TEN Stories
Following are just a few of the stories shared in CCAP’s exhibition TEN.
Mandala – “Your message here.”
In the spring of 2007, a group of New Orleans artists named Category 5 Arts Collective made a visit to Chicago. Reflecting on their recent experiences in Hurricane Katrina and what they had lost, these artists gained a new appreciation for the fragile impermanence of life. During that same semester, CCAP was working with several Columbia College students who had recently relocated from New Orleans. In honor of those students and the residents of New Orleans who were struggling in the aftermath of the storm, CCAP created a mandala, a Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe, in collaboration with the artists of Category 5 Arts Collective and students from after school programs at A.C.T. Charter School and Crown Community Academy. The mandala was originally intended as an outdoor project using chalk and paint directly on the sidewalk so it could wash away naturally. After several weather delays, the final design of eight triangles was painted on muslin indoors at the Conaway Center at Columbia College Chicago.
This project was developed in support of “Lights On After School,” an annual national celebration of the 21st Community Learning Centers, which are located in Chicago and sponsored in part by CCAP, the Chicago Public Schools and Columbia College.
Teens Together
Teens Together began as a collaboration between Music Theatre Workshop (one of CCAP’s community partners) and the Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing Department in 2004, to provide Chicago-area teens with the opportunity to receive training in writing and storytelling — both for publication and stage. A year-long collaborative writing workshop, Teens Together combines Music Theatre Workshop’s (MTW) storytelling and musicalization methods with Columbia College’s Fiction Writing Story Workshop methods to assist teens in creating and producing an original musical theater piece.
Working together, MTW staff and Columbia College faculty and students exchange storytelling methods and techniques, helping Teens Together youth learn how to share their diverse stories and backgrounds with each other and their communities. In turn, this helps the teens build relationships and expand their knowledge of others.
Teens Together also helps Columbia College students foster a broader mindset of civic consciousness and community service through their role as mentors. It provides Columbia College students with the opportunity to teach Teens Together youth the ways in which their art empowers them to facilitate social change. This unique program culminates annually with a full-scale production created and performed by the Teens Together ensemble, and directed and designed by MTW staff at the West Pullman Park Cultural Center.
Remix
In 2008, photographer and Columbia College instructor Cecil McDonald, Jr. worked in collaboration with spoken word poet, avery r.young, to create Remix, a unit of study for sixth and seventh grade students at Herzl Elementary School as part of CCAP’s Arts Integration Mentoring Program, Project AIM. Looking at the photography of Russell Lee, Gordon Parks, MaryEllen Mark, Wayne Miller and others, their intention was to have students learn about cultural history through poetry and reconceptualize the narrative found in both subjects.
Renga
In fall 2007, CCAP Teaching Artist and Columbia College Adjunct Instructor Jenn Morea partnered with a Pulaski Fine Arts Academy fifth-grade classroom to create A Poetry Garden. This artist residency was presented under the auspices of Project AIM, CCAP’s arts integration mentorship program.
As one of Jenn Morea’s presentations over a ten week period, she introduced renga poetry to Pulaski students to teach them how to use this style of writing as a way to reflect on their world. Originating in Japan, the act of making a renga encourages group collaboration while at the same time honoring each individual artist. It encourages each poet to verbally reinforce what has been written before (by repeating words or phrases), yet still invent in their own newly written passage an expanding idea.
RENGA 1
Winter is here
The air chills
freezingly
I see snowmen with
breezing snow
The snow keeps falling
I already need my heavy coat
I see everybody making snow angels
I see kids playing snow
Making three body snowmen
I hear kids screaming help
I see kids rapidly shooting snowballs
Flowers blowing
RENGA 2
It is getting cold out
leaves are falling from the trees
falling on the ground
Falling on the ground
I see them getting up with breeze
I see them getting up with breeze
The breeze was as cold as cold water
Which is freezing
I see the freezing water
Getting cracked by ice skaters
Time to wear your heavy coats
To bring out your sled
And have fun in the soft snow
The snow is white
The white of peace
RENGA 3
Chicago autumn leaves falling down
gracefully on the grass other leaves
waiting to grow on new trees
Chicago purple soft falling
fastly stacking leave by leave
Purple fallings in Chicago
Many leaves, falling
leave by leave
The morning sun bright as light
and look purple in water
The first birds singing
in spring is like music
to my ear
Spring
is beautiful
Mandala – “Your message here.”
In the spring of 2007, a group of New Orleans artists named Category 5 Arts Collective made a visit to Chicago. Reflecting on their recent experiences in Hurricane Katrina and what they had lost, these artists gained a new appreciation for the fragile impermanence of life. During that same semester, CCAP was working with several Columbia College students who had recently relocated from New Orleans. In honor of those students and the residents of New Orleans who were struggling in the aftermath of the storm, CCAP created a mandala, a Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe, in collaboration with the artists of Category 5 Arts Collective and students from after school programs at A.C.T. Charter School and Crown Community Academy. The mandala was originally intended as an outdoor project using chalk and paint directly on the sidewalk so it could wash away naturally. After several weather delays, the final design of eight triangles was painted on muslin indoors at the Conaway Center at Columbia College Chicago.
