Today, in our co-op community, we honor Juneteenth and encourage our teams to foster discussions that promote unity and share the significance of this day of recognition.
In celebration, we collaborated with Stephanie Singleton (@stephaniesing), an illustrator based in Toronto, Ontario, to create a commemorative poster. Stephanie's artwork integrates decorative elements that narrate diverse stories. This illustration showcases flowers rooted in her family's heritage, symbolizing gratitude for the freedom to explore and honoring the foundations laid by her ancestors. We invite you to reflect upon and appreciate this beautiful artwork with us.
#REIbelong#REIemployee#BetterTogether
It is so easy to get caught up in the #hustle and forget to take time for yourself!
Last week, I took two days off to relax and connect with family and enjoy some of my favorite things:
1. A solo trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I was able to indulge in a midday tour of American Art (which I can never do with my schedule!)
2. A walk around the Shofuso House to see the cherry blossoms in bloom.
3. A trip to my favorite florist for supplies for my latest arrangement. Taking time to make something with my own hands reminds me that I'm creative and grounds me in a new way.
How do you take time to #recharge? How do you stay creative?
This week's Real Estate #KYC aka Know Your Community highlight is not a park or greenspace but an adorable import spot to find handmade wood furniture for your new place. If you happen to go gaga for mango wood, love eclectic/boho, or just want some sturdy, attainable pieces of furniture for your new space, check out Nadeau!
Highly sustainable due to its cultivation as a fruit tree, mango wood prevents waste and can make beautiful furniture. Mango trees grow to maturity usually at about 15 years old, which is pretty quick for hardwood. After those 15 years, mango trees stop growing fruit and are cut down for furnishing use. A planted teak tree, for example, often reaches maturity in 60 years and a wild teak tree after 80 years.
https://buff.ly/3B6rAa7#closedwithinegrity#atlantarealestate#georgia#realestate
【𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆: Color Changes Over the Years】
The Statue of Liberty's iconic green hue is actually the result of a natural process called oxidation. When France gifted the statue to the United States in 1886, it sported a 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 color.
Over time, exposure to air and moisture caused the copper to react, forming a green patina on its surface. This patina is a layer of copper carbonate, a stable compound that protects the underlying copper from further weathering.
The color change wasn't instantaneous. Here's a breakdown of the statue's transformation:
1) Initial Reddish-Brown: The initial oxidation process resulted in a reddish-brown color, like a penny left out in the open air.
2) Gradual Greening: Over several decades, the copper carbonate layer thickened, leading to the familiar green color we see today. Historical photos suggest this transformation was complete by 1920.
The Statue of Liberty's green patina is a testament to both chemistry and the enduring spirit of liberty it represents. It's a beautiful reminder of how natural processes can shape and preserve iconic landmarks.
Today, Toronto celebrates its 190th Birthday! At the same time, the city is removing old symbols of Toronto.
The simple fact is you can not erase or cancel history. You can only choose to strive to understand it, see it in its true context and learn from it. Yes, a lot of history is painful. But that in and of itself is the point. We learn from that pain to redefine who we as a society want to be moving forward.
If we’re suddenly going to go back through history and start removing things that we feel are inappropriate by modern standards, then where do we stop or draw the line?
Keep history, add to it, learn from it, and don't cancel it!
https://lnkd.in/g4X5tqx4#toronto#history#historicalfigures#historicalpreservation#culturematters#proud#historichomes#historicbuildings#futuregenerations#histroricsymbols#governmentinitiatives
Executive Coach & Business Consultant empowering women founders & leaders to write their OWN RULES and go after what they want. Ex-Corporate CEO – People & Culture Obsessed – EOS® Superfan – Fractional Leadership
This woman is phenomenally talented, not only as a large scale sculpture artist, but she's a bada$$ entrepreneur as well, and I LOVE supporting her with her business management and operations.
Blessing and I originally connected on LinkedIn when I was the CEO of art consulting company Kalisher.
We didn't engage much beyond the occasional post like, until one day, on my new journey as Coach Sarah, I posted about helping artists grow their businesses and get work with art consultants.
Blessing scheduled a chat to explore coaching, and last November we kicked off our engagement.
From call one I was blown away with the success she has created for herself as a sculpture artist, with little to no support.
I was equally impressed that she had the awareness and acumen to know that in order to continue her growth, it was time to bring on a team.
I was team member # 1, serving as her business coach which included finding and engaging the rest of the team.
From there, we brought on contract and freelance experts in project management, PR, social media, and email marketing.
Hiring experts who would bring their wisdom and experience to the table, and not require training or significant oversight was important to Blessing as we built this team because her goal is to spend the majority of her time making art.
She knows that's where she shines and she's very clear on what she wants to do versus not. So she hired me and others to take as much off her plate as possible and clear the way for working in her zone of genius. BRILLIANT.
I am having a blast working with Blessing and the team we've built and I feel super lucky to be on this journey with her!
Takeaways:
⭐ It's okay to handle most of the responsibilities on your own when you're first building your business, but that won't work forever. If you're sacrificing valuable time spent on what you do best to take care of the things you hate and/or suck at, it might be time to outsource.
⭐ Investing in a business coach/consultant is a GREAT first step in outsourcing because we can help you with everything from auditing your time and determining where it should/shouldn't be spent to finding the people to outsource to and overseeing their work.
⭐ Blessing Hancock is an amazing artist who you should hire to create your next large scale sculpture at that corporate headquarters, hotel, hospital, multifamily development or other commercial property you're developing, designing, or art consulting for 🤩 .
And if you're curious about how to do that - send me a message and we'll set something up!
