Lots of people gathered in the neighborhood to eat together- there were many children. I painted mostly children and families. It was great to witness all the love and relationships between neighbors. Children especially enjoy being painted- I think it’s a unique sort of feeling to have that amount of attention even for 5 minutes. One lady said she would keep her portrait as a family heirloom- that was nice.

The combination of goals for the event was a little odd. It was an effort to feed people combined with a Christian worship service and an artist drum circle, spoken word poetry, and political speeches. I think it would be better in the future to have separate events for these issues. Food and art and drums seem to go together. Food and worship service could be more of a church private event (?). The political speeches were pretty off-putting to be honest. Also the sound system didn’t work very well which felt a bit jarring. I think the next cookout would be better as just an arts and vendor and food event. The idea that a cookout would be used as a way to get poor people to listen to political goals just seems… off. A little manipulative instead of making a way for genuine connection in the community.