WRITL ARGE RETROSPECTIVE
SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5: FIELD RESEARCH
Š UNIVERSITY OF DENVER WRITING PROGRAM
WRIT Large is published by the University Writing Program at the University of Denver
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An Introduction to Issue 5
“Field Research” In Close to Home, literacy scholar Juan C. Guerra cautions researchers to “theorize in paradise, practice on Earth” (154). Conducting primary research is one way for students to confront the dichotomy Guerra addresses. That is, while it has never been easier, or tempting, to connect to WIFI and research from the comforts of one’s apartment, dorm, or library, academic research routinely asks students to unplug and perform participant observations, interviews, and surveys in the field. The authors featured here do just that in their investigations of three Denver communities. In the process, they get dirt under their fingernails—literally, in one case—as they observe and interview craft brewers, classical musicians, and community gardeners alike, and then use that data to complement their secondary research.
— Brad Benz Teaching Professor University Writing Program
Contents pg. 5
Breanna Demont, “Craft Brewing & Community: The Case of
Wynkoop Brewing Co.”
Originally published in WRIT Large Volume 4 (2015) pg. 12
Brian Casey Goetzinger, “An Orchestra of Many”
Originally published in WRIT Large Volume 5 (2016) pg. 17
Tuong Vi Nyguen, “Dig Deeper: the Effects of an Urban Garden
Project on a Community”
Originally published in WRIT Large Volume 2 (2013) pg. 23
Meet Our Authors
pg. 24
Call for Submissions
pg. 25
Acknowledgements
Craf t Brewing & Community:
Th e C a s e
of
W y nkoop Bre w ing C o.
Breanna Demont
by ASEM: Thinking, Eating, and Writing—Food History | Professor Carol Helstosky Originally published in WRIT Large Volume 4 (2015)
HISTORY OF BEER IN DENVER Tom Noel, better known as “Dr. Colorado,” once said that “Colorado is a state whose territorial government was conceived and born in a tavern.” 1 Since Denver’s founding in 1858, taverns, pubs, bars, and similar establishments “were of utmost social importance to groups of Germans, Italians and others,” 2 bringing these diverse communities together in various ways. Not only was alcohol likely safer than Denver’s drinking water,3 but until churches, schools, banks, theaters, and other institutions became well-established, saloons “served as a multifunctional institution” in the community.4 In 1916, however, four years shy of the enactment of the nationwide prohibition on alcohol, Colorado voters chose to ban bars. And “[a]lthough Denver had voted 38,139 to 28,533 against the dry crusade,” as Noel remarks, “the city was forced to go along with the statewide decision.” 5 As a result, breweries disappeared at an alarming rate. Denver had over twenty-five breweries before 1916, but Prohibition put all but four breweries in the whole state out of business: Walter’s in Pueblo, Schneider’s in Trinidad, the Tivoli in Denver, and the Coors Brewery (now MillerCoors) in Golden.6 After several years, Colorado ended up sharing a national view that Prohibition had become a failure. As Robert Athearn notes: When a University of Denver graduate student interviewed local authorities in 1932, most of them expressed the opinion that
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the law had done more harm than good. The county jail warden thought that the liquor law stimulated organized crime, gangs, and corruption, while making petty criminals out of people who were not criminally inclined.7
In 1933, the Eighteenth Amendment put an end to Prohibition. However, according to Noel, the resurgence of saloon-going in Denver can be more directly attributed to the demise of traditional values and institutions.8 As was the case in many American cities, industrialization and immigration, rapid population growth and suburbanization, and the rise of progressive movements shaped a new culture in Denver, one in which alcohol played a big part.9 This culture took root in Lower Downtown, otherwise known as LoDo. Though the city of Denver features the largest collection of urban historic buildings in the Rocky Mountain region, nearly 20 percent of LoDo’s buildings were demolished in the 1980s in order to provide parking space for office workers, which gave the area its reputation as the city’s “skid row.” But Federico Peña, who was elected mayor in 1983, had great hope for the historic warehouses of LoDo, believing that the area “could be used to jump-start the revitalization of the entire downtown.” 10 The City Council therefore passed the Lower Downtown Historic District ordinance in 1988, which called for demolition controls and implemented design guidelines for constructing new buildings and rehabilitating old ones. This ordinance led to a rise in private sector investment and development; renovations of historic buildings gave younger residents a place to live while also making room for businesses to set up shop. Historic buildings are a scarce resource in cities, and the certainty of their preservation created value in LoDo’s real estate, especially for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Edward McMahon explains: Small businesses and investors were lured to the area by its charm and unique character— and by the knowledge that those attributes would not change. Historic district zoning gave investors assurance that if they spent money rehabilitating a turn-of-the-century building, their investment would not be undermined by the property owner next door tearing down a building to construct a parking lot, put up a billboard, or pursue other insensitive development.11 6
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The city’s brewery revival occurred when one of these small businesses, the Wynkoop Brewing Company, opened in LoDo in 1988, sparking the opening of many other small businesses and paving the way for a community to flourish.
