Sunday, January 26, 2014

Week #2: Bake Sales, Raffles, Benefit Concerts... Oh my!

And we're off! This team sure doesn't take any time to warm up... we're chugging along at full speed on our journey to the South in (...dare I say it...) just 33 days! I can smell the beignets already.

 While the rest of the dorm building was fast asleep on Sunday morning, NOLA team members were desperately downing their cups of coffee and gathering for our weekly meeting. Thankfully, after two rousing ice-breaker songs, we were all shaken awake. No better way to start a morning than by dancing and chanting "I'm alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic" as fast as possible, right? 

To start Week #2, some excellent news: the bake sales last weekend at the drama auditions were a HUGE success! We'll most definitely be continuing these this coming week as more hungry prospective thespians visit on Thursday and Friday. Mmmmm -- who doesn't love banana bread and chocolate chip cookies? Doing a good deed for the people of New Orleans while doing a good deed for your tastebuds... this bake sale is definitely a win-win situation. 

More excellent news: the INDIEGOGO donation site is up and running! An easy way for family and friends to contribute to the cause, we're ready to FUNDRAISE! The link is available on the right sidebar of this page. Help us, help New Orleans.

Also on the fundraising front, the raffle is shaping up to be quite the event -- we have some KILLER prizes. I mean, these prizes are need-a-wheelbarrow-to-hold-all-of-my-raffle-tickets good. Tickets will go on sale by the end of this week and will be sold by NOLA team members, as well as in the lobby of the school on select days. More info to come on exact sale details... But if you want a sneak peak of the prizes, just take a look at the list on the right side of this page... 

While we're still searching for a venue for our benefit concert, we surely have no lack of ideas or energy. I'd say that because of those two qualities, there's a good chance something will work out. Updates to follow shortly.

BREAKING NEWS: official team song has been chosen in a record-breaking UNANIMOUS vote... And the winner is... "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Nothing gets a crowd going like a little ole-fashioned Motown. The t-shirt design is being finalized, and this year's slogan is "Art Nurtures." Fitting, I'd say. 

Finally, we concluded the meeting by working on our mission statement, and by forming tentative plans for our performances (what songs, dances, and scenes we might enact) in New Orleans. The possibilities are truly endless, and what's more fun than getting together and creating some art with your friends? 

BOOM. Meeting #2: SMASHING SUCCESS.  

It's going to be a wonderful, wild ride from now until NOLA. I can feel it already :) 

-- Angela

Thursday, January 23, 2014

2014 Raffle Prizes

Here is a list of Raffle Prizes you could win this year by purchasing a raffle ticket from a NOLA Team Member. One ticket for $2.00 and three tickets for $5.00!
  1. Two tickets to the Broadway Musical, "After Midnight" donated by the Nederlander Organization 
  2. A Kate Spade bag ($150 value) 
  3. One month unlimited membership to YogaWorks ($150 value) 
  4. 30 Day Unlimited Metrocard ($112 value) 
  5. $100 Athleta Gift Card
  6. Headshot photo session with Dan Chmielinski ($100 value)
  7. Film Lover Membership donated by the Lincoln Center Film Society ($75 value)
  8. New Orleans Mystery Gift Bag ($75 value) & Two Grammy Nominated jazz CDs by DArcy James Argue's Secret Society
  9. $50 Juilliard Store Gift Card
  10. $50 Whole Foods Gift Card
  11. s201 In-ear headphones ($120 value) 
Raffle drawings will be held on February 23, 2014!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Breaking Ice and Breaking Ground


Nothing says "Good Morning" like a game of Shabooyah. Last Sunday morning, before I took a sip of coffee, I was chanting and dancing with seventeen other enthusiastic early risers. Combined, our team most certainly has an interesting Ice Breaker repertoire, but for a newly formed group Shabooyah seemed like a perfect way to plunge into planning our trip. In a perfect world you recite your four rhyming lines in rhythm which serve as a brilliantly personal introduction. However, in a 9:30 A.M. coffee-less world, the rhyme scheme quickly fades and things get...interesting. (Any ideas on what rhymes with Jasminn?)

After our game we watched a quick documentary about the first NOLA team's trip from eight years ago. The area was so devastated that most of their work consisted of removing debris and gutting ruined homes. It has been almost ten years since Katrina hit, and some question if there is a current need for aid in New Orleans. We come together as a team, eight years later, to add to what previous teams have accomplished. A job is not finished until it's finished. And there is still a large amount of rebuilding to be done.

Newly inspired, we went through all the nuts and bolts of the trip. We signed various forms and received binders full of information. Everything was official, and there was no turning back.

Our first and most important task: FUNDRAISING. We discussed the revival of the past raffle and various bake sales. We planned the addition of an Indiegogo page so anyone can donate easily online and receive personalized prizes for donating.  The idea of a new Twitter and Facebook account for faster updates was tossed around and finally we started discussing the possibility of a benefit performance here in NYC!

We're still brainstorming on our team song, our verb for the year (ex. Art Inspires), and our team t-shirt design.

Our trip is in less than two months. (40 DAYS...to be, you know, precise.) We have a lot on our plate as students already, getting everything done in 40 days seems, pretty daunting. But I have faith in our team. Together we are breaking ground; starting where past teams have left off and ready to dig even deeper.

-Jasminn

Saturday, January 18, 2014

'Twas the Eve Before our First Team Meeting...

For those who have never visited our blog before, welcome! Here you can expect weekly posts from various NOLA 2014 members, see posts from previous years, read general information about our project, learn about ways you can contribute to our fundraising efforts, and read updates we will post while we are on the trip!

Tomorrow is our first team meeting together, marking the beginning of our preparation to return to New Orleans from March 5-12, 2014! My name is Stephanie, and I attended the trip in March 2013. This year I am one of the three team leaders, and I know speak for everyone when I say we have a really amazing team put together. Although it has been confirmed for a few months now, tomorrow will be one of the first times we will all be working together, and I can't wait to begin to get to know these artists and share this amazing experience with them.

So without further ado, I am proud to be the first to present to you the 2014 Juilliard ARTreach New Orleans Service Project Team!
Robert Fleitz, piano
Team Leader
photo: Harrison Linsey

Kelsey Connolly, dance
Team Leader
photo: Matthew Karas

Stephanie Galipeau, viola
Team Leader
photo: Dr. David Klein

Angela Falk, dance
photo: Gina Arico Smith

Austin Lam, dance

Jacob Wellman, bassoon

Jasminn Johnson, drama

Jimmie "JJ" Jeter Jr., drama

John Kroft, drama

Kalia Vandever, jazz trombone
photo: Nina Lodico

Kellie Drobnick, dance

Paton Ashbrook, drama
photo: Aidan Schultz-Meyer

Riley O'Flynn, dance


Tiffany Townsend, voice

Victoria Pollack, drama
photo: Gregory Constanzo


Zach Hann, clarinet

Allison Mase, violin

Kara Chan, Dance
Sabrina Tanbara, Team Advisor


Rebecca Reuter, Team Advisor