Pauli Murray was an amazing human being who grew up in Durham North Carolina.
Pauli Murray’s legacy became the conceptual focus of a Fall 2007 residency at the Center for Documentary Studies.
The process of community building started upon my arrival with a lunch for all the Center’s interesting staff.
The apartment that became my residence in the Spring ’08 semester was my temporary office for two weeks Fall of ‘07.
And a vacant commercial space in Downtown Durham became my studio/practice center.
With the help of Chris and Stacey Non-Woven Media sheets were prepared for installation at workshop sites.
The first workshop was at Smith Warehouse, in one of Duke University’s Studio Art Classrooms.
A dialogue followed about collaboration and art that all in attendance could contribute towards.
The workshop used a variety of media to make new ideas accessible to students of all ages.
Packets filled with gifts were given freely, including invitations to the subsequent collaborative events.
A second workshop took place on Arnette Avenue in South West Central Durham.
At the Arnette house, we were given permission to transform the place.
We removed the furniture from two rooms, and covered many of the walls in the house.
We also cleaned the dining room for the DJ, and stocked up on beverages and food from Azteca Restaurant.
The second workshop started with yoga, and the participants making rubrics about Reflection and Action.
In a room filled with people and candlelight we practiced
“looking to see”
While we considered the conceptual meaning of looking we also became aware of the practical aspects of paint pens.
Participants then split into groups and spread across the house to draw a variety of projections.
Some of the projections were quotations from Pauli Murray.
One large portrait of her was drawn in the living room.
The humane sentiments of Pauli Murray then became the foundation for a celebration in her honor.
People worked in both bedrooms on other large images and quotations.
The process of drawing together provided a model of dialogue - which is equal parts reflection and action.
The process of drawing together provided a framework for people who didn’t know each other to meet.
The process of drawing together brought people intimately in touch with Pauli Murray and her words.
The process of drawing together worked to make amazing pieces...
...that everyone who attended was invited to color through the course of the evening.
Looking to See became a practice that extended beyond the workshop - with and without ladders.
Bit by bit the collective contributions of the participants brought Pauli Murray’s spirit to the house...
And everyone’s spirit soared during a unanimously great party!
The next morning we worked to clean and restore the home to a condition better than we found it.
We moved what was created the night before to a vacant space in the Brightleaf Square Mall.
What formerly was a vacant office storing holiday decorations...
...became a practice center for cultivating peace and building community.
We peeled and ate clementines with mindfulness.
Reinforcing our individual steadiness concurrent to our collective connection.
Each participant was invited to share their thoughts on the workshop experience and collaboration.
The work from the previous night’s workshop was shining as an inspiration.
We played the famous Surrealist game Exquisite Corpse to explore art making and cultivate relationships.
We were amazed by the wonderful results of working collectively in the present moment.
Each participant shared their thoughts, and revealed a breadth of wisdom only accessible in collaboration.
Simultaneously participants learned about the technical aspects of art making.
With the help of additional hardware and overhead projectors...
Yet collectively each hand was creating something greater than themselves.
Each hand was working to champion Pauli Murray and her spirit.
Quotations from Pauli Murray helped us learn more about her as we produced culture with humane values.
Participants of all ages worked together to exemplify the qualities they had devised in the collaboration rubric.
Participants of all ages worked together to magnify the contribution of one of Durham’s finest.
Participants of all ages were having fun.
The debris from a series of episodes of collaborative work manifested as objects of aesthetics and emotion.
The work transformed a vacant space into a pregnant space heralding the forthcoming Face Up Project.
The documentation from the workshops became an installation in the present moment to reflect a wonderful past.
Documentation from the first workshop, the second workshop,..
The studio space became a multi media documentary work.
The studio space became an installation of the residency, presented to an even wider audience.
Like layers of the collaborative process itself, the installation was inclusive and ever changing.
And then I pulled out some of my favorite art materials.
I contributed some expertise to the collaboration, helping to color what my partners could not finish
All in preparation for a special Birthday Celebration for Pauli Murray a week later...
...At the Lyon Park Community Center, where the collaborative work was unveiled.
We installed all of the documents of community building from the past two weeks.
And I made a fourth portrait that everyone at the celebration could color and love.
Throughout the process, people were constantly collaborating.
The work includes repeated interpersonal dialogues within a process of rigorous social experiences.
And collaboration is a great opportunity to throw a party...
...in this case to honor the legacy of Durham’s great avatar, Pauli Murray,
Materials written by and about Pauli Murray showcased her extraordinary life of radical transformation.
A creative and magical place was composed with love and community in mind.
The work of the countless who touched the two week residency were the primary materials for this installation of happiness.
“Hope is a song in a weary throat.
Give me a song of hope
And a world where I can sing it.
Give me a song of faith
And a people to believe in it.
Give me a song of kindness.
And a country where I can live it.
Give me a song of hope and love
And a brown girl’s heart to hear it.”
Pauli Murray, from Dark Testament and other poems.
Healing the past...
And creating the future...
By living in the present moment.
Building a loving community in Durham, North Carolina, Sunday November 18, 2007
...to be continued in Durham in the Spring of 2008...
