pumped about planning

so...i've recently gotten a fire lit under me about planning...for many reasons. i mean, i've known for a long time even as an architecture student that i was less interested in the object i was designing than the physical and social context in which it was going to be integrated. however lately its been becoming urgent for me.

recently ran across this exhibition and programming "just space(s)" about spatial justice organized by ava bromberg (one of many i interviewed for my thesis). not a term that i knew when i was doing my thesis...but there appears to have been writing on the subject for more than 3 decades...and a good way to frame my work if i can ever fully delve back into it...=(. i've got stuff planned to explore+organize in my 'hood, but btwn F/T work + F/T motherhood the mental space is just...i dunno. cramped.i'm starting to think the only way to really do so it to get into a F/T planning program so...we'll see. don't want to just be doing the 'woulda coulda shoulda' thing 4ever. ya know?

in the meantime, i'm pondering submitting to the UCLA journal "critical planning" and perhaps this spatial justice conference in march.

we.shall.see.

"handing out vouchers like halloween candy"

a friend of mine is coming to town next week who's doing research on the "transformation" of public housing...he hipped me to this tour:

ghetto bus tour

i might check it out...

a few things...

andres' students are working on this blog and an exhibit opening this week at saic's G2 inspired by the public housing museum that the jane addams hull house is leading the effort to create.

check out "green high" on the dwell daily blog. this is THE curriculum that students in the architecture program that I run use. work on the sequel begins soon and i'm excited to be a part of it =)

lastly, blog of a friend (whom we recently became patrons of!):rebel arte: "liberation logic and subversive survival strategies"...i think that is my favorite tagline of all time =).

news you can use

interesting project involving creating portable furniture with people in prison.

more on community arts network.

also...short notice but tomorrow is National parking day! taking back private space for public use.Join The Trust for Public Land for a National Park(ing) Day event near you, and turn a metered public parking spot into a public park!

National Park(ing) Day - Friday, September 21, 2007 - is a series of public art projects nationwide to celebrate parks and promote the need for more parks in America's cities. check it out here.

wish i could see you there

wish i was in NY for the opening of:

THE COPENHAGEN EXPERIMENTS

5 New Architectural Species from the Danish Welfare State
by Bjarke Ingels Group

An exhibition at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, NYC
Oct 2 2007 – Nov 24 2007, Opening on Oct. 2nd at 6:30pm

The exhibition presents projects that are all specific urban experiments conducted in Copenhagen since January 2001 by Bjarke Ingels Group *. At different stages of realization they portray a new breed of urban life forms, both locally specific and generally applicable, introducing residential diversity, programmatic alchemy, urban ascension, modular mania and political pro-action into the architectural species of the Danish welfare state. The projects in the exhibition are the VM Houses, the Mountain Dwellings, the Scala Tower , Kløverkarréen, and the LEGO Towers .

The projects represents 5 specific takes on human accommodation and shows how the potent urban mix of different functions, public and private, can be infused directly into architecture itself. Each project’s effect and reception is showcased dependant on to what extent it is already manifest in the public realm, ranging from images of life in the VM houses post-occupation, through the 250.000 piece LEGO model inhabited by 1000 LEGO people, to the excessive political debate about Kløverkarreen.

glad I'll be here for the next round of PECHA KUCHA!!! on the 25th. See you there!

back date...

if i knew how, i'd back date this for 7.24 which is when i intended to post it:

So I was at a benefit for Project Osmosis (youth design mentorship) on Friday night...where two exciting things happened. A) my hubby got an award...yay! and B) Vincent Paglione dean at UIC got an award and in his speech said something that hit home with me and i wish i heard a lot more often.

he said that the biggest, hottest issues of our time are sustainability and within that natural resources management. he went on to say that what is often neglected within those conversations, design or ecological is that people are integral to sustaining life on earth and YOUTH are our one of our biggest natural resources. nuff said. it was one of those "he had me at hello" moments. i'm always trying to justify why i do the work that i do...why its important and how it fits into these current issues within the design, community development and sustainability conversations. and there it is. sustainability is about preservation and ensuring life for future generations. what better way to ensure that than honoring, empowering and cultivating youth leadership...in design, in the environment...in everything.

stuff

currently working on submissions for a new journal of urbanism I got an email about.

and also this art+design for social justice symposium:

According to the link, The symposium focuses on how the tools and inherent abilities within the areas of art and design can be utilized in addressing issues confronting less advantaged groups within our local communities, states, regions or world. Somehow they have worked in an emphasis on aging...i'm not sure if i get that one i think they pick one 'social issue' a year for instance last years was about homelessness...i'm still going to send the stuff in.

and just finished a course proposals for marwen foundation which seems to be going toward acceptance.

check out: links galore in guerilla interventions here

and i ran across an interesting class 'social architectures':Interventionist Art, Social Design, and Cultural Change at UC San Diego. this looks like something i could maybe teach were i ever to be so lucky to land a faculty position...even adjunct.

contemplating ph.d....i know....i know...

