The ten documentary photographs taken during last year’s mobilizations are now on exhibit at the Chapel Hill Public Library now until January 27
So take a look when you pick up your books!
P is P photographs at The Chapel Hill Public Library
Thoughts on Presence is Progress After Six Months
I’ve been thinking about a form of self-critique for the past few months as a way to articulate feelings I have about this project now. This process of thinking back and thinking ahead includes different kinds of analysis: from the purely emotional to the highly critical.
In essence and most essentially, I’m in the middle of questioning my methods of production for Presence is Progress. I have become suspect of the way in which I engaged community. I am currently questioning my decision to involve myself with a community art project after moving back home to this community only four months prior.
Instead of building a project with the help and advice of an existing community of disabled, activist Crips, I phoned disability services at local college campuses, posted open-calls in local papers, and described my project to every disability-related organization I could find. On one hand, this open solicitation presented the opportunity to make something new from groups already formed. On the other hand, it invited people to join an initiative without an anchor. I believe that my project would have been much richer if it had been our project. Whatever the institutional constraints, had I given the project more time to develop, and had I collaborated more closely with local activists, I think a number of things would have been done differently.
Had it been a team of us with different backgrounds and experiences, more consideration would have been given to how people traveled to and from each meeting site. Greater critique and adjustment would have made each event more open and inviting to people of all races, classes, sexualities, and nationalities. Greater support for people with diverse mental, emotional, and physical disabilities–invisible and visible–would have made the events more inclusive.
Though I remain committed to the political and artistic project of collective and self-representation for people with disabilities, I wonder if this public art initiative was the time and place to insist on it. Privileging a final product in the form of photographs hampered the process of building relationships. In order to capture any emotional spark, the photographs had to focus on relationships existing prior to the mobilization events rather than relationships newly formed; fortunately, photographs of families are both important and beautiful. But the whole project–no matter how beautiful or how unwieldy it was–had its eye set on a finalized art object, the photograph, with the goal of artfully and artificially filling in images missing from our public consciousness. Any of the photographs that inspired me to pursue this project: the photographs of ACT UP activists protesting the US government’s denial of the AIDS epidemic or black youth holding signs that insist the US government honor and protect their human and civil rights, show people uniting for a cause, a cause other than a public art project.
And so, with great appreciation for all who helped make Presence is Progress what it is, and with a nod to possible futures, I vow that:
The community art projects in my future will involve communities I am a part of. These community art projects will be collaborative and self-reflexive affairs. They will be long-term, with many tentacles and off-shoots. They will be unrushed and they will develop organically. They will learn from their mistakes and they will try yet again. They will allow their expectations to be challenged. They will not anticipate their limits. They will grow.
P is P at Guilford College!
From November 2 until December winter recess Presence is Progress is up for viewing in Guilford College’s Boren Lounge. Hosted in collaboration with the College’s Center for Principled Problem Solving, this exhibition also features tactile artwork entitled Sight Unseen by Rich Curtis.
Dr. Ann Fox, Associate professor of English and Gender Studies Concentration coordinator at Davidson College, spoke at the event’s opening Tuesday November 2nd.
Community newspaper publications are available for taking.
Special thanks to Kim Yarbary, Project and Communication Manager at the Center for Principled Problem Solving, Art Gallery Curator Pro-Tem Kelsey McMillan, and, of course, Dr. Fox!
Press for Presence is Progress at Through This Lens
Local critic and artist Dave Delcambre wrote a nice summary of the exhibit. Check it out on his blog nc artblog!
Also, Durham’s Herald Sun has a nice piece in Friday August 6th’s issue, page 3D
Exhibition Reception
Please join us SATURDAY JULY 24th from 6 – 8 pm at Through This Lens Gallery for the opening reception of photographs from Presence is Progress.
Vicki Smith, Executive Director of Disability Rights NC, will speak at 7 pm. A sign language interpreter will be in attendance.
This reception also commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act, which was signed into law July 26th, 1990.
Refreshments provided.
303 E. Chapel Hill Street . Durham, NC 27701 . 919.687.0250
Bolin Creek in Carrboro, NC
Carrboro resident Dave Otto has begun a campaign to make the walking paths around Bolin Creek as accessible and inclusive as possible.
