Now more than ever, in the shadow of useless war and increasingly distanced styles of communication, we deserve community.  To speak stories, to debate, to laugh, cry, sing, heal, to play.

The great outpouring of sorrow over the closing of the original Jefferson market spoke to this need.  Within that created space, people felt they had a connection to their neighborhood  and a sense of pride and responsibility in keeping it supportive and healthy.   Neighbors who had never spoken to each other now took turns carpooling kids to  the art museum.  A group of transgendered, gay, and lesbian teens met to share coffee without having to be contextualized within the meeting spaces of PFLAG.  Losing that meeting space and the serendipity of who you might talk to on any given day (and where that might then take you) was a great blow.  The methods of sharing information are not always best served electronically; sometimes there is much lost in the absence of visual learning or hands-on learning.

The Yellow Barn Project serves a vital role in the community because it provides comprehensive support for emerging and under-recognized talent.  By removing the word, “artist”, an allowance is created to celebrate the childlike ingenuity and creativity embedded within each of us.  We wish to welcome voices that may have been overlooked, those that push boundaries and encourage social dialogue; to tell the stories we are in danger of losing, and to skill share, thus remembering what we forgot we knew. The Yellow Barn project seeks to break down boundaries, both internal and external, by creating a welcoming, comfortable healing space,  a space where possibility thrives.

Within this sphere, we hope to provide an intersection of common ground where people of various backgrounds and experiences may find themselves in conversation with those when they may not normally seek out or have in their circle of friends.  In this way, the seeds of understanding can be planted/provided.

We are specifically interested in ideas which embrace sustainability and reconstruction in the larger context of community groups working together towards a mutually beneficial end.

The structure is such:  Art Protem provides umbrella of non-profit status to The Yellow Barn Project.  The Yellow Barn Project hosts the Bizarre Dance the last Saturday of each month.  The Unihood Unification Project is a offshoot of the Bizarre Dance.  It has been very successful in both community volunteers/availability of resources and diversity in attendance.

The Bizarre Dance
The Bizarre Dance is a Healthy Fashion Salon that takes place the last Saturday of each month.  The first Bizarre Dance took place February, 2008 and we have had one each month consistently.  This un-couture fashion show invites “models” from the community to share their stories and diverse experiences, learning the common threads and emotions that tie us all together.  Models are diverse, from all strata and ages in our community and we encourage all to share their stories and come to the mic.

Bringing new energy and voices to the space, we celebrate the vibrant artistic scene that already exists in our community.

While this has been a great galvanizing event for the community, we hope to allow the Yellow Barn Project to grow and constantly be an evolving space, both in physical environment as well as the events that are creations of the Yellow Barn. This grant will allow us to bring the following projects to the greater Washtenaw community.

The Fancy Furniture Team
The goals of the Fancy Furniture Team:  Local YB Artists will form partnership with Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA) to stop excessively orphaned materials from being tossed to landfill that can be given new life quickly and new context by placing in an inspirational environment, at the Yellow Barn, with store open hours and where community events and workshops take place.  The Fancy Furniture Team will create a creative space furnished almost entirely with RAA objects and furniture which continuously rotates between the Yellow Barn and RAA until residing in the ownership of a community member. By creating dialogue between artists and RAA, we will address the capacity building issues they carry, such as declining sales, more competition of “green” businesses and decrease in new furniture donations.  Also addressing drop in donations, the YB artists will pick up furniture found in pickup truck adventures to add to the RAA collection. The relationship between YBP and RAA will allow RAA to build structure and understanding in order to work with other local businesses and nonprofits in the future to maximize material recovery.

The resources for this project are the ReUse Center and EnHouse Coordinator Jason Bing, and includes products he has created with interns out of orphaned materials.  The Fancy Furniture team currently consists of 6 artists from the YBP.  We have 2 pickup trucks available for regular use.  Britten Stringwell, in addition, has worked as the “sorter” for RAA for some months and works directly with owner to think of new creative ways believing it’d be more beneficial for all to sort collected goods and things being tossed to others.

We will draw an audience that would not normally or has not entered RAA, as well as those who live in the proximity of downtown, who may walk or bike to the YB.  We will target an audience who is confused why the RAA sells broken stuff.  We will introduce something new to those who feel compelled to ReUse an item but don?t know where to begin.

By pooling resources, in a constantly changing space, the ability to rotate locations of furniture between RAA and YBP, presents itself.  There is ample space to showcase what artists have re-created at the YB and space for artists to create these projects in.  By placing restored RAA items in new context by the Fancy Furniture Team, revenue will generate for both local artists and RAA.

From the Farm
The goals of From the farm are threefold: to create ready to use urban edible gardens for planting, to create day-long farm retreats that nurture city youth in farm skills, and to host an event to share “CSA by cycle”, an independent film about two past ann arborites who took a bicycle trip from Tipton, MI to Traverse City, visiting and recording the stories of the farms that are designated community supported agriculture.

Urban Garden Ready Made?
In a way, it is a return to the Victory gardens of yesteryear, with a twist. The seedlings will be packaged according to soil types so that people will be able to utilize what is most efficient for their gardens to produce.  The kits could be picked up during Yellow Barn open community hours or home delivered by Britten, Kim, or Bill by bicycle. Instructions will be included or consultations may be arranged to assist with planting.