Here's some cool art that I saw at the mall in Chapel Hill a couple of weekends ago. It's called Our Stories, in Focus and over 1,000 members of the community contributed images to this project.
From the website:
"This spring members of the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and University of North Carolina communities were invited to share personal stories and family mementos as part of the 2009 Community Art and History Project.
Participants were asked to look more closely at their personal and community histories by considering these questions: What brought you or your family to this place? and What is the legacy you want to leave in your community? Participants brought pieces of their history (photos, letters, etc.) to community workshops.....where local artists Leah Sobsey and Lynn Bregman Blass scanned and photographed the mementos. The artists then created a community portrait out of these collected images..."
From a distance, it looks like a giant windsock but when you get closer, you see the collection of memories. It's a lot of fun to look at it all, plus I love the whole concept of a community artwork. There was also an oral history part of this project that recorded people's stories about the images they contributed. We tend to think of a lone artist in the studio communing with his/her muse, but group projects like this are such a great idea. I love this one.
Comments (11)
What a great project! I like the idea too.
Posted by candi | July 28, 2009 4:33 PM
Posted on July 28, 2009 16:33
What a fantastic idea, I love it! Great photos of this wonderful work of art, thanks Annie.
Posted by Anne | July 28, 2009 7:54 PM
Posted on July 28, 2009 19:54
Thanks gals. And Anne, welcome home, hope you had a nice trip!
Posted by Annie | July 29, 2009 7:51 AM
Posted on July 29, 2009 07:51
Hi Annie, what a wonderful and creative idea. How interesting to look at the variety of photos and the statement that these people wanted to make of how they came there and the legacy they want to leave.
Anne, welcome home from me too.
Thanks for sharing your photos of this great project Annie! Have a great day today.
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | July 29, 2009 8:10 AM
Posted on July 29, 2009 08:10
Thanks Kathy, it WAS fascinating to look at it; I could have stood there even longer than I did!
Posted by Annie | July 29, 2009 8:43 AM
Posted on July 29, 2009 08:43
How creatively community gathering! This was a wonderful entry - your comments on an artist are shared here too...menehune
Posted by menehune | July 29, 2009 10:10 AM
Posted on July 29, 2009 10:10
Menuhune, thanks! It was fun to find something like this in a shopping mall!
Posted by Annie | July 29, 2009 10:34 AM
Posted on July 29, 2009 10:34
That's a really unique idea, it must have been fascinating to look at!
Posted by sandrac | July 29, 2009 1:21 PM
Posted on July 29, 2009 13:21
Great post and great community project! I can imagine how fascinating it was to see the faces of members of the community and read some of their stories.
Posted by María I. | July 29, 2009 1:50 PM
Posted on July 29, 2009 13:50
What a great community project! Has the oral history been published? There are illustrated tidbits of South Philadelphia History in several places.I love reading them.They always bring back memories that I can relate to in some way!
Posted by sheri | August 1, 2009 10:02 AM
Posted on August 1, 2009 10:02
Thanks again everyone for your comments.
Sheri, there was a laptop set up next to the artwork, and I think that some of the oral history might have been on that. I don't know if there's a published part too. It would be fun to read the stories!
Posted by Annie | August 1, 2009 1:41 PM
Posted on August 1, 2009 13:41