Earth is home. Humans are family.
THINK ROUND, INC. VISION AND STRATEGIC PLAN (2014 and beyond)
HISTORY AND VALUES
Think Round, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in July of 2004 by Heidi Hardin. Heidi is a fine artist whose experience as an original member of San Francisco’s Hunters Point Shipyard artists’ community and as an arts educator working with children in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood shaped her vision of creating art that tells a multifaceted story of family, faith, community, and culture. Since 1992, Heidi and the artists she recruited, as well as the teachers and principals where they taught have created and implemented art-based programs for children, youth, and their families designed to improve life in the traditionally underserved Southeast Sector of San Francisco. Think Round, Inc.’s programming reflects the same core concerns that guide our artists and their artwork, which include environmental awareness, universal spirituality, and the power of creativity to transform people’s lives.
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Think Round, Inc. is to demonstrate life's fullest potential through the arts and sciences, especially where environmental concerns meet family homes and neighborhoods. Our programs and art installations explore ideas about cultural self-definition, the pervasiveness of the American dream, and the universality of the human family. These artworks will be permanently housed at The Center for the Human Family, which is in planning as a destination for families, where they will go -- physically or virtually over the world wide web -- not to be entertained, but to have an authentic experience of being human, of being a member of the Human Family. In addition, this center will provide facilities for individuals and groups, families and foes, to study world religions, human spiritual evolution, consciousness, and creativity. The Center for the Human Family will also provide programs for conflict resolution, individual and family healing, and other programs that will help establish happy, healthy, and sustainable living on the planet.
Think Round, Inc.'s true code of ethics is: Earth is home. Humans are family.
PROGRAMS
The epicenter of Think Round, Inc.’s programming is The Human Family Tree / A Walk Through Paradise (Paradise), an elaborate and multifaceted art installation that is emerging from direct experience in San Francisco’s traditionally underserved Southeast Sector. Paradise is a collaboration of creative visionaries that includes paintings and original music, and that finds common threads in diverse families, ethnicities, and cultures. It draws from Think Round’s body of work empowering children, youth, and families through art-making and education.
A permanent home for Paradise… and for the related experiential programming that advances Think Round, Inc.’s ongoing commitment to education is The Center for the Human Family. The current manifestation of The Center for the Human Family is a fine arts gallery called Think Round Fine Arts where artists who champion the values of Think Round, Inc. show and discuss their work.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
By year-end 2016, 16 family art-making gatherings will be held in the community, one original music score and 40 new paintings and will be added to Paradise…, for a total of 196 paintings representing 36% of the total project and three of seven planned sound environments.
By year-end 2016, one temporary exhibition of Paradise… will be held in San Francisco, and 10 artist exhibitions with associated interactive gatherings with artists, plus one exhibition of Family Made Art will be held at Think Round Fine Arts as the next steps toward realizing The Center for the Human Family vision.
OUR CURRENT AND FUTURE PROJECTS
THINK ROUND FINE ARTS
Think Round Fine Arts (formerly Hardin Studios) opened in October 2012 in the upper Fillmore district of San Francisco. It is a not-for-profit gallery showing the artwork of Think Round students, their families, and their teachers. Think Round artist instructors are primarily fine artists with private studios at Hunters Point Shipyard or the Bayview who have taught in our acclaimed Children's Mural Programs over the past twenty years. Interested viewers are invited to openings and receptions, classes and exhibits and by appointment throughout the years. For an appointment to visit our gallery or to sign up for Family Art-Making classes, please contact Heidi Hardin by phone: 415-771-2198 or email: heidi@heidihardin.com
THE HUMAN FAMILY TREE/A WALKTHROUGH PARADISE…(PARADISE…)
is an ongoing project of Think Round, Inc. that honors similarities among families of diverse beliefs, cultures, and ethnicity through multi-media installations that include paintings and original music.
CENTER FOR FAMILY—THE DESTINATION WHERE “EARTH IS HOME. HUMANS ARE FAMILY.”
· Inclusiveness & Celebration – Human Family Tree/A Walk Through Paradise…Seven multi-media installations designed to spiritualize the human body & all human cultures
· Health & Wellness – Conflict resolution, family healing & neighborhood safety
· Sustainability – Community participation in global living
ABOUT
Think Round, Inc. is a non-profit created in 2004 to expand the award-winning community benefits programs and public art projects nurtured by artist Heidi Hardin, scores of San Francisco artists, public school administrators and teachers, thousands of children and their families, as well as innovative partners in local state and federal government agencies. Think Round’s programming has been offered for over twenty years for San Franciscans in general, and for the residents in the impact zone of Hunters Point Shipyard (HPS) including Bayview Hunters Point, Visitation Valley, and Potrero Hill in particular. Working with city and federal agencies, public schools, community groups, and artists Think Round has created enrichment programs that have taken a leap forward—giving voice and active roles to residents in the physical enhancements of the Southeast Sector of San Francisco (SF) and providing youth with hope for vital, happy, healthy and productive futures at this time of community revitalization. The most recent of these enhancements is the signature artwork for Hunters Point Shipyard’s (HPS) Hill Point Park Stream of Consciousness, commissioned by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, HPS Project as part of the Cultural Historic Recognition Program, following a national call for proposals. The stream was installed at HPS's new Hillpoint Park in the January of 2016.