WYNKOOP BREWING COMPANY Founded by John Hickenlooper, who later would be elected state governor, the Wynkoop Brewing Company is Colorado’s very first brewpub.12 Hickenlooper had been laid off from his job as a geologist in 1986.10 But his life changed with a visit to one of America’s first brewpubs: the Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley, California. Dreaming of opening a brewpub of his own, Hickenlooper banded together with five other partners and made this dream of the Wynkoop Brewing Company a reality. (See image 1.) The partners wanted to house their new business in a historic building that highlighted the traditional role of pubs as a center of the community. After looking at thirty-four options, the Wynkoop Brewing Company was born in the J.S. Brown Mercantile Building, built in 1899. According to current Lead Brewer Greg Moore, Hickenlooper bought the building for one dollar per square foot—an unbeatable price, compared to the roughly $450 per square foot price Moore feels it could command today.13 Despite certain advantages, the partners also faced significant obstacles: to commence operations required that existing laws be altered. For example, as Ed Sealover observes, “[a]fter Prohibition, state statutes allowed a business to manufacture, distribute or sell beer but not to do all three.” 14 However, Hickenlooper and his partners “successfully lobbied the state legislature to change the rules to allow Wynkoop to make and sell its beer in one location.” 15 This legislative change set the precedent for other craft breweries and brewpubs soon to come. A domino effect ensued after the brewery’s opening, with Rock Bottom Brewery opening about a year after Wynkoop.16 Though it took some time, Wynkoop is credited with helping LoDo shed its former “skid row” reputation. According to Moore, “People saw that you could put something in this space that was basically nothing and turn this whole thing around. Once people start spending money in places, other people want to open up nearby.” 17 Since the brewery’s opening, hundreds of
brewpubs have been opening across the state, with over “five hundred places licensed to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises.” 18 According to Hickenlooper, “brewpubs have a wide appeal because they are a social equalizer, a place where suits and hardhats can connect over a common denominator—the beer in front of them.” 19 With this in mind, Wynkoop has undergone several changes over the years. Within a few years of its opening, “Hickenlooper and his partners built an upscale billiards hall on the second floor and converted the building’s upper floors into residential lofts—only the second such housing in downtown.” 20 (See image 2.) These architectural additions helped transform Wynkoop from a place for patrons simply to gather and drink beer to a more community-oriented space, in which people stay for longer periods of time. While large breweries like MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch produce over 6,000,000 barrels of beer per year, Wynkoop operates on a sixty barrel system.21 According to current Front-of-the-House Manager Jared Hofferber, the brewery only produces sixty barrels of beer at one time for a total of 2,500–3,000 barrels of beer per year. Despite its deliberately small yield, Wynkoop brews over forty different styles of beer in “vintage, copper-clad” barrel brewing systems.22 These systems, combined with the brewery’s use of “the finest ingredients [it] can find in Colorado and beyond,” enable Wynkoop to produce anything from “embraceable ales and lagers to jaw-dropping seasonal and experimental rule-breakers.” 23 This type of production differs greatly from macro-brewers like MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, who focus on the production of a few select beers in mass-quantity to generate the exact same taste every time.24 (See image 3.) Wynkoop has been honored for setting the precedent in innovative practices for other Colorado brewers. In fact, the Brewer’s Association’s annual award for innovation is named for Wynkoop’s original brewer, Russell Schehrer. The company continues to carry on Schehrer’s traditions, focusing on “small-batch, handmade, artisan beer crafted with patience, passion and big ideas.” 25 The brewers’ thirst for unusual beers has led them to hand-craft porters, meads, cask-conditioned beer, and “other current craft beer fixtures that beer lovers ha[ve] never tasted before.” 26 According to Moore, large breweries are starting to notice the craft-brewing trend of beer diversification with which Coloradans, and especially Denverites, have fallen in love. As a result, companies such as MillerCoors’ subsidiary AC Golden Brewing Company are coming out with their own “small batch styles” of beer.27 Moore considers this to be a good thing, as it shows companies like Wynkoop that the commercial giants “are feeling the pressure” from craft brewers such as themselves, which companies like Wynkoop “want them to feel.” According to Moore, in the last ten years, Wynkoop has taken over five percent of business away from these brewing giants, which has equated to billions of dollars in profit for the company.28 While Moore doesn’t feel that the act of making beer is, in and of itself, a community service, he does believe that Wynkoop is doing its fair share to improve the Denver community at large.29 According
image 1 © Breanna Demont
image 2 © Breanna Demont
image 3 © Breanna Demont
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image 4 © Breanna Demont
image 5 © Breanna Demont
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to Moore, “One of the first things that most major cultures produce is some kind of alcoholic beverage, and if [Wynkoop doesn’t] make beer then someone else is going to.” 30 One of the biggest ways the brewery contributes to the community of Denver is by making a significant number of donations each year to various festivals and events held in the city. Examples include donating beer, donating money, or volunteering time at charitable events such as the Guerrilla Run or Coalition for the Blind. “I don’t see companies like Coors at a lot of these things,” said Moore. “I’m sure they donate money to people and tons of stuff all the time, and they’re probably great at it…but I think we do it because we are a part of a community.” 31 Wynkoop also tries to help other small businesses around the Denver community whenever it can, especially when it comes to integrating new flavors into its beer. One example is the brewery’s Kurt’s Mile High Malt—whose recipe is attributed to Kurt Vonnegut’s father, a home-brewer back in his day. (See image 4.) According to Moore, Vonnegut and Hickenlooper became friends after the brewery’s opening, and the two hit it off so well that Vonnegut gave Hickenlooper his father’s recipe. The uniqueness of Kurt’s Mile High Malt also results from the fact that it is a Vienna lager, which the brewery makes with coffee from local Novo Coffee shop. “We’re always looking for partnerships and anything we can do to help the people around us,” said Moore. “We’re a small company who is in this community, and it only helps us if we help other people.” 32 In addition to supporting local businesses around Denver, Wynkoop reaches out to community members on a personal basis as much as it can. Aside from building rapport with regulars, Moore says, Wynkoop is welcoming to any and all patrons that walk through its doors—as long as people have an open mind about trying beer and trying new styles: We like to change people’s minds. We get tons of people who walk in here and are like, “Hey, can we have a Coors Light?” and we’re like, “We don’t have any Coors Light, but here, try this, and this.”…We’re not going to be like, “Oh, you want a Coors Light, get the heck out of here.” 33 This perspective is significant, as many people believe that the craft beer culture only welcomes those “beer connoisseurs” who know everything there is to know about the beer they drink. While there are craft beer lovers that fit this description, craft breweries like Wynkoop understand that it is part of their job as brewers to show passion for what they do. Having an understanding, inviting presence that does not discriminate against those new to the craft beer world is important in maintaining a good reputation in the community. Wynkoop tries to welcome community members to its brewery in unique ways. One example is the communal participation it encourages in the production process that goes into the making of Wynkoop’s Belgorado beer. (See image 5.) According to Moore, Wynkoop purchases its fresh hops during the hop harvest season from local Colorado Voss Farms. As soon as the fresh hops are delivered to Wynkoop’s doorstep, the brewery sets
