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Vol. 14, No. 49
December 17, 2014
1 Section, 4 Pages
The Graffiti Bridge Project By Josh Newby
t’s one of Pensacola’s most recognizable landmarks, a medium for all the inelegant, nuanced, hopeful, angry, shortlived and long-lasting feelings that our community generates. It is a symbol of the brief, passionate emotions we have and the overarching narrative of our collective story.
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It is the graffiti bridge, and it’s finally getting the artistic platform it deserves. The 17th Ave. railroad trestle— better known as the graffiti bridge—is nothing remarkable in itself. It is a piece of concrete that carries the CSX railroad over a two-lane span of highway near Pensacola Bay. But the graffiti bridge, as we all know, has become something much more than that: it is a socially constructed and impromptu art installation. “The graffiti bridge is a landmark that oozes authenticity, and authenticity is the hallmark of great cities like Pensacola,” said Mayor Ashton Hayward in a statement. Enter Rachael Pongetti, who was born in Columbus, Miss., but came here for college in the 80s. She has been an art instructor for Pensacola State College, the University of West Florida, the Pensacola Museum of Art and the PACE center for girls. She has also created and led many workshops on photography. Her im-
ages have even been exhibited and published locally, nationally and internationally. Pongetti admitted that, while she knew of the bridge, she wasn’t a regular observer of it until a friend mentioned to her the idea of photographing it as part of a project. After some initial hesitance born of an already packed schedule, she began taking daily pictures of the bridge on Jan. 1, 2011 and ended on Jan. 11, 2012. Soon, the unofficial community canvas became her own. Now, in 2015, her photographs will be on display in dual exhibitions at First City Art Center and the Pensacola Museum of Art. Throughout the project, Pongetti said that she wished to juxtapose the human philosophy of change with the transformations the bridge’s artists impressed upon it. “The way I’m able to process change most directly is through my lens,” said Pongetti. “The bridge changes every day and I was able to learn to watch all that
Photos by Rachael Pongetti
comes from change. Sometimes the bridge was artistic and beautiful; other times there was something very un-artistic there. So you find all of these range of emotions that you’re going though and I was learning to really observe the change instead of becoming attached to it.” Sometimes, Pongetti would spend hours a day at the Pensacola Bay fixture, just admiring its beauty, mourning a beautiful painting that had been covered up by something crude, or looking optimistically to the future and wandering what artistry the next day would bring. Now, more than four years after the project began, it is coming to an end. In April 2015, First City Art Center will host an exhibition of the photos spotlighting its grungy aspects, along with live painting, music, and group participation. The Pensacola Museum of Art exhibit will highlight the more visual and intimate aspects of the project. The details on the PMA installation are still
being worked out. Pongetti has also started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money for a book, which will showcase all the best pictures. Kickstarter supporters will receive different expressions of gratitude depending on their pledge, but some gifts to expect are a copy of the book, an event T-shirt, tickets to the VIP reception, and even a photo session with Pongetti and signed metal prints. “The community is going to have to come forth and help make the book, which I think is great,” said Pongetti. “It is a community bridge and the community is going to be what brings this book to life.” Pongetti said the most profound principle she learned through it all was the dynamic and unpredictable nature of change and evolution. Sometimes the change was on a very myopic, individual level, like when hurriedly done spray-paint strokes conveyed an homage to a lost
loved one. Other times, the bridge was a symbol of events bigger than itself, with paintings portraying the death of Osama bin Laden and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Some paintings were less inspiring and thought provoking, like support of sports teams, insults between ex-lovers, and indelicate profanity. Even those things, Pongetti said, were part of the message of the bridge, as they are parts of the many seasons of our lives. “Sometimes the change was so abrupt,” said Pongetti. “It was such a metaphor for life, really. What it taught me was that even though somebody’s story is covered up and changed it’s really never gone, and that’s the same with people. People’s lives and their stories are written on that bridge and they tell something that’s very important, and even though it’s gone in a matter of a few hours, it’s really not gone; it simply became a layer.”