Currently the focus of Think Round, Inc. is the completion of the Human Family Tree Project and the development of Think Round Fine Arts, and the creation of the Center for the Human Family. To do this, we are expanding our outreach to all San Franciscans, young and old, interested in supporting our guiding belief for these projects: “Earth is home. Humans are family.”
Non-Discrimination Policy
Think Round, Inc. does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.
Think Round, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, volunteering, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment and volunteering against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
OUR OBJECTIVES (2015 and beyond…)
· Provide new programming for trauma incident reduction through Ardicare’s Turning the Tide on Trauma, a peer-to-peer healing modality for anyone who has suffered childhood adversities in the home or in the world.
· Produce annually a full roster of visual arts exhibitions exploring subjects like human psychology, the human body, as well as nature and the environment.
· 2017 exhibits will culminate in October (through December) with an exhibition featuring four families of different ethnicities practicing the Islamic faith titled, Art of the Family. Family art-making classes led by high school teens will accompany this exhibit allowing youth and families to share and learn from each other subjects that range from world religions and myths, human evolution, migration, genetics, and astronomy. Family talks will allow the community to explore their personal questions about Islam and for Islamic families to express their interests in and desires for diversity, inclusiveness, and the tapestry of America’s social landscape.
· 2018 will culminate in October (through December) with an exhibition featuring four families of different ethnicities practicing the Jewish faith titled, Families in Paradise. Our goal with the completion of this installation is to simultaneously exhibit all three installations of the Human Family Tree Project: the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims – otherwise known as The Family of Abraham. Panel discussions are in planning to identify key intractable social and political positions that keep the planet in peril and its people under constant stress. We will be seeking solutions to raise awareness of and to heal the broken heartstrings within the Family of Abraham that put our planet and all our lives at risk.
OUR OBJECTIVES (2004-2014)
· Provide an outreach mechanism for all participants in the Hunters Point Shipyard (HPS) cleanup and reuse process.
· Provide programs in particular, for 94124, 94134, and 94107 schools, cultural centers, and senior centers that teach the art and science of the cleanup and redevelopment of HPS as well as for those residents in the Bay Area who interested or affected.
· Produce outcomes--especially public artworks--that give creative input and ownership of their community to residents of SF's Southeast sector in particular, while creating opportunities for residents in the broader Bay Area to create similar projects for their neighborhoods.
· Produce creative outlets for exploring family creativity, human spiritual evolution, conflict resolution at home and across borders, as well as sustainable living on the planet.
OUR PROGRAMS-AVAILABLE "ON DEMAND"
CHILDREN’S MURAL PROGRAM
In 2011, the Children's Mural Program, an environmental science program using art as its teaching modality, completed its 20th successful year in Bayview Hunters Point Elementary Schools, bringing art and science education to more than 5,000 children in five community elementary schools. Our focus:
· Art – Creating paintings, murals, ceramic tiles & other public art projects about Earth and Family
· Environmental Education –Teaching science and reuse of Hunters Point Shipyard & other Bay Areas
· Health – Promoting exercise & good nutrition for youth and families for “Fitness for Life”
Other Think Round, Inc. programs include:
KEEP! (KID’S ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM!)
Providing field trips into natural habitats of Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP) like Hunter Point Shipyard and Herons Head Park for hands-on experience with “air, water, and soil”. Participants experience:
· Fieldtrips to Hunters Point Shipyard, Heron’s Head Park, City Hall for on-the-ground learning
· Hand’s On Environmental Justice – Air, water & soil testing by kids to promote participation
· Civic Leadership & Involvement – Practicing public comment, letter writing & self-advocacy
THE FAMILY ARTS PROGRAM
Celebrating the world's cultures and arts.
· Art projects - Highlighting art media & world cultures inspired by teaching objects from the de Young Museum
· Families - Working together with community artists, individuals & families explore creativity & communication
· Exhibits - Displaying family artworks at the Opera House & other community venues gives voice to participants & strengthens the fabric of the community
TEEN THEATER ARTS (SET DESIGN/MURAL) PROGRAM
Bringing community history to life on stage through inter-generational oral history, drama, and art projects.
· Theater - Teaching all aspects of set design & creation—including props, costumes, makeup, lights, sound
· Painting classes & exhibits - Highlighting student artworks about community-related topics promotes self-expression & civic involvement while enhancing the learning of academic subjects in-&-after school
· Sets become community murals - Giving ongoing voice to our students’ ideas as well as creative ownership of their neighborhood
Nationally Acclaimed Director and Programs
Heidi Hardin, The Children’s Mural Program, and KEEP! were recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for “outstanding leadership in protecting the environment and public health for this and future generations,” receiving their 2001 Environmental Achievement Award for Region 9 (California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam). Over the past twenty years, Heidi Hardin, The Children’s Mural Program, and their students have received numerous commendations and certificates of Special Congressional Recognition for “outstanding and innovative service to the community.” Ms. Hardin was awarded in 2010 a CBS News Jefferson Award for her work with community children, youth, and families in Southeast San Francisco.
Current Partners
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