Words of Wisdom

Epictetus

The good or ill of a man lies within his own will.

Carl Jung

The greatest and most important problems in life are all in a certain sense insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown.

Tully C. Knoles

The greatest thing about man is his ability to transcend himself, his ancestry and his environment and to become what he dreams of being.

Marcus Aurelius

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts... take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.

Cicero

The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a life well spent is eternal.

Elbert Hubbard

The love we give away is the only love we keep.

John Foster Dulles

The measure of success is not whether you have tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same

Chinese Proverb

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water; but to walk on the earth.

Norman Vincent Peale

The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

Bum Phillips

The only discipline that lasts is self-discipline.


-Angela 

Magnet Boards

Have space on your wall for a Metal Art Board?

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  • http://www.fridgedoor.com/magdisboar1.html

    
    

    
    
  • Art boards are fun to have for constant visual of photos, quotes, goals an reminders. It can be fun to decorate with magnets, dried flowers, decorative paper, or pain the board with designs. Boards can be switched up for seasons, goals, to do lists, reminders, or famous quotes to keep yourself motivated.

    
    

    Quick, Easy, and Inexpensive weekend project. 

    
    

    -Boosey Bossalina

Recycling Colors: Candle Making

Have some old crayons lying around? Recycle them and make candles!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4488221_make-homemade-candles.html

Candles can be used for decoration, presents, a natural light source within rooms in your house or you can sell them and make some extra cash.

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  Candles are fun to make and can also be a good way to recycle some old knick-knacks around the house. Seashells can be added to the candles, old jewelry or trinkets. You can use glass baby jars, glasses, cups, containers, anything that will be able to handle the heat of the wax and safely allow the wick to burn.

  
  

  
  

  Here is another cool idea that brings crayons and candles

  together.

  http://www.merrypad.com/2011/10/26/diy-drip-dyedcandles/

  
  

  

  
  

  -Boosey Bossalina

  
  

Journaling

Writing in a journal can be beneficial for many reasons, you can use them to release, capture and remember your feelings, and keep track with your life goals, but be careful journaling can also be addictive. You can keep a journal for art, music, poems, goals, quotes, memories, or to collect items you would like to save.

The choices in journaling are as different as the reasons for journaling. You can choose a basic notebook and decorate the front and back with paper, stickers, or wallpaper. Another type of journaling you can enjoy is scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is unique because it not exclusive to writing, you can also put art, certificates, poems, etc within clear sleeves in your scrapbooks. You can also "Go green" and journal using recycled or old paper.

Here is a link for some more ideas on personalized journals; http://parentingteens.about.com/od/Journal-Ideas-Crafts-Teens/Journal-Ideas-Crafts-Teens.htm

Happy Journaling!!

-Boosey Bossalina

Poetography Exhibit

The Nurture the Creative Mind Foundation continues to branch out and create new innovative ways to help youth express themselves. Recently we hosted our very 1st full art exhibit called "Poetography," an exhibit that has a mission to use creative and artistic expression to empower marginalized youth, helping them establish self-value and dignity through the application of poetry and photography. 

Photo Credit: Cat Palmer

Background

Over a 10 week period we conducted 10-1hour poetry workshops that encouraged self expression. None of the students we worked with had any significant formal training in writing poetry other than what they learned in school. In the beginning many were uninterested, but after a few workshops more and more students began to "buy in" to the idea. By the end 85% of the students were still activity participating in the workshops and had submitted multiple poetic pieces. Here is an example of a poem that was written during one of these workshops:

"I am not very smart, but I love to learn. I wonder when I’m going to be smarter. I hear the teacher. I see things. I want to be known for being smart. I am not very smart, but I love to learn. I pretend to be smarter, when I’m really not. I feel the smarticles going in. I worry…will I ever get smarter. I WILL improve my grade. I WILL show everyone what I can do. They WILL know what I am. I am not very smart, but I will be.

  –Tania, age 14, NCM student 2012"

After the students had written their poems we then gathered them and gave their pieces to NCM member and local photographer, Cat Palmer, so that she could take pictures that represented their poems. This process was extremely exciting for the students and was a special privilege for the NCM group. To see the students light up and come to life as they went through the process of discovering themselves, sharing that discovery and then supporting each other as they were supported reaffirmed the impact and need for the NCM Foundation's services. The picture below is the one that was taken by the photographer to represent the poem above:

photo credit: Cat Palmer 

Exhibit 

We decided that it wouldn't be fair to the students or for the community for us not to share this experience and the beauty it produced. That being the case we contacted local Crowley's gallery and asked if they would allow us to host an exhibit opening in their space. After we showed them the poems and pictures and explain the background and vision of the exhibit the owner gladly agreed.

The exhibit will continue to be displayed through May 2012 at Crowley's Gallery in Ogden, Utah. 

If you would or an organization you know of would like to partner with the NCM Foundation to recreate the Poetography exhibit please contact us at 801-710-4238 or amirjackson@NurturetheCreativeMind. Than you

Nurture the youth. Nurture the future. 

RECAP- BLANK PAGE RELEASE PARTY

 The Last 3 weeks for the NCM Foundation has been a great number of things including hectic, challenging, busy, productive and most of all MAGICAL. Let's start with the most recent beautiful thing that happened. A week ago The NCM Foundation hosted a release party for Blank Page, our youth driven magazine. We partnered with Chuks a local Vintage Company as well as multiple Salons and beauty artists including Lucid Ends Salon and Carrie Purser Artistry to produce a sweet, swanky, fun fashion show. The beauty of the event was that youth in the community were able to participate in show along side the models. Absolutely A-MAZ-ING!

    More than 100 members of the community showed up to display their support of The Nurture the Creative Mind Foundation and who can blame them? Live music, a fashion show, art, all adding up to an absolutely great evening AND you are supporting an organization that is actively nurturing our future by nurturing the youth of today. Pretty much a no brainer right?

We would like to thank the following businesses and organizations for making this event possible

-Crowley's Gallery 

-Chuks Vintage Clothing 

-Lucid Ends Salon

-Carrie Purser Artistry

-Underground Distillery 

-Grey Fiction 

-Only in Ogden

-Anita Cheney Photography 

The Whole is greater and stronger than its individual parts. 

-Amir A.H. Jackson, Nurture the Creative Mind Foundation, Founder 

Teacher Advocates for the NCM Foundation- Lindsay Masters-

The Nurture the Creative Mind Foundation is determined to make Blank Page, our recently published youth magazine, a permanent staple of the community. To insure this possibility becomes a reality we are reaching out to teachers in an attempt to establish a relationship with them and their students. Surprisingly this has been an unforeseen uphill battle. Despite the success of the NCM Foundation, Blank Page, and what seems to be an inevitable prosperous future for both, all of the teachers we had reached out to were reluctant to fortify a partnership.
That is to say, this was the case until we met Lindsay Masters. Lindsay is an Art teacher at a local High School and viewd passively supporting the NCM Foundation as unacceptable. That being the case she decided to become an advocate for our mission soliciting over 30 students to participate in Blank Page magazine as writers and graphic artists. We are exceptionally excited about this relationship and its boundless future potential.
Lindsay Master's is truly a NCM advocate that we are proud and honored to embrace into the NCM Foundation's family.

To read more about Lindsay or to see some of her work please follow this link: http://www.lindsaymastersart.com/art.html

If you or someone you know would like to partner with the Nurture the Creative Mind Foundation and be a part of Blank Page our youth driven street magazine please visit our facebook page and leave a message www.facebook.com/NurturetheCreativeMind

Thank you!