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December 17, 2014
The Summation Weekly NEWS FROM THE BAR ASSOCIATION
Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association CLE Library • 2014 Survey of Florida Law: 12 General Includes 3.5 Ethics Credits • Family Law 101: 7.5 Credits • 2014 Medicare/Medicaid Lien Seminar: 3.0 Credits • Ethics/Professionalism/Substance Abuse Seminar: 4.0 General, 3.0 Ethics, 1.0 Substance Abuse Credits • Elder Law: 3.0 Credits • Whose Side Are You On? Superman’s or The Elites: 1.0 Ethics Credit • Protecting Business By Intellectual Property: 3.5 Credits • Business Valuation Seminar: 1.0 Credit • Domestic Violence/Substance Abuse/Mental Health Law: 4.0 General, 1.0 Mental Illness, 1.0 Substance Abuse Credits • Collaborative Divorce 101: 1.0 Credit • Maritime Law: 2.0 Credits • Florida Courts E-Filing Portal & Relevant Rules: 3.0 Credits • Accident Reconstruction & Analysis: 4 Credits
Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association Calendar of Events December 24 Christmas Eve Offices Closed: First Judicial Circuit Court Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller (Court Functions Only) Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association December 25 Christmas Day Offices Closed: U.S. District Court First Judicial Circuit Court Florida Office of Compensation Claims Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association January 1 New Year’s Day Offices Closed: U.S. District Court First Judicial Circuit Court Florida Office of Compensation Claims Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association
$10 Per Credit Member $20 Per Credit Non-Member Call 434-8135 to order your CLE today!
Chief Justice Labarga 2015 JUDICIAL NOMINATING
Launches Access to
COMMISSION NOMINATIONS TO BE MADE Judicial Nominating Commissions: One lawyer vacancy for each of the 26 JNCs. The Florida Bar has the opportunity to nominate three lawyers for each Judicial Nominating Commission to the Governor for his appointment. Each appointee will serve a four-year term, commencing July 1, 2015. Applicants must be engaged in the practice of law and a resident of the territorial jurisdiction served by the commission to which the member is applying. Commissioners are not eligible for state judicial office for vacancies filled by the JNC on which they sit for 2 years following completion of their term. Applications must be submitted no later than 5:30 p.m., Monday, March 2, 2015 in the Executive Director’s office of The Florida Bar. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of an application. Screening committees of the Board of Governors will review all JNC applications. The Executive Committee will then make recommendations to the Board of Governors. Persons interested in applying for any of these vacancies may download the proper application form (there is a specific JNC application) from The Florida Bar's website, www.floridabar.org, or call Bar headquarters at (850) 561-5757, to obtain the application. Completed applications must be received by the Executive Director, The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300 by the March 2 deadline date.
Professionalism Awards Nomination Deadlines Approaching The Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Professionalism is now accepting nominations for the William M. Hoeveler Judicial Professionalism Award, the Group Professionalism Award, and the Law Faculty/Administrator Professionalism Award. The William M. Hoeveler Judicial Professionalism Award is for either a state or federal judge “who best exemplifies strength of character, service, and competence as a jurist, lawyer, and public servant.” The purpose of the Group Professionalism Award is to find one organization that has an innovative program that can be implemented by other organizations to promote and encourage professionalism within the legal community. The Law Faculty/Administrator Professionalism Award is intended to honor a faculty member or administrator who through teaching, scholarship, and service to the profession best supports or exemplifies the mission of the Standing Committee on Professionalism. The deadline for nominations and all supporting documents for the William M. Hoeveler Judicial Professionalism Award is February 2, 2014. The deadline for nomination packets for the Law Faculty/Administrator Professionalism Award and the Group Professionalism Award is Feb. 16, 2014. All nomination forms can be found on the Center's website at www.floridabar.org/professionalism - under the “Awards” section - and must be submitted to the Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism.
