1. Describe your community. You may be part of many communities: church, school, family, neighborhood, youth group, town or social activities. Describe the community that you seem the closest to.
Sadly since our move I have not established any new contacts with my new community. My family remains my closest community. My husband, three children and extended family as well as close friends comprise my community. I just had a birthday and getting the birthday cards in the mail and numerous emails and Facebook posts reminds again how important this community is to me.
2. What are the shared experiences and events in your community?
Various family celebrations around birthdays, holidays, and marriages are the primary events as most of my family is separated by miles.
3. What common goals to you and the people in the community share?
A common goal is to stay connected and to support, encourage and love each other as we all go through various issues of life.
4. What stories in your community need to be told?
It would be great to have a record of our memories together as a family. Beyond photos but actual written stories from various perspectives that will create a history of our family.
5. How might individual, group and community stories be told through art work?
It would be great to utilize some of the technology tools available to compile some online collages of events and persons that figured in our family life. Along with the photo collages would be reminisces from different family members to complete the collage. I see this as a website shared within the family and with interested friends.
6. Is there a sign, symbol, ritual or story from these questions that could act as a central metaphor?
For our family a map would be the metaphor for our family as we had to overcome distance to maintain our family ties.
7. Are there opportunities for you to support and expand local craft traditions?
No, I am not in a position to do this.
8. Discuss the ideas that "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." What aspects of the community environment do some members of the group find beautiful that others do not? Can those who find something ugly see it in another way?
Not sure how this question applies...if we're going back to our photo essays then perhaps things like cigarette butts would be beheld by smokers differently than non-smokers. Within my town, we are on Lake Michigan and I can't imagine too many folks not finding the lake a beauty to behold. But if you go to one section of the lake you'll find the waste disposal center which is necessary but hardly a beauty to behold. But for those who are environmentally conscientious it might be considered in a different light.
There are a number of unused manufacturing facilities which are an eyesore on the surface but they speak of the history of the city when it used to be a center of automotive production and other production items. So though I am a newcomer, I recognize the significance that these old buildings symbolize and see why the long time residents may not see them the same way as I do.
9. Who could you partner with for this project?
Family and perhaps friends of family would be the logical choice. In fact, seeing friends on the choices made me realize that friends can offer a new perspective to those celebrations and events that the family have had.
10. Where could this event take place or displayed at?
The beauty of this is that once it is completed, it could take shape as a website that could be accessed by everyone in the family and any friends who are interested. It would also allow for regular additions and updates as needed.
11. Who would you like to reach in this project? Who would you like to see this project or be educated about your community?
I not only want to make this a project for my current family, but have it available as new family members join the family through marriage or birth. I want it to be a chronicle of our family that can be shared with friends as well as family.
