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A Living Library = A. L. L.

Everyone and everything on Earth and in Space is part of A Living Library of diversity: people, birds, trees, air, water, and all the things we create, such as - parks, gardens, schools, curricula, artworks, networks, communities, celebrations. A Living Library, or, A.L.L., for short, provides a way to understand that culture and technology are part of nature. It’s all nature.

A Living Library provides a powerful systemic framework, multiple methodologies and strategies for creating place-based, ecological change in communities and schools - locally and globally.

A.L.L. integrates local resources - past, present, future - and transforms them with community, to become vibrant, content-rich, art-filled, ecological learning landscapes; each Branch linked to another.

Updated by @alivinglibrary

Recent Updates

Mar '12

Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk Celebrates Milestone

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The Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk celebrated a milestone on February 23 in St. Mary's Park with the planting of the 500th California Native Tree in the local parks by Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of SF Recreation and Park Department. Brandeis Hillel Day School 6th grade students, Founder & Director of Life Frames, Inc. & A Living Library, Bonnie Ora Sherk, the sponsor and designer of the Bernal Living Library Nature Walk, and funder of the project, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's, Glenn Flamik, planted additional trees in the park and all participated in the joyous 500th Tree Planting Ceremony.

Many teachers, students, city and community leaders also gathered and KTUV, San Francisco Chronicle, and World Journal in attendance, interviewed Rec and Park General Manager, Phil Ginsburg and Life Frames, Inc. Founder & Director, Bonnie Ora Sherk, to document this historic, sunny day.

See article in SF ChronicleBernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk           See article in World Journal公園局和「生命鏡框」合種500棵樹 Read more: 世界新聞網-北美華人社區新聞

To see more pics of this great event, check this link on our Facebook page:  More Photos from 500th Tree Planting

The Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk is linking schools, parks, public housing, streets, and other open spaces leading to the Islais Creek at the south end of St. Mary's Park. Close to 700 trees have been planted throughout the area and more planting is planned.

The next planting is on March 11, 10-2, at Holly Courts Public Housing, (Corner Appleton and Patton off Mission).

All are Welcome !!

Feb '12

Portable Parks Praised As Originator Of A Movement

Portable Parks and Bonnie Ora Sherk were recently cited and credited for the now popular Pop-up urbanism, or tactical urbanism as it’s sometimes called, in the Friday, February 24th national edition of Streetsblog Network.  Read article here:  Pop Up Urbanism: The Origin Of A Movement.

The author, Angie Schmitt, cites another article, Catching Up To 1970 from Pattern Cities, by Aurash Khawarzad with the quote:

Portable Park ll, June, 1970 - Otis & Duboce at Mission/Van Ness Offramp, San Francisco
                                                   
"Most urbanists haven’t heard of Bonnie Ora Sherk. Most people capitalizing off of the resurgence of pop-up architecture probably haven’t heard of her either, but she is actually one of the pioneers of “tactical urbanism,” “spontaneous interventions,” and the other forms of unsanctioned public space activity that are extremely important in today’s discourse over how public space is used and allocated.

Her interventions, titled “Portable Architecture,” began in 1970 by essentially doing what’s now known as Park(ing) Day around strategic points in San Francisco. This incredibly prescient intervention foreshadowed a theme in urbanism that would gain widespread support 30 years later: the culture of DIY, combined with place-making in city streets.

Ms. Ora Sherk’s original Portable Architecture installations revealed the potential for artists, and public art, to inspire improvements to infrastructure, but they also revealed the weakness in not skillfully connecting public art projects with how public space plans are developed and implemented.

40 years later, we have a chance to capitalize on the vision of what Ms. Ora Sherk presented to us in 1970. But in the meantime, she is working with graduate students at the Otis College of Art and Design to create a new series of Portable Architecture. See a video for their successful Kickstarter campaign below."

