The Urban Memory Project

Tribute to a UMP Supporter Si Scheiner

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:21:00 +0000

The Urban Memory Project is grateful to the late Si Scheiner, in whose name a financial gift was donated to our school programs by his niece and nephew, Rachel and David Scheiner. Si Scheiner's generosity enabled the Urban Memory Project to upgrade the technology used by students to document and present their research of changing urban neighborhoods.

Si Scheiner was born in Buffalo, New York in 1935. From a young age, Si enjoyed all aspects of the photography process, avidly taking pictures and then developing and printing his work. According to Si's brother, one of bathrooms of their house became Si's darkroom, where he spent hours perfecting his final prints. Si's love of photography evolved into a life long interest in film and technology. Si Scheiner died in August, 2009, and even as the process of photography has changed significantly since Si's youth, his financial gift helps UMP continue to utilize photography as a tool for students to express their ideas visually about the changes they see in their neighborhoods.

Our Brooklyn, Our Story: Final Student Exhibit 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:09:00 +0000

Students at the Secondary School for Research shared their work in a final exhibit at their school in January 2011. Students and their families, teachers and administrators, and other members of the school community came to celebrate the culminating student work that represents the sixth year of partnership between the school and the Urban Memory Project.

Park Slope

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:09:00 +0000

Students at the Secondary School for Research took to the streets of the rapidly changing Park Slope, their school's "backyard," to document evidence of gentrification in the neighborhood. Their photos include evidence of rising rents and taller buildings, images of new construction and fading store fronts, inspiring the question: what does a community risk losing as it gains economic prosperity?

Coney Island and Gowanus

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Coney Island and Gowanus, while each unique and distinct, both represent neighborhoods in flux. As part of their Urban Memory Project, students at the Secondary School for Research and their teacher, Michael Salak, explored the evolving character of these areas by documenting snippets of a struggle to preserve the past as we face the economic future--and in the case of Gowanus, the environmental challenges-- of these neighborhoods.

Our Brooklyn Neighborhoods

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:41:00 +0000

Secondary School for Research students, after examining their school's and local communities, focused their attention on changes they see in their own Brooklyn neighborhoods, documenting shifts in the urban landscapes of Prospect Heights, Flatbush, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Sunset Park, and Crown Heights, among others.

Students at Secondary School for Research Document A Changing Brooklyn

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:20:00 +0000

Seniors at the Secondary School for Research and their teacher, Michael Salak, collaborated with Urban Memory Project in the Fall semester of the 2010/11 school year to consider changes both subtle and sudden occurring in the Brooklyn landscape. Students studied a variety of issues facing the borough, including new development projects in Coney Island and Atlantic Yards; environmental challenges in Gowanus; and the gentrification of Park Slope, before turning a critical lens to their own communities. The result of the students' exploration and documentation was a week-long exhibition at the Secondary School for Research of the students' photographs, writing, video and multi-media projects expressing what they believe to be the greater good for Brooklyn.

UMP at City Reliquary Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:29:00 +0000

Students from the Lyons Community School and their teacher, Joshua Sol Lewis, worked with UMP's Rebecca Krucoff and Dave Hermann from the City Reliquary Museum on a study of the rapidly changing community of Williamsburg. Students took several photo-walks of the neighborhood, visited the City Reliquary Museum, as well the Crest Hardware Store, a community landmark. The students also met and interviewed photographer Vincent Cianni, who documented the south side of Williamsburg in his series We Skate Hardcore in the 1990s. At the end of their eight-week unit, the students chose photographs and wrote labels to include in an exhibition at the City Reliquary Museum. The result is a beautiful display of photographs that capture the neighborhood's history, character and current trends. We hope to continue our work with Lyons and City Reliquary Museum in the future!

Students on panel about Gentrification

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Five students from the Secondary School for Research, Nicol Medina, Kia Yard, Kittrell Breland, Ramshah Kanwal and Jake Lehman, were on a panel discussion about gentrification as part of the public programming for the exhibition The Gentrification of Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks, at the Museum for Contemporary African Diaspora Arts in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The panel was organized by Ruby Amanze, the Director of Education for MoCADA, and visiting curator, Dexter Wimberly, who curated the exhibition, and facilitated the panel which was held in the school's library on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The five students were part of the Brooklyn History class led by teacher Michael Salak in collaboration with Urban Memory Project at the school from September - January. The students discussed issues ranging from how gentrification impacts the architecture and feel of their communities, as well as the ways in which it both harms and helps their neighborhoods.

Student photographs on New York Times blog

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:11:00 +0000

Fabian McGriff, Kayla Brown and Keith Brown, students from Urban Memory Projects at the Secondary School for Research (2009) and the Brooklyn School for Global Studies (2007), each documented the Gowanus Canal during their study of the issues facing that area of Brooklyn. Their photographs, along with approximately 200 others, have been posted as part of a New York Times blog documenting the Canal, in conjunction with the news of its Superfund status.

