People + Property People + Property
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PEOPLE + PROPERTY PEOPLE + PROPERTY With love and gratitude to all the good neighbors, friends, and participants of the House Life Project. June 2018 PEOPLE + PROPERTY Additional programming support from INTRODUCTION 2015 through 2017 contributed by: Project Leader: Meredith Brickell Amanda Boyd Dear Readers................................................2 Creative Editor, Community Engagement Amy Gastelum What Have We Learned from Coordinator: Twinkle Van Winkle Andy Beck The House Life Project?...........................4 Curator: Laura Holzman Ann Marie Elliott Photographer/Filmmaker: Benjamin Martinkus HISTORY Kurtis Bowersock Bernny Owens Editorial Assistant: Bailey Shannon Brent Aldrich Eureka Street Curatorial Assistant: Madison Hinks Carl Gordon by Jordan Ryan..............................................7 Design: PRINTtEXT Carmen DeRusha Cars and Crickets DePauw Research Assistants: Christopher Williams by Sara Baldwin..........................................10 Gracie White, Aerial Patterson CoraLyn Turentine A History of Building Structures Danicia Monet by Chris Hill....................................................13 Danielle Graves Generous support from the following Porch Parties.................................................14 Derek Dalton funders over the past three years have Early Tinsley made this publication possible: Elle Roberts SPACE Fair Creek Films Efroymson Family Fund Fashawn Moore Along A Flyway Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust Felice Salmon by Manon Voice.........................................17 DePauw University Fiona McDonald Flexible Fence IUPUI Museum Studies Program Gomez BBQ by John Clark..............................................20 Indiana Humanities Gordon’s Ice Cream A List of Things To Do Eskenazi Health Jennifer Delgadillo in a Vacant House....................................21 Buckingham Foundation Jessica Kartawich Penrod Society Jingo de la Rosa WELLNESS The HLP Community Joey Ponce John Franklin Hay The Street Where We All Live Kara Heingartner Project Partners: by Twinkle VanWinkle................................23 Katie Hudnall Spoonful Meal by Brittany Pendleton Katy Kuchler Renew Indianapolis Katy Renn and Bailey Shannon...................................24 iMOCA Leana Kruska HLP Recommended Readings................28 Lukas Schooler Thanks to Kurtis Bowersock, Katy Marvea Hill EQUITY Kuchler, Jessica Kartawich, and Kara Mat Davis Heingartner, our HLP photographers who Micah Wilson Black Spaces in White America carefully and consistently documented Mix Masters LLC by Danicia Monét......................................31 people, events, and projects over the Molly Trueblood Told/Retold past three years, and to the many other NoExit Performance by Andrea Jandernoa..............................34 community members who helped pro- Paula Katz What Does It Mean To Be vide additional images for this publica- Rabble Coffee a Good Neighbor?....................................36 tion. Randolph Loney Ray Duffey MOVEMENT Re-Generation Indy Rosie’s Ribs Movement to Humanity Scarlett Andrews Martin Shelley Given by Tatjana Rebelle......................................39 Stefanie and Paul Krievens Parade2017 (HLP Adaptation) Stephen Ball by Rebecca Pappas..................................40 Stevie Barlow How to Make a Mobile Garden StreamLines by Bailey Shannon...................................42 Teresa Brown The Bonfire Radio Theater Ensemble CHANGE Thomas Burnett About the House Life Project Too Black A Poem for Change Ty Higgs by Sharla Steiman.....................................45 We are a community of artists and resi- Valerie Davis Sounds We Return Are New Again dents who use vacant houses to create Wes Janz by Jordan Munson...................................46 art inspired by the neighborhood. Wil Marquez A List of Things To Do Yadin Kol With This Newspaper.................................48 www.houselifeproject.org Zaviera Garth DEAR READERS Welcome to the House Life Project’s People + Property. This pub- This and many other questions informed the trajectory of the HLP lication is a partial record of the creative work done for and at the as the project developed and changed over three years. This inqui- House Life Project (HLP) site, with specific emphasis on the 2017 ry-based approach was complemented by the HLP’s flexible and People + Property Series (P+P). Some of you have been deeply in- collaborative structure, which created space for anyone with ideas volved in the HLP and others may be hearing about this Near East- and initiative to contribute to the project. side initiative for the first time. Below is a bit of background that might be helpful. The HLP gained access to properties through a partnership with Re- new Indianapolis, the local land bank. The