Monday, March 29, SUCASA

At Annunciata, I gave them linen postcards, white paper, markers, colored pencils, and taught them a graffiti class. It was fun. Was troubled to learn that my popular table was filled with Trump voters. Made me see them in a new light. Will be very careful not to say anything that might offend them.

3/23/17 SUCASA annunciata

The seniors were so sweet today. I wanted to start them out with designing clay figures, but their skill level and attention spans are so disparate, that I went with soem doing the acetate layover drawings and cards, and other I started on designing and shaping models out of clay. One woman wanted to paint the figures right away, and used markers.

What I found very sweet was how deeply they got into the Dean Martin Variety show episodes I projected onto the wall. They all lit up with memories and nostalgia. I think I'll try to bring more of those dvds in.

I spoke to the boss about having to do different days in the next couple of weeks (due to pre-scheduled work).  We'll discuss it more on Monday.

3/16/17 Sucasa Annunciata center

It was a low attendance day due to Tuesday's blizzard and no access to the van. Still, we did some more drawings using the acetate sheets, china markers, regular watercolor markers and some model sheets. I served about about 9 seniors today.

Next week I will try light sculpture with them. I'm going to play classic hollywood horror film clips and ask them to make chibi-style sculpture using sculpey and their own designs.

3/13/2017

A Sr. Anunciata from 10:30 to 12:30. 2 hours today.

They had the room decked out for a St. Patrick's day party. Most of the folks are local whites who are very happy about the holiday, so it was very nice to see them so pleased and excited. I didn't know if I would be able to do my class with the seniors, but I ended up doing a short project with them as they waited for the festivisties to start (which was almost 12:30).

I printed out headshots of classic Hollywood Starlets, and had them trace them with china markers onto acetate squares. Then they would flip it and colored the back. After the proper coloring and the choosing of a nice pattern for the backing, they had a nice image in a card that they could call their won. It was pretty fun.

Thursday, 3/9/17, 10am to 12:45

Did the class at Annunciata. I noticed a lot of the dynamics of the seniors who go there. Its a little bit like High school, and there's the top bosses (mean girl) who are the popular seniors. They know each other for years, and they come early to get the best tables. I'm a little disheartened that there isn't more diversity at this center. It's about 80 percent white, and the rest tend to hang at the edges of the center. I hope I can find a way to increase the numbers of seniors of color.

I showed the musicals and asked them questions about life back in their day, especially about fashion and attitudes towards women in the workplace. We did action drawing, and I modeled the way to see the figure in motion and do a quick line sketch. This was more of an exercise, and most of the senior had fun. I showed the famous musical numbers from the 50s and 60s as the examples to draw.

Next week, I want to find something that they can finish relatively quickly so they can feel some accomplishment as well. Maybe focus on famous women of film, and have them do cameos.

I can also start with an icebreaker. Simple tiny collages, maybe?

Monday, 2/6/17; 10 - 12:45

2/6/17 Did more drawing. Had new students today. They still want me to g=do stuff upstairs. Have to switch the project now, since they have done more than enough with the cartoon figures and pop up cards.

I plan to switch to showing them scenes from their era's musicals, and asking them to draw the figure in motion. Just practice some more to get them to follow the line of the body and motion. Different colored pencils?  Silhouettes in different colors? Maybe cut them afterwards to paste on an interesting background? I want to give them enough practice to then move onto something in 3d next week...

We had a couple of students who were suffering from a bit of dementia. The project was simple enough for them , but I'd like to give them something they can do without thinking too much.
There are a few students that are really into the drawing aspects of the programs. I'v also noticed that these students were exclusively people of color (asian, south asian, latino).  I will make efforts to bring media that celebrates their diversity.

2/27/17, sucasa, 10am

At Annunciata senior center today.  Early Monday. Got there at 10:30, and saw there were a few seniors waiting for me. I was surprised to work upstairs, so I had to shlep all the supplies and work from the dining area. In the end we had 15 people, and I was quite busy making sure they all had their projects set up. My 5 elders from last Friday returned, and they anted to go to the next level and make pop up cards of their characters. It was very satisfying meeting each elder at their level. I do have to be really ready for a potential influx of new people. So far, shpwing them a little animation from their childhood and having them create characters and cartoon environments works very well. There was one woman who was frustrated because of her inability to see clearly. I think I will bring larger paper and fatter markers fro her to use next time.
Patricia, the center boss informed me that she had so many classes and contractors, that she was still juggling my schedule around. I think she wanted me to agree to one day of work, but in order to meet the 55 contact requirements of the SUCASA grant, I would need at least 2 sessions a week. The elders seem to enjoy my program, so I hope we can come to a calm agreement. I'm of the opinion that we should have more than one program run at a time to give people a choice, but the boss doesn't like to 'pit' programs against each other. It's awkward to come in as a new person to a center with history. Hopefully, the Mondays and Thursdays at 10am plan will work out.  I'll try to be as flexible as possible (although I have already changed to morning from afternoons and rescheduled my Fridays).
The grant cycles are very awkward times to schedule around.  By the time we find out about the grant, the sites we use are already booked.