everything up on its terrace and encourages customers and passers-by to help Wynkoop employees pick the hops off the vines, rewarding helpers with a free beer of their choice. This type of behavior distinguishes Wynkoop from large brewers, as the fresh batches of Belgorado made during hop harvest season taste entirely different from the batches the brewery produces during other times of the year; large brewers try to steer as far away as possible from this level of inconsistency.34 To further its efforts to improve LoDo, Wynkoop has made a conscious effort to remain environmentally friendly over the years. The brewery “began recycling glass and cardboard almost from the start,” and “today those measures are joined by extensive composting, recycling and water and energy conservation efforts.” 35 Wynkoop not only composts its biodegradable waste, but it also feeds its spent brewing grains to local livestock—a common practice by craft brewers that also sets them apart from their macro-brewing opponents. In addition to caring for the environment, Wynkoop has made an effort to adhere to the highest standards of brewpub cuisine, its menus providing “updated brewpub classics to globally inspired dishes.” 36 On its Website, the company boasts that one will find “the same contemporary sensibilities of fresh, local ingredients prepared inhouse throughout both the restaurant and banquet menus.”37 What is more, Wynkoop aims to keep those who come to tour the brewery entertained. While its staff-led tours take visitors “through the meticulous process of brewing the Wynkoop’s acclaimed beers,” 38 the company’s creative tour makes add-ons available for purchase, such as an all-natural lip balm made with some of the same malts and hops found in the brewery’s beer. Finally, Wynkoop’s attitude toward competition sets it apart. According to Hofferber, a brewpub’s culture is not so much about competition as it is about supporting others in the industry. “The whole craft beer community is kind of a culture,” Hofferber remarks.39 Patrons do not go into one craft brewery or brewpub and find employees putting down another craft brewery or brewpub. “Everybody really supports each other,”
Hofferber says. This cooperative mindset is significant. According to Moore, while all brewers essentially fight for shelf space, craft brewers have banded together with a shared view that the “big guys” such as MillerCoors have been doing what they do for a long time. It is now craft brewers’ time to shine, and most of the craft brewers in Denver want to support each other in the process.40
CONCLUSION While beer has been consumed across the globe for centuries, its history in Colorado is unique, especially when it comes to the craft brewing industry. In a market dominated by commercial, “macro-brewing” giants like MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, whose focus is on producing mass quantities of a limited variety of beer in an efficient, consistent manner, Denver’s craft brewers show a unique sense of community and a passion for innovation. Independent craft brewers like Wynkoop Brewing Company have made a name for themselves by taking the process of brewing and distributing beer to a new level. According to New Belgium Brewing Company spokesman Bryan Simpson, one of the greatest assets of a craft brewery is its story and its ability to connect with a community in which its beers are made.41 Those assets are hard for the “big guys” to compete with. The Wynkoop Brewing Company is a perfect example of a Denver craft brewery that upholds these standards of community and innovation today. It maintains a sound presence in and devotion towards community affairs, while operating its facility in ways that create a unique, intimate environment. In so doing, Wynkoop has paved the way for an increasing number of craft breweries to emerge in Colorado, and the numbers aren’t expected to decrease. The Brewers Association estimates that, in 2013, 2,768 out of the 2,822 total breweries in the United States were craft breweries. (See image 6.) And according to an article recently published in the Denver Post, Colorado craft breweries are opening at a rapid pace. Colorado Brewers Guild spokesman Steve Kurowski notes that, while over forty breweries opened just last year alone, there are now seventy in the planning stages.42
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ENDNOTES 1. Thomas J. Noel, Colorado: A Liquid History & Tavern Guide to the Highest State (Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1999), xv.
2. John Peel, “History Can Be Fun, Especially in a Bar,” The Durango Herald, February 2, 2014, http://www.durangoherald.com/.
3. Thomas J. Noel, The City and the Saloon: Denver, 1858–1916 (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1996), 15. 4. Ibid., 12.
5. Ibid., 109.
6. Noel, Colorado: A Liquid History, xvii.
7. Robert G. Athearn, The Coloradans (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1976).
8. Noel, The City and the Saloon, xii. 9. Ibid., xii-xiii.
10. Edward T. McMahon, “From Skid Row to LoDo: Historic Preservation’s Role in Denver’s Revitalization,” Urban-
Land, Urban Land Institute, October 11, 2012, http://urbanland.uli.org/development-business/from-skid-row-tolodo-historic-preservation-s-role-in-denver-s-revitalization/.
11. Ed Sealover, Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorado’s Breweries (Charleston: History Press, 2011), 42–45.
12. According to the Brewers Association, a brewpub is “a restaurant-brewery that sells 25% or more of its beer on site.” See “Craft Beer Industry Market Segments,” Brewers Association: A Passionate Voice for Craft Brewers, Brewers Association, accessed April 18, 2014, http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/market-segments/.
13. Greg Moore, “Interview with Wynkoop Brewing Company Lead Brewer,” Personal Interview, June 1, 2014. 14. Sealover, Mountain Brew, 43. 15. Ibid.
16. Noel, Colorado: A Liquid History, 80. 17. Moore, “Interview.”
18. Sealover, Mountain Brew, 44.
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19. Jared Hofferber, “Interview with Wynkoop Brewing Company Front-Of-House Manager,” Telephone Interview, May 15, 2014.
20. “Brewery,” Wynkoop Brewing Company, accessed May 18, 2014, http://www.wynkoop.com/brewery/.
21. “Brewery Tour,” Wynkoop Brewing Company, accessed May 18, 2014, http://www.wynkoop.com/brewery/brewery-tour/.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. David Young, “What Qualifies as Craft Beer?” USA Today, (Jan.14, 2013), accessed April 27, 2014, http://www. usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/01/13/1566338/.
25. “Brewery.” 26. Ibid.
27. Alastair Bland, “As Craft Beer Starts Gushing, Its Essence Gets Watered Down,” The Salt: What’s On Your Plate, NPR (May 9, 2014), accessed June 1, 2014, http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/09/310803011/.
28. Moore, “Interview.” 29. Ibid. 30. Ibid
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid. 34. Ibid.
35. “Brewery.” 36. Ibid. 37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Hofferber, “Interview.” 40. Ibid.
41. Bland, “As Craft Beer Starts Gushing.”
42. Jon Murray and Josie Klemaier, “Some Tap Dancing,” The Denver Post, April 24, 2014.
Opening Image on Page 5 © Breanna Demont
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A n Orchestra of M any How the Colorado Symphony Stays in Tune with the Times
Brian Casey Goetzinger
by WRIT 1133: Writing and Research | Professor Brad Benz Originally published in WRIT Large Volume 5 (2016)
WHEN I WAS IN THE THIRD GRADE, I PLAYED VIOLIN IN MY first orchestral concert. The riveting program consisted of such masterpieces as “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,” “Up On the Rooftop,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” I’d never felt such elation and excitement before. Sure, our intonation was a bit sharp, and we weren’t perfectly together, but playing as a group and creating beautiful music out of thin air was thrilling. Though we weren’t playing Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, I was smitten. I knew that music was going to be something I’d want to pursue for the rest of my life. As I matured, I played in more and more concerts with orchestras somewhat better than in third grade and went to as many symphony concerts as I could. Going from concert to concert allowed me to experience many different orchestras and start determining what makes an orchestra fabulous and what makes an orchestra slightly meh. I’ve found that it’s the togetherness of the players, the variance of colors and timbres they produce, and, more than anything, 12
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the emotional wallop they manage to strike with audiences. Under those criteria, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is without a doubt one of the greatest symphonies in the US. They play perfectly in tandem, they’ve got a color palate that would make Bob Ross envious, and they’ve walloped me on more occasions than I can count. The CSO, along with almost every other American symphony orchestra, requires dedication to survive and reach its creative and artistic goals—dedication on behalf of its musicians, its donors, and, most importantly, its audiences. This dedication isn’t always easy. Performers have to spend countless hours honing their craft to be offered a position with the CSO. Donors have to dig deep in their pocketbooks to ensure the continued survival of this musical tradition. Audiences have to decide to spend money on tickets and to spend time to see the concerts. But there’s one consolation that the CSO offers to all three: it’s worth it.
