9th Ward 4: One for the Team

Well we did it, we actually did it… we the 9th Ward group actually went to the community. Not a big deal, you say? But since this is a community arts class and we had no community, it is to us. We ventured out across Claiborne into the 9th Ward to the House of Dance and Feathers. Much to my surprise, the museum was made by the resident of the home, Ronald Lewis. The House of Dance and Feathers is a collection of Mardi Gras Indian, and Skull and Bone memorabilia, as well as documentation of Hurricane Katrina. When Lewis began renovating his home, he was the first one back in this devastated community. The museum began as a means of revival, a glimmer of hope.

9th Ward 3: Invisible Community

With less than a month of classes to undergo, my group is changing assignment. Due to the standardizing testing and problems with the art teacher and faculty we have not been able to go to the school. Its rather disappointing, after planning the activities for the children and never getting to follow them through. But these are problems that community artist are faced with because when your working in a group or another persons space they have the ultimate say so , or very ones opinion must be considered. connecting with others to examine and create culture is a learned activity, one gets easier and makes more impact with practice. By this being our first time practicing community artists, and the schools second time problems are expected.

I think our Idea of the mural would sever as a functional part of the community, teaching the children and residents about the important of the vanishing wetlands and diminishing bayou that surrounds the 9th Ward community. Goldbard says that these projects are not just suppose to function for aesthetics but as a object of learning. I think the the process of harvesting clay would have been and awesome experience for the kids because they get to see first hard on how important this community is. Even if we would not have gotten around to the mural I would have loved to seen that much accomplished, because according to Goldbard the process is just as more important that the product.

Or next project is still in the 9th Ward: a museum called the House of Dance and Feathers. I’m interested in how this works out, but I don’t want to get my hopes too high… couldn’t you understand why?

Central City 6: Ms. Williams and Found Objects

We brought our huge bucket of found objects to the EOC today, where Ms. Williams sat down with us to talk about them. She knew almost what every object was, even the rusty metal ones, and was able to share some incredible memories about her time in New Orleans. Click here to check out the video.

Central City 5: Video – Jeffrey Cook + The E.O.C.

I finally got my videos off my camera, so here’s a clip. The first half is Jeffrey Cook talking about his role in our project. We happened upon a friend of his who was in the midst of renovating a huge space in Central City. The second half was from our class meeting today. Barnes discusses what we’ll be working on in the next few weeks with our found objects. Enjoy!

We’re heading back to the EOC on Friday to start collecting stories from the elderly. Hopefully we’ll get some good responses to the items we bring in.

Lakeview 5: The End

Over the past three days, Sid and I have been able to make some really beautiful connections with Lakeview. It seems to have widened both our understanding and our appreciation of the neighborhood and its residents. On Monday we were invited to the Villarrubia home for our weekly meeting. The house has held six or seven generations since it was originally built by Jan’s family one hundred years ago exactly. The architecture and the interior are stunning, but it was especially significant to visit the basement. Jan showed us around the space that belonged the the man who served as inspiration for Cashmere in Turning of the Bones.

We were also fortunate to meet Jan’s father and hear stories of the home and family while looking at their old photographs. Sid and I were able to attend Kathy’s last performance of Spaces In Betweenon Tuesday. This piece was included on the Lakeview Sunset Bus Tour last year. Set at her gutted childhood home, the house serves almost as another performer, contributing to Kathy’s dialogue and movements while guiding the audience from room to room. The dynamic performance really brought the space to life. I think I can speak for Sid as well in saying how thoroughly we enjoyed and appreciated these women sharing their homes and memories of Lakeview with us.

Today we visited Holt Cemetery, the final resting place for the real people behind the characters in Five Dollars a Day and Carfare and Turning of the Bones. In trying to locate it, we were alerted to a lack of community awareness about the cemetery as many people did not know about it. When we arrived and wandered around, Holt proved to be incredibly moving. It was evident that some of these people were very loved even if only a hand-painted sign and plastic flowers were there to mark the grave.

7th Ward 5: Pink Elephant in the Room

As said last time Scripting can be such a headache for anyone. I’m sure you can recall the writer’s block, the incessant feedback from people who just cannot grasp the creative genius behind the irony here or the character development there or master stroke of the denouement if it was to occur when and where you, of course, dictate. Yes, yes, being a literary genius can be quite catty and awfully burdensome at times. I know what you’re thinking—poor literary genius alive in a world of mediocrity. So sad. Indeed.

