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Project Description
As community artists in Baltimore City, we believe it is crucial to further the conversation about race and the impact of our racial identity on our perceptions of the world. Baltimore has a history and is currently struggling with segregation within its own neighborhoods. We need to address this issue as a community and teach young people how to respond to their environment in alternative ways, so that the separation does not become greater. The goal of this project is to facilitate multiple discussions and workshops with youth from different neighborhoods in Baltimore with the aim to engage them in thinking about the following: 1. The definition of race, 2. One’s racial identity and its relationship to societal views, 3. Question preconceived notions of race and racial identity. Through these discussions and workshops, youth will create a message that can be reflected on a billboard in Baltimore City that tens of thousands of residents will access. As the lead artists on this project, Nora Scheff and Marissa Berk-Smith are responsible for facilitating these discussions/workshop as well as reflecting on them. The process will be represented in a body of artwork that includes mind maps. The images and words from our discussions and workshops are mapped out as a means for decoding and facilitating an understanding of how we talk about race. This project addresses the need for youth to have a voice in conversations about race, identity, and how these issues have influenced their understanding of who they are and how they fit in to society at large.
Vital Stats
| Started On: | October 2007 | Ended On: | August 2008 |
| People Involved: | 45 | People Impacted: | 30,000 |
| Money Raised: | $500 |
Do Something! Get Involved
The creation of a billboard with a public message will invite responses from the youth involved in the workshops as well as from the many people who have access to the billboard from their cars. Therefore, it is important to create a forum where people can respond to the billboard message and imagery and further the dialogue after the workshops have ended. A website with images of our project, including the billboard, the youth and the workshops along with a blog will be created to help facilitate this conversation. Using these tools, we can measure the impact of the billboard. We will advertise the website address on the billboard itself, create mailings to constituents of the Creative Alliance and Baltimore Clayworks, and disseminate information concerning the website and billboard to other community organizations in the city. This allows us to reach both adults and youth for feedback. The website will also contain lesson plans from multiple curriculums on identity and race as well as contact information for the lead artists on the project. Therefore, we invite involvement from everyone, to continue the conversation about racial identity and the billboard message itself.
Related Cause: DiscriminationCategory: Community Building
Project Updates:
We have begun our workshops starting at Hampstead Hill Academy and it is clear that the topic of race and racism had been brought up in other spaces such as in the home or school. However, the results have often led to stifled and unrewarding conversations. For example, during an interview, one boy, who identified as African American, talked about how he has only really discussed race and racism with his parents and grandparents. He talked about even in the home, such conversations were upsetting to him and they resulted in him going to his bedroom and feeling closed off from people for being mean to one another. He said, “It makes me feel mad that they are still treating people like animals.” Within the same interview, while admitting his discomfort with the dialogue he said that, “It’s important to talk about race because people are still racist.” This interview highlights the fact that the inherent discomfort of the topic and the importance of having the conversation did not have to be mutually exclusive.
More updates coming soon!