11,000TH HOUR:
HOW DID THE CSO’S PLAYERS LAND THE JOB? HOW HARD WAS IT TO DO SO?
As a hopeful future orchestral musician myself, I found this question to be particularly interesting. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the theory that any skill could be mastered with 10,000 hours of directed practice and referred to it as “the magic number of greatness.” Sure, 10,000 hours seems like an ample amount of time to become a master in any field when given in that giant lump sum. However, on closer inspection— and on a music major’s inspection—that simply doesn’t add up. Consider this: an average collegiate music major practices three hours a day, six days a week. That amounts to sixty-four hours a month. Seven hundred sixty-eight hours a year. Given that math, it’d take thirteen years of playing to become a master. As a dutiful violinist of twelve years, I’ve put in my fair share of daily hourly practice, and I know I’m nowhere near the mammoth musical and technical abilities required to win a job. I wager that most of my colleagues agree. “I know it’s going to be a while before I play with an orchestra like the CSO,” said Matt, a fellow violinist at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. “Auditions stress me out. Everyone in
school for this all across the world wants the same thing, and there’s only, what—twenty jobs available? Twenty jobs and thousands and thousands of applicants. It’s like the Oscars, only worse. You get paid less.” Emily, a graduate of the University of Southern California in flute performance, is now living in the daunting world of orchestral auditions. She’s currently auditioning for a position in the South Dakota Symphony and has just passed the résumé round, the only round that can be likened to a regular job interview. The symphony board peruses résumés and throws out any candidate lacking orchestral or performing experience or a slew of awards, scholarships, and appropriate teaching background. I ask Emily if she’s excited and ready for the audition. “Excited, yes. Ready, God no. There’s only so much practicing you can do before you just wing it and hope for the best.” Given the combination of nerves that creep up in any audition room, she’s not totally wrong. Hands get sweaty. Bodies get shaky. Heartbeats pound. Self-doubt gets magnified to the nth degree. It’s awfully hard to play perfectly and keep absolute rhythmic accuracy under those conditions. One person who was able to control all this and receive the best possible outcome was Basil Vendryes, the CSO’s current principal violist. Basil completed his undergraduate studies on the viola at the Eastman School of Music. As a sophomore at Eastman, he landed a position with the Rochester Philharmonic. The musical equivalent of Meryl Streep, Basil casually talks of going from Rochester to the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, to the New York Philharmonic, and then to the CSO. Any aspiring young musician knows how globally well-respected these symphony orchestras are and how extremely difficult it is to land a position with them without mammoth determination and talent. Basil is so good, however, he makes it seem easy. He came to the CSO over twenty years ago, accepting the position of principal (or first chair) viola, one of the highest-ranking positions within the orchestra. Because the CSO ranks as one of the best orchestras in the US, his principal position is all the more impressive. I ask him about the audition process. “Well, it was trying. There were very high-level VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5
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players only. Your playing must display a forthright personality.” Auditions are like job interviews, only if the pitch of your voice is a millimeter too high, you’re yelled at to stop. Or if the rhythm of your words is a millisecond off, they clap behind a screen and say, “THANKS FOR COMING.” Positions in orchestras like the ones that Basil has played with pop up extremely rarely. Hundreds of players show up, ready to do battle for the coveted job. This competitiveness means that everyone is exceedingly well prepared, and their audition materials are virtually flawless. “Certainly, there was a lot of talent there, and I suppose a degree of pressure,” Basil says. Ultimately, though, his audition combined the technical perfection required with a certain forthrightness and, let’s admit, the je ne sais quoi that the audition panel was looking for. He won the job. It’s not always a straight path from music student to performer. Certainly, Matt and Emily exemplify the dedication and drive required to eventually be considered for a symphony like the CSO. But along his path to first chair at the CSO, Basil has had to rely on more than just practice and drive. There were also immense personal and financial costs. He paid airfare to attend auditions. He had to account for the loss of free time as a result of practicing. The physical drain that comes from performing. The emotional toll of losing an audition. There is also the cost of buying an instrument, which can range anywhere from $15,000 to $500,000 or more. Basil plays on a viola made in 1887 by Carlo Cerruti, and comparable violas for
sale at Robertson and Sons, one of the preeminent luthier shops in the US, start at $100,000. The list price isn’t even given, as only extremely dedicated and talented players inquire.
HITTING A LOW NOTE It is no secret that American symphony orchestras have been through the ringer. The recent recession has stretched symphonic survival to its breaking point. “As people make less and things get more expensive, they get more frugal with their disposable income and entertainment dollars,” Basil explains. Several highly esteemed symphonies have been forced into bankruptcy—the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Symphony, and Syracuse Symphony, to name a few. And the CSO was very near joining the list as well. In an article published in Coloradobiz, journalist Cathie Beck states, “In summer 2011, the CSO came close to extinction. With $1.2 million in debt, a cash reserve of $16,000, and a deficit of $650,000, the symphony’s financial crisis provoked an emergency committee meeting.” The meeting determined that if the CSO didn’t restructure its finances, it would face “a high probability of demise within the next two years.” This crisis led to the hiring of a new CEO, Gene Sobczak, who had recently led the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra out of a similar bind. It also led to a 14% pay cut. This chart, compiled from the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), shows base symphony salaries from
Orchestra
Year
Season Length
Min. Annual Salary
Change From Previous Season
Alabama Symphony Orchestra Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Boston Symphony Orchestra Buffalo Philharmonic Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Cleveland Symphony Orchestra Colorado Symphony Orchestra Columbus Symphony Orchestra Dallas Symphony Orchestra Detroit Symphony Orchestra Florida Orchestra
2009–10 2010–11 2010–11 2010–11 2010–11 2010–11 2010–11 2010–11 2010–11 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2010–11 2009–10 2009–10
41 weeks 52 weeks 52 weeks 52 weeks 37 weeks 35 weeks 52 weeks 24 weeks 50 weeks 52 weeks 43 weeks 25 weeks 52 weeks 52 weeks 51 weeks
$36,594.96 $78,260 $85,280 $128,180 $40,108 $34,825 $135,980 $59,160 $88,750 $115,440 $41,182.39 $30,000 $90,034 $104,650 $30,390
+ $1,066 + $4,251 + $4,160 - $2,465 no change + $2,650 + $8,342.75 - $2,366 + $4,270 + $4,680 - $5,883.26 - $11,040 no change + $5,400 + $1,890
Figure 1. Source: The Curious Clarinetist. Weblog. 10 May 2011.