Unexpected Value

upon the invitation of public allies, a leadership development program which i am a 10th yr alum of i spent the last two days in a training on fundraising facilitated by the Grassroots Institute for fundraising training. i was sort of ambivalent about going to this training even though i voluntarily registered for it. i guess i was thinking that it never hurts to pick up a new skill. a fundraiser i am not, a fundraiser is not something i've ever had the desire to become and furthermore who isn't perpetually annoyed by being asked for money right? but hey, i'll go and see what knowledge i could gain....there are initiatives within my own job that i don't have the funding to do and i have my own ideas for organizations and social enterprises and can't do it for free. what i wasn't prepared for and was pleasantly delighted by was the paradigm shift and analysis of the political framework of money + fundraising. we even had an exercise where we examined our first memories of money and where our fear of asking for it comes from. i shared with my partner about my first memory being when i was about 7 when my parents finally got divorced after several years of separation. we spent some time without utilities and it was the first time i understood that you needed money for almost everything. my mom told us that we were going through Jedi training so what could have been a really embarrassing and uncomfortable experience got shifted in our minds to something special and fun. so, it was also a time when i learned that you do NOT need money to have fun or be happy. anyway,

the biggest things i walked away with were:

a) working class people give more of a percentage of their money than wealthy people
b) people who give usually give to 7 causes or organizations.
c) i too am a philanthropist! this year already i have given over 1500 to 5 orgs.
d) more giving comes from individual donors than foundations or corporations
e) we need to OWN our own liberation and not depend on capitalist enterprise to fund social change.

i connected with some interesting folks. and had some compelling conversations about the impact that public allies alum are having and could have. one thing of interest i found was that at this event, in the context of mostly community organizers i felt (either because of my own self consciousness or because of the quizzical looks following my introduction of name and employer) obligated to explain what working in public education has to do with social change. this seems odd since there is an education for liberation conference going on right now that many of the same people will be attending...but still, i followed with "I'm doing this because i want to connect students studying architecture and construction in their schools to neighborhood redevelopment corporations in the same community so that students can become engaged in the physical redevelopment of their communities...eventually, i'd like to work with youth to start a youth-advised-oriented development corporation that designs + builds affordable housing in re-developing areas." i don't know, maybe i was telling myself as much as telling others what my purpose is and how its related to the grassroots struggle. education is as much an empowerment issue as any other, employment is not just about capitalism but about empowerment too...we can talk about all the social justice we want but if people don't have jobs and aren't able to put food on the table...its hard to get people to hear what you're talking about...and housing. whoa. one of THE most critical issues. i was even listening to a program about ending violence against women and girls and it was noted that the SINGLE most important factor in a woman or girl exiting protitution is access to but safe and affordable housing. that really hit me. not trying to get off on a tangent but its true...as activists we cant just take the outsider approach to everything. we have to work both within existing systems+institutions+policies to push agendas of change as well as outside those paradigms. we also have to invest in our own issues...and not just with time.

archecamp

so. i have to do an "externship" for work in my program areas of architecture, construction so i'm thinking of doing this...inaugural design/build archecamp that archeworks does. its going to be led by Randy Kober of anarchitectures. looks like good times. it results in a small structure installed at franconia sculpture park in minnesota. if you care to join, i hope to see you there!

so late...

i know. i'm totally getting my blogging card revoked for endless stagnation. well whatever i'm back for at least a moment!

pecha kucha was friggin AWESOME. i presented the typology for 'direct action activist architecture' that i did during thesis and am writing a chapter on for a book on placemaking forthcoming from Dr. Sharon Sutton and Dr. Susan Kemp. Martyrs turned out to be a great venue. the crowd was very supportive. food and drinks were abound so it was a chill atmosphere...and my sweaty palms and nausea prior were totally uneccessary. the tech guy from visualized concepts was AMAZING (and just announced to me today that I was too creative to be administrating..i think that was a compliment.ha!)...presentations were diverse and transdisciplinary which allowed for never a dull moment. my favorites from the group were:

mark teer, who presented an installation/performance piece with this 'apparatus' that responded to the body's movements (sorry I know I'm butchering that description) but it was quite lovely and innovative.

