Social Justice Sandcastle takes 2016 Best in Show Bronze Award

By Lotus Grenier Gleason

OCTOBER 15, 2016: This fall, Siegel & Strain Architects participated in the 34th Sandcastle Classic, an annual fundraiser benefitting LEAP Arts in Education. The event is a competition between teams from the AEC industries who pair with an elementary school to design and create a sandcastle in line with the annual theme. Our team, MakerSANDMovers, was comprised of our professional partners Clark Construction, Holmes Culley Engineers, and McMillen Jacobs Associates, and Ms. Hope Settle and Mr. Travis Kelly's fifth grade classes at Berkley Maynard Academy in Oakland, CA.

We interpreted this year's theme, Makers and Movers, through the lens of the Civil Rights Movement and the forgotten stories of the people who make history every day. At the center of our design was a tomato, representing the contemporary fight for Farm Workers Rights. Symbols of the struggle for equality radiated from the center to represent the well-known stories of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott and the Tuskegee Airmen of the first African American air force battalion, and until recently, the lesser known story of the black women mathematicians who played a critical role in developing the first NASA rockets. Fists raised in protest held signs with the name of our sandcastle, demanding just wages, and a call to vote. Our sandcastle representation of the work for social justice resonated with the judges and our team took the bronze medal! A special thanks goes to our team members and all participants.

Collecting water and sand requires a cooperative effort.

The project begins to take shape.

Sculpting hands that take a stand.

Black women mathematicians helped launch first NASA rockets.

Tuskegee Airmen are acknowledged for their role in WWII.

Berkley Maynard students and team members stand behind Rosa Park's bus boycott.

The bronze award winner is left to return to the sea; its ideals continue to move forward.