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http://www.transformaprojects.org/cornerstones

Cornerstones and Cornerstones of the Month Initiative

A documentary and advocacy project for the overlooked and threatened landmarks of New Orleans
  • Status: Active
  • Submitted: Sun Mar 30, 2008   |   Last updated: Thu Mar 19, 2009
  • Location(s): Orleans all of New Orleans
  • Topics(s): Community development, Other
  • Tag(s): Preservation, Neighborhood Planning, Documentation
  • Views: 2349  

Details

Through interviews, photographs, maps and architectural drawings, Cornerstones is documenting the dynamic intersection of places and people that make New Orleans unique. Thanks to a Transforma Mini-Grant, we launched our Cornerstone of the Month effort, which is using creative signage and postcards to tangibly recognize the social and cultural landmarks that make up our Cornerstones Registry.

Project Scope: Vision, Aim, & Objectives

Why this project is being done:
We feel recogonizing the role our city's everyday monuments play in our community environments and social networks is crucial in the redevelopment and demolition climate of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Who or what this project would impact:
The project intends to be representative of New Orleans' many neighborhoods and cultural groups; it also promotes neighborhood landmarks that have not been formally recogonized for their social or cultural importance in the city.
Project intends to address:
The project is intened as a counter planning and preservation dialogue, since often the human element of places and neighborhoods gets overlooked in these formal processes.

Project Timeline

Ongoing. The project launched spring 2008 with a Neighborhood Story Project publication and in 2009 we started our Cornerstones of the Month initiative. We continue to collect nominations of local landmarks to add to our online registry.

Project Plan & Participants

Other people and/or organizations involved in this project:
Tulane City Center is our collaborating partner. Cornerstones teamed with Neighborhood Story Project for our Spring 2008 Cornerstones book release. We are working with Humid Beings to develop mini, online, video documentaries of our Cornerstones.
Plan for implementing this project:
Currently emphasis for the project is the Cornerstones of the Month initiative. We will soon be making more active programming efforts to collect nominations and expand our online registry of New Orleans cornerstones.

Help or Additional Resources Needed

Materials needed (wish list):
Enhanced web page, including capacity for our Cornerstones nomination form to be submitted online.
Help needed from other people:
First, we need place nominations to guide our research. Second, we need web assistance. And finally, any researchers interested in assisting with our documentation work, including architectural drawings and mapping, would be welcome.