BRACE: Building Research + Architecture + Community Exchange

10/08/2016

We would like to thank all our benefactors, team members and volunteers for making the Tilt-Down Fence such a successful project. Here is our official list of donors, volunteers, sponsors, board of officers, project team, and textile designers. We would like to especially thank John Horner, who is a photographer who donated his time to take stunning final installation photos of the Tilt-Down Fence. Check out more of Horner’s work here: http://www.johnhornerphotography.com

The Tilt-Down Fence project was featured by several local news outlets. We were happy to see so much discussion around the project:
Boston Herald:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/09/art_exhibit_aims_to_inspire_fields_corner_community

Dorchester Reporterr:
http://www.dotnews.com/2016/public-art-fields-corner-t-station-provides-pleasant-wait-buses

Our RISD, an official blog for the Rhode Island School of Design:
http://our.risd.edu/post/150320078184/public-art-sparks-timely-discussion

Sampan 舢舨, a local Newspaper:
http://sampan.org/2016/09/public-art-installation-on-families-and-immigration-at-fields-corner-in-september/

Universal Hub:
http://www.universalhub.com/2016/art-stage-pops-fields-corner

Please consider purchasing the Tilt-Down Fence featured publication, "The Ladder Falls and Forms a Bridge." The book is a collection of children's poems telling stories of immigrants, with poetry by Tzu-Yu Su, and beautiful illustrations by Gina Baek: https://www.amazon.com/Ladder-Falls-Forms-Bridge/dp/1367246210/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1474484879&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ladder+falls+and+forms+a+bridge

09/30/2016

On Saturday, we had a wonderful turnout at our grand finale event. We are grateful to our team of designers, volunteers, and generous donors that made the project possible. Community members came from all over Dorchester. We would like to give a special thank you to Alexandra from the All Dorchester Sports League (ADSL), Leslie MacWeeney from Living Art with Friends and her student volunteers, and Author Tzu-Yu Su for making the event a big success.
We launched our featured publication for the Tilt-Down Fence project titled, “The Ladder Falls and Forms a Bridge.” The heartfelt poems were written by our trusted friend and author Tzu-Yu Su, and the beautiful illustrations were done by Gina Baek. The ice cream from Chill on Park was also a huge hit! Thank you to everyone who came out!

09/23/2016

Tomorrow is the big day! Come join us at the Grand Finale for the Tilt-Down Fence beginning at 10AM. Along with our previously listed events, we will also be having Board Games with teens from the All Dorchester Sports League (ADSL)....so don't forget to bring your lively competitive spirit :)
We also have:
-LAUNCH of Tilt-Down Fence featured book: The Ladder Falls and Forms a Bridge, a collection of children's poems telling stories of immigrants that is translated into Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. With poems written by Tzu-Yu Su, illustrations by Gina Baek.
-Giant Puppet Walk from the Puppeteer's Collective
-Children's Art Activities with Leslie Macweeney from Living Art with Friends
-Children's Poetry Readings with Tzu-Yu Su at 11AM
We hope to see you there! Let us know if you can come: https://www.facebook.com/events/1789664034614480/

09/21/2016

It's finally here! Tilt-Down Fence project featured book "The Ladder Falls and Forms a Bridge" The book is a collection of children's poems telling stories of immigrants and was translated into Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The poems was written by Tzu-Yu Su, and the beautiful illustration was done by Gina Baek. The book is available on Amazon with the link: https://www.amazon.com/Ladder-Falls-Forms-Bridge/dp/1367246210/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1474484879&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ladder+falls+and+forms+a+bridge. Here's the excerpt from one of the poems:

I don’t like how I sound, mom
Dear, you have a strong tongue, that can speak English and chew your parents’ accent,
Proud you should be, and keep your head up

I don’t like my fingers, mom
Dear, you have stout hands, that help with the chores and learn new knowledge,
Proud you should be, and keep your head up

I don’t like my eyes, mom
Dear, you have a vision broad and far, that has seen this land and your ancestor’s homeland,
Proud you should be, and keep your head up

I don’t like my figure, mom
Dear, you have a stout figure, that supports you for work and your dignity for life
Proud you should be, and keep your head up

I think I like myself, mom
I like my accent,
I like my fingers,
I like my eyes,
I like my figure,
And above all, I like you very very very much
Proud I will be, and keep my head up

09/21/2016

We had a wonderful turnout at our third event at the Tilt-Down Fence on Saturday! We would like to give a huge thank you to Bobby and Cathy from Action for Boston Community Development's (ABCD) Dorchester location for coming to inform the community about the free services available to Dorchester residents. For more info check out their website: https://bostonabcd.org
Another highlight was the volunteers that showed up from Compassion Boston as giant puppets! Be sure to come to our grand finale this Saturday at 11AM.

09/15/2016

Tilt-Down Fence: Successful Second Event!

After a great turnout at the Tilt-Down Fence Opening, we were happy to see another pleasant crowd last Saturday, September 10th!

Miss Cindy from the Fields Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library came and told stories to a captivated audience of children from the community. Her storytelling was theatrical, engaging and incredibly enthusiastic. We were glad to have her. We also had Director Alejandra St. Guillen from the Mayor’s Office of Immigration Advancement and Ich Luong from the Vietnamese American Civic Association (VACA) join us. Alejandra hosted a Question & Answer session to Dorchester residents about the free services and support systems available to them.

