Snowmass Colorado
News Source: Anderson Ranch
Anderson Ranch Teaches Intellectual Skills Through Art (ARTISTA) Program Gaining Momentum at Crystal River Elementary School
A fourth grade student in Nan Fields’s class at Crystal River Elementary School (CRES) raises her hand, “I notice that the light in the bottom looks like night light and the top part has sky so it must be day.” Students continue to raise their hands, offering observations and thinking critically, while teaching artist, Sarabeth Berk, leads an inquiry session about an artwork by Renee Magritte that relates to ideas of electricity and natural light.
The inquiries about artworks are part of bigger lessons that five teaching artists are currently facilitating at CRES with different third and fourth grade classes. In its second year, the ARTISTA program sponsored by Anderson Ranch Art Center will reach approximately 100 elementary students through projects that are designed to integrate school standards, targeted areas of the curriculum—like the solar system or circuitry—and also develop critical thinking and visual literacy.
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When It Comes To Sheds, Mother Knows Best
About three years ago, my mother requisitioned a barn-style storage shed for her back yard. She wanted a little red barn, like the one she found at the sheds website. Having a construction company of my own, I quietly scoffed at the idea of having anyone else’s prefab or kit, and I certainly didn’t need someone else’s plans to build something as simple as a Gambrel roof shed! “I’ll handle it mom,” I promised, and put pencil and CAD program to the feat.
But mom wasn’t having it. She was about to “I don’t like this,” and “I don’t like that” me to death. We were out at the local Maynard’s Building Supply looking at windows for this project, when she spotted some prefab frames and insisted we could simply buy their kit. (It’s amazing how our mothers refuse to trust our professional capabilities, but they still see us as kids, in some ways.) Rather than argue with her, I conceded and went over to the Contractor’s Desk to order the parts and schedule delivery.
The next day, the truck arrived with a fork lift to deliver the prefab frames, sheeting, roof deck material, shingles, and hinge kit for this “so easy anyone can build it in a day” kit. As I checked in the invoice, half of the pre-fabricated frames were so badly put together that they had to be sent back. Some of the lumber had warped, some of the machine-pressed joints had huge gaps in them. Overall, it was rather shoddy, but I stifled myself, thinking “It’s just a shed, it doesn’t need to be build like a house. That’s what mom wants, so let it go.”
The replacement parts were eventually delivered, and we were finally ready to roll. The next Saturday, my sisters and their husbands came over, as did the next door neighbor. Mom fired up the grill, and we commenced the barn raising party.
The frames were sent folded in half, held together by folded mending plates. The material was 2×2 frame, and flimsy is being generous. Each was 12′ wide by 12 feet tall. These giant “ribs” had to be laid out flat on the ground – itself a feat, while they were so wobbly. Sheets of Smartboard were then attached, with us pulling and pushing and prodding the frames into being square to match the boards. Then came the fun of cutting the odd angled pieces that would sheet the front and back of the barn. There was no plan of any kind. This kit came with a couple sheets of paper, Xerox copies of the scant instructions. If I wasn’t an experienced builder, I’d have been totally lost. We finally got the first end panel sheeted, and stood up, and all I could think of was that this heavy thing was going to crumple and fall over on us any moment now. We managed to pick it up and move it, leaning it up against the garage. Mom saw how it dwarfed the garage, and stood there in shock as she watched it swaying in the breeze. It didn’t take her more than a few seconds to echo my own thoughts: “Take that thing down before it falls down, take it apart, and send the junk back!” The store didn’t even argue about it. I guess it wasn’t the first time they had one of those outdoor storage shed “kits” come back.
What did I do? I built the plan I’d drafted, board at a time, from the ground up. I spent a small fortune doing it, and when it got to the roof rafters, even with a jig, each piece had to be custom measured and cut while I was hanging off a ladder, 10 feet up in the air. When the walls were stood up, they had to be forced to square. Then came the task of mounting the upper half of the building’s structure, which I’d designed to rest atop 6′ tall walls. It got done, but it wasn’t exactly a one-man job. In short, this outdoor storage shed took a LOT of work. All told, I spent almost six weeks building the thing. Now that it’s all built, it is strong, but there are several things I’d have done differently. Experience does matter, and the things that work on a house aren’t necessarily a good idea for building outdoor storage sheds.
