Uprooted/ reRooted A case study of socially engaged art practice and collaborative design for a more just future
The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program’s Restored Spaces Initiative Uprooted/ reRooted A case study of socially engaged art practice and collaborative design for a more just future Uprooted/reRooted Project Credits
Acknowledgments A Restored Spaces Initiative project
This case study was collaboratively researched, ARTISTIC TEAM: Uprooted/reRooted was created by lead artist Marion Wilson conceptualized, and written by: and Restored Spaces founder Shari Hersh alongside muralist Eurhi Jones, and Beth Enson, Writer Community Design Leaders Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, and Agnes Ockovic. Shari Hersh, Director of Environmental Justice, Mural Arts COLLABORATORS: Dr. Luz Ruiz and her third-grade class and Priscilla Hopkins Gamar Markarian, Design Strategist and her third-grade classes at William Cramp Elementary School in 2017; mural assistants Maria Roman, Mike Reali, Russel Craig, Lucy Velez, Jose Villalobos, Graphic Design by: Gamar Markarian and Yanitza Pascual; Eric Okdeh and the artists at SCI Graterford; Marilyn Copy Editing by: Emma Wu Rodriguez and workshop attendees at the Mural Arts Philadelphia Porch Proofreading by: Emily Cooper Moore Light Kensington Storefront; Brad Carney and the Mural Arts Philadelphia Art Education class at Kensington CAPA; William Reed, Alfonso Alford, and This case study would not have been possible without the Deanda Logan from William Cramp Elementary School; Julius Ferraro and generous and thoughtful critical discourse, contribution of Ciara Williams from the Mural Arts Restored Spaces team; participants in Mural time, interviews, and documentation from the Uprooted/ Arts Philadelphia’s Guild program; David McShane, Zambia Greene, Michael reRooted project team: Agnes Ockovic, Leidy Burgos, Lillian Whittington, Carlos Vasquez, Ryan Spilman, Greg Christie, and Frisco Brown Cover Photo: Fontanez, Luz Ruiz, Eurhi Jones, Marion Wilson, Charito from Mural Arts. Mural detail, tamarind. Uprooted/ Morales, Deanda Logan, Alyssa Schimmel, and William Reed. reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, COURTYARD COLLABORATORS: Philadelphia Orchard Project: Phil Forsyth, Lillian Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes Support for the case study was provided by the Mural Arts Ockovic, Marion Wilson, Cramp Alyssa Schimmel, Robyn Mello; Mario Mohan, Stacey Lindbloom, and Lawrence students & community members, Institute, which receives funding from The JPB Foundation, The Davis; Interpret Green: Craig Johnson. Cramp Elementary School, 3449 Kresge Foundation, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. North Mascher Street. Photo by PARTNERS: William Cramp Elementary School, Philadelphia Orchard Project, Michael Reali. Major support for the Environmental Justice Department is Interpret Green. Top Center: provided by the PTS Foundation. Mural detail, tomato. Uprooted/ FUNDERS: City of Philadelphia, City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Education, reRooted © City of Philadelphia FAO Schwarz Family Foundation, The JPB Foundation, PTS Foundation, Stavros Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, © 2020 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and Lillian Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes Niarchos Foundation. Ockovic, Marion Wilson, Cramp Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates. All rights reserved. No students & community members, part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or Uprooted/reRooted © 2018 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Marion Cramp Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. Photo by by any means, without written permission from the City of Wilson, Eurhi Jones, Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, Agnes Ockovic. Michael Reali. Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. 2019 ADDITIONAL CREDITS PHASE 2 COLLABORATORS: Community Design Leaders Jamie Dixon, Mileika Flores Medina, Kathy Garcia-Soler, Mildred Gonzalez, Rosalene Isaac, Delfina Jimenez, Mayra Rivera, and Katty Soler-Prado; mural assistants Diana Gonzalez, Laila Islam, Brianna Hayes, Selina Zhou, and Jenny Yim; Kyla van Buren, Kathy Poole, and Michael Bules from Mural Arts; poets Raquel Salas and Beth Enson; and Ieva Sayles and Connie Johnson from William Cramp Elementary School.
