Pittsboro in 30 Years – A Blog by Pepperfest Poster Artist, Stayce Leanza
I felt uniquely suited to take on this year’s Pepper Festival theme, as striving for Utopia is part of my daily life as a member of an intentional community. My life at Blue Heron Farm is one big experiment in the creation and development of co-operative and sustainable ways of living together.
So, when the idea was presented to me for the poster, thus: “we want to see an image of Pittsboro how we’d like it to be in 30 years”, I was on top of it. Of course, the people at Abundance are no strangers to the concept either. So, I took their suggestions: “plants everywhere, peppers everywhere, rooftop gardens, solar panels, & plenty of bicycles” …and ran with it.
A close look at the poster will reveal some of my ideas for Pittsboro in 2049:
- A vibrant, diverse community, with people from around the world, being with each other in lots of different joyful ways – including men caring for children. Can you find two examples?
- Public art by local artists – There are 4 examples of could-be art by real local artists in the poster. Can you find them?
- Some ideas were rather tech-y. (Skip over this part if tech-nerdism isn’t your thing.)
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- Among the wind turbines, you may find the double helix shaped one. They are smaller, collect less wind, but I’m guessing there’s way less chance of birds colliding with them and crashing to their death.
- You can see the solar panels; some of them follow a new idea of angling their placement to take advantage of the sun’s movement across the sky. Can you find some curved ones?
- Can you find the Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station? Or the solar electric light rail car?
- I couldn’t find any examples of real life rooftop rainwater collectors, so I had to make them up. Later, I found out that similar things already exist in other parts of the world!
- My absolute fave tech item: the Elf – solar electric covered bicycles, made locally in Durham by Organic Motors, & sold far and wide!
- There’s one final tech item I didn’t mention. Can you find it? You get brownie points (or greenie points?) if you know what it is. Hint: it’s made by a high-profile electric vehicle company.
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- One cool thing I discovered while researching was “rain gardens”. Water loving plants are planted in low lying areas to soak up extra rainwater runoff. R & D is happening here at NC State. Can you find some in the picture?
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- But – my personal favorite idea was the Health Patrol. Imagine this for a moment: what if our first line of “community defense” / “community protection” was, instead of police, a health patrol that went around the neighborhoods seeing if everyone was OK? For example:
- instead of arresting an ill-behaving drunk person, they would escort them to a recovery center to dry out and get help.
- Mischievous teens stirring up trouble? Bring them to the Community Service Office, where they’d be given constructive and challenging jobs to do to help their neighbors in need.
- Instead of shooting people with dark skin, they’d say “Hello, how are you doing?” And perhaps even offer them a handshake or a drink of water. [I don’t mean to suggest that this kind of thing happens here in Chatham County; I’m seeing this as a national effort, for a national issue.]
- Instead of tearing young children away from their parents who are in need of help, they would escort the family to a sanctuary, where they would be protected. [Here, too, I’m thinking of a national effort, and want to note that, historically, our humble Chatham County has bravely stood up to ICE’s efforts to dehumanize local immigrants among us.]
- Aside from creating a safer, kinder place, it would enable the police focus on the real crimes.
- But – my personal favorite idea was the Health Patrol. Imagine this for a moment: what if our first line of “community defense” / “community protection” was, instead of police, a health patrol that went around the neighborhoods seeing if everyone was OK? For example:
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A few years ago, these may have seemed like radical concepts to people in the main stream culture. But these days, I think we could easily set up something like this within thirty years. What do you think?
Stacye Leanza juggles art, biz, teaching, and art coaching with being a soul-seeking “cultchah junkie”. www.leanza-art.com
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Upcoming workshops + events
The Invisible Path – Finding Home – Weekend with Mac Macartney at Sparkroot
A SPARKROOT EVENT • OCT 25, 6 PM until OCT 27, 4 PM
A warrior’s way, a peacemaker’s way, a way toward expression of the deep desire to truly be yourself in your life, and to make a powerful contribution to the world – one that is aligned with your gifts, passion and experience. This is a joyful, soulful, and profoundly regenerative way to finding Home.
Author Talk: The Children’s Fire – Remembering Ancient Wisdom, Restoring a Future of Kindness – Evening w/Mac Macartney @ Sparkroot
A SPARKROOT EVENT • OCT 25, 6 – 9 PM
How shall we live? How shall we make decisions? What is good leadership? How can we wield power and invest in the future most effectively? Long ago the chiefs of an indigenous culture ordered that a small fire, called the Children’s Fire, be always in the centre of their council circle to remind them of the first law: “No law, no decision, no action, nothing of any kind will be permitted to go out from this council of chiefs that will harm the children…”
An Evening with Charles Eisenstein – Serving a More Beautiful World
An Abundance Event
Friday, Nov 1, 2019 6 – 8:00 PM:
Join us in welcoming Charles Eisenstein to Abundance NC for a special evening of learning and discussion around the spiritual work of our times, as we explore how we might navigate grief, endings and beauty amid the shifting consciousness emergent in our modern world…..
Death Faire 2019
AN ABUNDANCE EVENT • NOV 2, 2019, noon – 6 pm:
Join us for a rich day of celebration and remembrance! This event is an actual fair…. there’s a little something for everyone! Workshops. Vendors. DED Talks. Kid’s Activities. Interactive Altar. Meditation. Fire Spinning. Live music. Food trucks. Cash Bar. Candles everywhere. Dance and celebrate. This does not have to be a deep dive into the darkest corners of your soul. But if you want to go there, we welcome you! Come curious. Leave with peace of mind.
