Easy as pie
By Dagmar Hoogland
Pies and Alabama; it’s a winning mix. This is what a group of young graphic designers thought when they opened a pie shop in the middle of Greensboro, an underprivileged part of the US where about one-third of the children live in poverty. Their mission was to give a positive impulse to the community and the problems within by…sharing pie.
In 2002, The Birmingham News called the Black Belt “Alabama’s Third World.” How could the baking and serving of pie help tackle entrenched social and economic ills?
Project M aimed to answer just such questions. Part of what has become known as the “design for good” movement, Project M was established by a designer named John Bielenberg. Based in Belfast, Maine, it functions as a kind of idea incubator, where young designers are invited to two-week programs to generate solutions to social problems and enhance public life.
They started with the one thing that has been bringing people together for as long as mankind exists: food. Their first project was Free Pie Day, On May 1 of this year, during which Project M members stood on a Belfast street corner and handed out slices of pecan pie, pumpkin pie and apple pie to passers-by. The idea was to spur community and conversation, one slice at a time. Free Pie Day turned out to be an example and similar efforts took place in Washington, Brooklyn and elsewhere. Most important, it inspired PieLab.
“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.”
It’s a low budget affair. Made from reclaimed building materials and thrift store finds, PieLab cost near to nothing to produce, yet already has a devoted following sometimes with 25 or more customers a day. “We already have some regulars,” says Jones. “People will stay for hours to sit and talk with us, giving Project M invaluable insight into the community’s needs, personalities and politics.”
It is these insights that became the start of change and provided new opportunities. Scott Hamilton, a local resident who comes in almost every day to draw, is the living proof. He has never taken an art class, but has an incredible talent for drawing. He told the PieLab crew that he dreams of going to art school and one day making movies, so they photographed his work and built a Web site to help him apply for scholarships and college. Perhaps he will become the new Hirst or Coppola; gaining worldwide recognition, inspiring generations of art students or instigating a new global movement in art. And it all started with a piece of pie.