PARTNER: Providence Center Teen Leaders Academy and Charito Morales. FUNDER: PwC. the individual liberty to access urban Restored Spaces Initiative projects ‘Projects that resources: it is a right to change operate at the intersection of make foundational ourselves by changing the city. It socially-engaged public artwork improvements to the is, moreover, a common rather and environmental justice activism, than an individual right since this addressing specific issues of urban fabric must emerge transformation inevitably depends environmental racism via creative from the communities upon the exercise of a collective disruptions to the status quo in themselves and grow power to reshape the processes of pursuit of foundational change. directly out of the urbanization. The freedom to make Restored Spaces focuses on four community’s priorities, and remake our cities and ourselves main goals in each of its projects: is, I want to argue, one of the most using grassroots research precious yet most neglected of our - Environmental and Climate Justice and exploratory cultural human rights.”1 - Community Capacity Building experiences to engage - Equity and Horizontal people’s stories, interests The aspiration for this case study is Collaborations and challenges rather to provide a model of collaborative - Care and Re-knitting Social Fabric creativity that, in the words of the than responding to New Alphabet School, can “scale In an effort to rectify and activate policy and institutional rhizomatically,”2 connecting like- around environmental justice priorities.’- Paraphrased minded projects and practitioners issues, Restored Spaces facilitates from Lucia Sanroman, through the web, word of mouth, and projects that come directly Yerba Buena Center for the synchronicities with which the from communities, centering planet sometimes provokes needed their visions, expertise, and the Arts This case study provides a penetrating look at The project took on a radical reorganization of and life-giving disruptions. New knowledge. Environmental the successful strategies, positive outcomes, the relationship between artist and community Alphabet School is a self-organized hazards disproportionately affect and salient learning that emerged from in pursuit of a vision both local and planetary, school providing international marginalized communities, Uprooted/reRooted, a longitudinal project both personal and communal, resulting in colloquia (online during COVID,) especially communities of color. “We hold important that at William Cramp Elementary School in collective authorship of artworks and creative whose focus on criticism as a To imagine and practice a more Philadelphia that provides a model of attending processes that held profound meaning and practice of shared responsibility and just future, projects must prioritize each of us needs to be to relationships in the service of addressing beauty. Uprooted/reRooted used numerous care has been inspiring. We hope dismantling the systems that critical thinkers, good the impacts of environmental racism through strategies to redress environmental racism and Uprooted/reRooted can become maintain these disparities and build decision makers, and give collective action. Environmental justice to foster horizontal collaborations based on one node in a collaborative network relational networks, both in their principled leadership… requires that those people most impacted by equity and respect for local expertise. Care and of projects sharing methods, goals and in their practice. (We) change ourselves environmental harms envision and are the concern pervaded the myriad large-scale and vocabulary, learning, and inspiration decision-makers of the solutions. Initiated intimate encounters through which community to generate positive change on The Restored Spaces Initiative, to change the world… by the community and produced by the members drew on local skills and creativity to a scale much greater than each founded by Shari Hersh, supports and among other things, Restored Spaces Initiative, a program of the identify and reimagine under-utilized spaces individual organization or social communities to create self-sustaining move from individualism Environmental Justice department of Mural within and around the school, transforming practitioner can achieve. projects that grow directly from their to collectivism.” -William Arts Philadelphia, the project was undertaken one such space from a barren and forbidding own priorities and take collective Goldsby, Reconstructing action to address harms affecting in partnership with the school, artist Marion place to a vibrant, welcoming garden with Rage Wilson, key participants, and ultimately with hand-made hardscaping and lush botanical their specific neighborhoods other artists, non-profits, community members murals which reflects the actual vitality and 1 Harvey, David. “The Right To The City,” New as well as the systems of harm and leaders. Wilson says that despite the resilience of the community and serves as the Left Review, September/October 2008. https:// affecting ourselves, our families, newleftreview.org/issues/II53/articles/david-harvey- statistics of scarcity that have been used to site of ongoing community collaborations. The the-right-to-the-city our communities, and our planet. describe the Fairhill community, this project strategies and perspectives explored through Communities, artists, and activists Top Left: on every level grew out of an experience of Uprooted/reRooted catalysed a community to 2 From “Caring.” Conversation by Helena Reckitt pursuing environmental justice Mural detail, quenepas (Spanish limes). and Elke Krasny, part of New Alphabet School Uprooted/reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural collective abundance. “Within a ‘food desert,’ articulate obstacles, envision alternatives, and virtual event June 2020. HKW/New Alphabet School. choose to partner with the Restored Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, we shared meals and grew food; within a bring these visions to reality. David Harvey, https://www.hkw.de/en/programm/projekte/2019/ Spaces Initiative due to its work Eurhi Jones, Agnes Ockovic, Marion Wilson, new_alphabet_school/texte_new_alphabet_school/ Cramp students & community members, Cramp ‘heat island,’ we grew trees; with no public Distinguished Professor of Anthropology & new_alphabet_school_caring.php at the crux between the strategic Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. transportation, we took field hikes. As a team of Geography at The Graduate Center, CUNY, Photo by Michael Reali. 50 women we created a matrilineal project of writes, “The right to the city is far more than love and joy.”