Needless to say we at The Porch are experiencing no shortage of virtuosos and prima donnas, which translates into the chiefs vastly outnumbering our little team of Tulane and Xavier Indians.

Ed, our fearless leader, was in conferences with people for most of the time we were there this past Wednesday and we were left pretty much alone with the little thespians. We are confident with the level of respect and friendship that we have established thus far so we paid no great attention to his absence seeing as how the kids were pretty well behaved. Nevertheless, we couldn’t ignore the lack of enthusiasm towards the play. Likewise, we couldn’t be too disappointed since we had no outline from which to organize the scenes other than five or six of our little friends pointing us in totally different directions.

This production detail of scripting is starting to become a pink elephant in the room each time our team works with the kids. Now that our little group is in the final stretch of their project the pressure’s on to get all the kinks worked out in time for the day of the play. Even though Ed’s working to get us the plot I think that our team is going to have to ask Ed to sit down and dictate the plot to us because not even handfuls of candy can get us any further now—yes, shameful as it sounds we tried bribing with candy. For sure, all the readings we have done on process vs. product are taking on whole new levels of significance. But, go with what you know, so that means loads more candy, I guess.

Lakeview 4: an update from Sidney

Hi. This is Sidney from the Lake View Team. So far things are going well with the plans we have put in place. Last week we began to create deadlines for the creation of fliers and a press release to get the word out about our first project which will be a play and story circle in the Lakeview community. Everyone is very excited and can’t wait to get this show on the road….

7th Ward 4: Great Expectations

It was a very interesting night this past Wednesday as we began the task of actually writing a formal script from the various scenes that we have worked on with the kids and from other skits that we have yet to see. The fun factor of scripting is not quite up to the little guys’ standards and it was a challenge to keep the children engaged and focused on putting their parts on paper. To be honest, I think that this scripting business is becoming a headache quickly for the 7^th Ward team. They have to rely on the children for the plots of each and every scene. Some of the parts were readily rehearsed by the children and thus easily recorded, but since the scenes often required the same actors there were a good number of rambunctious toddlers and pre-teens bouncing off the walls and providing distractions for those rehearsing. I think we are going to have to call in the “big guns” and get Ed to give us a scene overview so we can move along a little faster.

Lakeview 3: First ‘Whispering Bones’ Event Scheduled

The first Whispering Bones event is to be held Friday, June 6 at 7 pm at the Lakeview Baptist Church on Canal Boulevard. We are using various means of spreading the information about the event around the community. Sidney and I are currently creating a press release and flier. We have also attended community meetings in Lakeview and will visit some of the local churches in April. The Lakeview Market on Wednesday, April 9 can provide another point of contact with residents to inform them of Whispering Bones.It is exciting to start moving beyond the initial brainstorming and organization. A good deal of planning remains necessary, but I am looking forward to producing more concrete results of that planning. Our meeting tomorrow is to be held at Jan Villarrubia’s parents’ house. I am sure this will be an interesting and inspiring look into the setting of “Turning of the Bones” and am so appreciative of Jan and her father opening up their home.

Central City 4: Story Circles and the EOC

Last Friday, we met at the Equal Opportunities Center in Central City, basically a day-care for the elderly. Our goal here was to open up to the patrons, engage in dialogue, and start a story circle. After settling down on some couches near the reception area, we waited, hoping at least one or two would join us. After a few minutes, two women settled down to talk, and eventually a third. We traded small talk for a while, finding random connections all over the place. Local artist Jeffrey Cook, with whom we’ve been working, joined us, and actually knew one of the women’s daughters from high school. They all wanted to know what street Cook grew up on, who he was related to, and how long he’d lived there. Upon recognizing his aunt’s name, and then the house he lived in, the ladies really began to open up. They’d found a connection, and felt even more comfortable talking with us. There wasn’t, however, too much resistance from these three to share stories. The story circle went off without a hitch, each person sharing their thoughts on “time”. I didn’t want to worry anyone by taking notes or pictures, so I can’t share any individual stories, but hopefully in the future I’ll be able to record the amazing memories of the residents of Central City. There were probably 30 elderly patrons at the EOC that day, and only three joined us. I think as we continue to return more and more will open up to us.