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in the community
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IN
THE COMMUNITY
GOLD
DUST GALLERY
In October of 2004, Alicia
Jones, a Gold Dust resident, hosted the Gold Dust community room’s
first open house during Art Walk’s First Friday, displaying
her beautiful oil and acrylic paintings. The opening was a huge
success and her energy for creating a new space to show art was
unleashed. For many young, aspiring artists, it is hard to find
a gallery to show their art and break into the competitive art
gallery world. The Gold Dust Art Gallery offers a new kind of
space for these hopeful, energetic artists. homeWORD, as a non-profit,
does not charge a commission on sales and the actual space is
ideal for displaying art. The gallery has been booked for First Friday
every month and has a long waiting list into Fall of 2005.
BALLOT PARTY
Staff at homeWORD have always had at least one thing in common -
a core belief of empowerment through knowledge and action. This fall
that core belief was spurred into action by the coming national and
state elections. homeWORD staff realized that the entire organization
could create a larger impact on getting out the vote than they could
individually. Thus, our initial civic engagement as an organization
naturally led to a community-wide ballot party.
Attendees were excited and the Gold Dust Community room was abuzz
with well seasoned voters and first-time voters alike. Participants
learned about new rules and regulations for voting; candidate stances
and state and local initiatives; how to vote absentee by mail; locations
of polling places; and how they could vote early at the Missoula
County Courthouse Elections office.
The ballot party was a terrific success with over sixty people
attending and local press and national coverage by CNN. It turned
out to be a great family event where even the children were heard
saying “I can’t wait to vote.” The buzz at the party created an excitement among homeWORD staff
and strengthened staff commitment to organize a civic engagement
day each year, and hopefully continue to partner with other community
agencies to do the same.
HOMECOMING PARADE
On a brisk morning
in August, the homeWORD staff gathered in line for the University of
Montana's 2004 Homecoming Parade. As an opportunity to announce our
latest affordable housing development, homeWORD took to the streets
in classic orchard-picking apparel, walked next to Garden City Harvest's
Studebaker truck and handed out candy apple suckers to parade-goers.
Armed with a banner, Putting the Orchard Back in Orchard Homes,
the parade turned out to be the perfect way to tell Missoula all about
the newest homes and orchards coming to the west-side.
JUNKMAIL EXHIBITION
homeWORD was a
Merit Sponsor for the Great American Junkmail Experience, a show
of 2D and 3D artwork created out of junkmail. The show, held
by and displayed at Art Missoula during September 2004, featured
close to twenty pieces made by local artists ranging in content and
design
from a conceptual piece featuring junkmail tightly rolled up and
covered by tree bark to a whimsical piece of a life-size dog made
completely of junkmail carrying a heap of mail in his mouth. homeWORD
awarded Lisa Hofman the Merit Award for her piece We Need Too
Much,
an abstract sculpture made from credit card offers. With a mission
grounded in helping households in need to build assets and achieve
financial stability, homeWORD chose Hoffman’s piece for its
creative portrayal of the messages of “need “ and instant
gratification that bombard American consumers. The illusion created
by credit card offers – one of quick, easy money – hides
the reality of millions of households trapped with overwhelming consumer
debt, high interest rates, and years of repayment. Easy access to
credit without financial education often results in consumers living
outside of their means, in a downward spiral of debt that prevents
them from saving money, becoming homeowners, and investing in their
retirement, all vital steps in building a secure financial future.
We Need Too Much is a tangible reminder that we must each determine
our own true needs, rather than overextending our finances in an
attempt to have it all.
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