Conference Highlights

Catalysts for Change: Arts Shaping Community

Here some of the projects Grayson Wambach worked on…

Chicago Humanities Festival: the longest running festival of arts and ideas in the United States.
Shala’s Bronzeville Solar Pyramid: Together we have worked to bring solar solutions to life in the form of art that tell social narratives and work to culturally connect everyone.
Time Space Existence: Through diverse presentations and panel discussions, the forum has confronted the fundamental topics shaping the cities in the world.

ZOOM on Sharanam Centre For Cultural Development project

Sharanam means “shelter” or “refuge”. It has been set up as a social development project to address the severe environmental degradation, poverty and skill shortages impacting the local community of Pondicherry, India.

This project was created for an organization named SARVAM who worked with seriously underdeveloped villages. Experts said these communities were bottom of the scale for every metric you can think of poverty, literacy, health, drinking water, etc. Most people in the village were out of work, alcoholics, and had no real skill set.
The aim was to build a modern, cost-effective building using sustainable materials and techniques with village workers in an ethical way.

Locals villagers built it entirely by hand, using sustainable materials found locally, collecting and recycling rainwater, and using organic waste as fertilizer.
That way, they also gained skills in masonry, carpentry, contracting etc.

Some pictures of our Conference in November 2021 !