cody hudson, who of course andres was enthralled in and schooled me on prior to the event because he so enjoys this genre of artwork. my favorite project was one where he used a conglomerate of images of signage from various communities into a new composition and titled them by zip code. i totally want to see if he did one from my hood. not likely because its LITERALLY the hood but hey i might ask.

peter exley, who's work as i mentioned before i very much appreciate and admire. mostly because i think that A) design for children is a critical need area...speaking as an employee of the public school system, as a parent and also from I guess someone who is sensitive to environmental psychology issuesa. B) design for children is so often obnoxious and "dumbed" down as if children are idiots. he and his partner do it in a sophisticated way that is both child appropriate and adult friendly as well.

a guy who's name escapes me because he was added last minute (maybe his last name was BEER?...no seriously this is not the liquor talking) but who had a VERY compelling project proposal on the israeli|palestinian border and then of course...

mark dytham which i was most stricken by the pet architecture-esque "billboard" building and the heidi house (built for 200,000). This in particular because I spent the last week or so ago totally engrossed in a grant proposal to the state for a design|build and dual credit program for arch and construction students in which they would design and build a house and get a certificate from a local trade school for carpentry. i'm interested in how to do this with compelling design but affordably. looks like so far the dual credit is most fundable but i will continue to seek funding sources and inkind opportunities to make this happen.

on another note, how sad am i that i am not in NewO right now for what I'm guessing is going to be a conference of all conferences ADPSR, ACD, Planners Network etc. we REALLY wanted to make it down...however between kindergarten graduation (YAY!!!) and the end of the school year at CPS AND the opening events of the Newhouse highschool architecture competition which is managed by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (and their ROCKSTAR education specialist Krisann Rehbein) but ultilizes students from the city-wide architecture and construction programs that i oversee...it just wasn't going to happen. If you're in Chicago though go check out in particular the 25th anniversary exhibit in which there are 25 stories of alumni from this program who have ended up working in architecture...this is 25 out of hundreds. This program is becoming more and more progressive and I am so excited to see where it goes from here.

pecha who? pecha what?

PECHA KUCHA! So how mystical is it that my beloved hubster was just explaining to me the concept of Pecha Kucha last week...and then today I get an invitation to present at the inaugural Chicago Pecha Kucha night on May 29th! I am beyond excited...and totally honored that someone thought of me. I'm further delighted that the "someone" is Peter Exley of Architecture is Fun! I've totally admired their work, both from the design standpoint (children's environments), philosophy (mixing architecture + education), and at least at surface level their business model...the whole husband-wife team, doing what you love, making a difference...complete package. love it. and can't wait for pecha kucha!

Green Carnival

I met with a class of students a week or more ago at the School of the Art Institute. This particular class is working on sustainability in arts education and community development. They are working with an elementary school in East Garfield Park (a rapidly gentrifying area on the west side of chicago) on a variety of projects. the one they wanted to involve me in is installing a green roof at an elementary school...I hope to get some horticulture students involved in the project as I try to make the case for building a landscape architecture arm of the programs i work with. anyway...the conversation stretched into doing other environmentally based and quasi architectural interventions...like a solar energy collecting pavillion housing a marketplace etc. the students interested in this were discouraged by some potential partners about doing permanent structures on 'vacant' land. apart from encouraging them to be creative with the idea of what a structure is and what permanence is...i mentioned to them an idea that at one time considered fleshing out in a thesis...which was the idea of the carnival. what better precedent is there for a temporary, structurally rigorous, socially magnetic spectacle in communities??? and in chicago...its usually low-income communities of color on a vacant lot, or in a large park. i walked way dreaming about this "green carnival"...what about taking those same concepts and making them meaningful in an environmental or social awareness way. i left it at that...as i'd totally love to explore that idea further in my own creative practice! But it was an exciting and refreshing experience. i got to talking to them and was reminded of how thrilling it can be in academia. having that space to dream is often not afforded in the "real world"...it reminded me of how important to me it is to hold on to dreaming and imagining something new but also not stopping at the idea or the theory...but taking that next step of putting it into practice....which is truly the hard part. balancing your "creative ideas" with the reality and buy in of stakeholders and the relevance to real world concerns...apart from just scope+scale+budget. i've long been wrestling for next steps on "building out" my thesis typology...where, with whom...for what express purpose etc. its very important to me to not just leave it at the paper stage...but to also go about it a not so "academic" way.

