In case you can't read the sticky note above, it is a quote from David Mamet's play Boston Marriage:
"We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie."
My family of occasional and aspiring musicians had day jobs. The day job for all of us at one time or another was to work in the family business. The family business was a small town Texas lumber yard, construction company, and design studio. I earned my minimum wage in all three areas throughout school. In my down time, I always poured over architecture and design mags. And, if I'd loved math a little more, I always thought I would have been an architect.
Perhaps it is for this reason that I've followed and long admired projects like Samuel Mockbee's Rural Studio and John Bielenberg's Project M Lab. Such programs inspire young designers who want to apply their skills to do good, to be useful, to make a difference, to integrate these things directly into a community so that the community might reap the benefits.
It was out of Project M and a group of dedicated designers that the PieLab sprang up. Built in Greensboro, Alabama from reclaimed building materials and thrift store finds, PieLab cost almost nothing to produce. Inspired by the Free Pie movement, the concept is to provide a place to promote dialogue thus hoping to gain inspiration and new ideas. It brings people together to foster community and creativity through something as simple as delicious as a pie.
Jones makes a great point in a recent Fast Company article by Alissa Walker, "PieLab provides a neutral environment in a traditionally segregated town where people from every race and class are welcome to sit together and talk candidly about whatever is on their mind." The project has been so well regarded that it has recently earned a $40,000 grant.
All photos from Brian Jones' flickr.
Take care and have a slice,
