This event was part of a national effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, in their own words an "action network of artists and cultural workers mobilizing creativity in the service of social justice."
UNL SPC members Joyce Bingeman and Amanda Breitbach met leaders of the USDAC at the Imagining America conference in Atlanta in the fall. We were excited about their ideas and methods and decided to participate in their People's State of the Union project, an opportunity for national reflection and goal setting about the state of our nation and neighborhoods.
We hosted our local event at the Bennett-Martin Public Library, and we had a really interesting turnout of people and perspectives. Participants were asked to share their response to the prompt, "Describe an experience that showed you something new or important about the state of our union." Each participants story was recorded, and those stories and photographs from the event were submitted to the online national collection. Stories from all over the U.S. were compiled into the 2015 Poetic Address to the Nation, performed and broadcast live on February 1, 2015.
Locally, we made some exciting new connections, with a community action group called WeMidwest and also with a representative of SP CE Commons, a community space that hosts events including writer and artist groups, as well as with some really wonderful, hopeful people.
We were surprised when the group asked for our next event - they did not want to stop! At their request, we're planning to continue the conversation through email and social media, and we may collaborate with the other groups to host another community imagining kind of exercise.
No comments:
Post a Comment