The student's projects in particular did not send me into my following thought process, but in wrestling with the issues and circumstances of these types of projects...i also later began to ponder why it is that for some reason "community" for many people has become synonymous with "poor or underserved neighborhood". similarly as, "inner-city" or"urban youth" is a euphemism for poor youth of color...when i always thought urban...was just a literally a descriptor for "city". i would love it if we could start recognizing that "community based" work isn't just important for impoverished or gentrifying neighborhoods...or for people who supposedly "who don't know better"...this to me puts a different spin on the issue of empowerment through design...

NOMA meet ACE

There is a program called ACE which we (Chicago Public Schools) partner with to try to get students to participate. This year 90 of our students participated in once weekly afterschool mentorship with professional mentors from some of the biggest and best architecture, construction and engineering firms. these firms range from Turner construction, Bovis Lend Lease, Perkins + Wil, OWPP etc. I went to their final presentation a week or so and was blown away by the quality of work. This year the 5 teams worked on a master plan for the olympic village if chicago were to be chosen. These presentations were complete with physical models, 3-D models, analysis, drafted drawings etc. ACE holds an annual luncheon to raise funds for scholarships for the youth that participate and the participating firms often offer internships to students over the summer. I was so impressed by the work that this organization is doing....and I couldn't help but wonder...why an organization like NOMA doesn't have something like this. Maybe they do and I just don't know about it. But this seems to be a key factor in increasing the interest of students of color in architecture...hands on experience, personal relationships and tangible rewards (dollars for education and employment). There's no reason for 'us' to be complaining about underrepresentation in the profession if 'we' aren't doing anything about it. i'm making it my business to try to connect with NOMA on this and further more, the AIA diversity committee when those nominations come around again this summer!

more on architect magazine

i got this email today from a guy named kole pointing me to his audio blog where he talks about the article...and my mistake in particular of pointing them to my blog where i talk in depth in a post or two about the issues related to diversity in architecture. i hereby apologize to black women architects everywhere for not representing aiight? i agree that it was a mistake to point them to the blog but i thought i had some articulate solutions in those posts...including, exposure, mentorship and funding how would i know they were going to spin it into "complaining" and not mention all of the positive things i said in my interview? i share his criticism of the magazine for not including more 'facts', perhaps a historical vantage point (who was the first black woman licensed?), or completely overlooking organizations such as NOMA. i have to tell you that something positive has come out of this in that, i have made some connections with people that i didn't know before. one example is, a black woman that works for chicago public schools in the capital improvements department contacted me after reading the article and i went to visit her and found like 4 other black architects! she related to the difficulty in speaking both pro architecture and also speaking honestly about some of the difficulties that women and people of color face. i hope to interview her and post some of her experience here. i am also happy to connect with others that have emailed, like kole and len. if the article got dialogue going...maybe its not so bad. i dunno.

the flavor of the month it seems...

more on Black women in architecture...in the AIA newsletter, brought to my attention by HAPE.

i sort of thought the other article would be more in this kind of format...lovely interviews.

archis

ran across this gem of statement in the recent "Talking Cities: The Micropolitics of Urban Space" monograph/mag and linked to archis.org :

"Don't ask what architecture can build for you; ask what it can do for you.

Don't wonder where you can find a client; ask where you are needed.

Don't cover architecture; discover it.

Architecture beyond Architecture:

Think about situations and opportunities that nobody has yet thought of.

Think about an architecture that would no longer respond simply to what is given: an architecture that would not be reactionary but actively pursue it challenges.

Think about moments when architecture can make a difference, even without clients, a budget or specific locations; by intervening with decisive concepts and powerful scenarios to shift deadlocked discourse and role play.

Think about architecture as a strategic intelligence, a medium for developing cultural concepts, a mode of thinking, a tactic for social intervention, a strategy to mitigate conflict-a weapon to fight a battle, a metaphor for the rest of the world.

Think about an architecture liberated from building.