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2008–2011 (see figure 1). Note the drastic pay cuts to the CSO, which marked a terrifying turning point in the orchestra’s 25-year lifespan. It takes a certain kind of commitment to your craft and community to take a $6,000 pay cut from an already low-starting salary, but the players’ dedication to both the music and the audience won out. CSO bassist and Lamont faculty member Susan Cahill had this to say about the 2011 pay cuts: “There is a long road yet to sustainability, but we the musicians believe we made huge sacrifices along the way to ensure that Colorado has a toprated, world-class, full-time professional symphony orchestra.”
PROGRAMMING FOR THE PEOPLE In an article from the Journal of Cultural Economics, Jonathan Munn and Lawrence Tamburri describe in detail the various methods of funding American symphony orchestras, saying, “Orchestras have four principle sources of revenue as follows: earned income, private contributions, endowment funds, and government support.” With government subsidies being cut left and right during the recession, it’s no surprise that orchestras relied on alternative sources of income to make it out on the other end. Creative programming to bring in audiences became one such source. And yet, an orchestra’s repertoire is also its main literature, its bread and butter. It is what the players spend hours practicing and what the audience hopefully spends its money on. Audience members often have strong preferences towards specific pieces, composers, and types of music, and this partiality is what gets them to the hall. Think about it this way—most wouldn’t show up to a Taylor Swift concert if they were expecting her to sing only KISS songs. They go with an expectation of what they’re going to hear. Similarly, the CSO is able to attract Brahms fans, Broadway enthusiasts, and contemporary music lovers alike by programming different types of music to appeal to everyone. The Standard Repertoire Index (SRI) shows that a certain group of composers—including Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Dvorak— dominate the concert halls year after year. Much like “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,” these pieces are all so familiar with American audiences that they’ve entered the next level of musical recognition: the subconscious. Even by simply reading
bum-bum-bum-BUUUUUM, bum-bum-bumBUUUUUUUM, they can hear the opening of Beethoven’s 5th in their heads. But do audiences want something else? Musicologist Tina K. Ramnarine further unpacks the tightrope between audience expectation and orchestral reality in her article “The Orchestration of Civil Society.” She says, “In an era in which the social relevance of the institution has come into question, orchestras are addressing charges of elitism and shaping agendas in everyday attempts to provide access, foster community, and promote innovative programs.” The CSO faces the problem that many orchestras face: program more adventurous new music and lose old, tested and true audiences, or continue programming old and established—and some would classify, as Ramnarine, “elitist”—pieces and risk not attracting new audiences. Basil explains: When you talk about the differences between the NY Phil or the San Francisco Symphony and the CSO, I daresay our orchestra is potentially the most diverse, flexible orchestra in the United States. Most of those orchestras do not do the varied amount of repertoire or genre that we do so often. It really is a testament to my colleagues.
Playing new genres of orchestral repertoire each week speaks to the diversity of patronage attracted by the CSO and the diversity of their musical tastes. “We try and appeal to everybody. We try to—on a very slim budget—find ways to accommodate all the different kinds of patrons so we satisfy our audience, and they will support us in kind.” And so the CSO has had to find ways to attract not only big donors, but an increasingly diverse group of donors too. This new group is the kind that the CSO has targeted with recent cannabis-friendly programs and private fundraisers: the liberal millennial. In his article “Debussy, Wine, and B.Y.O.M.,” Jack Healy discusses the relaxed mood at a 2014 fundraiser for the CSO, describing how people would “toke up outside” and listen to music inside. Evan Lasky, the CSO’s chief operating officer, downplayed the move, saying that, “For us, it’s just another fundraiser.” Basil, who also sits on the CSO’s Board of Trustees, knows first-hand the necessity of large-scale VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5
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donors and benefactors to the survival of the orchestra. “We have events that we bring them to, we might offer perks—if you give this much money, you get a backstage pass to visit Yo-Yo Ma. But when I give money to the Cancer Society, it’s because I believe in the research. So we do what we can to give donors bang for their buck, but the biggest thing we can give them—especially from my chair—is the music.”
YOU’RE UNDER THE BATON The Denver community is lucky to have such an amazing orchestral institution so nearby playing such incredible and varied pieces on a weekly basis. When asked why he supports the CSO, aspiring violinist Matt said, “It’s a great cultural resource and one of the few events where you go, sit, listen, and learn without distractions or cell phones. Why wouldn’t you support a diverse organization that works together to deliver a superior product to inspire and inform people?” Flautist Emily added, “There’s something we need in music; it fulfills something that really nothing else can. I mean, it’s been around forever, and I can’t imagine dedicating my life to anything else.” Playing in a symphony orchestra requires an immense amount of cooperation and teamwork. If you’re in an orchestra of a hundred players, and you are the one responsible for its success or failure, you
feel a certain responsibility to live up to the expectations of those around you. In a way, the orchestral performance is a microcosm for the survival of the symphony orchestra as a whole. A harmonious grouping of musicians, donors, and audiences is extremely vital to the continuation of the beautiful, centuries-old tradition of symphony orchestras, as participation in any of the roles activities requires immense dedication. The musicians are the string section, with their beautiful, lush, collective abilities on full display. The donors are the brass and woodwinds, individually supplementing the orchestra with solos and assured confidence of its success. The audience is the percussion, their thunderous applause mimicking snare drum rolls and timpani thuds. And in a way, the audience is the backbone of the orchestra. Think about it: you attend the performance with the musicians, you dress just as fancily as they do when you go, you love the music, and you are just as necessary to the survival of the orchestra as the musicians are. Without you, who are we playing for? The conductor might as well give you the baton cues right with the orchestra, as you are just as important to this community out there in the dark concert hall as those he cues in the limelight. You just have a slightly easier audition process—and that’s simply buying a ticket.
