Reflections - 5/4/15

This past week was certainly eye opening for our class as Baltimore experienced the 2015 riots following the tragic death of Freddie Gray. In a matter of hours, the city was turned upside down when peaceful protests gave way to arson, looting, and chaos. Watching the destruction take place was certainly painful and depressing, and often seemed pointless. It is safe to say that it will take years for Baltimore to get back to where it was, as we have learned from the repercussions of the 1968 riots. However, unlike the '68 riots, these events were followed by an outpouring of love, concern, and hope that the city can get back up on it's feet.

Despite what some critics may say, we all need to care about "our" city, wherever we may live in the region. The geographical fact of the matter is that we all depend on Baltimore as an epicenter of economic, knowledge, and artistic proportions. While sitting at my desk at work on Friday, I watched Marilyn Mosby deliver the criminal charges that would be filed against the Baltimore City Police Officers involved in the Gray case. It was at this moment when I remembered why I loved Baltimore. Regardless of the charges, it was the timely fashion of delivery and straightforwardness of justice that gave Baltimore the shock back to life that it needed.

In class, we discussed the themes and quotes found in the Sherrie Chase interview. In my notes, I found the themes of diversity, detachment, family, and sense of place to be core components. In addition, the map group convened and worked together in outlining the introductory paragraphs for the webpage, and figuring out the missing places that needed to be completed for the map. Mike and I also worked on the graphic display of the map. I also created four new zones that highlight the different sectors of Station North: Charles North, Greenmount West, Barclay, and Koreatown.

Reflections - 4/27/15

What a week! Things are winding down and really coming together with the project. On Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to have Marc Steiner of the Marc Steiner Show join us in a joint-class meeting to view the rough cuts of the audio and visual media that will be used for the final project. As a class, we viewed segments for Greektown and Station North. Afterwards we discussed the project direction, and what needed to be improved for the final edition of both pieces. The general consensus found that there needed to be a flow for the entire piece, and that the themes should be more evident throughout the piece. For example, Marc brought up the idea of having a two sided argument for and against the neighborhood changes that were taking place, such as gentrification and demographic shifts. On Thursday, we came together as a class and worked in groups on our assigned audio piece. Similar to Alethia's interview, we transcribed and pulled out common themes such as community and neighborhood change.

Reflections - 4/20/15

This past week was heavily focused on project work, and outlining what needs to be done in order to get the project close to completion. On Tuesday, Mike and I presented the map along with the rest of the map group. Everyone seemed to be happy with the progress thus far, which was good to hear. I was really happy that we got a chance to hear some feedback from our classmates on what they would like to see added and changed on the map. The voices group presented their work as well, by playing some of their audio recordings and showing the class their interviewing database. Afterwards, Dr. King requested that we help out the voices group in their transcription and theme-pulling efforts.

For Thursday, I listened to the interview with Aletheia Shin. While listening, I transcribed her interview and pulled out common themes that I thought would be useful for the overall class project. In our new groups, we discussed the themes and consolidated our transcription by removing duplicates and editing the content. We then came together as a class to discuss our group work, and the common themes that we found from the audio. As a group, we discussed the themes of: community-based art, identity and presence, how we visualizing Baltimore, diversity, relationship with the community, and community participation.

Reflections - 4/13/15

This past week was focused on project work and reviewing the articles we read as a class. On Tuesday, we discussed the Baltimore City Paper article, "No Trivia: How white people have gentrified the word 'gentrification'", and the Metro Politics article, "Arts Districts Without Artists". Overall, I found these articles interesting interpretations of the situation going on in Station North and other Baltimore neighborhoods. In particular, I found Brandon Soderberg's article in the City Paper similar to how Jude Lombardi characterizes the word "gentrification" to those who replace it with "revitalization". Personally, I disagree with this viewpoint because revitalization is meant to help neighborhoods, which otherwise would remain in a state of urban decay.

On Thursday, I remained on campus while the rest of class went to Station North, to meet with our groups to discuss and worked on the group project. Jodie and I worked on figuring out the remaining missing places, and then I completed the database by putting the addresses into the map. Afterwards, I felt a lot more confident with the map and feel that it will be a good base to show to the class on Tuesday.

Reflections - 4/6/15

Last week, Aletheia Shin of MICA spoke to us about her art and research about the Korean community in Baltimore, and how it interfaces with the rest of the city. Aletheia brought a very interesting and refreshing perspective to our classroom; in that she truly was a student from abroad studying in the U.S., even though she grew up between America and Korea. Perspectives such as Shin's always fascinate me because I have lived in Baltimore my whole life, making it challenging to imagine her history of moving back and forth from place to place. 