Now go practice unsolicited architecture. "

That's statement that gets my blood pumpin....might have to make it a mantra =). There are a number of other great articles including one on itenerant architecture and one on the detroit collaborative design center...definitely worth the 19 bucks. pick it up.

actually...

so, i just got my own copies of the magazine. i actually don't think its so bad. i've heard from about 3 people who have described it as "bitter-sounding", "nothing-good was intended to come from it" and that it comes off as "screw the 'white male establishment'...but upon a second read...i guess i don't think so. i think its a grim statistic and thusly the article is a little grim. i mean, there are some pretty tripped out statements even in the editors statement that reads "most firms are committed to diversification even if it is to avoid a law suit." (wtf is that?!) but i don't think it was a strategic plot to make black women seem whiney and anti-establishment....i just think the article just falls short of outlining solutions. It also would have been interesting to widen this discussion beyond JUST Black women, as it does kind of seem like 'its a personal problem' and not that there are some sytemic things that are problematic period. Its kind of like the idea that racism isn't just of concern to people of color...it should be of concern to any human. But yeah, i would have like to have seen some actual statistics of how long it takes to licensure for your average person and average salaries instead of just saying my statements are 'complaints' rather than statements of reality. i mean, the fact that my law school counterpart is going to spend the same 3 years that I spent in architecture school and come out and make 3 times what I would make as an intern architect is plain wrong. by the same token...i'm not just concerned about money either...but the ability to do public+environmental good in my profession....i guess that's a concern with any profession. anyway, i talked to the managing editor who wrote the story and she said she was initially alotted a page for this...so i guess in that context it is a closer look than what was initially intended...its just that is such a deep issue that there could have been an entire magazine about it!=) it does still suck that she didn't take my direct quotes from my INTERVIEW instead of my blog which is a more informal source...my husband just got around to reading it and said the way my quotes were placed made me sound incoherent and like an asshole. i dunno...for that reason, i'll still submit my letter to the editor because i actually am not an ass and quite articulate most times.... i would be interested to know what the other women in the article thought about it though.

Architect Magazine

UMMMMMMMMMMMM.....I was interviewed by Architect magazine in their most recent issue about the underrepresentation of Black women in architecture . Wow.I am SO very disappointed in the choice of quotes. They didn't mention anything I said in my email interview, only my blog, and even from my blog entries that i referred them to (apparently a bad move and duly noted), they didn't mention any of the solutions I mentioned to the atrocious underrepresentation of people of color in the field. Nor did the article mention how my present position positively impacts the profession by preparing young people of color to be ,architects and builders with an environmental and social conscious. I specifically asked to view the article before it went to print and wasnt granted that request. I will be writing a letter to the editor and I hope for my sake (personally and professionally) that it is published. I really feel like I was represented in an unbalanced way in the article and I want to take this opportunity to respond. I do not apologize, nor am I embarrassed by my criticisms of the profession, but I wish that my dedication to righting the wrongs of the profession was more apparent. Instead words like, "complained" and "decried" are used to describe non contextual quotes and according to my friend and colleague who saw it before me...(yeah you would think they'd send a copy???)...i sound 'bitter' and like a 'rabble rouser'. i don't so much mind rabble rousing as long as its for something meaningful and transformative...which I think is what I'm engaged in.

Here is the exact text of my responses to interview questions

First, the basics...

Your age: 29

Architecture school:

University of Washington

When graduated:2006

Experience in the field:

total of one year (2 internships...one at Environmental Works and the other with a one woman architect Donna Brown AIA.

Your job now:

I manage the high-school architecture + construction education programs in the Chicago Public Schools. I work with 60 teachers who serve over 6,000 students on delivery and development of careertechnical education + partnerships within these fields. (http://www.etcchchicago.com/) The architecture program operates from a new curriculum partnership with the Chicago Architecture Foundation which focuses on green architecture (http://www.architecture.org/hscurriculum.html)

What made you interested in studying architecture?

Aside from my aesthetic appreciation of the built environment, my fascination with human intervention in the landscape, and (the problem with )privatization of public space...I entered architecture school as a speculative endeavor. My previous experience in social justice work and community based public art practice led me to wondering how to combine the two in order to use architecture in a subversive way to impact social change. My contention about architecture began with my assumption that the tools and practice of architecture are diverse and complex: Architecture is not limited to creating residential and commercial objects for consumption and thusly, the practice of architecture can also operate as a catalyst for new power relations.

What made you decide not to pursue a career in the field?

I haven't sworn it off for good. If the right opportunity comes along to do work that I believe in, is not wasteful and benefits the masses, and not just the elite...I'd at least consider it. However, this particular time in my life with the atrocious underrepresentation of people of color in the 'profession', I feel my time is better spent cultivating a new generation of architects and builders who will be skilled and experienced innovators with a social and environmental conscious. My priorities at this point are:

A) Educating and Exposing students of color to the breadth, scope and hands-on experience of design and building.

