The neighborhood around Portland's Cultivating Community urban garden (on Boyd Street in Bayside) might not be as notorious as the one that surrounds the South Central garden at 41st and Alameda streets in Los Angeles. But some aspects of the two gardens' missions — to bring healthy, affordable food to disadvantaged communities, and to people who might not otherwise have access to fresh vegetables — are quite similar. For that reason (and because it's a really fine piece of work), everyone should get over to SPACE Gallery next Thursday, to watch The Garden, a documentary by Scott Hamilton Kennedy that tells the powerful story about how a plot of land can symbolize bigger socio-economic struggles.
After stewarding the garden's 14 acres for years, the South Central farmers found themselves at the beginning of this decade in the middle an ownership dispute, fighting the powers-that-be — city officials and even other community activists. They fought, and ultimately (spoiler alert) failed to keep what they considered to be their land; Kennedy was there to document all the big moments. (Maine-connection bonus: Barry Dana, former chief of the Penobscot Nation, is on the board of Katahdin Productions, the California-based company behind this doc.)
SPACE is filming the movie as part of its social justice film series; tickets are $7 and the film starts at 7:30 pm on Thursday, December 18.
Related:
Inspiring urban growers, Local Sprouts dig in, Uncovering the imagination, More 
- Inspiring urban growers
Just in time for the fresh-food abundance that comes with summer and farmers' markets and pick-your-own adventures, the folks at SPACE Gallery and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) will host their second Food+Farm extravaganza this week.
- Local Sprouts dig in
For two years, the Local Sprouts Cooperative has been creating a name for itself as a sustainable and healthy catering and meal cooperative in Portland. Hanifa Washington, a worker-owner and chef, likens it to "Superman in slo-mo," saying that the organization has experienced a "steady advance" since its inception in 2007.
- Uncovering the imagination
More than meaningless scraps of paper, discarded objects, or misplaced keepsakes, Found items are stories in themselves.
- Food unfarmed
Following in the Peabody Award-winning footsteps of Aaron Wolf's congenial, informative documentary King Corn, Robert Kenner's omnibus agri-doc Food, Inc . offers a bleaker portrait of America's food economy at this year's Food+Farm event series, centered at SPACE Gallery from May 7 to 10.
- Music Seen: All over
Last week we spent five of six nights out on the town. If anyone ever complains that we don't have enough venues or shows to attend we beg to differ.
- Music Seen: Ocean and Pontiak
The day after Ocean's predictably under-attended (30-40 people) Cinco de Mayo performance at SPACE, a friend who also attended asked what I thought. "So loud," I said. "So slow," he responded. It wasn't hard to catch the reverence in both reactions.
- Rattle your cage
You'll excuse Emilia Dahlin if her first release since the well-received God Machine in 2006 is a six-song EP.
- Portland Music News: May 8, 2009
The weekend of May 23 is shaping up to be an important one in the local-music continuum.
- Put your skirt on
Portland's aggressive new frontgal can hit all the notes while she hits you in the face.
- Last call
One of the big topics of social conversation in Portland last week was the anonymous Portland Point blog's ruthless, somewhat self-negating takedown of the Honey Clouds' May 23 CD-release show.
- Greetings and salutations
The film, a decidedly unlikely crowd-pleaser, has had a charmed year so far. It won a Special Jury Award upon its world premiere at Austin, Texas's SXSW Film Festival, and an Audience Award at the prestigious Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina, becoming something of a "little documentary that could" on the festival circuit.
- Less
Topics:
This Just In
, Penobscot Nation, Space, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
