The Roof is on Fire - Caleb Wildman

1. CONTEXT: The creators wanted to find a way to show that the opinions of teenagers in the black community have value. They have perspectives and stories that many of the viewers have never heard before.

2. CONTENT: The issues addressed range across a broad spectrum. Primarily it was to give the teenagers a place to have voices heard by their community.

3: FORM: It was a somewhat improvised performance piece that placed an arrangement of cars around a parking lot with the teenagers engaging in their various discussions sitting inside.

4. STAKEHOLDERS: Students and teachers at the local high school

5. AUDIENCE: The project was primarily shown for the middle class white person, but it also reached out to anyone who may have a different perspective.

6. ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES: The audience was engaged in the project by walking amongst the cars and listening to what the teenagers had to say. The artists were engaged by finding a middle ground between making their art and giving the teenagers a place to voice their opinions.

7. GOAL: To get people to cross the cultural divide and hear out someone else’s values. Give teenagers in a historically under-privileged community a space to voice their opinions, stories, and values.

8. VALUES: The organizers really wanted to make sure that they have safe space to talk about whatever they want. They did not want anything to distract audiences from what was going on in each of the cars, including having low presence security staff and complimentary car arrangement.

9. RESOURCES: Parking lots, cars, teenagers, media

10: OUTCOMES: The result was very positive. Audience members were able to see how these teenagers go upon their everyday life. They were viewpoint in which they have never been given the chance to hear.

Comments

Jeremy Griffith - The Roof is on Fire

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