Listen Local – KALW Creates Love Letters About SF’s Portola District, Which is Home to KALW
By Guest Blogger Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW Community Radio
Our reporting project on San Francisco’s Portola District (where KALW’s studios are located) has resulted in some great articles from … and about … us.
The GRIGG Avenue Theater as it stands on San Bruno Avenue. CREDIT: Nicole Grigg.
You might remember the story that Audio Academy fellows Cari Spivack, Jeremy Jue, and Boawen Wang produced back on Valentine’s Day: love letters to the neighborhood. Here’s a quick refresher:
How many Bay Area place names have you been mispronouncing?
Luck of the draw: How trading card games found a home in Portola
Portola neighborhood book club excludes no one
Three more members of the Audio Academy just had their pieces about the Portola air. Here’s a little bit about them:
Portola’s Avenue Theatre may become a neighborhood anchor once again – This story by Nicole Grigg utilizes sound design from The Wizard of Oz to help tell the story of what an iconic movie theater on Portola’s downtown strip once meant to the neighborhood and how efforts are being made to repurpose it as a vibrant hub.
The cottage by the University Mound Reservoir, where the reservoir gardeners work. CREDIT Kanwalroop Kaur Singh.
A secret community of gardeners in Portola tends to the land – Kanwalroop Kaur Singh took creative angles to tell this story of a curious and historic cottage beside a covered reservoir in the district, where gardeners gather and work to make the neighborhood beautiful.
Opt outside: An outdoor education program at Balboa High gets students engaged in school – Claire Stremple got down and dirty in McLaren Park to tell this story about one of Balboa High School‘s small learning communities – the WALC program – which brings teens together to learn about ecology, develop deeper ties with their neighborhood, and get inspired about education.
Balboa’s WALC seniors in McLaren Park. CREDIT: Claire Stremple.
Aside from the fun we’ve had in getting to know the neighborhood better through this work, the neighborhood has been getting to know us. We recently had an article written about our Portola Project by the local publication The Portola Planet. It highlights our fellows’ work and discusses their training in the Audio Academy.
We’re currently accepting applications for the next Audio Academy class. Please spread the word to anybody you think might be interested in getting a great audio education for free. Click here to apply. The deadline is March 31.