Leah Cook joined us for 14 weeks - a two-week extension of her original 12-week contract, and completed all 5 of her proposed projects, including:
Living Tapestry: Over Meander Weekend, Leah and community members of all ages gathered natural objects and built a living “tapestry” of the river in the new storefront of Falls SPaw.
River Memory Cafe: collaborating with the Block Nursing Program, Leah led a river-focused memory cafe experience, swapping stories and sharing memories of the Minnesota River.
River Sing: with help from the local churches, Leah facilitated a River-sing-along” on a Sunday afternoon for local community members to join an informal social gathering (and a beautifully played piano!) to sing river songs together at the American Legion overlooking the downtown riverbed.
Voices and Views: working with the YME videography class over two months, Leah led the students in creating (and learning how to create) a 20-min documentary collecting and sharing local perspectives and stories about our river. The final film was screened at the CAIR Farewell 2022 event, and will be available online in perpetuity.
Wonder Boxes: After long periods of listening, research, and intensive design, Leah collaborated with YME teachers, Public Works, the YME agricultural welding class, and various locals from different parts of the Granite and Upper Sioux community to design and build five “Wonder Boxes,” a series of weather-proof, movable informational sculptures sharing different stories and data about the river.
