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COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
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"In Tall Cotton," Polly Pierce & Skip Copeland, Idabel, OK
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Community Arts projects come in all shapes and sizes...
WHAT IS COMMUNITY?
A community can be of place, age, race, faith, occupation, sexual orientation, a combination of any of these, and more.
SCE works with different community groups to create orignal performances about specific needs, issues, joys or concerns.
WHAT DOES A COMMUNITY PROJECT LOOK LIKE?
Community projects can be performances that wrestle with tough issues like AIDs, youth violence, pollution gangs and rape.
Or they can be full scale community folk history plays that combine local stories and songs to celebrate the heritage and culture of a particular place.
TYPICAL PROJECTS
"Life in the Hood," Newport News, Virginia, At-risk children talk about the reality of their lives in a difficult environment.
"In Tall Cotton: Idabel Centennial Folklife History Project" A three year residency which recorded and preserved oral histories of Idabel,
Oklahoma. The project culminated in a community based play, celebrating the town’s history, and performed by its citizens.
"The Rape Awareness Project", Newport News, Virginia. A teen-created play about the personal effects of rape and resources for help performed at churches, public schools and universities.
"Crossing Borders," Lexington, KY. Latino immigrants and drama students working together to develop an original community based performance.
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“Way Back When is about music and stories, laughter and tears, heartaches and lean times, friendships that last years. Its our story and history. “-Susan Alvis, The Black Mountain News, Black Mountain, North Carolina
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Shel Altschul, Rebecca Williams, Jerry Pope & Valerie Hixson
on the road in "Appalachian Tales"
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Performance in Downtown Asheville of "RiverPuppets," a community created show about sustainable rivers in partnership with RiverLink and Asheville Puppetry Alliance
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Cast of "Way Back When," long-running folk musical
in Black Mountain, North Carolina
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FOR EXAMPLE...
Way Back When is an on-going project with the goals of preserving the stories of the common people of the Swannanoa Valley and creating a community play that honors this history.
THE PLAY: Way Back When celebrates the history and folk life of the Swannanoa Valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in word and song. Based on recorded oral histories, Way Back When is performed by local residents. Way Back When is a ceremony of remembrance that honors the whole community.
THE PROJECT:
Its goals are:
To collect oral histories from natives of the Valley, recording as many "old-timers" as can be identified in the first round of funding, then expand the net with subsequent rounds. This will be done through one-on-one interviews, story circles, and archival research.
To train locals in story gathering techniques so the net can be cast wider and sustained.
Establish trust for the project within geographically, economically, and racially diverse communities.
Develop a Community Committee, made up of volunteers from all segments of the Valley, to provide direction for the project and express the desires, needs and concerns of the people.
To impact 4th grade students through the history and language arts curriculums, especially their narrative writing skills. This will culminate in a special performance of Way Back When for the children in the year long residency.
BROAD-BASED PROJECT PARTICIPANTS:
Lead organization: Black Mountain Center for the Arts
Sponsoring entities: Asheville Area Arts Agency, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Arts Council, Alternate ROOTS; Friends of Mountain History
Partner organizations: Swannanoa Valley Museum, Black Mountain College and Arts Center, Owen District Public Schools
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Bert Brown, Rebecca Williams,
Jerry Pope & Stephanie Hickling
perform "Way Back When" on the
road in Columbia, North Carolina
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The sad demise of Sally the Bear, a scene from "The Way Back When Old Time Medicine Show," Black Mountain Center for the Arts
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