2008 Updates
2008 was a busy year for Green Spaces Alliance! Read on to see what we accomplished, and also check out our annual report. You can jump to the following sections:
Events
Grants & Awards
Land Conservation Program
Community Garden Program
Picture Your World Youth Photography Project
Other
Events
Green Spaces Gala – 10/23/08
Green Spaces’s first-ever Green Spaces Gala took place at Willow Way, the former home of O’Neil and Wanda Ford that has been beautifully restored by James Lifshutz. The event was the perfect way to celebrate Green Spaces’s tenth anniversary.
Lecture by Dr. Thomas Lovejoy – 10/20/08
In October, Dr. Thomas Lovejoy spoke at UTSA’s Downtown Campus on the subject of “Climate Change: Prospects for Nature.” Dr. Lovejoy is president of The Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment and previously served as a presidential advisor and chief biodiversity advisor to the World Bank. The UTSA School of Public Policy co-sponsored the event.
Legends of the Land – 5/4/08
Green Spaces Alliance hosted its third-annual Legends of the Land celebration at a new venue, Los Patios. The event featured Native American dancers and a storyteller.
Lecture by Dr. David Taylor – 4/22/08
Nature writer David Taylor discussed his trade at “Finding Common Ground: Nature Writers Discover Nature,” Bexar Land Trust’s first public lecture of 2008. Dr. Taylor is a professor at the University of North Texas and editor of Pride of Place: A Contemporary Anthology of Texas Nature Writing. The lecture took place in Trinity University’s Chapman Auditorium.
Member Hike – 4/12/08
About 20 Green Spaces Alliance members made the trek out to the McGown property in Kendall County for 2008’s member hike. Join us on our next hike by becoming a member today.
Grants & Awards
Kronkosky Charitable Foundation Grant – 12/7/08
The Kronkosky Charitable Foundation awarded Green Spaces Alliance $100,000 to continue the Community Garden Starter Grant Program. This program allows Green Spaces to provide grants to aspiring community gardeners so that they can get their gardens up and running.
USAA Federal Savings Bank Grant – 11/13/08
For the fifth year, USAA Federal Savings Bank awarded Green Spaces a grant to administer the Picture Your World Youth Photography Project for students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds.
The Boeing Company Grant – 11/13/08
Thanks to a grant from The Boeing Company, Green Spaces Alliance has partnered with two public schools to present Picture Your World workshops for underprivileged students.
Bank of America Neighborhood Builder Award – 10/20/08
Bank of America selected Green Spaces Alliance as a recipient of the Neighborhood Builder Award. This $200,000 operating grant will help Green Spaces fulfill its mission to preserve land, facilitate community gardens, and educate the public about how and why to keep South Texas green.
Myra Stafford Pryor Charitable Trust Grant – 10/15/08
The Myra Stafford Pryor Charitable Trust awarded Green Spaces a $6,800 grant to buy a new computer, server, and GPS equipment. These infrastructure improvements will increase Green Spaces’s efficiency and effectiveness.
Heritage Education Award – 5/3/08
Preservation Texas, and Austin-based organization that advocates preserving the historic resources in Texas, awarded Green Spaces Alliance its Heritage Education Award. This award recognizes achievements in educating the public about the need for historic preservation.
Lattner Family Foundation Grant – 5/1/08
The Lattner Family Foundation awarded Green Spaces Alliance a $25,000 grant to fund the community gardens program. The Foundation supports creative and innovative programs that encourage hope and personal responsibility in the areas of education, the environment, health and social services, and arts and humanities.
Land Conservation Program
Green Spaces and Trinity University Students Investigate Hornbeak Preserve - 11/21/08
Green Spaces partnered with the Trinity University Biology Department to facilitate students’ investigation of the 13-acre Hornbeak Preserve. Green Spaces has held a conservation easement on this Bexar County tract since 2004.
Record Buck Ranch – 6/27/08
Green Spaces and the City of San Antonio reached a milestone in the Proposition One Aquifer Protection Program by preserving the Record Buck Ranch – 16,111 acres in Medina and Uvalde counties. This land surrounds and includes the Seco Sinkhole, which contributes thousands of gallons of water to the Edwards Aquifer.
Moore Property – 6/10/08
Under the City of San Antonio’s Aquifer Protection Program, Green Spaces Alliance protected an additional 583 acres over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The Moore property, along the Middle Verde Creek in Medina County, contains a recharge dam that recharges an average of 26,000 acre feet of water per year.
Community Garden Program
Workshop: Volunteer and Garden Member Management – 12/9/08
Green Spaces Alliance kicked off the 2009 community garden workshop series a month early with this workshop at the Denver Heights Community Garden. Participants discussed volunteer appreciation, member commitments, and reciprocal partnership mapping.
Starter Grant Awards: Round Three – 11/7/08
Green Spaces Alliance awarded its final starter grants of 2008 to the Aamen Community Garden on the east side, the Jefferson Community Garden in north-central San Antonio, and the Sprouts Community Garden on the west side. In the starter grant program’s first year, 10 garden groups received these grants that fund garden start up costs. The program will continue in 2009.
Hometown Grown: Reaping the Local Harvest – 9/7/08
Green Spaces, in collaboration with Texas Public Radio and Rackspace Managed Hosting, presented this gardening symposium at the Windcrest Civic Center. The event featured many local groups, a panel of gardening experts, and a cooking demonstration that focused on preparing local produce. The event drew over 300 participants who were eater to learn how to use gardening to make San Antonio a healthy, sustainable community.
