Have you ever planted a seed in soil and returned five years later?If you have, you’ll know the potential of one tiny seed and the impact it can have on a community.Luckily, long-time Girl Scout Lori from Back To Natives has a commitment to bringing trees to our concrete city.Her goal is to enable youth to lend a hand in community conservation.Through Back To Native’s habitat restoration program, she plans to take a group of interns and volunteers on a seed collection trip to the National Forest.They will return with the seeds and plant them in our local Los Angeles wildlands. https://hrvatskaedfarmacija.com Date for next seed collection trip: September 23. Meet at Back to Native’s Nursery at 7AM and head over to Silverado Canyon and up Maple Springs Road.Return by 3PM.If you’re interested, please email: volunteer@backtonatives.org.Address: Back to Natives Nursery at Santiago Park600 E Memory LaneSanta Ana Ca, 92705

The submission window for our September grant will be open from August 1 –  20, 2014.   The funds will be awarded April during the chapter’s Awesome Hour to be held September  17 @7pm at Fork and Juniper – 125 1oth Street – Atlanta, GA

A portion of last month’s Awesome Grant was awarded to magician and storyteller David London to assist with the creation of his latest production, the Creative Spirit Seance. Presented for just 12 participants per seating, The Creative Spirit Seance is an intimate, fully interactive experience that explores various ways in which human beings communicate with the unseen world. Combining performance, ritual and creative play, David will guide audiences through the mysterious realms of imagination, creativity and the Great Beyond. The world premiere of the seance will take place from August 14th-24th at Church and Company, located at the intersection of 37th and Falls Road in Hampden (directly above Hunting Ground). Tickets available here. If you are not familiar with David or his work, he has a long history of producing experimental magical creations. Along with five theatrical productions, including …Art of Dreams, Cerebral Sorcery, and The Adventure to the Imagi Nation. He has also created a variety of interactive experiences, including the Winter Festival of Wonders, Sensorium, the IMAGINE Device and the Scoposcope, and is the co-founder and director of operations for the Circus of Wonders. David has been dreaming of creating an original seance for over 15 years, and views this production as the latest in his ongoing efforts to spread… read more →

No one said having ideas was easy; in fact, Walter Bagehot went a little further, “One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.” But ideas are also the great exception to my bootcamp instructor’s favorite anthem: If it were easy, everyone would do it. To our great benefit, all of us are small-scale idea-generating machines in our own right. Unfortunately, many potentially ideas are put down through self-critique or dismissed as not relevant, many are left unwritten over the course of our multitasking days, and many interesting observations are forgotten by the time we get out of the shower. This draining of awesome observations represents a colossal loss in our community, but Awesome Foundation MIAMI is here to help. We believe your ideas deserve an ear to listen and a partner to provide feedback. We believe bigger is great, but smaller is not too shabby either. We believe awesomeness can be promoted in our city only if all parts of our diverse community feel engaged and find avenues to participate. With this in mind, we launched in January 2013 to award self-funded, no-strings attached micro-grants to ideas in Miami. Now, a year and a half… read more →

Ever seen a woolly mammoth loping through the streets of Baltimore?!? … How about a flowery one? Thanks to Awesome Baltimore and our newest grantee, Mammoth Sun Movers, the city’s neglected nooks and forgotten crannies will soon witness gigantic fifteen-foot tall mammoth-variety sunflowers bursting up into the air for our delight and amusement … Congratulations to Mammoth Sun Movers co-founders Zoe Friedman and Sarah McNeil – artists, friends, and partners in crime… Both are self-proclaimed “transplants” but after years of “laying down roots” feel deeply connected to Baltimore. They’ll be spending the Awesome Grant and the next few months growing the sunflowers in mobile containers and then move them like giant floral installations between different spots throughout the city. Best of all, you’ll be able to take one home with you. That’s right! Adopt a mammoth. Those who do will be able to register their sunflower and post pictures and comments to the Mammoth Sun Movers website. Other guerilla gardeners will also be able to post pictures of their own mischievous Baltimore city operations. Keep on the lookout for these beauteous behemoths, and if you’re eager for some of your own seed money for your own spectacular project or miraculous creation, be sure to apply for our… read more →