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Creath - CalArts Community Garden

I am interested in the community garden project. I like the project because I know exactly how I would be useful during its development and I feel like I could make a real impact. The project needs design work, labor, and leadership, which I know I can provide. I also believe that many CalArts students have little interest in actually improving the school and I want to see that change. 

I have watched a few videos on community gardens and the importance of gardening.
https://youtu.be/4oYIo3YvdPc (Building a Community One Garden at a Time)
https://youtu.be/7Me95TxCzs4 (Secrets to a successful urban garden)
https://youtu.be/0QbLI1U4cLE (Why planting a garden is a political act)
From these videos I gather that creating a garden can successfully bring communities together and create points of congregation.

I know there is already a CalArts garden, however I believe it is ineffectual as it stands due to its low accessibility, low awareness, and lack of a responsible party. These are all goals of mine to change. I would like to move the location of the CalArts community garden, and make it a space where a medium sized group of people, say about 15, and comfortably meet. I also want this garden to be a place where people could display art (such as ceramics). I worry that one social group would be able to claim ownership of the space, but perhaps that is unavoidable.

I don’t think that this garden has to grow food, or plants necessarily. Some gardens, like Japanese rock gardens don’t have any vegetation at all, and would be able to satisfy my personal goals. I believe most people will want something to actively care for and maintain, so that is likely the direction we will go in. 

I have added a map of CalArts and a few locations of where I think the garden could be relocated to, with a few notes about each location. Link Here: 


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qsNKniVFykd6WRtAgffwpk7ZTS8qeNxf/view?usp=sharing

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