.

There was no immediate estimate of the cost of the damage.

About 21,000 electricity customers in the New Orleans area lost power.

Federal Emergency Management Agency teams began inspecting neighborhoods and said it would provide hotel rooms and trailers for people whose FEMA trailers were unusable. The American Red Cross said 90 people were in shelters late Monday afternoon.

Some storm victims faced the prospect of once again having to find temporary shelter and do battle with insurance companies.

Kamal Namazi, 49, figured the storm did $175,000 in dents, broken windows and other damage to the 18 new and used cars on his lot in Westwego. The car lot was hit by a tornado in 2004. Katrina tore off the roof of his Metairie home and left a foot of water inside.

"Right now, I don't want to live any more," he said. "I don't want to be in this world."

The storm ripped the roof from the 51-room hotel next to Namazi's lot. Owner Stella Lin said 36 rooms were occupied but only minor injuries were reported. ( Watch the scene at the battered hotel )

"Some of the people there at the hotel were still living there from Katrina," Westwego Fire Chief Keith Bouvier said.

Lin said her insurance covered only a tiny fraction of her hurricane losses, and she got that after a "really, really, really big fight."

"Now I have to fight them again," she said.

The Hurricane Poster Project

A worthy artistic endeavor to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina & Rita.

THE HURRICANE POSTER PROJECT (THPP) has been conceived as a collective effort by the design community to unite and effect change through our work. In order for this project to be successful, we are counting on designer participation. Our goal is to raise at least $1,000,000 for the Red Cross through this project. Please spread the word. Please participate.


www.thehurricaneposterproject.com












Printmaking and Posters go hand in hand. So does social activism. Printmaking
has been used to mass replicate an image or in this case a poster that could be
handed out or sold cheaply. The purpose was to provide an image to express an
idea or story, frequently involving politics or socially relevant issues. The graphic image can say more than words, especially to an illiterate population, such as the case was in the 1900's mexico around the time of the revolution.


Two of the most popular uses of posters today are to advertise music shows &
express frustration with the politics around us. It's simple to design a poster and photo copy 100 of them for 6 cents each. I would encourage people to make a poster or even, dare I suggest it, use one of the images from the hurricane poster project, and bring attention to the need for volunteers.


as stupid as it sounds, a few dollars invested to make a photocopied poster that
leads someone to actually volunteer, does in fact make a difference.

NOLA Photography Show / Documentry

I saw a show here in Seattle which was done by an 18 year old woman who documented a
trip to NOLA with some of the survivors as they return for the 1st time. The info is below.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"HOME: Where We Came From, Where We're Going"
Photos, Recordings, & Documentry by Emilia Muller-Ginorio
January 2 to 25, 2007 (*SHOW IS NOW OVER*)
Rosetta Hunter Gallery @ Seattle Central Community College

(postcard image to go here....soon)

How would you define "home" if everything you know has been swept away from under your feet?
In August 2006, artist Emilia Muller-Ginorio accompanied New Orleanians on their first journey
back since Hurricane Katrina.

"Home: Where We Came From, Where We're Going" incorporates the stories of Katrina survivors
with art and photographs of post-Katrina New Orleans created by the survivors and the artist.
The art, photographs and text explore the concept of home, oppression and civil rights in the
context of natural disaster.


Link to images from the show:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/eve/265133376.html
http://www.seattlecentral.edu/artgallery/archive/neworleans/neworleans.html

Artist contact info: emeraldmaybe@gmail.com