All posts tagged: Community mosaic making

Möckernkiez Community Mosaik

Published by gertrud

(for English see bottom of blog) „ Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass meine Nachbarn so schöne Gestaltungen hervorbringen könnten. Jetzt sehe ich manche von ihnen mit ganz neuen Augen.“ sagte mir eine Bewohnerin und Teilnehmerin am Mosaik Projekt während der Eröffnung des ersten Teils des Community Mosaiks für Haus 1 im Möckernkiez in Berlin Kreuzberg. 32 Bewohner*innen aus den insgesamt 22 Wohnungen die den Aufgang A täglich benutzen, gestalteten jede*r eine Mosaik-Kachel. Am 5. Mai wurden die Mosaik-Kacheln von mir und 3 weiteren Helfern aus dem Haus im Eingangsbereich als Fries installiert. Am Samstag 6. Mai, war das gemeinsame Verfugen angesetzt. Leider hatte sich niemand in die Liste der Helfenden eingetragen. Wir „Installateure“, noch müde von der Konzentration und physischen Anstrengung am Vortag, waren besorgt. Würden wir es schaffen, das Mosaik zu verfugen und zu reinigen vor der für 15 Uhr geplanten Einweihung? Wir starteten, den Fugenmörtel anzurühren. Und siehe da eine Nachbarin kam, dann eine zweite und um 11 Uhr hatte ich nicht mehr genug Handschuhe und Spachtel sodass alle gleichzeitig mitmachen könnten. Es …

Of checkers, flowers and hummingbirds

Published by gertrud

Yesterday afternoon at the Muzzio mosaic workshop the bell rang. It always rings when one of the 4×8” (1x2m) mosaic boards is finished. Everyone stood in awe around the table. The mosaic depicts symbols of 3 cultures: a brown and black checkered and a green thiestel head for  Scotland, blue pastell colored flowers on a white background standing for Sweden and a sparkling humming bird representing the Amah Mutsun culture which were the Indian population that lived here around Watsonville for thousands of years before the Spanish came. The population of Watsonville is characterized by many waves of immigrants that came to work in the agricultural industry since centuries. People from all over the world were drawn to California to make a better living through manual labour on the fields. Now the population of  Watsonville is 85% Mexican. From a small exhibition about the history of immigration and agriculture at the Watsonville public library I took this quote:   This is a 5 year community art project to decorate the city garage entirely with mosaics featuring …

This little town of mine let it shine

Published by gertrud

…. this verse slightly altered from a song I once sang with my choir comes to my mind being around Kathleen Crocetti and her mosaic projects in Watsonville. Her dream is to make Watsonville the Barcelona of California together with the young community of the 50.000 inhabitants of a small agriculture town situated in the fertile back garden of Monterey Bay/California. A lot of nutrition is produced and exported here on large farms with immigrants hands. Strawberries, lettuce, artichokes, apples you name it have been tended to since over 100 years by many groups of immigrant workers. Some stayed. At the moment 85% of Watsonville’s population is of Mexican heritage. Still the average income here is a quarter less than that of near by Santa Cruz/CA. The difference in between pitoresque coast dwellings like Monterey or Carmel and Watsonville is striking on first sight. In the coast cities individual wealth designs beautiful cost homes and inviting shop fronts and brings in enough tax money to make sturdy wooden public walkways with views of the beautiful …