Sat October 8, 2016
Foundations of Community: The Story of Building a Handcrafted 1970s Sierra Foothills School
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In the 1970s a small group of artists and craftspeople bid farewell to the city and embarked upon a series of experiments in place and community in the Sierra Nevada foothills. These so-called back-to-the-landers reflected the social and environmental idealism characteristic of the era. However, they were also confronting long-established ways of the San Juan Ridge community, a remote region of Nevada County in the Yuba River watershed. Despite considerably different cultural backgrounds and political persuasions, the old-timers and newcomers were able to come together against great odds to build a new public school for their children.
On October 8, 2016, the Nevada City-based North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center will present “Foundations of Community,” a multimedia exhibition telling the story of Oak Tree School at the Canessa Gallery in North Beach, owned and operated by one of the original school architects, Zach Stewart. The exhibition will feature excerpts from interviews with the builders of the school and the students who attended it, drawings and documentation of the design process, original photography, and other artifacts.
With a focus on using local labor and materials, the Oak Tree School project was in stark contrast to the increasing industrialization of school construction typical of the time. The school was different in many ways as it featured log cabins engineered to resist earthquakes, handcrafted details, and even a scaled replica of one of the old one-room schoolhouses it would replace. The story of building Oak Tree School invites us to explore what education means to different people and how education can catalyze community and social transformation.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 8, beginning at 4 p.m. At 6:15 p.m., a live conversation will take place with some of the original builders and volunteers followed by a question and answer session.
The organizers of the project encourage anyone interested in viewing the exhibition to contact Canessa Gallery in advance. This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit https://www.calhum.org.
show less
On October 8, 2016, the Nevada City-based North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center will present “Foundations of Community,” a multimedia exhibition telling the story of Oak Tree School at the Canessa Gallery in North Beach, owned and operated by one of the original school architects, Zach Stewart. The exhibition will feature excerpts from interviews with the builders of the school and the students who attended it, drawings and documentation of the design process, original photography, and other artifacts.
With a focus on using local labor and materials, the Oak Tree School project was in stark contrast to the increasing industrialization of school construction typical of the time. The school was different in many ways as it featured log cabins engineered to resist earthquakes, handcrafted details, and even a scaled replica of one of the old one-room schoolhouses it would replace. The story of building Oak Tree School invites us to explore what education means to different people and how education can catalyze community and social transformation.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 8, beginning at 4 p.m. At 6:15 p.m., a live conversation will take place with some of the original builders and volunteers followed by a question and answer session.
The organizers of the project encourage anyone interested in viewing the exhibition to contact Canessa Gallery in advance. This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit https://www.calhum.org.
In the 1970s a small group of artists and craftspeople bid farewell to the city and embarked upon a series of experiments in place and community in the Sierra Nevada foothills. These so-called back-to-the-landers reflected the social and environmental idealism characteristic of the era. However, they were also confronting long-established ways of the San Juan Ridge community, a remote region of Nevada County in the Yuba River watershed. Despite considerably different cultural backgrounds and political persuasions, the old-timers and newcomers were able to come together against great odds to build a new public school for their children.
On October 8, 2016, the Nevada City-based North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center will present “Foundations of Community,” a multimedia exhibition telling the story of Oak Tree School at the Canessa Gallery in North Beach, owned and operated by one of the original school architects, Zach Stewart. The exhibition will feature excerpts from interviews with the builders of the school and the students who attended it, drawings and documentation of the design process, original photography, and other artifacts.
With a focus on using local labor and materials, the Oak Tree School project was in stark contrast to the increasing industrialization of school construction typical of the time. The school was different in many ways as it featured log cabins engineered to resist earthquakes, handcrafted details, and even a scaled replica of one of the old one-room schoolhouses it would replace. The story of building Oak Tree School invites us to explore what education means to different people and how education can catalyze community and social transformation.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 8, beginning at 4 p.m. At 6:15 p.m., a live conversation will take place with some of the original builders and volunteers followed by a question and answer session.
The organizers of the project encourage anyone interested in viewing the exhibition to contact Canessa Gallery in advance. This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit https://www.calhum.org.
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On October 8, 2016, the Nevada City-based North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center will present “Foundations of Community,” a multimedia exhibition telling the story of Oak Tree School at the Canessa Gallery in North Beach, owned and operated by one of the original school architects, Zach Stewart. The exhibition will feature excerpts from interviews with the builders of the school and the students who attended it, drawings and documentation of the design process, original photography, and other artifacts.
With a focus on using local labor and materials, the Oak Tree School project was in stark contrast to the increasing industrialization of school construction typical of the time. The school was different in many ways as it featured log cabins engineered to resist earthquakes, handcrafted details, and even a scaled replica of one of the old one-room schoolhouses it would replace. The story of building Oak Tree School invites us to explore what education means to different people and how education can catalyze community and social transformation.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 8, beginning at 4 p.m. At 6:15 p.m., a live conversation will take place with some of the original builders and volunteers followed by a question and answer session.
The organizers of the project encourage anyone interested in viewing the exhibition to contact Canessa Gallery in advance. This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit https://www.calhum.org.
show less
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708 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA 94111
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