Stephanie Dinkins
Neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant
Medium: Mixed Media/Sculpture/Performance
Consistent with the themes of her larger body of work, which investigate literacy as something various and plural (from food literacy to street literacy to the literacy of language), Stephanie’s 2007 Create Change project placed books at its center. In addition to a free “bring one/take one” community book exchange, Stephanie built a bench made out of books that served as a stage for a public performance in which she quite literally sat and read. In the context of her Bed-Stuy neighborhood where the library had been closed for more than a year, there is only one bookstore for miles (versus the bounty of bodegas, and liquor stores), and those privileged enough to spend time in cafes quite often do so with computers and ipods in tow…the act of reading was quite possibly revolutionary.
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Sarah Kolker
Neighborhood: Harlem
Medium: Mosaic/Performance
Sarah enlisted the help of youth from the Association to Benefit Children (ABC) and the Pelham Fritz Recreation Center, along with 2006 Create Change artist, Rudy Shepherd to develop an object for their Harlem neighborhood. Sarah asked her young neighbors’ to record their visions for Harlem and/or themselves 30 years from now. They did just that via drawings and declarations like “In 10 years this city is going to belong to me!” written on plain ceramic tiles.Transforming these tiles, along with glass, mirrors,and other found objects, into a mosaic-pattern on a set of benches Rudy constructed of reclaimed wood, Sarah began this labor intensive process with the same group of children who helped to shape the benches' content. The completion of the benches, however, took place in front of two public spaces: The Laundry Room on 116th Street; and Pelham Fritz Recreation Center in Marcus Garvey Park.
[Bio][Create Change Portfolio] [Project Profile]