First Person Museum
The first round of this summer’s First Person Museum StoryCircles is well underway. Over the last two weeks, we have made some fantastic visits to our community partners, and started doing one of the most rewarding things we can do: listen.
So far, the stories that have been shared by participants have been electrifying. Each account comes from a different place in the city: Norris Square, Germantown Avenue and Hunting Park. Each storyteller comes from a different generation; from proud grandmothers to our youngest participant so far- just eight years old!
Members at Village Of The Arts & Humanities swap stories.
But in all, each story has so greatly reminded us of our many connections to one another on our day to day adventures in Philadelphia.
The objects that have been shared have emphasized the importance of noticing what the small things in life mean to us when we take a bigger look.
Serena holds a photo of a participant's 40 year-old portrait.
Hopefully, The First Person Museum will display these community stories as small but intricate pieces of the huge and dynamic story of what makes Philadelphia so vibrant.
Over the next few weeks, I will be visiting upcoming StoryCircles to bring photos and video from our visits. As a storyteller behind the lens, I invite you to come on the journey of these community visits with me and not just explore the art of storytelling, but the art of community building.
Artifacts at the Village For Arts & Humanities
Village Artist and StoryCircle member Jon Kaufman.
Art found in Norris Square Project's learning center.
Our next Story Circle is TONIGHT, hosted by First Person Arts.
Upcoming StoryCircles
• Thursday, August 5 hosted by the Coffee Cup
• Thursday, August 5 hosted by the Philadelphia Young Playwrights
• Wednesday, August 11 hosted by the Art Sanctuary
All events are FREE.
Bring yourselves and your story!
- Maya Shipman, Museum Marketing Intern
During our First Person Museum Planning Meeting in May, participants -including Lise Funderberg, author and FPA writing workshop leader- went around the room and shared stories about objects that have resonated with them. Samara Freemark from Radio Diaries shared the story of a well-worn atlas, Iris from Norris Square opened up about the handmade straw dolls she grew up with in Puerto Rico.
In the above video, Lise shares her ‘trash-picking find’ of a woman’s discarded sewing materials- and how her discovery of their shared hobby connected them, despite their many differences. She talks about how the objects in our lives connect us beyond the physical level- representing shared experiences that can transcend often daunting barriers. The lesson she takes away from this woman’s treasure, and one that we hope to expand upon in the First Person Museum, is learning how to appreciate each other. What might at first be considered life’s ‘mundane debris’ can also contain the transformative potential to unify and bond us to one another.
What objects have spoken to you? Tell us about them at next Wednesday’s First Person Museum StoryCircle. Get more details and RSVP here.
-Morgan Berman
The First Person Museum is built upon the premise that everyone has a story to share and the objects we care about can become gateways for sharing some of our stories. In order to reach as wide of a group of storytellers as possible, First Person Arts has partnered with some amazing community organizations for StoryCircles. These are basically show and tells, where you can bring the stories and objects (if you still have them or they are easily transportable) that matter to you and share that story. Each one is facilitated by Dianna Marder of the Philadelphia Inquirer and either Katonya Mosley or Angel Hogan. Art Sanctuary and The Best Day of My Life (So Far) have already hosted StoryCircles but we have a bunch more coming up:
Saturday, July 24 hosted by the Norris Square Neighborhood Project
Tuesday, July 27 hosted by the Village of Arts and Humanities
Saturday, July 31 hosted by Ayuda Community Center
Wednesday, August 4 hosted by First Person Arts RSVP here.
Thrusday, August 5 hosted by the Coffee Cup
Wednesday, August 11 hosted by the Art Sanctuary
And there will be one more, date TBD, hosted by Philadelphia Young Playwrights.
All events are FREE.
If you’re interested in getting involved in any of these StoryCircles, write me with your questions or RSVP to the StoryCircle on August 4th.
Yet again, Red Tettemer brings us a great design for the First Person Museum. What do you guys think?
Check out the Art Sanctuary’s 26th Annual Festival of Black Writing Festival from today through Saturday at Temple University Main Campus. Enjoy inspiring workshops and panel discussions, family activities, powerful performances, a book fair with author signings, food, crafts— and a few words from Mayor Michael Nutter. Plus the first object collection events for the First Person Museum! And its all free!
Here’s footage from last years festival…
For the family there are kid-friendly readings, entertainment, face painting and workshops for kids and teens. Adults can take part in a variety of workshops from how to get your poetry published to becoming a successful freelance writer, or panel discussions ranging from blogging to sci-fi to the LGBTQ Community.
Angel Hogan
Lise Funderberg
-Tiffany Thwaites
Assisting in the creation of the First Person Museum is Kathleen McLean, a masterful museum consultant from Berkeley. Kathleen was profiled in yesterday’s New York Times for her most recent project: the reopening of the Oakland Museum (“The Story of California. The Story of You.”). Her career has thrived on creating community-based, bottom-up museum exhibitions throughout the country and the First Person Museum is her latest project. I caught her for a couple minutes at the conclusion of our second day of planning meetings before she headed back to the west coast. Watch what she has to say about your museum below.
Hear what Samara from Radio Diaries has to say after day 1 of our planning sessions.
(Photo by Abigail Huller, courtesy of the Oakland Museum of California)
How do you build a museum of the people? If you’re First Person Arts, you start by bringing together an amazing team of museum specialists well-versed in user generated content, artists skilled in capturing stories from real life and historians from some of the top universities in the country. And then you brainstorm. And throw out questions. And ideas. And more questions. And disagree. And say really great things like, “The object is a vessel for the story.” And share stories about personal objects that matter in our lives. A bunch of really smart people in one room can be both an inspiring and dangerous thing.
Today has been the first day of a two day planning session for the First Person Museum. Spearheaded by museum development consultant Kathleen McLean, we are figuring out the most effective process for capturing the objects, stories and historical contexts that will go into creating the First Person Museum, to be on display at the Painted Bride Art Center in conjunction with the First Person Festival in November thru December 2010.
One of our artistic partners is the popular NPR program Radio Diaries. Radio Diaries will be producing the audio commentary for a selection of the objects submitted for the Museum. Producer Samara Freemark was on hand today voicing her opinions and questions about the project. Hear Samara’s thoughts on the Museum so far.
Our other artistic partners include photographer JJ Tiziou, Inquirer writer Dianna Marder and filmmaker David Kessler. Each will be using their particular medium to capture the personal narratives behind our collection of objects. Tomorrow we meet with the community organizations that will help spearhead object collection throughout the city. We’ll meet them tomorrow!
