What a Riot - Caleb Wildman

"Were community and human relations prioritized over professional training? Yes" (18).

This was one of the most profound things that I took of this piece. I really appreciate that although there was end goal that they were striving for, it was more about the process of making the play. It was more important for the teens in the community to be making the decisions and learning about the histories of minorities than it was just for them to put on a show. This to me is really what it means to do community based work.

As for how the playwright actually formatted the show, I have mixed feelings. The Joker System and how it is structured in the selections given really seems like it would take away from the reality that the events of the show are about. I feel like if an audience is forced to make the decision on whether or not an event was real, they will tend to choose that it is a work of fiction, especially when it is unfavorable. In this matter, it really takes away from what is being portrayed.

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Geneva Heron Assignments

Assignment: Aesthetic Evangelists - Due 1/30 Three key ideas in the text that resonate with me: The first is the idea of the "new public art," or what we would call "community engaged art." The article discusses the transition from art displayed in public sites to community based projects that have the goal of collaboration and focus more on the process than the end result/outcome. This intrigues me because before this class I was honestly very unaware of this form of art-making and its growing prevalence. Another idea that resonates with me is when the author talked about community based public art of today drawing on the urban reform rhetoric of the past both consciously and subconsciously. This stood out because it's an old adage that history repeats itself and I think it's interesting that the times we live in now call for a callback to this type of work and a more curious examination of what this can do for people and their communities. Th...

Jeremy Griffith - The Roof is on Fire

1. CONTEXT: What were the circumstances that framed the meaning and process of this project? There are many minority teens in low-income, low-opportunity areas who have unheard voices. Their self-esteem isn't cultivated and all of their portrayal in the media is negative. 2. CONTENT: What was the issue, need, idea or opportunity addressed by this project? Teen voices were unheard, opinions of them were based on negative media stereotypes, and many of them had very poor self-esteem. 3: FORM: What is the medium that was used to address or embody the content? Immersive theatre in the form of car-conversations that audience members could eavesdrop on. 4. STAKEHOLDERS: Which are the groups or individuals that were invested in the project? The teenagers were very invested because of their desire to free their voices. The adults who helped were invested because they wanted to help these kids start to change the narrative. And the d...

Arts and Community Engagement 2018

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