Opening Image on Page 12 © happydancing | Shutterstock.com
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Dig Deeper: THE EFFECTS OF AN URBAN GARDEN PROJECT ON A COMMUNITY
Tuong Vi Nguyen
by WRIT 1133: Research and the Everyday | Professor Juli Parrish Originally published in WRIT Large Volume 2 (2013)
SUN VALLEY. CONTRARY TO WHAT THE NAME MIGHT IMPLY, this is a place that has no valley and is not sunnier or brighter than anywhere else in Colorado. It is actually a “food desert,” a term used to describe neighborhoods and communities that have limited access to the healthy, nutritious, and affordable food needed to maintain a healthy diet (Whitacre, Tsai, & Mulligan, 2009). It should not be surprising that food deserts are usually located in low-income urban areas where supermarkets, which are sources of healthy food options, are few and far between (Whitacre, Tsai, & Mulligan, 2009). In fact, according to a study by Lisa Powell, lower-income neighborhoods have less access to chain supermarkets than middle- and upper-income neighborhoods (as cited in Whitacre et al., 2009, p. 12–13). In addition, there are racial-ethnic dynamics at play. Powell found that when looking at populations of African-Americans, their access to chain supermarkets was half as common as compared to Caucasian populations. She also found that compared to non-Hispanics, Hispanics had one-third the access to chain supermarkets. This is exactly the case for the neighborhood of Sun Valley, located on Denver’s west side, where the closest things to supermarkets are Family Dollar, a gas station, and 7–Eleven. In Sun Valley, the median household income in 2008 was $8,718, a staggering $38,000 less than the median household income of the city of Denver, which was VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5
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$46,410 (Sun Valley Neighborhood, 2009). Moreover, Sun Valley is roughly 54% Hispanic, 26% Black, 8% White, 8% Asian, 1% Native American, and 3% multiracial (Sun Valley Neighborhood, 2009). Thus, the socioeconomic and racial-ethnic composition resembles that of many of these socalled food deserts. With scarce access to healthy and nutritious food, how can Sun Valley and other food deserts improve their circumstances? A possible answer to this question is a phenomenon known as the urban or community garden. An urban garden is a piece of land that has been transformed into an area of social engagement with the primary purpose of growing produce for consumption. Urban gardens can improve food deserts by providing the inhabitants with access to affordable yet nutritious food in a sustainable manner. This paper examines the effects of urban gardens, broadly, and provides an up-close look at an urban garden in Sun Valley. In particular, I examine what a school garden, another form of an urban garden, means to the members of the Sun Valley community and how it affects them. To do this, I conducted interviews with current community garden participants, namely the teachers and students involved in this garden program. A BRIEF HISTORY OF URBAN GARDENS In the United States, urban gardening became popular during the depression of 1893–1897, when the government established these gardens as a food relief program (Hanna & Oh, 2000). After the depression waned, so did the popularity of the urban garden. However, in times of turmoil such as during the onset of World War I and World War II, the community garden saw a resurgence, and many communities depended on such gardens to ease food shortages. In 1918, for example, five million people participated in this gardening revolution and produced more than five million dollars worth of food (Hanna & Oh, 2000). In 1944, 40% of the fresh vegetables Americans consumed were actually produced by the twenty million Victory Gardens established around the nation (Hanna & Oh, 2000). As Hanna and Oh (2000) note, “During times of hardship, gardens proved to be a sufficient way to unify people and feed a community” (p. 209). 18
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Occurring simultaneously with the Victory Garden boom was the “School Garden Movement,” which commenced in 1890 with the establishment of the George Putnam Grammar School in Boston (Lawson, 2005). This movement stemmed from concerns about child development, community enrichment, and urban and rural conditions (Lawson, 2005). Prominent figures of the time such as President Woodrow Wilson and social reformer Jacob Riis praised and supported the school gardening movement for addressing social, moral, and recreational problems while also contributing to the health, education, and industrial training of young children (Lawson, 2009). In fact, one of the main motivations behind the development of gardens in public schools was to ensure that America maintained its educational and economic competitiveness in the face of the expansion of agricultural education in Europe and in Canada (Lawson, 2009). School gardens were seen as a way to teach agriculture and professional skills to older children and also as a way to teach all children how to take care of nature (Lawson, 2009). M. Louise Greene, one of the preeminent leaders of the movement, said that through these school gardens, children would learn a love of the outdoors, gain knowledge about the natural world, and develop character (as cited in Lawson, 2009). Advocates of the movement also championed the gardens as a way to improve poor urban conditions, believing that “the congested and dangerous streets, rubbish-filled vacant lots, overcrowded homes, and dearth of parks created environmental conditions detrimental to children’s health and development” (Lawson, 2009, p. 54). As a result, gardens soon became sanctuaries where children could participate in activities that encouraged proper behavior and interact with other children in a safe space. The school garden also enhanced school retention rates by reaffirming many parents’ beliefs in the value of education. In this era, many parents expected their children to help support the family, and thus, these parents were supportive of the practical agricultural skills children were learning through school gardens. School gardens, then, served as a way to provide hands-on learning and compensated for the on-the-job training that had recently been restricted due to child labor law reforms (Lawson, 2009). These gardens taught stu-
dents the value of work, practicality, economy, and money. The hard-earned values gained through the sales of their produce helped transform students into self-reliant and useful citizens (Lawson, 2009). Although the school garden and community garden movements have waxed and waned over time, in recent years there has been a resurgence in gardens. Studies show that urban gardens have a tremendous social impact beyond the health and nutritional benefits they provide (Teig et al., 2009; Kingsley & Townsend, 2006). To determine whether gardens were effective and sustainable health promotion strategies for communities, Teig et al. (2009) conducted semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in Denver. In addition to observing significant health benefits associated with gardens, they also found that community gardens allowed participants to have increased social connections with fellow community members (Teig et al., 2009). This correlated with Shinew, Glover, and Parry’s (2004) findings that community gardens are places where interracial groups can interact safely. According to Shinew, Glover, and Parry (2004), urban gardens can play a key role in reducing ethnic and racial friction in a community. Teig et al. (2009) also found that these gardens provided community members with a common goal and, as a result, allowed diverse groups of people to feel a greater sense of belonging in their communities. Gardens often became gathering places, where people could connect with family, friends and fellow community members (Teig et al., 2009). In a very real sense, the garden was not just a place where fruits, vegetables, or flowers grew, but where bonds and trust between community members blossomed. Teig et al. (2009) also found that gardens increased civic engagement; having become more connected to the community, garden participants often joined other social organizations in the community. Kingsley and Townsend (2006) affirm these findings, noting that gardens increase social capital and social networks by encouraging participants to serve and support each other in myriad ways. Although gardens do not wholly alleviate community tensions, they help ease relations between groups and establish local leadership structures that can help resolve conflicts (Teig et al., 2009). Overall, researchers agree that community
gardens can have numerous health and social benefits for participants.
