This Weekend at the Sculpture Center

A heady and fascinating presentation. From the website:

Saturday, July 18, 2009, 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
The University of Trash presents:
Architectures of Crisis/ Architectures of Resistance

Architectures of Crisis/ Architectures of Resistance highlights the role of built space past and present in organizing radical movements and documenting shifting economic, social, and political climates.

Schedule:

2:00 PM
MLAB as Social, Cultural, and Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Marion Wilson devised an interdisciplinary curriculum at Syracuse University called "Social Sculpture" for artists to offer spatial solutions to social and cultural concerns. Wilson started MLAB, a non-hierarchical collaborative design team, as a result of her belief in the revitalization of urban spaces through the arts. Original team members will present a powerpoint of their first project, mobile literacy arts bus -a 1984 RV renovated into a traveling classroom, gallery and library to address the crisis of space and resources in the Syracuse City School District.

MLAB (the vehicle) will be on-site at SculptureCenter and open to the public with activities and demonstrations from 11-6pm.

3:30 PM
The Center for Urban Pedagogy will present Nehemiah! A Case Study of Radical Pragmatism, a slideshow and discussion about a visionary project made real.

Nehemiah! A Case Study in Radical Pragmatism is the story of how religious leaders, Alinskyites, and architects worked with the City bureaucracy to build 3,000 single-family homes for low to moderate-income buyers -- and build community in Brooklyn's poorest neighborhoods.

Center for Urban Pedagogy is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization that uses the power of art and visual culture to increase the quality of public participation in urban planning and community design. CUP specializes in creating interdisciplinary collaborations that bring together designers, educators, advocates, and community residents to improve urban life in New York City and beyond.

5:00 PM
Teddy Cruz and CUP's founder Damon Rich will discuss the economic crisis in relation to Rich's current exhibition Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center at the Queens Museum, and Cruz's ongoing work with the trans-border urbanisms at the US and Mexico border region.

6:00 PM
Open Discussion

The Sculpture Center
44-19 Purves Street
LIC