4 5 and the tactical,3 allowing them access to the strategic advocacy of the inintiative’s parent organization, Mural Arts, and its long-standing relationships with allied entities in city government and the non-profit sector. The projects that emerge from these partnerships create horizontal collaborations and collective authorship, and foster friendships and communities of care to re-knit social networks and transform the urban environment. Restored Spaces Initiative projects raise questions in an open-ended, mosaic approach. Their creative interventions shift perspectives to effect structural and policy change, creating socially- engaged public art at sites that become community spaces and strategic hubs for cooperative thinking, spatial inventiveness, and environmental restoration.
3 In his article “Socially Engaged Contemporary Art: Tactical and Strategic Manifestations,” Thompson identifies the strategic impulse of larger arts organizations to effect structural change through long-term engagement with strategy-oriented institutions like community centers and government entities. He distinguishes this strategy from tactical projects facilitated by individual artists or small ad hoc groups to catalyze new ideas that shift perspectives and encourage nuanced, intersectional awareness. Thompson, Nato. Socially Engaged Contemporary Art: Tactical and Strategic Manifestations. Animating Democracy: A Working Guide to the Landscape of Arts for Change. https:// animatingdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/LCrane% 20Trend%20Paper.pdf
Right: Uprooted/reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes Ockovic, Marion Wilson, Cramp students & community members, Cramp Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. Photo by Michael Reali.
Following Pages, p. 8 and p. 9 Top Left: Pictured (L to R): Dr. Luz Ruiz, Alyssa Schimmel, Marion Wilson, and Agnes Ockovic.
Bottom Left: Pictured (L to R): Michael Reali and Eurhi Jones. Photo by Marion Wilson.
Top Right: Mural detail, tamarind. Uprooted/reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, Lillian 6 Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes Ockovic, Marion Wilson, 7 Cramp students & community members, Cramp Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. Photo by Michael Reali. Overview p.10 . Project Brief/Goals . Project Collaboration . The Site . The Context
Project Timeline p.18
Glossary of Artistic Process p.22
Project Highlights p.26 . Creating a Shared Knowledge Base and Drawing as Literature of a Place . Centering Local Experiences and Knowledges/Conocimientos . Horizontal Collaboration and Making Together
Lessons Learned p.72
The Project Now p.76
What’s Next? p.79 Project Brief/ Project Goals
From its inception, Uprooted/ of reimagining the outdoor spaces Southwark Schools; Mr. Alford, the reRooted has followed the lead in response to this articulated Cramp Elementary building engineer, of the community in setting the desire by the community. With the who spoke at the project dedication agenda for the project. After the goal of creating opportunity for the and supported the domestic violence community worked with The Trust community to lead the process, awareness aspect of the project; for Public Land to complete a green Restored Spaces explored making a participants at Porchlight, a project schoolyard on the south side of Hub space at the school where social serving people in recovery; inmates at the school, community members and cultural activities and sharing Graterford Prison; and the hundreds of advocated for further involvement could happen, through placing an community members who have taken and transformation of the school’s Artist in Residence there. The vision part in various aspects of the project outdoor spaces, including murals was to support a collaborative model to date along with members of the to bring beauty and color to its of working with the community Restored Spaces team and other teams walls. The Restored Spaces Initiative toward shared goals. from Mural Arts Philadelphia. All of became involved in the next stages these people have had equal value to the project, and their efforts were equally instrumental in creating the numerous positive results. Hersh oversaw all of these complex and intersecting elements of the project; handled the many technical and logistical challenges that Project presented themselves daily, requiring sensitive and thoughtful management Collaboration to preserve positive relationships with every participant; and ensured that the An impressive cast joined forces listening skills and a mission in overarching goals of the project and of to create Uprooted/reRooted. climate change activism. Numerous Restored Spaces were met on an ongoing Community Design Leaders (CDL) additional partners contributed basis. Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, vital resources, perspectives, and and Agnes Ockovic; the Restored energy along the way, including The multivalent leadership team Spaces Initiative led by Shari Hersh; the Providence Center and Charito of Uprooted/reRooted generated a Top Left: Morales; poet Raquel Salas Rivera; Mural detail, plant cells. Uprooted/reRooted © Artist in Residence Marion Wilson; multitude of sub-projects. Each member City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy and William Cramp Elementary Craig Johnson of Interpret Green; of the team drew upon personal Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes School were the central partners in William Reed, the Cramp community Ockovic, Marion Wilson, Cramp students & and organizational connections and community members, Cramp Elementary School, conceiving the project. During the school coordinator, who tirelessly partners in pursuing their aspect of the 3449 North Mascher Street. Photo by Michael initial concept phase, the central helped in expediting schedules, project. Uprooted/reRooted developed Reali. partnership team expanded to setting meetings, and trouble- a fractal quality with a unifying theme: Top Right: include Philadelphia Orchard shooting; Julius Ferraro, who horizontal collaboration that sparked Drawing of a cell by a third-grade student in Dr. coordinated the Mural Arts crew, Ruiz’s class. Project, which developed a detailed an atmosphere of shared inspiration, and creative curriculum on plant and assisted de-paving contractors learning, and creativity. Bottom Right: science for the students at Cramp to navigate weather conditions and Uprooted/reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, Elementary, and, at the end of tight school schedules; Kyla van Eurhi Jones, Agnes Ockovic, Marion Wilson, the first summer, muralist Eurhi Buren, who spanned two different Cramp students & community members, Cramp Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. Jones, who brought muralist skills projects in leading the second Photo by Michael Reali. and experience, as well as deep group of CDLs at both Cramp and
10 11 1937 Assessment Grades from the Homeowners’ Loan Corporation - Credit Risk-taking The Site D “HAZARDOUS” The Restored Spaces Initiative expends a great C “DEFINITELY DECLINING” deal of time and resource in selecting the sites for its projects, using a rubric of community- Assessment grades A and B are not mapped. identified need that examines the environmental harms a community is enduring in terms of heat islands, lack of accessible green space, fresh food Litter Index: Block Score deserts, and the crime and litter that result from William Cramp policies of redlining, gentrification, and scarce 3.25 - 4.0 public resources. The map provided overlays 2.25 - 3.25 Elementary School redlined neighborhoods with the litter index to indicate how a high litter index is related Score Reference to disinvestment. (See sidebar.) Government 1 = Little to no litter entities and funders often have specific 2 = Litter in the amount that can be picked up by one person requirements in selecting a site or a theme, but 3 = Litter in the amount that would Hersh is adamant that the site and the content need a team to clean up 4 = Litter that would require a of a project emerge from the community itself. large cleanup effort and/or heavy She chooses to undertake projects in response machinery to remove debris to articulated community priorities, where Scores ranging from 1 - 2.25 groundwork has been laid for transformation and are not mapped to take place. Despite years of disinvestment, the Fairhill section of Kensington remains a strong and vibrant community. William Cramp School was selected as the site for Uprooted/ reRooted for this quality as well as for the existing community-identified need for remediation, and for the site’s capacity to provide a shared green space for the neighborhood. William Cramp Elementary serves a low-income, primarily Puerto Rican community, with additional residents from across Latin America. Prior to the inception of Uprooted/reRooted, the school participated in a Philadelphia School District initiative to greenscape school campuses to manage stormwater runoff, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land and the Philadelphia Water Department. This earlier project involved students in project design and feedback, resulting in the replacement of asphalt with artificial turf, play equipment, a running track, and plantings, among other amenities.