This project was developed in support of “Lights On After School,” an annual national celebration of the 21st Community Learning Centers, which are located in Chicago and sponsored in part by CCAP, the Chicago Public Schools and Columbia College.
Teens Together
Teens Together began as a collaboration between Music Theatre Workshop (one of CCAP’s community partners) and the Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing Department in 2004, to provide Chicago-area teens with the opportunity to receive training in writing and storytelling — both for publication and stage. A year-long collaborative writing workshop, Teens Together combines Music Theatre Workshop’s (MTW) storytelling and musicalization methods with Columbia College’s Fiction Writing Story Workshop methods to assist teens in creating and producing an original musical theater piece.
Working together, MTW staff and Columbia College faculty and students exchange storytelling methods and techniques, helping Teens Together youth learn how to share their diverse stories and backgrounds with each other and their communities. In turn, this helps the teens build relationships and expand their knowledge of others.
Teens Together also helps Columbia College students foster a broader mindset of civic consciousness and community service through their role as mentors. It provides Columbia College students with the opportunity to teach Teens Together youth the ways in which their art empowers them to facilitate social change. This unique program culminates annually with a full-scale production created and performed by the Teens Together ensemble, and directed and designed by MTW staff at the West Pullman Park Cultural Center.
“I can tell Teens Together will be one of the great teaching experiences of my life. Teens Together fosters communication– verbal and written–in a fun and engaging manner. I’ve already seen so much progress in each participant. They are bright, willing and delightful to work with. Every teacher should be as lucky as I am!”
“This program taught me how to express myself. I can now slow down my writing, and explain and describe things to tell a better story to my readers. I am also more open with myself, and can talk about my problems in a positive way.”
“I learned that not everything is about me. I learned to listen to other people’s ideas and learn from their experiences.”
—Maggie Ritchie, Columbia College Fiction Writing Department Graduate Student, and MTW Assistant Writing Instructor
“This program taught me how to express myself. I can now slow down my writing, and explain and describe things to tell a better story to my readers. I am also more open with myself, and can talk about my problems in a positive way.”
—Noriess Moss, Teens Together Participant (third year)
“I learned that not everything is about me. I learned to listen to other people’s ideas and learn from their experiences.”
—Shanise Douglas, Teens Together Participant (second year)
Remix
In 2008, photographer and Columbia College instructor Cecil McDonald, Jr. worked in collaboration with spoken word poet, avery r.young, to create Remix, a unit of study for sixth and seventh grade students at Herzl Elementary School as part of CCAP’s Arts Integration Mentoring Program, Project AIM. Looking at the photography of Russell Lee, Gordon Parks, MaryEllen Mark, Wayne Miller and others, their intention was to have students learn about cultural history through poetry and reconceptualize the narrative found in both subjects.
“This project was our third year working as a team at Herzl Elementary School. We went from billboards in the first year to photo essays in the second. With Remix we decided that the students should learn about cultural history and artistic intent.”—avery r. young, CCAP Teaching Artist and Poet
“Our idea for this unit comes from hip-hop culture; how black people carve out a niche in this post-modern world. With youth, it comes out of appropriating music from the older generation and making it their own. Avery and I designed this project to find a way to unearth something new (in poetry and photography) from something given. We believe that there are many ways to be creative and that originality is not everything. There were lessons about framing, composition and vantage point in recreating the model. During the process, students were encouraged to express themselves and create something new. When they completed their work, we could directly see in the re-mixed photographs whether the students understood the project. The answer was in their work.”—Cecil McDonald, Jr., CCAP Teaching Artist and
Columbia College Chicago Adjunct Instructor
Renga
In fall 2007, CCAP Teaching Artist and Columbia College Adjunct Instructor Jenn Morea partnered with a Pulaski Fine Arts Academy fifth-grade classroom to create A Poetry Garden. This artist residency was presented under the auspices of Project AIM, CCAP’s arts integration mentorship program.
As one of Jenn Morea’s presentations over a ten week period, she introduced renga poetry to Pulaski students to teach them how to use this style of writing as a way to reflect on their world. Originating in Japan, the act of making a renga encourages group collaboration while at the same time honoring each individual artist. It encourages each poet to verbally reinforce what has been written before (by repeating words or phrases), yet still invent in their own newly written passage an expanding idea.
RENGA 1
Winter is here
The air chills
freezingly
I see snowmen with
breezing snow
The snow keeps falling
I already need my heavy coat
I see everybody making snow angels
I see kids playing snow
Making three body snowmen
I hear kids screaming help
I see kids rapidly shooting snowballs
Flowers blowing
RENGA 2
It is getting cold out
leaves are falling from the trees
falling on the ground
Falling on the ground
I see them getting up with breeze
I see them getting up with breeze
The breeze was as cold as cold water
Which is freezing
I see the freezing water
Getting cracked by ice skaters
Time to wear your heavy coats
To bring out your sled
And have fun in the soft snow
The snow is white
The white of peace
RENGA 3
Chicago autumn leaves falling down
gracefully on the grass other leaves
waiting to grow on new trees
Chicago purple soft falling
fastly stacking leave by leave
Purple fallings in Chicago
Many leaves, falling
leave by leave
The morning sun bright as light
and look purple in water
The first birds singing
in spring is like music
to my ear
Spring
is beautiful