Aletheia's outreach and art aims to bridge the gap between Koreans in Baltimore, creating a more interconnected community with a sense of balance. I found this to be very important especially in a city like Baltimore, where immigrants and diversity reinforce the city itself when older populations shrink and/or circulate outwards. As we have seen in many other great cities like New York or Los Angeles, ethnic enclaves are hot spots of growth and success, which can only help a city thrive. For Baltimore, Aletheia's work stemming from the city's public markets demonstrated the importance of having a common shared space with all types of people. Overall, I gained insight on the workings of the Korean community of Baltimore, and how community can be interpreted as social connections and ties formed over temporary places of activity and commerce.

In terms of our group, we have made significant progress with our map research and database. The rest of the group has completed summaries and collected the addresses of our Station North locations. I was able to enter in the places that we already have into a KML spreadsheet that will be imported into our map system. While doing this, I have made multiple columns including the 1) place name 2) address, and 3) type of place. This week I plan on talking to Mike about additional data that could be added, as well as how we want to display our information. After playing with our Google Map a bit, I organized our places by type (food, entertainment, residence, and community). I gave each type a temporary icon related to the place function (i.e. silverware, music note, etc.) This could be a unique way to show our places, and may also be more user-friendly. I look forward to meeting with the group this week to discuss ideas! 

Reflections and Project Update (Week of March 23, 2015)

This past week, our class was fortunate enough to have Jazmin Simmons come speak to us about changes going on in her neighborhood of Station North. We also had the opportunity to meet with our groups to discuss the next course of action and schedule for our projects.

Throughout the semester, I have enjoyed all of the guest lectures very much, especially Baltimore's Art in Transit group working on the Baltimore Red Line and Ben Stone's talks about Station North's future development. With that said, I found Jazmin to be very refreshing and charismatic, which sometimes gets lost amidst discussing business and planning. Moreover, Jazmin provided us with valuable insight into her personal experiences of working at the Bohemian Coffee House and the Charles North Garden. Her experiences seemed more relatable to a college student, and in turn, her views seemed to be the most honest and straightforward out of our lecturers in our class. Probably the most important thing I learned from her talk was her connection to the youth of Station North. Children and young adults often get kicked to the curb during the development of an arts district. Her proposal of having a safe space for the kids of Station North sounded very important and needed in order to create the best neighborhood possible for all parties. 

In regards to the term project, my group discussed the next steps of our plan. We now have all of the places logged, so now we need to gather photographs and any other additional data that we might want to add later on. For myself, I will begin to enter the data into our Google Map, and ensure that we place our data in all of the correct locations.

So far, I have already created the map online and made sure that everyone has access so they can observe the progress of our final product. In addition, I went ahead and downloaded shape files of the neighborhood boundaries of Station North. This way everyone will be able to easily locate our neighborhood. On April 14, we set the deadline to have all of our photographs gathered for the map, so that Mike and I can add those as well. We hope to have everything ready to go before schedule so that we can make any adjustments to the overall map.

Adventure 2: Exploring Art at MICA in Station North

 

For my second adventure, I was curious about looking into the arts scene at Station North. In particular, I was interested in learning more about MICA's relatively new presence in the arts district. Since a lot of the neighborhood's growth is a result of MICA's expansion on North Avenue, I figured it would be good to get a firsthand look at the spaces they occupy, and how it relates to the community.

During spring break, I attended the faculty exhibit going on at the Lazarus Center (aka the Graduate Studio Center). The building was once used as a factory for Morgan Millwork Company and later for Jos. A. Bank clothiers, a local Baltimore menswear company. After an 18 million dollar renovation, the Lazarus Center officially opened in October 2012.

Like most of Station North, I have driven past this structure many times, and had always been interested in its interior and historical significance. Upon entering the building, I felt like I had stepped into a gallery in Chelsea or Tribeca. I was very impressed by the architectural renovation, as well as the design of the gallery. Instead of sheltering the art from the avenue, the gallery was the first thing you encountered as you entered. This layout gave me a welcoming feeling, encouraging an artistic dialogue with the outside community.

Along with viewing the show, I went to the building's cafe, Nancy, where I got a coffee and a delicious pastry. Nancy also had a very welcoming and bright atmosphere, having tables and chairs looking out onto the avenue. The owners were also very friendly, adding to the overall experience. Afterwards, I found out that Nancy is owned by the same people who run the Station North Arts Cafe on Charles Street. In terms of the art, I enjoyed the show very much. My favorite pieces were the oxen pastel drawings (shown above). The inventory of the gallery was very diverse and eclectic, triggering the eyes of any passerby. In a way, the diversity represented in the show could easily be connected to the diversity of Station North, and how there are countless ways to express ourselves through the arts.