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By Kerri Provost, January 11, 2012 2:55 pm

rendering courtesy of iQuilt

As barrels of trash heaved into the pond in Bushnell Park remain there for nearly a week and as the water feature in the playground nearby continues to be broken for years on end, residents and stakeholders were presented with the iQuilt’s dream plan of bring flowing water through the park.

Using identity strategy and enculturation to rally support, those leading this project dismissed skeptics as lacking vision. As much was said twice yesterday at a mini-presentation during a Rising Star Breakfast and in the evening before the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The presentation included codewords,  as several supporters described selves as “believers” and even went so far as to say that bring flowing water back into the park would be good for our “souls.”

The presentation included visual appeals to nostalgia and romance. The lovely, verdant design renderings seduced the participant into imagining a pristine urban paradise in which those seeking recreation can choose to wade across a 50-100 foot wide brook, meander through pop up studios and greenhouses, or linger on any of the nine bridges that would be added to Bushnell Park.

Urban design presentations, as a whole, dazzle those from whom they want support, but fail to provide real answers that concerned residents have about what is slated to happen in our backyards.

Prior to the presentation, Real Hartford readers submitted questions they had about this project, which are marked in bold and are direct quotes, unless noted otherwise.

Who is doing the planning?

The iQuilt, in the works for several years now, is described as a “culture based urban design plan for Downtown Hartford.”

The iQuilt is a private/public partnership which receives support from various institutions including the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Bushnell Park Foundation, CIGNA, City of Hartford, State of Connecticut, MDC, Riverfront Recapture, Connecticut Light & Power, Northeast Utilities, Travelers, and United Illuminating. Suisman Urban Design has been leading the iQuilt design team. A 501(c)3 was formed recently. Continue reading 'iQuilt: Dotting i’s'»

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By Kerri Provost, January 9, 2012 8:52 pm

Although City Council took its first official action of 2012 last week, Monday evening was its first regular (read: not accompanied by ceremony) meeting.

The public comment session showed two prevailing issues on residents’ and stakeholders’ minds: housing and employment. Continue reading 'On Residents’ Minds'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 8, 2011 9:03 am

With eyes closed, a circle of about sixty people were asked to visualize a street they were familiar with– what it looks like now and what this community could look like. Shawn Sweeney, of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program, asked participants to think about whether or not there was litter, if there was a grocery store in walking distance, and if they could safely walk to that store.

This is an exercise similar to the creative visualizations that Sweeney leads for youth in the Roots & Shoots program. For that group, he then takes it further, having them draw onto a map the things that they believe would make their communities more ideal.

Sweeney shared this as part of the “Creativity, Social Change and You” event held Wednesday night at Billings Forge. Other guest speakers included Chris Doucot from Hartford Catholic Worker, LaResse Harvey of A Better Way Foundation, Magdalena Gómez, a performance poet out of Springfield, and Joe Miguez, with the Labyrinth Experience.

The purpose? To inspire. Continue reading 'Creativity, Social Change and You'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 2, 2011 4:38 pm

Artists of all ages and levels who live in Hartford or Middlesex County will be competing for a total of $2,400 in prize money.

The Community Renewal Team is inviting artists to submit any type of visual art that they have created within the past three years. They explain that, “first, second and third prizes will be awarded in each of the adult categories of Amateur, Intermediate and Professional. First prizes are worth $300, second prizes are $200 and third prizes are $100 each. First, second and third prizes also will be awarded in Youth (12 and under) and Teen (13-18) categories. First prize is $75, second is $50 and third is $25. An overall best of show prize of $300 also will be awarded. Each artist will receive a Certificate of Participation in the National Arts Program.” Continue reading 'Competition for Local Artists'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 1, 2011 9:10 am

One critique of the Occupy Hartford movement has been that a number of uninformed activists — new to the area or to activism in general — attempted to reinvent the wheel; instead of immediately reaching out to other organizations in the spirit of solidarity, or simply to learn the ins and outs of local community organizing, it took weeks of nagging by residents and several changes in the make up of the core group before Occupy Hartford began to reach beyond the muddy patch at the corner of Broad and Farmington.

Meanwhile, the movement has lit a fire beneath long-term area activists, many of whom have been involved in Occupy Hartford to some capacity, including some who left it in disgust.

