March 2015
Welcome to our e-newsletter
Minds in Motion  

 

This month we shine the spotlight on our youngest Free Minders. Learn how they are stitching, painting, and singing their way toward their own unique community and hear from their Creative Action teacher, Sidney Monroe. Plus, we've got a new writing workshop underway and an opportunity to join us for a special spring reading.
Creative Action Kids Say It In Their Own Words 

from left: Lola, age 4, Kinah, age 10, Patricio, age 7, and Victoria, age 11.

Recently, Free Minds program coordinator Amelia Pace-Borah interviewed some of the Creative Action kids who meet two nights a week while their parents are in class. They had lots to say about their projects, their memories, and their time together.  

Amelia: What kinds of things do you do when you come to Creative Action?

 

Victoria: We do art and all these types of different activities...even though it looks easy, you have to focus really good.

 

Kinah: We're also learning self-portraits. We're learning the shapes and sizes and the colors, dark and light. And all that stuff.

 

Amelia: Is there a moment from being in this group that you will never forget?

 

Patricio: I will remember the time we went to the Blanton museum, and we walked forever, and I saw a sign that said the governor's room.

 

Kinah: And then we saw two statues of African Americans, like Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Jordan, and Mr. Sidney had to explain them and what they were.

 

Amelia: Is there something that you created here that you felt proud of?

 

Victoria: I felt proud of myself when I made the community quilt, because I'm taking this fashion class to sew. I want to be a designer, so I was proud of my stitching.

 

Amelia: How do you feel about coming to Creative Action?

 

Patricio: Sometimes I feel exhausted. Sometimes I bring my blanket here.

 

Kinah: I feel the same way, but I feel happy too and excited and full of joy and happiness.

 

Victoria: Well, at first I'm like, yay another period of school, but then we start playing the games, and it's actually really fun. And then we start accomplishing things.

 

Amelia: You guys listen to a lot of music in here. Sometimes I walk down the hall and I can hear all the different music.

 

Patricio: Sometimes Lola sings along when Mr. Sidney puts on some Disney songs. One time she recognized the Tarzan song, and she started acting like Tarzan. And one time when Lola wanted to play "Everybody Build a Snowman," he put it on for her.

 

Kinah: And everybody was singing!

 

Victoria: I like coming here.

 

Kinah: Me too.

Spring Writing Workshop Fosters Community 

 

Tari Jordan had been looking for a way to stay connected with her writing after completing Free Minds in 2013. She found that work and family obligations kept getting in the way. So our spring community writing workshop seemed like a perfect option. "When I heard about this class, offered on a night I could actually attend, and taught by a writer and teacher I know and highly respect, I was excited!" she said. "I was right to be."

 

Tari and a dozen other writers from the community are meeting at the new Flores Education and Training Center in South Austin. Free Minds director Viv Griffith is leading them through eight weeks of exercises designed to help them access and shape their stories while building their writing skills. Free Minds has offered these workshops free of charge since 2011.

 

"I look forward to my Tuesday nights," Tari says, "and I feel as though I'm learning incredibly valuable tools. I've also made a new friend as a result of the coming together of diverse personalities who, like myself, love to write."

 

The spring workshop will culminate in a reading of original works open to the public. See details below.  


Join us for a
Reading at Malvern Books
Sunday, April 19 | 2:00 pm
613 W. 29th Street
(near the corner of 29th and Guadalupe)

Come support participants of the spring Free Minds writing workshop and students of the class of 2015 as they share their original works of fiction, memoir, and poetry. All are welcome!


Click here for a full schedule of Free Minds events, including our upcoming tour of the Ransom Center's exhibition "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
Issue 54     
In This Issue
Kids Say It In Their Own Words
Writing Workshop Fosters Community
Reading at Malvern
The Final Word

Special Thanks

 

Last month's College Fair would not have been possible without the contributions of volunteers, Free Minds alumni, and college representatives who came together to make it happen. We appreciate you!

 

Hector Aguayo  

Capital Idea
Clair Bahre  

Free Minds volunteer 

Christina Barbour 

Foundation Communities
Kellee Coleman  

 Free Minds, '08 

Lauren Contreras  

 Free Minds volunteer 

Julie Cuellar-Reck  

Austin Community College 

Arrissa Dinges  

Texas State University Round Rock
Jennifer Dungey 
 

Free Minds, '12
Alice Graulty  

Foundation Communities 

Jarmesha Harris  

Free Minds, '12 

Jennifer Herber

Free Minds Advisory Committee  

Celeste Hoog  

Austin Community College
Cody Lock  

Concordia University 

Matthew Needham 

Free Minds, '14
Alexander Plotkin

Huston-Tillotson University 

Hilda Rivas

Free Minds, 11 

 


 

If you are interested in volunteering with or supporting Free Minds, you can find more information on our website.

  

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 Minds in Motion

 Archive

   

January 2015

Welcome, Spring Semester, with all of your shiny new books! 

 

November 2014

This month we remembered the Alamo in a new way and heard about how a little advice made a big difference for one student.

A new class embarks on the year, plus a jam-packed fall lineup in store.

 
 

   

Looking for earlier newsletters?

Visit our complete 

online archive.

 

 

The Final Word 
Sidney Monroe, Creative Action teacher, challenges Free Minds youth to consider the question, "Why are we here?" 

It is a warm September day as the sun sets on East Austin. I weave through the Cherrywood neighborhood on my bike in pursuit of M Station and arrive with little time to change out of my sweaty biking attire. I enter the leasing office from the side door. I listen. Sounds of laughter, joyous greetings, and bustling discussion fill the space. I climb the stairs and, for the first time, lay eyes on the Free Minds community.

 

My introduction to Free Minds is telling of the relationships I would develop over the next six months. I am Sidney Monroe, an Artistic Associate with Creative Action, whose mission is to spark the academic, social, and emotional development of young people through the arts. We partner with Free Minds to enrich the experience of youth who attend class with their guardians.

 

The fall semester began with an exploration of the core values of the program. When I asked the youth, "What is Free Minds?" I was greeted by blank stares, bathroom requests, and silence. Over the next three months, we challenged ourselves to answer the questions:

  • Why are we here?
  • What does a "free mind" look like?
  • What is the value of a "free mind"?

Our journey spiraled through Greek Mythology, pantomime, mosaic murals, and ensemble development, all while keeping our focus questions in mind. In December, I stood proud as the students basked in affirmations of their work, as well as their leadership, empowerment, and community. This spring we are exploring digital storytelling, community quilting, self-portraits, and Kabuki & Noh theatre.

 

I feel lucky to have dinner each Monday and Thursday evening with my students. I am thankful for the insight they bring to their work and for the time I've spent as a part of this special Free Minds community. 

 

Sidney Monroe holds his M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities from UT Austin. Sidney has served as an artistic associate for Creative Action and is looking forward to his next big adventure as Youth Programs Manager at The Theatre Offensive in Boston, MA.  




A program of Foundation Communities, in partnership with The University of Texas at Austin and Austin Community College, Free Minds offers a two-semester college course in the humanities for Central Texas adults who want to fulfill their intellectual potential and begin a new chapter in their lives.

Free Minds Project
Foundation Communities
3036 South 1st Street
Austin TX, 78704

Project Director: Viv� Griffith

Program Coordinator: Amelia Pace-Borah

 

Ph: 512-610-7961   F: 512-447-0288

 

www.FreeMindsAustin.org