06 Jul Creative Projects Centered around space and community – Christopher Para Mccomas

Originally at the start of my internship experience, the goal for my project was simply to provide relevant and accessible creative projects to share with the community that would inspire others (in/outside the community) to contribute or get involved. Now for my internship project(s), I will be focusing on two different sites along the Juan Bautista De Anza Spanish Colonial expedition trail in the Northern California Area. First, one being the Oakland Peralta Hacienda Historic house and park, and the other being the Alameda Urban creek trail, in Fremont. For the Peralta Hacienda, I will be creating a collage of photos to showcase the story, heritage, and day-to-day workings of this community space and how the community itself places their needs at the forefront and organizes to meet these needs. For the Alameda creek trail in Fremont, I will be showcasing how alternative uses of the trail space might manifest through a short video project. Honing in on how skateboarders would best utilize the bits of concrete and roadways found along this part of the de Anza trail, in an area where there is not a large skateboarding community. With both creative projects, I wish to expose the depth and multiplicity of use both sites hold and how they both serve the needs of the community in various ways. Additionally, I believe alternative trail usage (such as skateboarding, music, etc) and the utilization of parks/historic spaces for local community building and support is where the future of the National Park Service is headed.