Legends honored at George Washington Birthday Breakfast

The Traveling Exhibition of 2013 Legend Portraits was displayed for the first time at the Annual Meeting of the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association.

 



The association presented certficates of honorary membership to the 2013 Living Legends of Alexandria.  Pictured from left to right are Joann Miller, Kathryn Brown, Jay Johnson, Marlin Lord, Rosa Byrd, Willie Bailey, Richard Merritt, David Martin, Lewis Stearman and Frank Tremel,Vice President, Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association.

Photos by Steven Halperson/Tisara Photography

 

Family Legends at Black History Museum

 

Families from as far away as New Jersey participated in the Family Legends Bookmaking workshop at the Alexandria Black History Museum on Saturday.   The families who were visiting Alexandria for the holiday weekend, learned about the workshop on the City website. 

 

The program was led by Sushmita Mazumdar, a local book artist, writer and educator who started writing stories for children when her own children were little.

Family Legend workshops are an activity of Living Legends of Alexandria (www.AlexandriaLegends.com) an ongoing, not-for-profit photo-journalism project to identify, honor and chronicle the people making current history in Alexandria.

 



 

At the conclusion of the program the children read their stories aloud.

 

Photos by Nina Tisara/Living Legends of Alexandria

Living Legends DASH to First Place

 

Alexandria Living Legends and friends pose in front of the Dash Trolley they rode at the George Washington Birthday parade. From left to right (front row): Engin Artemel (2008), Lillian Patterson (2012), Linda Oliver, Allen Lomax (2012), Rosa Byrd (2013), Kathryn Brown (2013), Director Nina Tisara and Marlin Lord (2013). Back row: Richard Merritt (2013), Mike Oliver (2012), Will Bailey (2013). Jack Byrd and Jim McClellan (2012) who rode the unicycle seen in the foreground. 

 

A number of Living Legends of Alexandria rode a Dash Trolley in Monday’s George Washington Birthday Parade. 2012 Legend Allen Lomax (left) and 2013 Legend Willie Bailey (right) walked with director Nina Tisara.

 

The group won first prize in the Senior category. Photo by Steven Halperson/Tisara Photography

Family Legends at Carpenter's Shelter

The Carpenter’s Shelter, 930 N. Henry St., is offering Family Legends workshops to the children of women enrolled in their MYA (My Year of Action) program. As the largest homeless shelter in Northern Virginia, Carpenter’s Shelter serves over 1,000 homeless and formerly homeless children and adults each year. The shelter provides a continuum of services and tools necessary for its clients to achieve lasting independence. In the MYA program women who have transitioned out of Carpenter’s Shelter meet with a life/leadership coach every other week to learn to give their lives new direction.

Sisters Jayda, 8, Kiana, 13 and Unique, 6, pose for the camera.  
 

Six-year-old Unique creates her "author's page"
with assistance from volunteer LaDawn Fronapel.

Photos by Nina Tisara

In the Family Legends workshop, families research and record “legendary” family members and make their stories into handmade storybooks that include illustrations, photos and maps. They have their photos taken and write their biographies for the author’s page. At the end of the class the students read their stories aloud to friends and families gaining experience in public speaking.

Family Legends is a project of Living Legends of Alexandria, a photo-documentary project to identify, honor and chronicle people making current history in Alexandria, Virginia. Family Legends is led by artist/educator Sushmita Mazumdar who teaches art education programs for children and adults encouraging storytelling and the sharing of cultural heritage. She has conducted workshops at museums, schools, and arts institutions in the Washington, D.C. area.

 

For information about Living Legends of Alexandria or Family Legends, contact Nina Tisara at 703-625-2330. For information about the program at Carpenter’s Shelter, contact Mary Parker Lamm, 703-548-7500.

 

Living Legends on Fairfax Cable

The Alexandria Branch American Association of University Women (AAUW) invited Living Legends of Alexandria to appear on their public access cable TV show, On the Go with AAWU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y-5mv3-k5Y

2013 Legends Willie Bailey and Bill Rivers were interviewed by Deborah Wright.
 

The video is in two parts. Scroll down to the bottom to click on Part 1 and then Part 2.

Family Legends Bookmaking Workshop for Children

at Alexandria Black History Museum

Date: Saturday, February 16, 2013 • Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m • Ages: 6 - 12 yrs.

Location: Alexandria Black History Museum, 902 Wythe Street, Alexandria,VA

• Fee: Free • Reservation Required: Call 703.838.4356

The Family Legends of Alexandria bookmaking workshop is a fun and informative art class designed for families with children 6 -12 years. Participants choose a “legend” in their family, write their story, and make it into a handmade storybook to take home! 

 

Instructor Sushmita Mazumdar is a local book artist, writer, and educator. She started writing stories for children when her children were little and made them into fun books by hand. Since then, she has taught art education programs for children as well as adult groups to encourage storytelling and passing on cultural heritage from one generation to the next. She has taught at Smithsonian museums, in local schools, incuding Alexandria City Public Schools, and art centers in the region. More at www.HandmadeStorybooks.com 

 

Family Legends is an activity of Living Legends of Alexandria, (www.AlexandriaLegends.com) an ongoing, not-for-profit photo-journalism project to identify, honor and chronicle the people making current history in Alexandria.

902 Wythe Street, is in the heart of the Parker-Gray Historic District.

The museum is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. • www.alexblackhistory.org.