A Living Library – Archive Site » Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park

Aug '17

Bonnie Ora Sherk Presents Lecture On Funcshuional Art In Museum Of Arte Útil’s Escuela at Yerba Buena Center For The Arts

Bonnie Ora Sherk, long-time ecological artist, landscape architect, planner, educator, and Founder & Director of Life Frames, Inc. & A Living Library, presented a lecture on Funcshuional Art as A Living Library at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on August 2 as part of Escuela d'Arte Util (School of Useful Art), part of Tania Bruguera’s Exhibition of the Museum d'Arte Util at YBCA. Her talk was live-streamed on the YBCA's website (see below). Bonnie Ora Sherk's work was also featured on a KQED radio broadcast and appears on the KQED website about the Exhibition and Arte Util.

Presentation Part 1 Presentation Part 2

Below are a few pictures from the presentation.

Bonnie Ora Sherk presents this week’s lecture on “usership” at Escuela de Arte Útil at YBCA.

(more…)

Posted by bonnieora in
A.L.L. Pedagogy, Art, Landscape Architecture, & Systemic Design, Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park, Bernal Heights Living Library Nature Walk, Chinatown Living Library & Think Park, International Branch Living Library & Think Parks

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Dec '16

Arte y Cultiva/Art & Cultivation In Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park At Junipero Serra Early Education School

The Living Library & Think Park at Junipero Serra Early Education School has been transformed this Fall by students, teachers and volunteers working hard to bring life and beauty to the Lower Garden. From Kindergarteners to Fifth Graders, over a hundred students have spent weeks in the Garden, pulling weeds, watering thirsty perennials, creating pathways and building a worm compost to feed the Garden! For some time now, this Living Library & Think Park Garden was needing some TLC, and starting in September it received some enthusiastic helping hands! Bean trellises were built, signs in both Spanish and English were made, and a beautiful mural depicting the relationship between humans and other forms of nature was painted on the stairwell of the Lower Garden.

A fantastic volunteer, Salvador from Chile, graced us with his construction skills and fixed many structures in the Garden. He helped to rebuild garden beds and lent his hand to bringing color and art into the environment ! Thank you, Salvador for all of your hard work!

bedprep-2 Growing spaces were rebuilt, soil amended and cultivated with seeds.

plantingbrassicas-3 4th and 5th Graders planting Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower and Kale.

beantrellis-2 Ms. Monica’s and Ms. P’s Kindergarten Classes planted the beans that quickly climbed up the trellis that the older students helped to erect.

Students learned all about worms in Ms. Kristin’s and Ms. Alex’s classes and then went on a scavenger hunt in the Living Library Garden looking for worms, leaves, grass and twigs to add to the worm compost they built.

bilingualsigns-2 bilingualsigns2-2 The majority of students at J.Serra are native Spanish speakers, so we wanted to make their Living Library Garden a bi-lingual space. Beautiful images and scientific terms surround the outdoor classroom

The Lower Garden at Junipero Serra is in bloom and students truly love spending time there. Their Living Library & Think Park is a year-round sanctuary for not only children, but for our wonderful pollinators like hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. The amount of imagination, smiles and laughs that are growing in this ecological and happy environment is enough to bring the roses to bloom and seeds to germinate. The young gardeners of Bernal Heights and the Mission District are busily transforming their Living Library & Think Park Garden into a magical space for humans and other forms of nature, while learning to plant seeds of kindness everywhere they go. Written by Alexandra Grubb

Posted by bonnieora in
A.L.L. Pedagogy, Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Jul '16

A.L.L. is Hiring! PreK-12 Garden / Ecology / Multi-Arts / Literacy / Nutrition Teachers

A Living Library is looking for awesome PreK-12 Garden / Ecology / Multi-Arts / Literacy / Nutrition Teachers in diverse locations, San Fransisco.

(Craigslist Post: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/npo/5679602884.html)

(more…)

Posted by bonnieora in
A.L.L. Pedagogy, Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park, Bernal Heights Living Library Nature Walk, Chinatown Living Library & Think Park, Islais Creek Watershed, OMI/Excelsior Living Library & Think Park

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Jul '16

A.L.L. is Planning New School Year Common Core Curriculum !

Every year, our A.L.L. Garden / Ecology / Multi-Arts / Literacy / Nutrition Teachers work diligently to create a relevant, standards-based, interdisciplinary, and fun, hands-on curriculum for students (PreK-12) and teachers, that meets national and state standards and also helps to improve the local environment of each school and neighborhood. In San Francisco, our school programs are based at 7 SFUSD schools in OMI/Excelsior, Bernal Heights, and Chinatown. Combined at these schools we work with over 1000 children and youth each month in hands-on learning, beginning with the very young children to those in high school.

(more…)

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Mar '16

Students Transform Street and Their School Adding To Living Library Nature Walk

During the month of February, 2016, people from different parts of California came together to transform a street and add to the Living Library Nature Walk on Bernal Heights in San Francisco. This ecological beautification project involved creating 12 new sidewalk garden beds on formerly sterile concrete sidewalks, and planting them with California Native Trees and Understory plants in front of Junipero Serra Elementary School on Holly Park Circle across from Holly Park. Bonnie Ora Sherk, Founder & Director of Life Frames, Inc. created the design for the planting, and then connected with the various San Francisco Departments that helped make it all possible. The California Strategic Growth Council generously provided the funding for the project as part of their grant for the full Living Library Nature Walk throughout the neighborhood that is linking multiple schools, parks, public housing, streets, and other open spaces leading to the currently hidden Islais Creek at the south side of St. Mary's Park. * Mar. 23, 2016 Blog Post

In December, 2015, the SF Department of Public Works, led by Urban Forester, Chris Buck, removed the concrete in order to create the new 12 garden beds - and enlarge some of the existing tree basins. SF Unified School District Landscape Department led by Rick Maia delivered compost from Recology in order to improve the soil quality in the new garden beds. Now it was time to get planting. 93 Students from Junipero Serra Elementary School led by A Living Library Teacher, Kristin DeRose took part in the planting. It was the students excitement and enthusiasm to help beautify their school that really moved the project forward. Once planting was complete, the SFUSD Landscape Department donated and delivered a huge pile of wood chips, which the students used to mulch the new garden beds. There were so many extra wood chips that the students mulched all of the trees on the block ! Through this whole, hands-on learning and transformation project, students discussed the importance of planting natives to improve air quality, increase water percolation, restore the natural Watershed, and re-attract native wildlife species to the area. They also learned about diverse native California plant species, drought tolerant plants, and how this street planting will help improve the quality of life in this neighborhood. The children were thrilled to be so empowered by their actions ! Students planted 5 trees, 18 native shrubs and 75 native Understory plants. We plan to keep continue planting on the side street bordering the school as part of the Nature Walk. * This Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park is a prototype for the whole Islais Creek Watershed, the largest in San Francisco that interconnects eleven communities: Bernal Heights, Portola, Crocker-Amazon, Excelsior, OMI, Sunnyside, Glen Park, Noe Valley, Mission, Potrero Hill, Bayview. It is envisioned that this Nature Walk will be expanded to connect these communities by developing a new, expressive, resilient landscape interconnecting them where they have been disconnected by freeways and other streets. We are also proposing that the Chavez/101 Freeway Interchange and the Alemany/101 Freeway Interchange become the Northern & Southern Gateways to the Islais Creek Watershed. Mar. 23, 2016 Blog Post