Just Rest

Funding Update

2009-09-22T17:47:00.001-07:00

Peter ran into Patrick from the Omaha Community Foundation, who mentioned the grant applications for the Affiliated Family Fund had just been forwarded onto the grant review committee. We applied for this grant in July, and are anxiously awaiting word on whether we'll receive any funding. Keep your fingers crossed - we should hear some news around Thanksgiving. In that case, make a wish for us when you break the wishbone!

Experience Just Rest at "What's in a Name?" event

2009-07-17T13:53:00.001-07:00

Just Rest is a proud to be a partner of Mosaic Community Development. Pretty soon, Mosaic Community Development will have a new name to help distinguish it in the metro-area. On July 30 - August 1, Mosaic is hosting it's rebranding bash, What's in a Name?

That means we have a unique opportunity to showcase Just Rest, and you have a unique opportunity to help us. Stop by Mosaic, located at 1258 S. 13th Street at 11am on Saturday, August 1 and help us make Just Rest art objects during our soft opening!

We'll be on-site with tools and materials and you can help us launch the project by building a chair with Peter, repurposing a pair of delapidated old tennis shoes with Kjell or bird pillows and bed rolls with Leslie. Below are a few (color) pictures of us... taking pictures of our work. Come by and check us out and help make Omaha a better place through art!

Oh, and you can now "fan" us on Facebook. Join the legion of other admirers here!

2009-07-02T12:52:00.001-07:00

I just published our Facebook page. It's looking pretty dismal with just one lowly fan. Help us out by searching/fanning "Just Rest".

Leslie's other Summer project

2009-06-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just Rest artist Leslie Iwai doesn't rest on her laurels. Among the various other projects she's doing between sewing birds and pouring concrete forms is the Artisan Woods project at Nebraska City's Arbor Day Farm. Check out a slideshow of her work-in-progress "Life Below: Exposing the Roots" here.

Update: Now accepting online donations

2009-06-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

We've been getting tons of great feedback and support since launching Just Rest during the Big Omaha conference last month. Now we're making it easier to show your financial support by accepting donations via Paypal. If you'd like to make a donation - anything from $5 - $500, you can do so online by visiting Mosaic Community Development our nonprofit partner, and clicking on the "Donate" logo at the bottom of the screen. If making a donation through Paypal, designate "For Just Rest" in the notes or comments field. Thanks for your continued support!

Getting Grandma involved in chair making

2009-05-19T09:31:00.001-07:00

Peter just heard from his grandma last night. She called to let him know she'd already finished making five canvas chair backs. We'll post pictures as soon as she mails them from Kansas! Check back soon to get a sneak peak at the color combinations!

Just Rest @ #Big Omaha

2009-05-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Peter: Big Omaha is upon us! (well in about 8 hours anyway). We just finished up our installation tonight and Kjell and I hit up Niccola's before heading over to Slowdown (Hopluia on tap = awesome) to meet up with Leslie and Christian from Mosaic. Great turnout! It's always awesome to go to a place and meet so many new people. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Special thanks to Jeff (@jjsnyc) and Erin (@tinyxl) and all the folks at Big Omaha for all their support and help!

Oh yeah, hey - follow us on Twitter (@justrest). We'll be posting regular updates, including photos of our progress.

A small setback... and an opportunity

2009-05-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

We learned earlier today that we unfortunately did not receive grant funding we applied for to fund Just Rest. However, we're charging full steam ahead with our more grass-roots fundraising approach. We believe our combination of a good cause and innovative service and design concepts will be a tempting target for donors looking for a way to make a big difference with potentially smaller pocket books.

If you're interested in donating resources - money, materials, time - to the Just Rest project, you can do so through Mosaic Community Development (www.mosaiccd.org).

Check back in the coming days as we'll be launching an online donation option.

Drum Roll Please... Commencing Just Rest

2009-05-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Leslie, Kjell and Peter are proud to have been invited to unveil Just Rest at the Big Omaha conference on Friday, May 8. If you're at Big Omaha, please check out our installation. Be sure to grab one of our limited edition info cards. Each one is individually stamped and numbered (edition of 400) by one of the three of us. You can also get a sneak-peak of prototypes of the art pieces we'll be creating throughout the Just Rest project.

Together, with the help of volunteers, donors and interested parties we will create a lasting change that will benefit Omaha's homeless and the Omaha-metro-area, and that will serve as a model for community engagement and service for other cities!

If you weren't fortunate to land a coveted spot at Big Omaha, here are a few photos of our work.

Leslie Iwai is already well known for her architectural forms (check out the "Sounding Stones" in Elmwood Park). Here, she turns her attention

to a smaller, poured form evocative of a bed roll or pillow. Speaking of pillows, Leslie will also make a series of vinyl bird pillows (check out our current user id image).

Kjell Cronn has spent the last two decades exploring installation and performance. For Just Rest, we'll be collecting old shoes and Kjell and our participants will create new work from their ashes. Through adorning and re-imagining a series of old shoes, participants will have an opportunity to share their story through a set of formerly useless shoes. What would you do with three shoes?

Just Rest is a perfect vehicle for Peter Cales' interest in chairs and the theory of relational aesthetics. We're going to shoot for making 50 chairs. Peter's chairs always include an element of interactivity - within the chair, or implied by the interactivity between the chair and user. The Just Rest chair is no different, as we hope it will spark lasting and positive relationships in all the participants who help make them. some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Can you accept the challenge to move beyond your comfort zone and work for justice alongside some of our most vulnerable citizens?