Feb '12

February 23rd – A Living Library’s 500th Tree Planting in Bernal Height’s St. Mary Park – 10:15 a.m

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You are cordially invited to join San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and Life Frames, Inc. for the 500th Tree Planting in the Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk in St. Mary’s Park. The event focuses on A Living Library’s milestone of planting 500 trees in San Francisco parks (Holly Park and St. Mary's Park)*.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

10:15 a.m.
SF Rec and Park Department General Manager, Phil Ginsburg and Life Frames, Inc. Founder & Director, Bonnie Ora Sherk welcome City and Community leaders, parks advocates and 6th grade students from Brandeis Hillel Day School.

10:30 a.m.
General Manager Phil Ginsburg and Brandies Hillel Day School 6th grade students plant the 500th tree in St. Mary’s Park.

BACKGROUND:
San Francisco Recreation and Park Department has been in partnership with Life Frames, Inc. since 2002, coordinating the Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk, that is linking local schools, parks, public housing, streets and other open spaces leading to the Islais Creek.  The goal is to connect people in a sustainable, ecological environment, and call attention to the importance of California Native Trees, the Islais Creek and Islais Creek Watershed.  This is part of SF Rec and Park’s overall efforts to foster civic participation as well as to encourage community stewardship of our local parks. Funding for the trees was provided by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.  Other city agency partners in this initiative include:  San Francisco Housing Authority, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco Department of Public Works, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

For more information about SF Rec and Park, please visit our website: www.sfrecpark.org, and for more information about A Living Library, please visit our new blog: www.alivinglibrary.org/blog

* NOTE:  We have already planted more than 600 trees cumulatively thus far within the whole Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk.  The next tree planting is Saturday, February 18, 10-2 pm at Holly Courts Public Housing,  Corner Patton and Appleton, off Mission Street).  All are Welcome !

A Living Library with all sectors of community, incorporates local resources  and transforms them to become vibrant, content-rich, ecological learning landscapes;  each Branch linked to another.

Feb '12

Portable Park lV = A Living Library Opens in Santa Monica, CA.

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Portable Park lV - past, present, future = A Living Library by Bonnie Ora Sherk opened on January 29 at Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica, CA. as part of The Getty Public Art & Performance Festival and PST.  This multi-sensory, living sculpture landscape, replete with sounds of singing birds and crickets, served as both metaphor and actual design in the shape of The Flower Unfolding.  The fragrant piece, viewed from above or from ground level had multiple evergreen and deciduous fruit trees, rose bushes, herbs, vegetables, and flowers. 

The piece which was an update from the original work, Portable Parks l - lll from 1970, was developed in conjunction with the MFA Public Practice Program of Otis College of Art & Design, and Karen Moss, Curator and Acting Chair of Otis.  High School Students from the Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences led by Pam Posey made beautifully painted fruits and flowers that were added to the bare branches of the deciduos fruit trees and rose bushes and labels for the Herb Lanes.

See link to the The Getty Website:  
Portable Park IV: Past, Present, Future = A Living Library

Read a review from the Santa Monica Mirror:  Portable Park At Santa Monica Place Through Sunday

And, have a look at some pictures of the artwork.  People of all ages seemed to enjoy it ! We hope you do too !

Jan '12

Portable Park lV – past, present, future = A Living Library featured on Kickstarter: Please Donate !

Portable Park lV - past, present, future = A Living Library is being installed in Santa Monica, California at Santa Monica Place, opening on January 27-February 5 as part of The Getty's Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival.

Curated by Karen Moss and developed with MFA Public Practice Students from Otis College of Art & Design, Portable Park lV - past, present, future = A Living Library brings a pioneering work by Bonnie Ora Sherk from the past, Portable Parks 1-111, into the present and future.

Please join us on Kickstarter to realize this new work.  Thank you for your donation !

Portable Park lV - past, present, future = A Living Library by Bonnie Ora Sherk & Students From Otis College of Art & Design

© 2024 Life Frames, Inc. & A Living Library

A Living Library, Life Frame, Think Park, & A.L.L. are registered trademarks

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