Post Office Boxes and other Small Delights...

Hundreds of small windows line two walls of the local post office. Some post boxes are big and some are small, but the view from within each stinks. The little panes of glass are painted black and framed by small dingy brass doors. I turned the key and saw small envelopes, two or three, a grey bank statement and a tiny pink envelope from the New Yorker, warning that my payment is overdue, but meaning a subscription renewal would be nice. I laughed and thought, "Tricky New Yorkers." And as I flipped through the pile, the last was a letter from the Ventura County Arts Council, VCAC typed on their letterhead in primary colors, the basics, white, yellow, blue, red.

On February 19 , 2010, I submitted a grant proposal to the Ventura County Arts Council. Their concept was to award grants to artists that are working to meet community needs. I am and I hope to be.

My grant synopsis is:

Project: Speaking Fragility to Create Confidence addresses Santa Paula families' low literacy levels through storytelling and parenting workshops. The project gives parents literacy tools and creates a body of short fiction cameos, recognizing families' power to support literacy and to raise community awareness of the need for parent education.

Yesterday, on April 21, 2010, I received the Grant Award Letter from VCAC. I am excited to execute the project, which will work with parents to create children's books for their preschoolers and I will create a body of work that reflects the strength, resilience and beauty in the Santa Paula Community. Woot woot. This whole art creation will be framed by parenting workshops in which the adults will learn how to support their children's literacy. Fantastic, no?

Bloggity, blog. I have decided to create a blog to document the grant process, from receiving the grant to the final production of a showcase at the Santa Paula Theater Center. All this, but more.

I have also decided to start theorizing and taking adventures and messing around with how Art, capital A, Art, can create social change, can form just communities, and can prove to meet our everyday needs, injustices. Just Art. Just Joseph. Booyah.

I started off this year, saying "this year we'll all do something great, we'll decide to help people, but not out there somewhere, but RIGHT HERE where we live." I think, I was right. Stay tuned and let me know how you'd like to help.

Oh, by the way, those of you that have pledged to contribute, it's time. I will be ironing out kinks with the online PayPal and posting a PO BOX to which you folks can mail checks. Thanks again. All Y'all are my heart.