URBAN GARDENS IN DENVER Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) was established in 1985 with the goal of supporting Denver residents in creating sustainable, food-generating community gardens (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). DUG’s mission is to “grow community—one urban garden at a time” (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). The organization grows community by securing sustainable lands for the establishment of gardens, planning and constructing the gardens, supporting garden organization, encouraging leadership, employing gardens as places for acquiring knowledge and healthful living, and linking gardens with related local food system projects (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). Today, DUG operates over 120 community gardens throughout the Denver area, including at least 30 school-based urban gardens (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). Since 2004, DUG, in partnership with the Colorado School of Public Health, has taken on a research initiative to explore and study the effects of gardens and how they support healthy living (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010; Tieg et al., 2009). The key findings of this study affirm national findings that gardens can have tremendous health and social benefits for participants and community members. Examining the health impacts of gardens, DUG found that more than 50% of those who participated in the community gardens met national guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake. This was compared to the 25% of those who did not garden (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). Aside from providing the participants with more nutritious and healthy food, the gardens also provided nutritious food to others in the community. Almost all (95%) of the community gardeners gave away some of their food to family and friends, and 60% specifically donated some of their produce to food assistance programs (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). The gardens also allowed the participants to be more active in an outdoors environment, and those involved in community gardens actually had more positive ratings of mental and physical health (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). They were also more involved in social and community activities, which helps in promoting stronger neighborhoods (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). From the same ongoing study, Denver VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5
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Urban Gardens came to the conclusion that community gardens play multiple roles in a community. They are a social place, an ecological place, a cultural place, an individual place, and a healthy place (Denver Urban Gardens, 2010). A CASE STUDY OF FAIRVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GARDEN One of Denver’s urban gardens is located in a lot behind Fairview Elementary in Sun Valley. Story has it that more than a decade ago, a couple of teachers started a school garden behind Fairview Elementary, next to the parking lot. A few elderly members of the community tended it until one day, “some young thug” threw a beer bottle at one of the older gentlemen’s head while he was in the garden. Not surprisingly, after that incident, those who had taken an interest in the garden never came back. It wasn’t until Mr. D arrived at Fairview Elementary in 1998 that the garden was given new life. What Mr. D saw that year was a field of thistles in a lot that was long abandoned. What made it worse was that the teachers who helped start the garden had already moved on, so it was up to Mr. D to build the garden from the ground up. Since partnering with DUG to restore the garden, the project has now been in existence for 13 years and counting. But what are the effects of this school garden on the community of Sun Valley? Has it enhanced the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of this community? I sought to explore these questions through qualitative research, including interviews with Fairview teachers and students. These interviews were conducted on a face-to-face basis, with a semi-structured interview script in an attempt to maintain some consistency between participants. Findings show that the school garden has had a tremendous positive impact on the lives of the participants and for the community overall. In a neighborhood such as Sun Valley—where access to healthy food is minimal, and crime and violence are rampant—a community garden has the potential to provide tremendous benefits for students, as well as community members. Perhaps most importantly, the garden is a source of food for the community members in this food desert. Plots are given out to community members who want to actively grow their own food and to the fifth grade students who grow and sell the food 20
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to the community. The importance of the garden as a source of food was mentioned by one fifth grade student when he stated that “there are not very many stores around here... Like the only store I can think of is the Restaurant Depot, and I think that’s only for restaurants and not everyone can go there. There’s also Family Dollar and 7–Eleven.” Students not only benefited from access to healthy food but also from increased awareness of how to eat nutritiously. From the very first interview I conducted to the very last, every student brought up this notion of healthy eating. Izabel, one of the fifth graders I interviewed, mentioned the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables from the school garden: “It can help your body, and also, most of the things that we grow help your eyes, help your muscles, and help your intestines and everything else to help it grow better and not get sicker.” Aden had similar sentiments, saying that without vegetables and fruits grown in the garden, people from the community would not get a lot of vitamin C. Many of the 10-year-old kids in the class also mentioned that they’ve learned about the difference between healthy and unhealthy eating habits. Some have even stated that they’ve changed their diets and habit as a result of becoming informed. For example, Ashanti said, “The partnership [between Fairview Elementary and DUG] has influenced me because before I used to eat a lot of things that were not healthy for me. I’d go to McDonald’s and stuff, and now, when I go home, I start eating healthier stuff that has more fiber and less oil and sugar.” Two boys, Agostino and Alfonso, even mentioned that now they read the labels on boxes to look at the serving size and the calorie intake. They were really excited and even offered me a health lesson, saying that when eating food, “You can’t have more than 30% sodium in your body, 0% would be good.” Alfonso probably was trying to convey knowledge he recently learned, that it was best to only consume about 30 mg of sodium per serving, but at least he got the basic message across (Anderson et al., 2012). In a country where 1 in 3 children are said to be obese or overweight, having kids out in the garden and teaching them about healthy eating is especially important (Overweight in Children, 2012). Fairview’s garden program is especially noteworthy for the way in which it delivers this information to students through community partner-
ships. Every Wednesday, the executive chef from Root Down restaurant comes to Fairview to teach a cooking class, which supplements the nutrition lesson of the day. For example, when the students were learning about the nutritional benefits of vitamin A, the executive chef decided to make mango salsa for that day. This not only taught the kids about a possible source for vitamin A, but also provided the opportunity for the kids to eat something they’ve never heard about. Another chef, who is a food writer, also comes to Fairview once a month to give the fifth graders extended cooking lessons with their own cooking kits. Students also learn “real world” skills through participation with Fairview Elementary youth farmers’ market, which takes place in early June all the way through October. As a way to teach responsibility, the farmers’ market is run primarily by 10 to 12 students, who get paid about three to four dollars a day. To be hired for this program, a requirement is that parents must be involved and participate at least four times with the student during the process, as a way to encourage familial interactions. One student, who seems to be much wiser than his age, said that the garden “[teaches] kids responsibility and [teaches] them what the real world is going to be like when they apply to get a job.” It seems that the garden has truly instilled a sense of pride, responsibility, and nutrition in these children. The impact of the farmers’ market also extends beyond Fairview’s students. In the cases where community members decide not to participate in the garden, they can purchase what they need from this farmers’ market, conveniently located right next to the garden, for around 50 to 75 cents per item. This facet of the program allows people to buy nutritious food using debit cards, credit cards, cash, or most importantly food stamps, which help to alleviate the expense of produce. The ability to
buy fresh produce with food stamps is especially important in a food desert community like Sun Valley. Finally, the Fairview garden has affected the social environment of Sun Valley, as well. Mr. D talked about many other things he has witnessed in the garden over his 13 years of supervising it. Mr. D said that: [he] has seen angry students become peaceful. [He has] seen students who cannot read very well at all soar and succeed out in the gardens. [He has] seen kids who have experienced severe trauma, witnessing murders, victims of domestic abuse, heal. [He has] seen families come together that have sort of been separated. The garden becomes therapeutic in a way, taking on the role of a restorative environment for those in need (Sempik & Aldridge, 2005). Even Izabel says, “[I]t has influenced me ‘cuz in a different country I also have a garden and over here I don’t grow anything so I’m gonna start growing stuff over here.” The ability of the garden to provide a gateway for immigrants to re-establish their roots in a foreign country is extraordinary.