Teachers Michael Salak and Jessica Rofe, along with UMP staff, organized guest speakers, research time and photo walks around the community so that students would have a first-hand opportunity to observe and record their observations of the neighborhood and gather evidence to answer the question "What is the greater good for the Gowanus?" At the end of their unit, students debated the Gowanus' fate in an academic seminar and role play debate, taking on the various perspectives of the community.

Students show off their work!

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:23:00 +0000

UMP students proudly show off their hard work at the Secondary School for Research Performance Night -- an opportunity for the school community of parents, teachers, administrative staff and community residents to gather and and gain information from the students' semester-long research and documentation of Brooklyn. History teacher, Michael Salak, led the class with the Urban Memory Project for a semester long study of how the borough of Brooklyn is changing, taught to the school's three senior classes.

UMP students in exhibition --Gentrification in Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:19:00 +0000

Some Secondary School for Research students who just finished a UMP will have their work displayed alongside professional artists grappling with gentrification in Brooklyn in the exhibition Gentrification in Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks.
The exhibition will be held at the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts in Fort Greene. See the link to the museum's flyer and click on exhibitions. All are invited to the exhibition opening on Thursday Feb. 4, 2010.

Courier Life newspapers published an article about the exhibit. In addition to the work in the exhibition, 5 of the students will be part of a MoCADA public program as a panel who discusses the impact of gentrification on themselves and their communities. This panel will take place on February 24, from 6-8pm at the Secondary School for Research in Park Slope. For more information on the event, check out the MoCADA calendar . Hope to see you soon!

Students Photographs 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:20:00 +0000

In the fall of 2009 UMP students at the Secondary School for Research closely examined the neighborhoods of Park Slope and Gowanus, both of which continue to be impacted by the trends of migration, development, and gentrification. The students took photo walks, read articles, researched the neighborhoods’ histories and argued their opinions in seminars and debates. The students then applied what they learned about trends and history in these two neighborhoods to a close examination of their own communities.

At the end of the semester, students organized their work into a formal exhibition of photographs, texts and multi-media pieces demonstrating their connection to, and observations of, their borough. Opinions on what is the Greater Good for Brooklyn are as varied as the students in the course, but regardless of their point of view, the students’ observations reflect an awareness that daily changes are erasing the Brooklyn the students might have imagined to be permanent.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Final Projects 2008/2009!

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Check out the work created by Urban Memory Project students at the Secondary School for Research and the Brooklyn School for Global Studies. The blog Keepin' It Brooklyn documents an oral history project and collaboration with long-time Park Slope residents. The film My Brooklyn is Changing was produced by students at the Brooklyn School for Global Studies. Social Justice educator, Keedra Gibba, in collaboration with Malik Parker at MNN's Youth Channel helped students to document the impact of gentrification in their own neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn. Both projects were components of a larger study that researched, documented and presented changes occurring in the borough.

Documenting a Disappearing Coney Island

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:47:00 +0000

The future of Coney Island is in the balance. Organizations from the Municipal Arts Society's "Imagine Coney Island" to the City of New York, to Joseph Sitt's Thor Equities to Charles Denson's Coney Island History Project are trying to figure out what is best for this much beloved amusement area at the edge of Brooklyn. For the past four years, students of the Urban Memory Project have been trying to figure out the same thing. Visiting the neighborhood in rain and shine, winter and summer, their images capture what they believe to be the heart of the community's history and appeal. As Astroland comes down, not to reopen this summer, the students' images present the Coney Island they grew up with – a bit tired, at times overlooked, and still engagingly colorful, compelling and fun.

Learning from the Park Slope Oral History Project

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:28:00 +0000

The Park Slope Civic Council's Civic News has just published a piece about its collaboration with UMP, the Secondary School for Research and the Old Stone House around interviewing Park Slope "old-timers." Students from the school will be transcribing and editing the interviews to post on the Civic Council and Brooklyn Historical Society web sites, as well as for inclusion in their upcoming exhibition in January. Stay tuned for more information on when and where this exhibition will take place!

Check out the article here.

Check out the UMP interview on All Day Buffet

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:02:00 +0000

Ashley Friedman interviews Rebecca Krucoff, UMP Director, about the origins of the Urban Memory Project, its goals, and student responses to recording the history of their community at All Day Buffet.

