Kickstarting "The Ludlow Project"

The International Printing Museum in Carson, California is currently seeking backers for The Ludlow Project via Kickstarter. With significant holdings of historical presses and materials important for the study of printing and graphic design, such as the Earnest A. Lindner Collection of Antique Printing Machinery, the Museum proposes to:

. . . .to rescue a collection of approximately 100 full fonts of antique Ludlow Typecasting matrices, catalog & organize the fonts into our working collection & digitize Ludlow Type Specimen books with notes on available fonts for letterpress projects. Along with the Museum's other metal, wood type fonts, these matrices will be available for casting type to be used by museum patrons, graphic designers & letterpress printers nationally for all kinds of projects including letterpress poster and business card printing, invitation and greeting card printing projects and creative jewelry making and art projects. We will also develop and offer training and classes on Ludlow operation and maintenance to ensure Ludlow's legacy. The success of the project would make this the largest active collection of hot metal type in the world available to the public.

Consider supporting this worthy initiative; to learn more, visit the Kickstarter website.

From Wall Street to Franklin Street

The Occupy Wall Street movement has arrived in Chapel Hill, and will be holding its inaugural event at the Peace and Justice Plaza in front of the Chapel Hill Post Office at 10:30am, October 15, 2011. Further information can be found at the Occupy Chapel Hill web site.

A Documentary for All Seasons

Growing It Here, Growing It Now, the new Common Curator documentary on community gardening, continues to be aired on local public access television. In addition to Channels 4 (Carrboro) and 8 (Chapel Hill), the film is also now being shown on Channel 18 (Durham); the schedules for the coming week are listed below:

Channels 4 (Carrboro) and 8 (Chapel Hill)

Mon., Oct. 10 – 5:30 pm
Tues., Oct. 11 – 8:30 am
Fri., Oct. 14 – 6:30 pm

Channel 18 (Durham)

Tues., Oct. 11 – 3 pm
Fri., Oct. 14 – 6 pm
Sat., Oct. 15 – 3:30 pm
Sun, Oct. 16 – 10:30 am + 3 pm

Daily and weekly schedules for all programming are accessible at The Peoples Channel.

The documentary was directed and produced by Daniel Smith; for a description, check out the announcement in a previous Common Curator post. The film is available on DVD for $10 postpaid, and can be ordered by emailing the Common Curator.

Community Garden Documentary to Play at Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival

Growing It Here, Growing It Now, the new Common Curator documentary on community gardening, has been selected to be shown at the Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival (AGIFF). Now in its fifth year, the festival takes place in Smithfield, North Carolina, October 6-9, 2011. The documentary will be screened on Saturday, October 8, in the 7pm slot. For a full schedule of films, as well as ticket information, visit the festival website.

The namesake of the film festival, Ava Gardner, was born in 1922 in Grabtown, a very small community a few miles east of Smithfield, and after her death in 1990 she was buried in the area. While visiting her sister Beatrice in New York City as a teenager, her sister's husband, a photographer, placed her portrait in his studio window, which led to her "discovery" and first contract with MGM. Eventually starring in numerous Hollywood movies over a lengthy career, Gardner was also married in her younger years to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra.

The film festival is also holding a special event, Ava's Midnight Stroll, which will feature an impromptu tour of some of Ava's old stomping grounds, and include a stop at her final resting place.

Also of note in Smithfield is the Ava Gardner Museum, which boasts an extensive collection of Gardner memorabilia. It hosts the annual Ava Gardner Festival, which this year will run concurrently with the Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival. A schedule events is available online.

The Occupy Wall Street Library

Established by Betsy Fagin (according to a recent account in The New Yorker blog, The Book Bench), The Occupy Wall Street Library is still going strong, and now has a blog of its own. As might be expected, the library has flexible lending rules, leaving it up to borrowers' discretion whether to keep a given book, return it, or trade for it. Street librarians are currently creating a catalog of books in the library, and are soliciting donations of books and supplies as well as additional volunteer support.

More information about the Occupy Wall Street movement itself can be found at the NYC General Assembly web site, which also provides the text of the movement's manifesto, or Declaration of the Occupation of New York City. In addition, the progressive news aggregator, Common Dreams, has created a news portal for the Occupy movement around the U.S.

Note: The photo above was obtained from the Occupy Wall Street Library blog. Of related interest, the Common Curator in August profiled Street Books, a mobile library for the homeless.

The Future of Martin Luther King, Jr. Park

The Carrboro Community Garden and the Growing Healthy Kids Garden, subjects of the new Common Curator documentary, Growing It Here, Growing It Now, are both located at the site of the future Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in Carrboro, North Carolina. The Carrboro Board of Aldermen will be discussing the development of the park during its upcoming meeting, which is scheduled for 7:30pm, October 4, 2011. The agenda is available online (see item D(3)), including the park's agenda item abstract and the 2004 Master Plan. The meeting is public and supporters of the community gardens are invited to attend.

Meanwhile, Growing It Here, Growing It Now, continues to be aired on local public access television. In addition to Channels 4 (Carrboro) and 8 (Chapel Hill), the film is also now being shown on Channel 18 (Durham); the schedules for the coming week are listed below:

Channels 4 (Carrboro) and 8 (Chapel Hill)

Mon., Oct. 3 – 5 pm
Tues., Oct. 4 – 8:30 am
Wed., Oct. 5 – 2 pm
Thurs., Oct. 6 – 2 pm + 9 pm
Fri., Oct. 7 – 6:30 pm
Sat., Oct 8 – 2 pm
Sun., Oct. 9 – 12 noon + 10:30 pm

Channel 18 (Durham)

Mon., Oct. 3 – 11 am
Wed., Oct. 5 – 8 am
Fri., Oct. 7 – 6 pm
Sat., Oct. 8 – 3:30 pm

Daily and weekly schedules for all programming are accessible at The Peoples Channel.

The documentary was directed and produced by Daniel Smith; for a description, check out the announcement in a previous Common Curator post. The film is available on DVD for $10 postpaid, and can be ordered by emailing the Common Curator.