Redlining maps, created by the federal government in the 1930s for every city in the nation, rated those neighborhoods with predominantly minority residents as “hazardous,” preventing their access to affordable homeowner’s loans for property Map Design by Gamar Markarian upkeep and improvement, eroding the wealth of families, and leading to the economic decline of neighborhoods. Map References: Neighborhoods designated Hazardous in the 30s are currently 1. https://cleanphl.org/ suffering the effects of nearly a century of disinvestment. 2. https://nextcity.org/features/view/redlining- Long-term residents are being displaced by people with white- race-philadelphia-segregation skin privilege and by developers, aided by urban policies that 3. https://controller.phila.gov/philadelphia- promote gentrification. https://www.urbandisplacement.org/ audits/mapping-the-legacy-of-structural-racism- redlining in-philadelphia/ 12 13 The Context
William Reed, Community School Also important was the Providence Coordinator at Cramp Elementary, Center’s Community Organizer, describes the misperceptions that Charito Morales, whose youth neighborhoods like Kensington development program there provides receive in the media and one of the area’s few outlets for young public imagination. “For future people. Additionally impactful was practitioners who hope to duplicate Cramp School’s Principal, Deanda the success that Mural Arts had, it Logan, and her cultivation of over 50 is helpful to remember some key partnerships to serve her student’s facts about similar neighborhoods. needs. This laid the groundwork Many of the neighborhoods which for opening the school to the stand to benefit most from a similar community, working with outside project often have a reputation community organizations, as well which elides the vibrant patchwork as collaborating with parents and of relationships and social networks community members. Also, to a which sustain the neighborhood smaller degree, the school conducted community. In the case of a needs assessment and organized Kensington, the neighborhood had a committee with parents and been labeled ‘the badlands’ and had community members through the been the site of many news stories community school program. These focusing on the negative parts of the provided some of the insights and neighborhood. These labels omit the parent contacts that would go on to fact that similar neighborhoods often be utilized by the Mural Arts project.” have a long history of disinvestment, redlining, and other practices which have left them with fewer resources than other, more affluent neighborhoods. However, despite these practices, residents of the Top Right: Uprooted/reRooted in process, April 21, 2018. community have, out of necessity, Photo by Steve Weinik. become very resourceful about Bottom Right: connecting with one another, finding Uprooted/reRooted dedication at Cramp resources and networks of support. Elementary School, October 23, 2019. Photo by Michael Reali. In addition to this resourcefulness and resiliency of the residents, Following Pages, p. 16 and p. 17 oftentimes there is a small core of Left: Dr. Luz Ruiz with her student during north dedicated activists in the community. courtyard transformation, April 21, 2018. Photo These organizers and activists can by Steve Weinik. lay the groundwork for a successful Top Right: community-led project. In the case Uprooted/reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, Lillian of Cramp School’s project, that was Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes Ockovic, manifested by the local community Marion Wilson, Cramp students & community development corporation, HACE and members, Cramp Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. Photo by Michael Reali. their Neighbor Advisory Committee Program Director, Stasia Monteiro, Bottom Right: North courtyard transformation, June 2017. who organizes residents and holds Photo by Marion Wilson. monthly community meetings.
14 15 This project represents a space of creative learning, where students, families, teachers, and other community members gather to make connections between family traditions, growing food, and an appreciation for nature. It is a great learning space with many opportunities to teach ecological literacy.” Dr. Ruiz Top Left: Mural detail, sunflower life cycle. Uprooted/reRooted © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Leidy Burgos, Lillian Fontanez, Eurhi Jones, Agnes Ockovic, Marion Wilson, Cramp students & community members, Cramp Elementary School, 3449 North Mascher Street. Photo by Michael Reali.