UMP to start Oral History Project in Park Slope

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:59:00 +0000

UMP students at the Secondary School for Research in Park Slope are recording the memories of long-term neighborhood residents. Partnering with the Park Slope Civic Council, the Old Stone House and the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), the students’ will meet and interview long-term community residents about their lives in the neighborhood and the changes they have witnessed. The students’ interviews will then be transcribed and uploaded to the BHS website, available for Ipod downloads as part of a neighborhood walking tour. The Park Slope project will lead to students documenting and recording the stories of residents in their own communities, to be used in exhibitions at their school, at the Old Stone House, and in public spaces around the city.

Student Work travels to NY Methodist Hospital

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Selections from the Urban Memory Project's exhibition Lost in Transition, will be on display at the NY Methodist Hospital from April 28 - May 5, 2008 in the Hospital's Milner Pavillion. A reception for the public will be held on Monday May 5, 2008 at 4:30pm. The NY Methodist Hospital Milner Pavillion is located on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Student Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:18:00 +0000

These are student photos from the past two years of the Urban Memory Project. Some of these are currently on display at the Brooklyn Historical Society through April 27th.

Urban Memory Project joins Youth Intiative

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:39:00 +0000

The Urban Memory Project (UMP) has been invited to participate in a Youth Initiative conference in April, 2008. Youth from across the country will convene in NYC to discuss issues of urban planning and the future of cities. Urban Memory Project students from across Brooklyn will give voice to their ideas and opinions in a forum at the Brooklyn Historical Society, in conjunction with the UMP exhibition Lost in Transition. Issues discussed will include: Does gentrification harm or help neighborhoods. What is really the greater good for NYC? And, what, if anything, should be preserved, and how should it be preserved?

Feb. 2, 2008: Lost in Transition Curator Walk-through

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:35:00 +0000

Ain Gordon and Rebecca Krucoff will host a curator walk-through and discussion about their current exhibition Lost in Transition at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Joining them will be teachers and students from several Urban Memory Project schools as well as photographer and author Vincent Cianni. For more information, contact the Brooklyn Historical Society: www.brooklynhistory.org

Urban Memory Project is expanding to Queens

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:05:00 +0000

In Spring 2008 the Urban Memory Project will be working in Queens with the Frank Sinatra High School.

2008 Urban Memory Exhibit

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:13:00 +0000

In January of 2008, the Brooklyn Historical Society will be exhibiting student work from the Urban Memory Project in an exhibition entitled:

"Lost in Transition: South Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Coney Island" to run through April 2008.

We are in 6 NYC schools for the 2007-2008 school year

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:07:00 +0000

In the coming school year of 2007-2008, the Urban Memory Project is being implemented in six schools: five in Brooklyn and one in Queens. The Queens school marks the beginning of a new theater piece work-in-progress by Ain Gordon, in collaboration with the Queens Theater in the Park and Pick Up Performance Co.

2007-08 schools include:

The Secondary School for Research (Brooklyn)
The Brooklyn School for Global Studies (Brooklyn)
The School for International Studies (Brooklyn)
Williamsburg Preparatory (Brooklyn)
Young Writers Academy (Brooklyn)
Frank Sinatra HS in Queens (likely)

About the Urban Memory Project

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca Krucoff, Nellie Perera) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:03:00 +0000

New York City stands on a precipice. Extensive development, unrestricted gentrification and urban renewal on a scale unseen since the post WWII building boom are transforming the city’s social, economic, cultural, and physical landscape, erasing layers of history. These changes are nowhere more evident than in a close study of many of the five borough’s neighborhoods. Developed by Rebecca Krucoff and Ain Gordon, The Urban Memory Project was created in response to this tide of change.

The Urban Memory Project introduces young people to alterations in the physical landscape by analyzing and documenting the surrounding environment. As historians, students draw meaning from their observations and pose a variety of questions based on their findings. What do these transformations tell us about ourselves and the world we inhabit? How will the changes impact our future? Understanding the forces at work behind such development and our role within this evolution provides us with a choice. Do we want to impact these changes, or not?

During the school years of 2005-2007, Krucoff and Gordon partnered with teachers from several Brooklyn schools to engage adolescents in an exploration of various Brooklyn neighborhoods. High school students from the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, Williamsburg Preparatory, the Secondary School for Research and Midwood High School examined trends that have influenced these communities and factors that have shaped their histories. In an effort to determine how current development impacts various segments of the population, the students used photography and oral history techniques to document aspects of the physical landscape they felt may soon disappear. Groups of students then displayed this work in community exhibitions featuring photographs, text, maps, interview excerpts and video footage of the project.

In the current school year of 2007-2008 Krucoff and Gordon are expanding The Urban Memory Project to additional schools in Brooklyn and throughout New York City, while deepening the level of student involvement within existing schools. An additional component of the project involves a research and development process that will allow Gordon to create a multi-media theatrical portrait of the borough featuring professional actors, video documentation and interview transcripts.