B)Exploring a creative practice that pushes the boundaries of what people traditionally define architecture to be toward something that is relevant to people who need it and not just those who can afford it.

Do you think there are problems endemic in the field that discourage architecture school graduates--and black women graduates in particular--from becoming licensed?

see this blog entries 7.22.2005 and 7.05.2005 one of which links to an archinect discussion which i commented on regarding parenting and architecture (I have two children 5+10mos.)...but basically I think the issues are exposure, mentorship, the convoluted and long path to licensure and the expense...both fiscally and personally. let me know if you need more information after looking at those blog entries.

(the other entry links to my response to the diversity study by the AIA from 2005...mentioned in the article)

7.22.2005

AIA diversity

the other day i sat for a 45 minute phone interview with a firm who is conducting a survey for the national AIA on the profound diversity issue within the profession. the woman conducting the interview was particularly stricken by the 1% of licensed african-american architects which has not changed in 30-40 years...also by the number of women in architecture school (usually 50/50) and the # of licensed women architects which also has a huge discrepancy. there were numerous questions but the final one was this:

what are the major inhibitors/barriers to people of color? (african-american in particular since she was focusing on my experiece and perspective) students/practioners in architecture and what can be done to resolve this issue.

my answer: major money and energy needs to be put into: early exposure to architecture in secondary and presecondary education to cultivate the interest and love of architecture, funding for students of color in the post secondary education process and MENTORSHIP like nobody's business.

a) exposure: given the percentages of architects of color, you are less likely to come in contact with an architect of color as a young person of color. your uncle, grandmother, cousin is not likely to be an architect. schools don't neccessarily promote architecture as a profession to pursue. for most people the main professions youth know about are: doctor, lawyer...maybe engineer. then there's teachers, law enforcement etc. etc.

b) funding/support:this is expensive! usually, if there are any, the grants, fellowships, scholarhips, assistantships are few and far between....let alone support in particular for the retention students of color. many students of color (and other students with financially challenging backgrounds) have to work and go to school. architecture isn't really something that can be done part time...and working and going to architecture school is brutal. i'm not saying some people can't make it work...i know many who do but its one more factor that makes it hard.

c) mentorship:the architectural education process is long and arduous. if you don't have someone rooting for you and pushing you it can be easy to give up. how many faculty of color are there? are professionals reaching out to students? as professionals are seasoned professionals reaching back to the newer generation?

d) payoff: the education, internship and licensure process in general is long as hell. and the resulting salaries are crazy LOW compared to the other "professions". for many people of color picking a career path usually is without the priveledge of "doing something you love"...conversely it is directly related to transcending financial struggle. those who don't have that financial struggle i think still are looking for a certain level of prestige that architecture doesn't offer.

Do you have a picture you could send me?

hmmmm. i'll have to track down a picture...the only pictures i have of myself are ones with kids in them! i'll try to get you something tomorrow...whats your deadline?

okay my bad for sending the picture that they published which in context with the others looks like I'm on CRACK....

BUT I ALSO SENT THIS ONE.

"water is the new oil"

a friend just mentioned this eco boulevard thing to me from urbanlab...i'm late, but its still a cool proposal flipping thru all the slides =).

cwit

so i met a woman today at chicago women in trades who made 76.50 an hour. she was a structural ironworker and seriously made me think i was an the wrong line of work! i always was kind of feeling the ornamental ironwork thing...i mean, i know structural is different...she's currently working on a cantilever at o'hare airport. but still! anyway, i was at CWIT as a part of 4 summits that they do for the young women in our construction programs who are thinking about following through with apprencticeships post-secondary education. it was so inspiring to be around this group of people. when i was in high school i kept thinking i wanted to be a carpenter (those of you who have seen my model making skills will get a good laugh outta that one!) but there wasn't really anyone who could point me in the right direction to seriously pursue that. i look at these girls and they have so many options. really good ones too. i met one woman who, besides being hot (!!) was a kick butt bricklayer! she said, hey, i get paid a LOT of money to get a tan and work out! i never thought of it that way! the great thing was the diversity in tradeswomen there. they were short, tall, brown, white, thin, thick, femme and not so femme...they represented laborers, brick layers, electricians, pipe fitters and iron workers to name a few. what a meaningful thing for these girls to see that they can be whoever they are and still pursue a career in construction.

i was really bummed though that there were only 3 of 7 schools represented in attendance. it made me wonder whether the shop teachers who blew it off did so because it was women centered....talk about unacceptable.