Tonight at 6pm there will be a “meeting of Hartford grassroots groups or groups that are doing work in Hartford.” Organizers describe it as an “opportunity to listen and learn from each other and to see how we can all work together. ”

This will be happening in the Hartford Areas Rally Together (HART) office at 385 Washington Street.

But the anti-union sentiment that has popped up in the few months of Occupy Hartford — some are concerned that “the unions and Democrats” have tried to “co-opt” the OWS movement — raises questions about with which types of groups the Occupiers would be willing to build alliances. Continue reading 'Beyond Occupy: What is and what could be'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 29, 2011 8:32 pm

“We’ve become complacent” about AIDS, a community member said during Tuesday’s World AIDS Day forum in the Hartford Public Library.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, she said, society talked about AIDS. Now, not so much. She called for the need to have conversations in places like barbershops. grocery stores, and in Spanish; then, she passed her microphone to another audience member, who delivered comments in Spanish.

This sentiment was echoed by panelists. One of them, Yvette Highsmith-Francis, the Director of Community Health Center, Inc., said we should be having these dialogues at Thanksgiving dinner and when having pedicures.

Even in 2011, misinformation about the transmission of HIV exists. Highsmith-Francis told the audience about an encounter with a woman in her forties who believed she could “catch AIDS” from hugging someone. Continue reading '“Getting to Zero” Community Forum on HIV/AIDS'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 28, 2011 7:00 am

Making 'Of Lamb' on display at Real Art Ways through December 11th

December tends to be a whirlwind of activity, between festive events, office parties, and the gatherings for family and friends. Here are just a few of December’s open-to-the-public highlights:

December 1, 2011

December 1st is World AIDS Day, which means it is also The Day With(out) Art. Real Art Ways will be participating by screening Untitled all day. This is free. While there, check out the “Making ‘Of Lamb’” exhibit.

In the evening, there is the opening reception for Andres Chaparro’s artwork at Theatreworks (233 Pearl Street) from 5-7:30pm. Continue reading 'Your Guide to December'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 22, 2011 10:27 am

Not unusual: people coming into Hartford with big ideas about what residents need and what will “save” us.

The Public Allies — an AmeriCorps program — promise that is not their mission. They insist that they are “not here to re-market Hartford.”

Young adults in the program work with a non-profit four days every week; each Public Allies “community” — Connecticut has ones in Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven — undertakes a service project each year.

This year, the group’s goal is to “strengthen community through figuring out assets and problems,” Al Riccio, one of the Allies on the “Greater Hartford Team”, told participants at the Hartford Public Library Monday evening during the Hartford Unity Community Conversation. In chatting with residents, the Public Allies identified that many residents feel “proud to be from the city,” but believe that there are negative perceptions of it due to the news media. He added that a lack of jobs, housing, and access to resources were other issues identified.

During the first of what Public Allies say will be several community conversations, residents were told that the Allies — several of whom are long-time Hartford residents — would be facilitating discussion, but not participating. Heads nodded as residents commented that these conversations need to be in the neighborhoods, not just Downtown. The library was named a “hub,” a natural place for civic discourse to take place, and there are library branches throughout the city.

Broken into small groups, residents and stakeholders named activities that could “create attention toward positive aspects.” In the brainstorm, two groups named the Walk the Frog tour as an example of an event that has highlighted the positive aspects of a neighborhood Continue reading 'Hartford Unity Community Conversation: “Empower People Already in Hartford”'»

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By Kerri Provost, October 23, 2011 4:06 pm

Even if the Frog Hollow group did not win a major award in the Hooker Day Parade, Saturday would have been fantastic anyway. The parade was larger than in past years, with even more random weirdness than usual. Continue reading 'Weird Descends on Downtown Hartford: Hooker Day Parade 2011'»

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By Kerri Provost, September 18, 2011 8:28 am

A wall of LGBT and Pride history in Bushnell Park helped to mark “30 years of Prides,” and it seems the community could not be happier to have the past included in Saturday’s event. An onlooker commented, “this is fantastic.” The wall included quotes and news articles for each year, reminding the community why they make it a point to come together in this way every year.

As usual, information tables were set up in the park, providing support resources, volunteer opportunities, and chances to get more involved in the community. All the standard organizations appeared to have a presence; GLSEN, PFLAG, and the Human Rights Campaign had booths, as did local organizations like the Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective and the CT TransAdvocacy Coalition. The Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition will be having another fashion show fundraiser in early October.

Continue reading 'Pride 2011'»