Working Together in Shelby Park
“Working Together,” a mixed media project conceived by art therapist Jennifer Leach, was a collaborative process between Leach’s professional practice, ArtForms, and the participants and staff of the Metro Parks’ Summer Camp program at Shelby Park Community Center. The budding artists were tasked with the completion of a 100-link chain composed of everyday elements.
The project began with the question, “How are you working together with your neighbors to build a stronger community?” This led participants to discover that they were stronger when working together, and that diversity amongst the smaller links symbolized the uniqueness of each artist.
Before all the links were put together to form one continuos link, small parts of it were on display at local businesses and organizations, including Galerie Hertz, DJ Bargain Box, Smoketown USA, Lynn’s Paradise Cafe, Dages Paint, The 930 Art Center, Quills Coffee, Wild and Woolly Video, Preston Arts Center and The Highlands-Shelby Park Library.
The completed chain is currently on display in the Shelby Park Community Center, 600 E. Oak St. Pictured here are Jennifer Leach, center, with a few of the art project participants; from left, Jayla Martin, 8, Evan Fox, 6, and Jayla’s twin brother Jayden Martin, 8.
The project was completed on July 13.
Radio Eye and KY NFB-NEWSLINE to Bring Radio Services Statewide
Radio Eye, Kentucky’s only radio reading and information service for those who are visually impaired or physically disabled, is proud to announce their recent partnership with KY NFB-NEWSLINE, the only state and national telephone reading service for the blind and print-impaired.
Through this partnership, Radio Eye’s 24-hour broadcast will be available to KY NFB-NEWSLINE’s 2,000 registered subscribers, as well as approximately 300,000 eligible subscribers, across the state. According to Pamela Roark-Glisson, Executive Director of Independence Place, Inc. (Lexington’s local KY NFB-NEWSLINE affiliate), the collaboration will give subscribers more choice in how they are able to access print information and will provide users of both services greater access to job searches and other resources.
Radio Eye Executive Director Amy Hatter says, “Until recently, our broadcast has only been able to reach Central Kentucky and the Louisville area. We’re very pleased to have this opportunity to bring our broadcast statewide.”
Radio Eye broadcasts live and recorded readings of newspapers and other printed material (including The Highlander) to those who are blind, visually impaired or physically handicapped. The broadcast reaches approximately 6,000 listeners within a 60-mile radius of Lexington and a 50-mile radius of Louisville.
NFB-NEWSLINE is a free accessible electronic information service that provides any blind, visually impaired or print disabled person access to newspapers, magazines and TV listings at anytime by using a Touch-Tone telephone or iPhone Mobile Newsline App, via computer online or by downloading to a portable MP3 device.
Radio Eye continues to maintain their radio broadcast via sub-carrier authorization frequencies of WUKY in Lexington and WUOL in Kentucky. For more information, visit www.radioeye.org.
Good Folk Fest
Good Folk Fest, a three-day festival of contemporary folk art, will take place November 2-4 at The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage on the corner of 18th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard. The event expects to feature over 80 visual artists and 24 performers.
The festival is a grassroots project in which new materials and techniques merge with older traditions to take on the forms of art and music. The festival explores the questions: How has the modern age determined the materials we use to express ourselves? Do crafting traditions still exist and are they being handed down to future generations?
Artists and musicians who may fit within the theme of the Good Folk Fest are encouraged to download an artist application at the festival website, www.junkabillyart.com. The application deadline is September 20, 2012.
Volunteers Needed for Nursing Home Visits
The KIPDA Long Term Care Ombudsman Program needs volunteers to visit area nursing homes and check on residents once a week to see if they are receiving the care they deserve. Training is provided. The program serves 76 nursing homes in seven counties. To volunteer, call (502) 637-9786
KIPDA is designated by the Kentucky State Clearinghouse as the regional review agency for virtually all applications for federal and/or state funds made by organizations or governments within the state of Kentucky.
WaterStep Purchases Building in Old Louisville
WaterStep, a nonprofit organization working to save lives at risk from waterborne illness around the world, has purchased a 38,000-square-foot building in Old Louisville that will serve as the organization’s headquarters beginning this fall.
Vacant for over six years, the building, at 625 Myrtle St., needs cosmetic and capital improvements, including a new roof and the build out of office, warehouse and manufacturing space to meet the organization’s needs. WaterStep plans to complete renovations and begin operating in the new facility by the first full weekend in October, just in time for the 2012 St. James Art Show, which draws thousands of people to the neighborhood each year.
WaterStep has outgrown their current 10,000-square-foot facility at 1500 Arlington Ave. The additional space in the new building will allow the organization to increase its training programs and manufacture of their water tools. WaterStep (formerly known as EDGE Outreach), provides safe drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people in developing communities and disaster areas in more than 23 countries including Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, India, Pakistan, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.
Neighboring businesses and residents are happy to see someone take on the revitalization of the property. “I am so pleased that WaterStep will bring new positive energy to the neighborhood,” says Patricia Davidson, President of Aztec Flooring, Inc., located at 626 Myrtle St. “It is so nice to have an organization step up to renovate and utilize this building, which had become an eyesore in this fabulous Old Louisville community.”
WaterStep is currently seeking donations and funding to support the capital improvements needed for the new facility. For more information, call (502) 568-6342 or visit www.waterstep.org.
Presbyterian Homes Constructing New Unit
On August 6, Presbyterian Homes of Louisville began construction on a new, 8,000-square-foot transitional care unit in the Westminster Health Care Centre, 2116 Buechel Bank Road. The center currently provides short-term rehabilitation and skilled long-term nursing. The goal of the new unit is to help reduce readmissions to hospitals through education and advanced therapies.
The new unit will have nine private suites and five semi-private rooms and will also feature a therapy gym. Staff will be specially trained in educating patients on chronic conditions such as heart failure, acute MI (heart attack), pneumonia and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). They will also provide treatment for bariatric patients.
“Early intervention and prevention of complications or disease exacerbation require transparency between providers,” says Craig Jennings, Executive Director of Presbyterian Homes of Louisville. “We are becoming more proactive rather than reactive to managing the elderly and chronic illness. This puts us on the right path.”
Construction of the transitional care unit is expected to take six weeks. For more information about Presbyterian Homes of Louisville, call (502) 499-9383 or visit www.phsk.org.
NatureScape Applications Now Available
Brightside, a partnership that merges the resources of Metro government with those of private citizens to keep our community clean and green, is accepting applications for NatureScape grants. The grants assist neighborhood groups and other nonprofits in creating community gardens, outdoor classrooms or beautification projects. For more information or an application, visit www.brightsideinc.org. Applications are due by October 12 at 4 p.m.
For information about sponsorship opportunities, call Julie at (502) 574-2613.
Nulu Homeroom Offers Workshops in September
The NuLu Homeroom is now open for learning. The space, at 201 S. Shelby St., Suite 209, is dedicated to promoting creativity, untapped abilities, effective communication and happiness.
Founded in 2012 by Courtney Snyder, MD, a self-taught artist and educator (and psychiatrist by background), NuLu Homeroom provides contemporary research and tools for people interested in personal and professional development. Workshops are available for adults, parents, children and teens.
In September, Snyder will present workshops that deal with how our living spaces impact our inner world, the creative process, and strategies for harnessing creativity. For more information, visit www.nuluhomeroom.com or call (502) 608-9948.
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