We would like to give a big thank you to Miss Cindy, Alejandra St. Guillen and Ich Luong for making the event a great success.

Please join us for our next event this Saturday September 17 from 11AM - 12PM at the Tilt-Down Fence! The Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) will be holding an info session. Please note that this week's event starts at 11AM. Come learn about what’s happening in your community and bring your ideas. We hope to see you there!

09/13/2016

Check out the feature about on the Our RISD blog about professor and B+A+CE founder Hansy Better Barraza’s leadership in the project, as well as RISD textile artists Michelle Dunbar (RISD BFA Textiles 16’) and Isabelle Camarra’s (RISD BFA Textiles 17’) involvement: http://our.risd.edu/post/150320078184/public-art-sparks-timely-discussion

Dunbar and Camarra are the Textile Designer’s whose skills and creativity helped bring the Tilt-Down Fence to life. We would like to also extend our gratitude to the phenomenal efforts of the rest of our team. Our project manager, Iris Kim is a RISD architecture student who was instrumental in the planning and management of the project, alongside BR+A+CE Co-founder Anthony Piermarini.

In total, we had a team of over twelve RISD and Brown University students and recent alumni serve as production volunteers to help us bring the Tilt-Down fence to fruition. We would like to sincerely thank our volunteers: Lyza Baum (RISD Textiles ’16), Jenyea Tiffany Chan, (RISD MArch ’16), Dane Clark (RISD MArch ’15), Talia Connelly (RISD Textiles ’17), Ariana Lee (Brown ’15), Sandra Lopez (RISD Textiles ’17), Celeste Martinez (RISD MArch ’16), Mark Roh, (RISD Architecture BArch ’17), Siena Smith (RISD Textiles ’18), Tzu-Yu Su, (RISD Architecture MArch ’16), Ivan Inhwan Tae, (RISD Architecture BArch ’17), Jennifer Vincent (Brown ’13), Cissy Yuan, (RISD Industrial Design ’17)

The Tilt-Down Fence, the latest public art installation spearheaded by Professor of Architecture Hansy Better Barraza, has been drawing crowds of curious community members and plenty of press since it...

09/07/2016

Come join us this Saturday, Sep 10, at 10AM with the following events:

- Children stories with Miss Cindy from the Fields Corner Branch of the
Boston Public Library
- Vietnamese American Civic Association (VACA) info session
- Immigration Advancement Office Info session (Q+A and resources)

See you at 496 Geneva Ave, close to the Fields Corner Station or get off at the bus stop Fields Corner Station at Geneva Ave.

09/07/2016

Flash back on Saturday's Tilt-Down Fence Opening Event! We would like to thank again Viet-AID, VACA (Vietnamese American Civic Association), Thang Long for providing the delicious Vietnamese sandwiches, Puppeteer's Cooperative, Leslie Macweeney from Living Art and local puppeteers artists, Chill on Park for the ice cream, and to the local Dorchester residents at large who joined us for the grand opening.

09/03/2016

We would like to thank the Boston Herald and Kathleen McKiernan for today's write up on the Tilt-Down Fence Public Art installation: Read all about it! http://www.bostonherald.com/users/kathleen_mckiernan

09/03/2016

Tilt-Down Fence Opening tomorrow at 10AM! Come join us at 496 Geneva Ave, by the Fields Corner Station on the Geneva Avenue/Vinson Street intersection! The Tilt-Down fence is installed on the bus stop island greenway and we will serve free ice cream(donated from Chill on Park), have activities for young children(with Leslie MacWeeney from Living Art), giant puppet masks (from Puppeteer's Cooperative) and be joined by the VACA and Thang Long!

We would like to give a special shout out to Chris Harding and the Dorchester Reporter for featuring us! Please find the article below:
http://www.dotnews.com/2016/public-art-fields-corner-t-station-provides-pleasant-wait-buses

And finally, A special shout out + thanks to Kamran Zahedi and Kara Brickman for their donations via Indieogo! We were able to finish our Indiegogo fundraiser with 49% of our goal raised at $3,265! Thank you to everyone who participated!

09/01/2016

ONE DAY LEFT ON OUR INDIEGOGO FUNDRAISER!!!!
We have raised $2,240, 34% of our goal!!! If you haven't already, PLEASE support The-Tilt-Down Fence via our Indiegogo website below!

We would like to thank Jeff Asanza, Eric Shaw, Hanhan Luo, and Kristen Giannattasio for their support via Indiegogo! You can donate through the link below:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tilt-down-fence-coming-to-dorchester-in-sept-2016-community #/backers

Our latest donation is from the new established "Opportunity Fund" through Boston Creates, a new program from the City! They have awarded BR+A+CE with a funding of $1,000! Read more about the pilot grant program from Boston Creates' cultural plan below:
http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2016/08/12/boston-creates-spawns-artist-funding/

Help BR+A+CE fabricate the public art installation Tilt-Down Fence in Dorchester, MA by Sept.3rd! | Crowdfunding is a democratic way to support the fundraising needs of your community. Make a contribution today!