CONCLUSION By allowing students to be involved in the process of growing their own food, the students become engaged, and the garden becomes the catalyst for discussion and a source of more knowledge beyond the traditional school books. Gardens also provide lower-income communities with a source of affordable produce grown in a sustainable manner. In a time when the nation is discussing how to reform our schools and our education system, those in charge should seriously consider making school gardens a part of the school curricula once again. They equip students with the necessary tools to enhance their own well-being and develop their character.
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images ©Tuong Vi Nguyen
REFERENCES Anderson, J., Young, L., Long, E., & Prior, S. (2012). Sodium in the Diet. Retrieved from http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09354.html
Denver Urban Gardens. (2010). Mission and history. Denver Urban Gardens. Retrieved from http://dug.org/
Hanna, A. K., & Oh, P. (2000). Rethinking urban poverty: A look at community gardens. Bulletin of Science, Technology
& Society, 20(3), 207–216.
urban social connectedness. Urban Policy and Research, 24(4), 525–537.
Kingsley, J., & Townsend, M. (2006). ‘Dig in’ to social capital: Community gardens as mechanisms for growing Lawson, L. (2005). City bountiful: A century of community gardening in America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Overweight in children. (2012). American Heart Association. Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/ GettingHealthy/Overweight-in-Children_UCM_304054_Article.jsp
Sempik, J., & Aldridge, J. (2005). Social and therapeutic horticulture in the UK: The growing together study. Centre
for Child and Family Research, 1–5.
gardens in urban areas. Journal of Leisure Research, 36(3), 336–355.
Shinew, K. J., Glover, T. D., & Parry, D. C. (2004). Leisure spaces as potential for interracial interaction: Community Skeenbr0. (2012). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_Valley.JPG
Sun Valley neighborhood in Denver, Colorado (CO), 80204 detailed profile. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Sun-Valley-Denver-CO.html
Teig, E., Amulya, J., Bardwell, L., Buchenau, M., Marshall, J., & Litt, K. (2009). Collective efficacy in Denver,
Colorado: Strengthening neighborhoods and health through community gardens. Health & Place, 15(4), 1115–1122.
Whitacre, P., Tsai, P., & Mulligan, J. (2009). The public health effects of food deserts: Workshop summary. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12623&page=5
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Meet Our Authors BREANNA DEMONT
written for volume 4 in 2015
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Breanna is a senior journalism major with an undying passion for the creative arts. In addition to starting a freelance photography company her freshman year of college, she has also been fortunate enough to gain experience working for Snowboard Colorado magazine, and she currently holds the titles of Production Manager and Social Media Director for the University of Denver’s student-run newspaper, The Clarion. When she is not snowboarding, journaling, writing poetry, or partaking in countless photography adventures around this breathtaking state, Breanna might be singing, traveling, exploring nature, and attending concerts with friends. She plans to pursue a career in the photojournalistic sector of the snowboarding industry after graduation.
BRIAN CASEY GOETZINGER updated for volume 8
Brian Goetzinger graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Denver in 2015, where he majored in Violin Performance and English Literature. After a graduate program in violin performance and since original publication of this piece, he has gone on to work in nonprofit Arts Administration for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, and has most recently accepted a managerial position in Development at the New York Philharmonic. He has been thrilled to have utilized his academic time at the University of Denver in ways that further art forms he loves. He enjoys reading, violining, composing, amateur spelunking, drinking cold brews, pacing, and writing essays on his personal blog, nobodygoetzme.com.
TUONG VI NGUYEN
written for volume 2 in 2013
As a child, I attended Fairview Elementary and participated actively in the Denver Urban Gardens initiative; therefore, the topic of food security and sustainability is one that has always been near and dear to my heart. When dealt the task of finding a subject matter of interest to write a research paper on in my Writing 1133 class, I decided to revisit my old elementary school. I wanted to talk directly to the current students in this program to see if the partnership with DUG is influencing them as much as it had influenced me. It was great to hear these students talking so passionately about the novel concepts they were learning in their nutrition classes and how they’ve changed their diets as a result. The hands-on learning they experienced out in the garden taught them about where the food they eat came from and became a place where they could be in a state of zen. The impact of the garden on the community overall was significant, and I wanted to give it the recognition it deserved. VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5
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Submit Your Work
We welcome not only essays and research papers but also scientific and business reports, creative nonfiction, multimodal projects, and more. If accepted for publication, your work will appear in 2021’s Volume 10.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Texts may be submitted electronically (by students or by instructors on behalf of students, with their permission) to the Editorial Board at writlarge.du@gmail.com by June 15, 2020.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: • Submissions must be the original, previously unpublished work of the authors (group submissions are also accepted). • Authors must assume full responsibility for the accuracy and documentation of their submission, and a bibliography must be included, when appropriate. • Authors selected for publication must agree to work with an editorial team (of faculty and students) throughout the Fall 2020 quarter and to participate in all editorial activities. • Please limit each submission to 20 double-spaced pages or fewer.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are very grateful to Doug Hesse and the DU University Writing Program for funding and supporting this project. We would like to thank all of our present and former colleagues who have generously contributed to WRIT Large over the past eight years.
FACULTY EDITORS For Demont (vol. 4 / 2015): John Tiedemann For Goetzinger (vol. 5 / 2016): Blake Sanz & Polly Reid For Nyguen (vol. 2 / 2013): Liz Drogin & Megan Kelly
2018–2019 EDITORIAL BOARD April Chapman-Ludwig, David Daniels, Megan Kelly, Heather Martin, Juli Parrish, & LP Picard
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WL RETROSPECTIVE (8.5) FIELD RESEARCH
SEPTEMBER 2019