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Create, Collect, Curate

Create

Name: Arika Dickens

Occupation: teacher-librarian

Eastside workplace location: Sunset Elementary, Issaquah SD

Describe your Creation:

Since March 2020, I've created 90 or so read-aloud videos for my k-5 students.   Due to publisher requirements, the videos are made available to my students in a protected format.

How and why did you start this collection/work?

When the world turned upside down I believed access to books and stories would be more important than ever – especially with school and public libraries closed. While other read-aloud videos exist online, I believed students would be more inclined to engage if they saw someone they know - their librarian - reading aloud just like it was a regular school day.

And so the Sockeye Virtual Library idea came to life. Each week, I’ve created videos with grade-specific read-alouds and optional extension activities. An important element is on-demand access.  Everyone’s home life is unique and not all students have the privilege to log on at a particular time for a live reading. 

What rewards do you reap?

It’s been amazing to see the response from my school community.  Students/families shared that were watching every read-aloud offered, even those from different grade levels.  Viewing patterns showed that some students were watching the videos as bedtime stories, as late as 11pm! 

Collect

Name: Lynn Sanborn

Occupation/Organization: Real Estate Agent, Windermere Real Estate, President of the Seattle King County Realtors for 2021

Eastside workplace location or residence: Kirkland

Describe your Collection:

Collector of HEART shaped rocks

How and why did you start this collection/work?

I bought a little place on Whidbey Island on the water after my mom died. She had a place on Bainbridge and we shared so many special times there. Walking on the beach was my way of connecting with her. I started looking for heart shaped rocks. If other people joined me, I would remind them that “no heart is perfect”.

What rewards do you reap?

This is my way of meditating and remembering; I will think about someone who has passed and a heart rock will appear…I like to think they are there, helping me find my treasures.

Does this pastime integrate into the rest of your life?

My “heart” rocks remind me to have a good heart and do good things. I am passionate about helping those in need and am part of a monthly giving group called the Butterfly Effect. Since my career is selling homes, I feel a responsibility to also help those who are homeless to get into housing.

Curate

Name: Greg Olson

Occupation: Seattle Art Museum Film Curator, Writer and David Lynch Expert.

Affiliations: SIFF, Seattle Arts & Lecture, Motion Picture Academy, American Film Institute, Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, Alliance Francaise, Festa Italiana

Eastside workplace location or residence: Medina

Describe your Curation:

I design and manage hundreds of film series and programs honoring various directors (Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini), actors (Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant) and certain genres including 42 years of the Seattle Art Museum’s annual noir series. I’ve presented luminaries such as Naomi Watts, Yoko Ono, Werner Herzog and David Lynch.

How and why did you start this work?

As a film buff and writer since youth, I followed my bliss into adulthood and founded the Seattle Art Museum film program in the 1970’s. I have been its sole curator and and also curate and write for various film institutions and publications.

What rewards do you reap?

It’s gratifying to share my knowledge and passion for the predominant modern art form with so many people in this region that I love.

Are you working towards a related goal?

Ive just completed my second book on David Lynch. The first, David Lynch: Beautiful Dark has become the standard reference on the artist-writer-director and has been placed in the Washington State Time Capsules literature section to be opened in a few centuries. My current work, David Lynch: The Return, centers on his recent limited television series, Twin Peaks: The Return, and the full thirty year Twin Peaks saga as a passionate expression of Lynch’s spiritual beliefs and imaginative genius.

Does this past time or work integrate into the rest of your life?

Getting to express my perceptions and feelings, as reflected in works of art, makes for a wonderful life—like a slice of pie and a damn fine cup of coffee.