The Lemonade Stand Project
Inspired by New York City's, Laundromat Project, my project seeks to activate nontraditional spaces with art and community dialogue. The Lemonade Stand Projects is a mobile art making, story telling, recipe gathering receptacle in the guise of a traditional lemonade stand. Traveling throughout the city, particularly to areas that are undeserved, I will invite people to my space to enjoy free lemonade. In return, I hope to encourage people to share their stories, favorite family recipes and make some art. Food is such a driver for conversation and community. It can be a bridge to bring people together, from all walks of life. With so many people moving to the triangle everyday, and other families that have been here for generations, it becomes important to create that bridge. We all have a story and a relationship to Raleigh. I would like to create a platform for people to tell their story and share their journey, ties and experience of place. We all have family recipes that are almost sacred. Those dishes that everyone flocks to at family gatherings or fights about who makes it better. Many times these recipes are passed down and tied to a story of their origin (person or place) or are tied to memories of when they were shared and prepared. These recipes tell us so much about our past, our culture, our family and our community. These foods are often how we express love and nourishment. My plan is to collect cherished family recipes, stories, and encourage people to create artwork to accompany them. I will compile them into a recipe book. When I lived in Charleston, the Junior League had a cookbook they would put out, called Charleston Receipts. Think of this as the anti-Junior League cookbook. At the very end of the project I would like to invite everyone to participate in a giant "all peoples potluck" in Moore Square, where people would cook their recipes (if they choose) and share it with the city. This would promote conversation and togetherness.