HLP relocated from one THE HOUSE LIFE PROJECT house to another when a property was sold. The project moved from 804 Eastern Avenue to 818 N. Tacoma Avenue in 2016, and then to From 2015 through 2017, the House Life Project worked with neigh- 605 N. Tacoma Avenue in 2017. bors to activate vacant houses with arts-based programming. Over three seasons and in three different properties, the HLP hosted more 2017: PEOPLE+PROPERTY SERIES than fifty artists, writers, and designers; provided art workshops for neighborhood residents; built and grew a mobile garden; hosted From May through October of 2017, the HLP People + Property community conversations about housing and neighborhood change; Series explored race and ethnicity as related to issues of vacant and helped connect neighbors with local social service agencies. housing. This work was guided by six key themes—history, space, wellness, equity, movement, and change—which informed monthly Community Conversations facilitated by local residents, organizers, “If these houses, many of which and activists who contributed their leadership, professional exper- tise, and personal experience. As an extension of the Community have been unoccupied for more Conversations, the HLP commissioned writers and artists to gener- than a decade, are going to remain ate creative works that explored a wide range of perspectives and questions about housing, race, and ethnicity. empty for a few years or more, These projects form the structure of this publication. We’re excited 605 North Tacoma Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46201 what can we do with them in the to share—for the first time—the poems and essays by our P+P writ- HLP location from April 2017 to October 2017 ers. The artists presented their projects at the HLP house between meantime with the people who live May and October 2017, and we’ve documented aspects of their in this community now?” work in this publication. Following the themes of P+P, we’ve also included other snippets reflecting the HLP’s activities. Look inside for images, lists, essays, and activities that share a sampling of the The HLP was established in 2015 at 804 Eastern Avenue in response projects we’ve done and the lessons we’ve learned by working to- to a question posed by project founder and leader, Meredith Brick- gether as a community of artists and neighbors on the Near Eastside. ell. Observing the number of vacant houses in the 46201 zip code, Brickell asked, “If these houses, many of which have been unoccu- pied for more than a decade, are going to remain empty for a few years or more, what can we do with them in the meantime with the people who live in this community now?” 818 North Tacoma Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46201 HLP location from August 2016 to April 2017 We would like to extend a special thank you to our Com- munity Conversation facilitators—Mat Davis, Scarlett Martin, Amanda Boyd, Valerie Davis, Danicia Monet, and CoraLyn Turentine—who led intimate and challenging discussions about history, space, wellness, equity, movement, and change. Also thanks to our zinemakers—Jingo de la Rosa, Bailey Shannon, CoraLyn Turentine, Danielle Graves, and 804 Eastern Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46201 Brittany Pendleton—for documenting the ways that every- HLP location from June 2015 to August 2016 day activities in our community and at the HLP connect to 2 these P+P themes. 3 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THE HOUSE LIFE PROJECT?* www.houselifeproject.org After three years of collaborating with neighbors to activate We are able to engage in genuine vacant houses with arts-based projects and programming, the collaboration with other people when House Life Project knows: we are nimble in our processes and do not predetermine the outcomes of our work. Artists can be useful collaborators because of We can build relationships with local residents their willingness to grapple with difficult problems whether we are a community insider or outsider. and seemingly unanswerable questions for a sus- Both situations require a significant amount of tained period of time. time, careful listening, and setting aside or delib- erately acknowledging our own agenda. Artists are most effec- We can become more comfortable Artists and others who are chron- tive when they work in with unfamiliar people and places if we ically underpaid for their work a way that allows them are willing to tolerate some discomfort. can advocate for themselves and to critique the institu- other underpaid, underserved tions they are affiliated people in the community. with. Artists, musicians, curators, and writers Neighbors can use an existing can use their knowledge of culture, space without investing much aesthetics, and creative practices to money to improve the functional- challenge dominant cultural structures