Civil Justice Commission TALLAHASSEE – Recognizing that economic disparity threatens access to a fair and impartial judicial system, Florida Chief Justice Jorge Labarga today issued an administrative order establishing the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice. The 27-member commission includes leaders from all three branches of Florida government, The Florida Bar, The Florida Bar Foundation, civil legal aid providers, the business community, and other stakeholders, who will work in a coordinated effort to identify and remove economic barriers to civil justice. The commission is a result of recent efforts by Florida Bar President Gregory W. Coleman, in partnership with Labarga and Florida Bar Foundation leaders, to focus on addressing access to justice as a societal crisis that needs to be solved with concrete and creative changes in the system. “Florida needs a coordinated effort involving all of the entities with the potential to make permanent, systemic advances to ensure that access to justice in Florida is not limited to those who can afford it,” Labarga said. “We are particularly concerned about the circumstances facing low-income litigants for whom purchasing legal representation can pose an impossible challenge. But access to civil justice is also a problem for the middle class, many of whom do not qualify for legal aid and cannot afford to hire a lawyer.” Coleman said there is a huge segment of society who make too much money to qualify for legal aid, but not enough to hire your average lawyer. “We have a broken system right now with legal aid having severely reduced funding and a void in the court system in terms of access to justice by middle-income Americans who make too much money to qual-
ify for legal aid but cannot afford a lawyer,” Coleman said. “These are people who are living paycheck to paycheck.” Labarga’s order tasks the commission with studying the unmet civil legal needs of disadvantaged, low-income and moderate-income Floridians and with considering the state’s legal assistance delivery system as a whole, “including but not limited to staffed legal aid programs, resources and support for self-represented litigants, limited scope representation, pro bono services, innovative technology solutions, and other models and potential innovations.” Labarga’s order notes the significant work Florida state courts have undertaken to develop forms, instructions, and other self-help resources for those going it alone in court, while calling for the examination of other potential solutions. These include “unbundled legal services,” in which the attorney and client agree to a limited scope of attorney involvement in a case, leaving greater responsibility with the client so as to limit the client’s legal costs; leveraging technology in expanding access to civil justice; and maximizing resources and stabilizing funding in support of civil justice services. At the same time, Florida lawyers are contributing significant time and monetary contributions to legal aid. Last year Bar members reported 1.7 million hours of pro bono work and $4.8 million to legal services organizations, Coleman said. “Lawyers truly care about trying to provide services to those who can least afford them, but we cannot do it with volunteers and donations alone. I believe it is particularly important to involve the business community to bring their innovative problem solving expertise to the effort. Business leaders also have the welfare of their em-
ployees to consider. Lack of access to justice can lead to individual and family instability that will affect the workplace,” Coleman said. Both Labarga and Coleman say the time has come for an unprecedented level of collaboration to address this issue. “We want to build on the great work that others started here in Florida and have been working hard to implement with limited resources,” Labarga said. “Our local legal aid societies, despite resources stretched to the limit, have been there all along representing folks who would otherwise not have access to our civil justice system. Members of The Florida Bar have donated thousands upon thousands of pro bono hours to needy citizens throughout the years. We must now take it to the next level, bearing in mind that the question of access to our civil justice system is a societal question and, as such, the solution rests with all segments of society.” The Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice will be a time-limited commission but is called upon in the order to make a recommendation on the need for a permanent access to justice commission in Florida. Permanent access to justice commissions operate in 32 states and the District of Columbia, with the first commission having been established in Washington state in 1994. TheAmerican Bar Association operates a Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives to support access to justice commissions and promulgate their advances. The study commission will submit an interim report to the Court by Oct. 1, 2015, and a final report by June 30, 2016, and will provide these reports also to the Governor of Florida, the President of the Florida Senate, and the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
The Summation Weekly
December 17, 2014
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NEWS FROM THE BAR ASSOCIATION
University of West
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
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Mock Trial
www.summationweekly.com A Publication of the Escambia / Santa Rosa Bar Associaion
Competition UWF will host its 4th annual mock trial competition on the UWF campus on Jan. 17 and 18, 2015. Volunteer judges are needed for each round. We will provide training before each round. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact UWF faculty sponsor Kimberly McCorkle Tatum at ktatum@uwf.edu or by phone at 857-6198. We need volunteer judges for any of the four rounds: Saturday at 8:30 am, Saturday at 1:00 pm, Sunday at 8:30 am, and Sunday at 1:00 pm.
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December 17, 2014
The Summation Weekly