Brainstorming Meeting – 9/4/08
This meeting for aspiring community gardeners drew many new garden groups.
Starter Grant Awards: Round Two – 8/11/08
With generous grants from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation and the Lattner Family Foundation, Green Spaces Alliance was able to award a second round of starter grant funding to four aspiring community garden groups: the Beacon Hill Community Garden in north-central San Antonio, the High Country Community Garden on the northeast side, and the East Side Neighborhood Garden Club on the east side, and the River Road Community Garden in north-central San Antonio.
Growing Communities Leadership Workshop – 7/11/08 & 7/12/08
For the second time, Green Spaces Alliance offered this two-day, hands-on workshop based on a curriculum from the American Community Gardening Association. After Green Spaces hosted this workshop in 2006, many participants used their newfound community organizing skills to build successful community gardens. The mood of excitement among the 30 current and aspiring community organizers who gathered at this year’s workshop promises to generate similar success stories.
Workshop: Keeping Community Gardens Alive Through Summer – 5/17/08
The South Texas summer is hot, and Green Spaces knows how to help your garden out during this brutal season. Green Spaces shared this knowledge during this third community garden workshop of 2008.
Workshop: Securing Water for Your Garden – 3/29/08
For this second community garden workshop of 2008, representatives from Green Spaces’s network gardens gathered to discuss obtaining water for the garden.
Starter Grant Awards: Round One – 3/12/08
Thanks to a grant from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Green Spaces Alliance awarded its first round of starter grants to three San Antonio gardens. The grants fund the startup costs for the following gardens: South Presa Community Garden on the south side, the Diabetes Education Garden at the Texas Diabetes Institute on the west side, and the Roots of Change Garden on the east side.
Workshop: Bringing Community to the Garden – 1/26/08
Green Spaces discussed how to get neighbors involved with a community garden during this first community garden workshop of 2008.
Picture Your World Youth Photography Project
Workshop: Discovering Food Sources in Nature – 11/9/08
Picture Your World’s student participants visited the Landa Community Garden to during this workshop to learn about nature’s food sources. The Landa Community Garden, located in north-central San Antonio, is a member of Green Spaces’s community garden network.
Workshop: Discovering Food Sources in Nature – 10/12/08
This workshop attracted nearly 40 students to the private Cibolo Creek Ranch in Bulverde. The group included kids from 4H clubs, Girl Scouts, as well as public school students.
Workshop: Discovering Food Sources in Nature – 9/14/08
Green Spaces kicked off the Picture Your World Youth Photography Project for 2008-2009 at Crownridge Canyon Nature Area. The program, now in its sixth year, takes students into nature with a professional photographer and naturalist to teach them the basics of photography and introduce them to the wonders of the natural world.
Travelling Picture Your World Exhibit – 7/9/08
Following the spring photo exhibit of the winning Picture Your World photographs at the San Antonio Central Library, the exhibit hung in the Brook Hollow and Collins Garden libraries through August 11. The exhibit then moved on to the Pan American and Forest Hills libraries until October 1.
Picture Your World Award Exhibit & Ceremony – 5/11/08
Picture Your World contest participants and their families gathered at the San Antonio Central library to recognize the students’ work during the Picture Your World Award Exhibit and Ceremony. Nearly 200 students and their family members attended this Mother’s Day event, which featured a slide show of the students’ photography. The framed winning and honorable mention photographs hung in the library’s exhibit room through the end of the month.
Workshop: Selecting the Best Photos from Your Portfolio – 4/6/08
About a dozen students joined Green Spaces Alliance for this final workshop of the 2007-2008 Picture Your World program. With the help of a professional photographer and an art educator, the students chose which photos they would enter in the 2008 Picture Your World Youth Photo Contest.
Workshop: Charting the Seasons III – 4/5/08
For this third part of the “Charting the Seasons” workshop series, participants joined a professional photographer and naturalist at the five-acre Green Gateways Conservation Easement to photograph nature in spring.
Workshop: Putting Your Best Foot Forward – 3/30/08
Following an article about the Picture Your World Youth Photography Project in the San Antonio Express-News, a record number of students participated in this photography workshop at Mitchell Lake.
Workshop: Charting the Seasons II – 1/12/08
In this second workshop of the three-part “Charting the Seasons” series, students photographed nature at the Green Gateways Conservation Easement. This series aimed to show participants the seasonal changes that one property experiences throughout the year.
Other
The Gardener and Living Democracy – 10/27/08
Community Garden Coordinator Angela Hartsell spoke on the subject of “The Gardener and Living Democracy” at the SoL Center at University Presbyterian Church.
Green Spaces Alliance on GreatDaySA – 10/2/08
Eileen Teves of KENS5’s GreatDaySA interviewed Executive Director Julie Koppenheffer about Green Spaces's Community Garden Program.
Presentation for Texas Bar Association’s Real Estate Law Section – 7/11/08
Green Spaces Executive Director Julie Koppenheffer gave a presentation on conservation easements to the Texas Bar Association’s Real Estate Law Section.
Bexar Land Trust Becomes Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas – 4/22/08
At an Earth Day lecture, Bexar Land Trust unveiled its new logo and announced that it was changing its name to Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas. The new name better reflects Green Spaces’s mission: to keep more of South Texas green.