XX. S.
#sculptureartist#artistcoach#businesscoach#artbusiness#publicart#publicartist#womanartist#womeninthearts#womenempowerment
“As an artist my goal is to find new ways to live with art—ways in which art relates to its setting, enriches the human experience and creates an atmosphere of participation, curiosity, and connection to community.”
Reintroducing Blessing Hancock, a pioneer in the world of public art with over 15 years of experience. With a background in both sculpture and landscape architecture, she brings a unique perspective to her work that seamlessly blends natural forms with technology and diverse cultural elements. Her creations are not just sculptures, but immersive experiences that invite the community to engage and appreciate. Blessing chooses to collaborate with experts in fabrication, engineering, and installation which allows her to fully immerse herself in the artistic vision and bring it to life with the help of a skilled team.
As a female artist in a predominantly male space, Blessing has broken barriers and proven that gender does not limit one's potential for success. Her dedication to elevating public art has earned her a CODA Merit Award, Mayor’s Urban Design Award from the City of Calgary, Alberta, and the Public Art Network Year in Review Award.
With 9 new large scale projects slated for 2024 and 2025, Blessing is an artist to follow! Head to www.blessinghancock.com to experience her past works and new updates. #blessinghancock#publicart#artsandculture
I finished reading Maya Angelou's book
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
Being a white woman, I found it extremely important to hear (read) her life story. Before reading, I already knew she never had it easy growing up. I mean, just listen to her reciting the poem And Still I Rise (it's on youtube).
Racism, terror, rape (at the age of 7 by one of her stepfathers, after which she remained mute for 6 years), and all sorts of mental and physical abuse (a stepmother stabbed her).
She grew into a woman and a mother before she was an adult.
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I underlined and highlighted paragraphs, so I could come back to them after finishing the book.
This line was one of them:
"Grandmother Baxter was a quadroon or an octoroon, (...) she was almost white."
Wait-what? - uttered my brain. Quadroon? Quarter? Octoroom? Maybe eight? I had to look it up later.
What I learned, left me stupefied.
(Source: wikipedia)
A quadroon or quarteron is a person with one quarter African/Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry.
Octoroon stands for one-eighth black (Latin root octo-, means "eight") and
Quintroon for one-sixteenth black.
There is also a definition called "mulatto", which is defined as "one who is the offspring of a European and a Black". This earliest usage regarded "black" and "white" as discrete "species", with the "mulatto" constituting a third separate "species".
Governments of the time sometimes incorporated the terms in law, defining rights and restrictions. The use of such terminology is a characteristic of hypodescent, which is the practice within a society of assigning children of mixed unions to the ethnic group which the dominant group perceives as being subordinate.
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Let me repeat that: "Governments of the time sometimes incorporated the terms in law, defining rights and restrictions."
So, let me get it straight, my dear loving world.
As a black person, you not only had (have) to deal with terror, racism, and (all kinds of) abuse - solely because you are BLACK - but you were also categorized by the amount of blackness in you? More blackness, less rights, more restrictions (prejudice, hatred, injustice)?
As if racism in itself wasn't (and isn't) already degrading, humiliating, and inhumane?
I wanted to cry.
And honestly, I did.
Read more in the comments section.
#inowwhythecagedbirdsings#mayaangelou#HiddenFigures#movie#onetoread#onetowatch#iwrite
🌟 Embrace Your Golden Joinery 🌟
In the art of Kintsugi, broken pottery is not merely repaired; it's transformed into something uniquely beautiful with the addition of gold lacquer. This ancient Japanese practice, known as "golden joinery," teaches us a profound lesson about resilience.
Just like the cracks in #Kintsugi pottery, our lives are marked by challenges and hardships. But instead of hiding these scars, let's celebrate them as symbols of our resilience and strength. Each crack tells a story of overcoming, growth, and transformation.
In the journey of life, we all face setbacks and struggles. But through the philosophy of golden joinery, we learn that it's not about avoiding the cracks; it's about embracing them and turning them into sources of beauty and strength.
So, dear friends, remember this: You are golden joinery. Your scars are not blemishes; they are badges of honor, testament to your #resilience and your capacity to heal and grow. Embrace your journey, cracks and all, for they are what make you truly beautiful.
Keep shining bright ✨
Elle
#GoldenJoinery#Resilience#EmbraceYourJourneyBlack Mental Wellness, Corp.Black Women's Mental Health InstituteWomen On Boards ProjectWomen's Business Development Center (WBDC)Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC)® Chicago Foundation for Women
Beyond its functional purpose, this statement door serves as a piece of functional art, elevating the ambiance of your home with its handcrafted beauty.
https://lnkd.in/enU_uh-K
Whether it’s the towering size of the sculptures or their fantastical subjects like witches and sea monsters, it’s hard to find a visitor at Grounds for Sculpture without a smile on their face. This sprawling art park in Hamilton Township is unlike any you’ve ever been to. There is a theme park quality to the experience and that is not meant to diminish the importance of the works found within.
The park has somehow managed to make art-viewing a family-friendly activity. One reason why young people respond to the sculptures is because it’s one of the rare places where you can get right up close to them, touch them, and in some cases, such as Roberto Lugo’s Put Yourself in the Picture, climb on top of them.
Everything you might need — food, snacks, coffee, even cocktails — is found here, making it easy to take your time. It is the sort of place that rewards exploration. Not all the artworks are found along the walking paths. Some are in little clearings or down side-alleys and other works can only be spied while looking in unexpected places.
Grounds for Sculpture is easily accessible via public transportation. Take the Northeast Corridor train from Newark Penn Station to Hamilton Station (one stop after Princeton Junction). Right outside the station hall on the northbound side is a bus stop for #608. From there, it’s a five-minute bus ride to the park.
#groundsforsculpture#hamiltontownship#ratsrestaurant