In the final analysis, the junk kit bought at the hardware store would have been a disaster, and we were right to send it back. The building I did from scratch was solid, probably overbuilt, and still stands strong and looks good, but I spent thousands of dollars on the frame and sheeting alone, had many trips back and forth to the lumber yard to pick up materials and hardware I’d not thought of or had forgotten the last time I was there. It was a huge hassle and expense, and took up a tremendous amount of time. Even though it’s finished, (except for those corner trims I forgot about,) I still cringe every time I visit my mother’s house and look at the thing, remembering the hell it was to build it.
My wife is not a stupid woman. She really liked the idea of having a little (well, big) barn in the back yard, but she had the sense to wait a couple years before starting to campaign for a similar shed in our own back yard. She’s clever, my wife, so she started off with flattery. Painful flashbacks kept me resolute in my “No way” reply. Her “Why not?” precipitated a torrential downpour of all the reasons I was NOT building another one – not for her, not for me, not for my mother, not for anyone.
“Rent one of those ocean-going metal containers if you want more room,” I suggested, already knowing she’s say that they’re too ugly.
Weeks went by. The subject kept coming up. Finally, she hit me up with “I know! How about getting one of those units that your mom was looking at in the very beginning?” She was wily. By the time I realized I was being set up, it was already too late. She’d been planning this all along, even had the model picked out.
I’m stubborn at times, but hardly stupid. The price of the kit from Bettersheds.com included a much better quality of wood than I could have purchased locally. The designs were already stress and load tested, flaws already worked out, unlike my prototype. Boards, panels and trim all came pre-cut, to ensure that everything was square the first time. I wouldn’t even need to get out the saw! It didn’t take long for me to realize how much easier this was going to be, and how much better it was going to look, how much faster it would go up. Using their kit, I really could get done over a long weekend!
The outdoor storage shed kit came exactly as described, and every piece and part was perfect. There was no wasted material, and assembling the pre-cut pieces made it nearly impossible to do anything wrong. When the trim was on, it looked pretty much exactly like the pictures. It was faster, looked better, cost less, and was a lot less work. I have to admit, they make a pretty snazzy kit.
When it was finished, my wife invited my mother over to see it. She was obviously impressed.
“Why didn’t you make mine like that,” Mom quipped.
I was spared having to say it myself. My wife did the dirty deed for me: “Oh, we ordered this one from that place you told us about,” she replied, “BetterSheds.com.”
Mom shot me a nasty look, but she was grinning as she smacked me in the back of the head.
We all knew it was coming. She’d said it many times before, but she had to get it in one more time anyway:
“When are you going to learn that Mother knows best?”
For once, I didn’t mind her being right.
Searchable Portfolio of Healthcare Real Estate and Medical Office Buildings Now Online
NexCore Group, a leading healthcare real estate developer, is pleased to publicize the highly anticipated launch of the new web site located at www.NexCoreGroup.com
In a response to interviews with NexCore Group stakeholders, NexCoreGroup.com delivers easy navigation and new online searchable portfolio. The NexCoreGroup.com homepage greets the visitor with the keys to ‘Creating Value for Healthcare Providers: Strategy, Development, Acquisition, Ownership’ set within a dynamic slideshow of its healthcare real estate projects overlaid with clear portfolio site navigation links.
Jarrod Daddis, senior managing director of NexCore Group, explains, “Based on our research we found that visitors go to healthcare real estate websites to:
a) get facts on companies capabilities,
b) view photos, search project types and scope, and
c) find a contact name to get in touch with.
NexCoreGroup.com provides all this in a site that is easy to find, easily accessible and most importantly, displays content that reflects the personality, experience and expertise of NexCore Group.” So far the feedback has been incredibly positive.
Bob Ricker, Associate VP, Suburban Services, Rex Healthcare of Knightdale said, “I look for experience, photos and project visuals first and then a way to contact an actual person with whom I can discuss my unique and specific needs. The new NexCoreGroup.com site does just that.” “Great stuff!
The new website really shows how NexCore Group supplies healthcare providers with a strategybased approach that integrates and enhances medical practice business plans and strategies,” reported Alan Becker, Health Futures Development Group, Consultant to Alexian Brothers St. Alexius Doctors Office Building III.
NexCoreGroup.com facilitates easy navigation and planning for healthcare systems, hospitals, physicians and providers. By developing profiles of typical website visitors, the company was able to improve its website information architecture and navigation for faster and more direct click thru paths suited to individual visitor preferences.
Visitors arriving at the NexCoreGroup.com homepage get direct instant access to many links, including:
• Company management and partners
• Strategy, development, acquisition and ownership services
• Searchable portfolio of medical office buildings and ambulatory care centers
• Specific contacts for West, Midwest and East region inquiries
View Squidoo! HealthCare Real Estate
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