Back in Delhi - 2

While we were in the U.S. for our unexpected, but mandatory two-month hiatus due to new visa policies, two interns from the U.S. teamed with our lead national artist and teacher to conduct three classes: two for adults and one for children.

Below are some photos from the classes...

Back in Delhi

We returned to New Delhi on April 1 - no joke! We arrived on time despite flying with an airline on strike! And, we zipped right through Immigration, no questions asked (though the official took a little extra time examining Chuck's documents, but stamped him through without comment).

We sadly told our U.S. interns "Good-bye!" on Tuesday (today is Friday). Thanks to them we have some photos to share of the workshops and classes while we were away.

Today we finalized plans for the next series on sculpture classes starting April 20, and made tentative plans for another trip to Sewa Ashram by the end of April. On the latter, we may be accompanied by a journalist from Australia wanting to do a series of short pieces as a lead up to the Commonwealth Games scheduled to begin in Delhi in October! We scheduled a meeting tomorrow to explore an important possibility that might alleviate our visa concerns and expand this last year of piloting into a full schedule of classes and workshops. More on this later as it develops.

For now, some photos of  BRT & Sewa Ashram workshops (class photos to follow in another posting)...

From the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Project:

From Sewa Ashram, a safe place for the destitute:

A Milestone (of sorts) & Surprise Developments

First - the "Milestone (of sorts)": after a rugged transition from India to U.S. (scheduled departure 3:00 AM Wednesday, 1/20, scheduled arrival LAX 3:30 PM Wednesday, 1/20 [it's the dateline thing that causes a 22-24 hour flight to depart and arrive on same day!], but due to fog delay and a cascade of human errors, we finally arrived at LAX at 3:30 PM on Friday 1/22), last night (2/6) we had our first, regular, uninterrupted sleep! Yeah, jet lag is over!

Second - "Surprise Developments": we recently discovered that on the day of our arrival in LA (1/22), the Indian government released "clarifications" regarding their new visa policies and regulations. We are now more confused than ever ; it appears neither our current visa - nor the alternative we were preparing - will be suitable based on these new descriptions. We have a de-brief with our leadership scheduled for Monday afternoon; we're hoping things will begin to clarify from that.

Photos From BRT II

These are some photos that go with the previous post. Notice the size of the room!

Follow-up BRT Project

[We - Janis & Chuck - are in the U.S. now, so were not able to be a part of the activity described below. This posting is gleaned from reports received from the interns. Sorry! no photos yet.]

In follow up to the initial BRT Art Project (see previous posting, 1.20.10), a group from Reflection Gallery and our two Made-to-Create interns visited one of the community agencies to have another sessions with some who had been identified as possibly benefiting from additional experience and instruction.

The initial project was outdoors in a BRT park & ride parking lot, this follow up session was in the agency's community room - a very small, perhaps 12'x15', windowless, basement room. There were 23 students, plus agency staff, plus our group of 7 jammed into this room for 4-5 hours. They also experienced a power outage for about 20 minutes during the session. Despite the hardships of cramped space, electricity outage, and a tiring time, the results were very positive.

The students were asked to do 2 paintings. In the first, they were just to experiment with color. According to one of the interns, the results were incredible. The students were very expressive and their color palettes were beautiful.

The second painting was to be another rendition of their drawing done at the initial project. Some of the students had so much fun that after completing this second painting they kept painting on the newspapers that were underneath!

BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Project

Just before we left for our unexpected 2-month stay in the U.S., a local Delhi activist research agency sponsored an activity focused on the effect of the recent mass transit project on the lives of the poorer residents of Delhi. Two community agencies (all of whose projects are funded entirely from within their own communities), and Made to Create and Reflection Art Gallery (representing the Art for Change Foundation) were invited to participate. Please enjoy this brief photo record of a personally moving day. Take note of the setting - carpet laid over a "park-and-ride" parking lot that is built over the top of an open sewer drain. After the art activity (10 am-5pm) there was a social time in the very little one-room school operated by one of the community agencies.