Class Minutes - 01/19/11

Class minutes for January 19th:
• Sarah Milligan as guest speaker
• Paul Brown gives brief comments on his experience as an alum of CETA, stressing “working with,” not “for”.
• Sarah Milligan, folklorist, involved with the KY Folklife Program and the KY Oral History Commission (the only state funded commission of its kind).
• Folklore-identifying, documenting, and preserving tradition (while they change over time) through oral tradition, giving a sense of community and identity.
• Recorded through oral history, photography, observations and other methods.
• Briefly discussed assimilation of other cultures into communities: 2nd and 3rd generations of immigrant families forming their identities as not Italian or American, but as Italian American.
• Mention of PlaceMatters site and the general study of “sense of place” (a study of the physical and cultural influences that determine how we see our environment; “what you notice without noticing”).
• Brings up the question of how one is to determine “people’s [cultural and community] attachments”.
• Brings up the question of how to document a community in transformation.
• Patrick brings up distinction between cultural idiosyncrasy and community.
• Sarah clarifies that community can translate into any group of people with an element of cohesion.
• Kurt and Kremena assign Folklore Project.
• Kathleen shares her experiences as a CETA alum (Spalding’s Bakery and Mr. Needham).
• Collective setting of neighborhood boundaries: Race to Broadway, Loudon to 3rd.
• Sarah makes suggestion to ask questions around neighborhood in order to find important voices.
• Paul makes suggestion to speak with old real estate agents.
• Patrick suggests a contact list legacy, and to call people repeatedly if necessary.
• Griffin mentions Guy Huguelett.

Class Minutes 1-12-11

Community Engagement through the Arts

January 12, 2011

Hop-Hop

Steve

• Degree at UK with a strong emphasis on community development
• Bring together development, arts, anthropology,
• Glad everyone involved in CETA is not an “artist” and urges us to deconstruct that word
• We should ask What is community? What is arts?
• Personal background:

◦ Kaleidescope

▪ using hip-hop in youth development

▪ took community needs (i.e. fair housing) and advocated for social change

◦ working with refugees currently

▪ telling the stories of students

▪ arts work to subvert media in regards to SB 6

▪ mural and stenciling

• 3 themes for good, sustainable community development and arts

1. Do work with or by community, not for

2. Importance of local knowledge, the story

◦ Importance of building trust and listening

3. Arts activism- bring it back to first point: who are you doing this with?

Empower people to tell their story

• Ad Busters—culture jamming

Danny, editor of North of Center

• moved to Lexington in 2000 for graduate work at UK
• works at BCTC—soured on some of the larger missions of formalized education
• Ph. D. work was on new journalism
• writing for paper helps him to relate and humanize relationship with students
• teaches a community that isn't as discussed in Lexington
• this paper tries to give people voices who normally don't get a chance

Marty, President of the North Limestone Neighborhood Association

• around 250 neighborhood associations in Lexington, about 15 are active
• Neighborhood associations typically form around negative thing—challenge is to continue and be proactive after the problem is resolved
• founded North Limestone NA about 9 years ago
• North Limestone NA Vision and Values

1. Diversity

2. Green Space

3. Community Art

4. Safety

5. Pedestrian/Bike Friendly

• Make sure you work based on values & vision of the community you work in
• N. Limestone has really benefited from Transy trying to create community awareness & positive image
• community leaders: Millers, Archie, Griffin

Nick, Local Artist

• Drive By Press: print-making press in back of truck and travel to schools/programs to educate about print-making

◦ traveled all around country

◦ print-making demonstration: democratic art, able to give away

• How can art make a commentary to the community?
• Difference: reflect on whether or not this is our community
• History of Street Art

◦ Begins with cave art

◦ Greek/Rome

◦ Wheat paste advertisements—influence continues on street art

◦ Hobos-symbols for information

◦ Hip-Hop & street art connection

▪ 80's was a street art boom (Keith Herrington)

▪ beginning of imagery instead of just names

▪ Banksy—using the language of street art & stencils

◦ Gallery culture and street art

◦ Is what our class is doing street art?

◦ Brad Stanely—visit by the Secret Service

◦ Swoon-big woodcuts

◦ Small-hummingbirds- run in w/ police

◦ Shepard Fairey—move from street art to sanctioned art

▪ Is sanctioned street art still street art?

◦ Philadelphia wheat paste project at bar

Other guests present: Archie, Becky, Griffin, Stephen