On 15th November Jeanne van Heeswijk was awarded the prestigious Curry Stone Design Prize (USA)

Rotterdam-based visual artist Jeanne van Heeswijk has been announced winner of the 2012 Curry Stone Design Prize. This prize celebrates social design pioneers and the power of design as a critical force for improving lives and strengthening communities. The Curry Stone Foundation aims to further raise awareness of its winners among a wide audience, thus inspiring a new generation of designers. The award ceremony will take place on November 15th in Harvard. The next day Jeanne van Heeswijk will deliver a presentation on her work.

The 25,000 $ award will be invested by Jeanne in 2Up2Down/ Home baked Landtrust and Community Bakery, a co-operative bakery she set up together with the residents of Anfield community as part of the Liverpool Biennial.

Until 2013 2Up2Down/ Home baked (GB)

In the Liverpool community of Anfield thousands of council houses have been demolished in favour of urban renewal that eventually never took place. With the 2Up2Down project (conducted by Jeanne van Heeswijk together with residents of Anfield as part of the Liverpool Biennial), ownership of the area is returned to the residents by setting up neighborhood co-operatives.

Together with local architects, contractors and youngsters Van Heeswijk has been working for 2.5 years to design and refurbish old buildings, e.g. a 100-year-old bakery that is now being run as a co-operative by the local community.

During the Liverpool Biennial the project may be visited by joining the Anfield Home Tour, especially developed by Deborah Morgan, Britt Jurgensen and Craham Hicks. The Home Baked Bakery is now collectively owned by the Anfield residents who are stakeholders in the co-operative.

2Up2Down/Home baked, ongoing project, 199 Oakfield Road, Anfield, Liverpool.

Till 25 November ‘A Piece of Cake’, Liverpool Biennial, Museum of Liverpool, UK.