Tag: Civic Engagement

Carolina Jimenez worked with Rebar, an art and design studio which seeks to beautify the environment with large public art displays.

Carolina wrote about her experience with Rebar:

“This past summer I completed an apprenticeship at Rebar, a public art and design firm in San Francisco. I played a small role in a project in DC co-produced by the DC Office of Planning called a Cultural Art Crawl meant to showcase the diversity of an often overlooked neighborhood, and I was also placed on a project for a public arts wind sculpture in San Francisco. I worked on a model for the project and also completed various studies on how the blades could be shaped.

“This experience helped me realize that civic engagement comes in various forms. Design can be used to such ends as celebrating the culture of a community; it can be used in small scale projects, not only clients with large budgets. The wonderful thing about design is that by thinking creatively you can get so much more out of your resources than what they appear to possess at first glance.”

Amanda Shaffer volunteered for the Lions Club of Cranbury, a charitable organization that is one of many Lions Clubs International, a volunteer organization that spans 207 countries and involves 1.35 million volunteers, who help out in schools, hospitals, and senior centers, and many other community outlets. Amanda channeled her artistic skills in her volunteer work, creating collages that displayed volunteers at work, which she said was an eye-opening experience.

“Through making collages [for the Lions Club of Cranbury], I learned that I could use my art skills to benefit others. There are many different ways of helping the community, and this experience has shown me that civic engagement is not just volunteering in soup kitchens. I will try to find more activities that pertain to my area of study in the future.”

Why not earn civic engagement hours, participate in significant service and have fun in Syracuse’s Alternative Spring Break!

Molly Linhorst went to Washington D.C. where she volunteered with the Youth Service Opportunities Program, helping the hungry and homeless of the D.C. Metro area. Sponsored by the Office of Residence Life, this program allows students to spend their spring break involved in philanthropic efforts.

 Molly had this to say about her week in the nation’s capital:

 “As a political science student, I spent some of my time (successfully) hunting down Congressmen around the Congressional office buildings. But government certainly isn’t the only attraction in our nation’s capital. Make sure to walk the National Mall. The Mall (a long strip of monuments, not a shopping center) is particularly gorgeous at night. Some of my best ASB memories stem from midnight walks along the World War II Memorial.

 “Now let’s discuss the most important part of the trip: the service work. ASB has worked with the Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP) since the trip’s inception. YSOP organizes our work, designating where each service team will spend its day. YSOP is the central hub to the trip, and the staff has an answer for every question imaginable. They strive to help each participant understand the causes and consequences of homelessness through speakers, in-depth discussions, and a dinner night in which ASB participants cook and serve dinner to homeless attendees. YSOP encourages organic understanding and interaction with the homeless and hungry of D.C.

“I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. Spend a fun-filled week with new people and places. Explore a city. Change a life. Share a smile. Get civic engagement hours.”

To learn more about the Alternative Spring Break, contact Karess Gillespie in the Office of Residence Life.

 

Zachary Ranieri and Samuel Chertock worked with the Syracuse Public Art Commission, a group which seeks to contribute to the public art on display in Syracuse.

Samuel explained that “the mural consists of a heavily-pixelated image of the Erie Canal, upon which we adhered and spraypainted QR codes (which link to Syracuse-area art institutions and community service organizations).” And Zachary described the effect of this project in this way:

“The project helped me to further understand art as a tool which can bring communities together. People would frequently stop by and ask what we were working on, and share their thoughts about Syracuse in our conversations. The excitement people expressed was not something I expected, and it helped me to realize how art can be a powerful catalyst for exploring our culture and folk tradition. Public art can spark conversations, reveal knowledge, and bring out a community’s values; it is much more than an aesthetic contribution to the city. People talked about how Syracuse has fallen on hard times, of their hopes for its future, and how they missed the past, knowledge shared much more freely due to the mural. I learned from the experience, and I like to think that many more will learn things as a result of this mural’s completion.”

 

Ahnia Young volunteers with Sunshine Horses, Inc, a local non-profit organization that strives to find horses who have left the racing world “Forever Homes.” Their mission also includes “helping people to realize their own potentials as they help these horses on their journeys. Through youth programs and adult volunteer programs, we draw upon the strengths each participant brings to the program, and seek to provide personal growth and enrichment. Many program participants face unique challenges of their own, and can empathize and bond with our horses in a special way as they help prepare them for adoption.”

Ahnia had this to say about her experience:

“At Sunshine horses, my goal is to help give the horses the best possible chance of becoming adopted. Many of the horses at Sunshine come from the race tracks, others have been neglected or no longer have an owner that can devote the amount of time and money needed to care for a horse. Many of the horses have not been ridden as pleasure horses, or have not been ridden in a long time. I have a somewhat varied experience working with horses, I spent about 10 years at a bareback therapeutic riding stable, where I learned to train horses safely and gently. I strive to help the horses at Sunshine learn ground manners, lounging, and how to be a riding horse. I try to alleviate any fears that they might have, and teach them to be a responsive and enjoyable to ride. By making these horses safe for riders that are less experienced, I hope that I will increase the possibility that they can find homes.”

You don’t have to have all the riding experience that Ahnia does in order to help the horses; they also need help in horse care–chores such as feeding and pasturing horses, cleaning stall, and barn maintenance–and publicity which can help bring in potential adopters, and find ways for Sunshine to get more funds to support their horses.