There’s a googlegroup, an on-going petition, and weekly meetings in Carrboro. Please check out Advocates for Carrboro Greenways for more information and to sign the petition!
The next meeting is May 24th.
July 26th is the 20th Anniversary of the American’s with Disabilities Act
There are many ways to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the American’s with Disabilities Act this summer. The Disability Rights NC of Raleigh has put together an ADA Proclamation flyer that businesses can sign as a re-affirmation of their commitment to this anti-discrimination legislation outlining structural accessibility, proactive inclusion, and barrier-free environments. All businesses that adopt the Proclamation will be listed as a partner on the Disability Rights NC website as well as the national campaign’s website: www.2010anniversary.org
Just print it out, send it in….or email it!
I’ll be working with both Disability Rights NC and the Alliance for Disability Advocates on 20th anniversary events, so please check back for more info!
Akiea’s Poem for Presence is Progress
No Title
Through art, lives are born
And through expression, we are bred to learn the difference between
what’s different,
To blur the lines of normalcy until they can no longer be seen,
To combat right-wing philosophies and to breed our own,
Because change is progress,
And progress is change.
In order to advocate for our differences we must be different, in the
only reality in which difference is not necessarily unaccepted but
challenged,
And with our persistence we can change not only the views of others,
but the mindsets of our own,
And together we will progress and be present,
And our Presence will ultimately be our Progress,
And we will,
Now, later,
and with hope,
BE Present,
for all days to come.
And through expression, we are bred to learn the difference between
what’s different,
To blur the lines of normalcy until they can no longer be seen,
To combat right-wing philosophies and to breed our own,
Because change is progress,
And progress is change.
In order to advocate for our differences we must be different, in the
only reality in which difference is not necessarily unaccepted but
challenged,
And with our persistence we can change not only the views of others,
but the mindsets of our own,
And together we will progress and be present,
And our Presence will ultimately be our Progress,
And we will,
Now, later,
and with hope,
BE Present,
for all days to come.
Akiea Gross
3.27.10
Akiea sent this poem a few days after our second and final Mobilization on March 27th. It speaks to me as both a personal reflection and as a new voice articulating this art project’s goals.
In addition to agreeing to share her poem, Akiea supplied me with some personal information as a way to get to know one of Presence is Progress’s participants a little bit better. Thank you, Akiea!
Hometown: Germantown, MD
Major at UNC Chapel Hill:
1st major: Education, child development and family studies
2nd major: Psychology
Professional goals: I hope to teach in a Head Start program in DC for a year, while working on starting my own non-profit that will work to combat poverty through early childhood education. After a year, I plan to go to grad school for something related to school psychology, early childhood education and/special education.
Why you felt compelled to attend Presence is Progress: I have worked with people with a wide range of abilities my entire life. Currently I am a Care Provider for The Arc of Orange County. My client’s mother told me about this event and both my client and I attended. I am very concerned about the rights of all people, especially those individuals with disabilities. I believe in everyone’s voice being heard and I wanted to show my support.
What makes you smile: kids, animals, family, friends, artistic expression, individuality, and helping people
Mobilization #2, downtown Chapel Hill
Where: The Peace & Justice Plaza (old post office)
MAP!
179 East Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
When: SATURDAY, MARCH 27th, 2010 2:00 pm – 3:00pm*
Street parking is available. The ARC of Orange County has offered participants use of their parking lot, located @ 208 North Columbia Street
*In case of rain we will meet inside the post office.
A little less than a year ago a ceremony at the old post office on Franklin Street (re-named the Peace & Justice Plaza) honored nine community activists who took part in 1963′s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Honorees include Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittian, Joe Herzenberg, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, and Gloria Williams.
The location was renamed in 2006 to “honor of the energy and spirit of the thousands who have stood in the shadow of the Courthouse and exercised their rights to assembly and speech and have spoken out on issues as diverse as the Vietnam War, environmental justice, women’s rights, gay rights, the death penalty, and racial justice.”
I’m excited to add disability rights to this list!
