Near Northsider – Houston

The Davis High School Marching Band at the naming Ceremony for the Leonel Castillo Community Center

Last weekend, we thought we heard a parade in the distance. Once it got closer, we figured there was a parade on some major street near by. Nope, it was a parade into our little neighborhood down one of the old, tiny streets. It turns out that there was a small pardade with the Davis High School Marching Band, Cheerleaders, and Pantherettes (sp?) for a ceremony to officially name the Leonel Castillo Community Center. It looks like this community center will be in the old, abandoned Robert E Lee Elementary School building.
I have always loved that building. It’s right on the bank of the White Oak Bayou and you can see it when you drive on I-45 near Quitman. I have never been inside, but I heard that it was torn up by Tropical Storm Allison.
So far, I haven’t been able to find anything online regarding Harris County’s plans for this community center. I don’t know if the building will be renovated or what. The rendering on the sign on the lot makes it look like they will keep the building, but you never know. If anyone happens to know anything, please feel free to post a comment.

We woke up early for the fourth straight year in a row to watch the Chevron Houston Marathon come by the neighborhood. As usual it was a sea of people flowing down the streets of the Northside; this event with international participation that inundated a residential neighborhood that sometimes seems an insular corner of the city, much less of the world.

The first time we watched it, we woke up early one weekend morning because we heard screaming and chearing and a lot of other noise.  We got up and saw some orange cose on Quitman, and what looked like some people running down the street.  It looked too organized to be any kind of trouble, but it seemed so wierd that it was so damn early in the morning.  Even wierder that we wouldn’t know about something that was such a big deal coming through our neighborhood.  It seemed like everyone else already knew about it and had planned on it.  Families were out on their lawn chairs in the yards or on the sidewalk cheering these runners as they came by.  Some people even had parties going on with people on their porch drinking beer and mimosas.

I for one am grateful that the marathon comes directly through my neighborhood.  It gives me the feeling that the decision-makers of this city are aware of us.  They know where we are and that we are a part of the city that they are not ashamed to show the Near Northside to intenational guests.  Of course, it also gives me the feeling that the decision-makers would see this as recognition to claim our neighborhood in their own vision of city development.  Without any involvment or participation in our community they are willing to see it as part of their own world because it resides within the boundaries of their city.

But that’s just late-night pessimism speaking with a flavor of nativism that probably comes out of my tendecy toward elitism.  The marathon coming through the Northside is a wonderful thing because it does include us as a part of the larger vision of the city, and because it offers an opportunity for exposure, both to outsiders and natives.  I hope the marathon grows in popularity and success and I hope it continues to come through my neighborhood.  I also hope that we the community, not just Chevron, can find ways to produce more events andhappenings and ways that intervene with our mundane view of ourselves and the place we live.

It has been a whirlwind this last half of the year.  Maybe it’s a little of the job, a little of home, or maybe I’ve just lost some endurance lately.  It’s the same ol’ stuff, but I feel exausted.  The holiday has not been going any easier either.  Not enough days off.  It’s not just rest or days away from the grind that I needed; but also days for me to do some work at home, cleaning, organizing, fixing, etc.  I didn’t even get to put lights on my house this year.  I guess we all need that, but we often refuse to take the time away from work.  sometimes because you don’t get paid for the time you take, and sometimes cause even if you do get paid for it, it puts you days behind your work and makes the next few days or weeks that much more stressful.

With a new year, however, I’m hopeful that I will regain my energy.  Maybe I’ll be able to grow from the lessons I’ve learned and maybe I’ll be able to get past those fears and doubts that still keep me from doing all the good stuff I want to.  Moving on.

Happy New Year!

I’m sitting here at night waiting for some clothes to dry and getting ready for tomorrow.  Everyone else is asleep.  It’s always hard getting ready for Monday when it’s still Sunday.  The last bit of a nice weekend has to be spent working on preparations for the coming work-week.  As if the week isn’t work enough.  It’s too bad that we can’t always spend the last bit a hard work-day on Friday preparing for the coming weekend.

I was in Philadalphia, PA for the Americans For The Arts (AFTA) Conference. It was my first time at a professional conference and my first time away from my little family. Being away form my family was the hardest.

When I left Houston for School in Chicago years ago, I couldn’t wait to get outta here. I kinda missed my parents and brothers, but everything was so exciting that I didn’t dwell on it very much. This time, I have a wife and son and nothing in Philadelphia or at the conference could make me forget how much I missed them.

That said, the conference was still very interesting and I learned an enormous amount about my profession. I got the chance to find out about current trends and concerns in the field (public art) and I got to explore Philadelphia, a city I had never been to before. I ate my cheese steak and soft pretzel and drank some beer called Yuengling.

The thing that I really took away from the conference was how appreciative (and a little surprised) the established art professionals were to see so many young people like myself involved in arts administration and especially arts advocacy. One woman even mentioned to me that she wondered if there would ever be any young folks that would be willing to get involved the way she had almost 30 years ago. One thing you have to know about arts administration is that it’s like any other non-profit work. It can be tireless, thankless work for a modest salary. But the money is not what motivates us. I think the majority of us are in this line of work because we not only enjoy it, but feel that we are doing something vital for society. Many of us are artists ourselves and have taken on this job with the hope that we are making a difference in our communities for the better.

I came back from this conference energized to continue doing what I do.  It always helps to know that there are other people around the country making the same mistakes, struggling with the same problems, and celebrating the same triumphs.