Stories in Public Spaces:
Creative Placemaking & Civic Art
LEARNING LAB: ELIZABETH SENIOR CENTER
2018 and 2019
The Learning Lab program, through Metro Arts, trains and prepares artists to work with community partners, to enhance the lives of community members. My Residency was with Metro Social Services and Metro Parks, at the Elizabeth Senior Center, which sits atop Elizabeth Park in North Nashville. The first phase involved bringing twelve artists into the Center for events and taking the Seniors out on field trips in the city. The second phase expands the project into the surrounding neighborhood and will integrate even more community members in several public art pieces on the building, including an awning designed by the Seniors. A pop-up day at the Park is slated for 2020.
SCOUT YOUR ROUTE
September 2019
Scout Your Route was a text-based, interactive walking audit, where community members where prompted to document everything from architecture to sidewalks to memories and hopes for the future. All the images and text responses became the inspiration for an original poem. This was a partnership with Lebanon Forward Comprehensive Plan and a part of Lebanon's Parklet Day.
HEART OF COLUMBIA
Fall 2019
Heart of Columbia is project in collaboration with the South Corridor Study, Greater Nashville Regional Council, WSP, and WeGo. Through several public engagement events, participants filled out paper hearts to share their most treasured places in town and why they loved them. These hearts became part of an interactive visual arts piece and the data was used to create a heat map of meaning to help inform future transit decisions.
STORY BOOTH NASHVILLE
2017 and 2018
Story Booth Nashville, a pop-up recording booth, rolled out in the summer of 2017. This project was a part of Envision Nolenville Pike and Conexion Americas was my primary partner. I interviewed over seventy Nashvillians, to hear their stories about getting around in the city. This project became a six-part audio series. Interviews were done at a thrift store, a farmer's market, a community center, an ice cream shop, The Salahadeen Center and on the 52 bus.
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Following the success of the project, I partnered with Tennessee Equality Project to interview the LGBTQ community about their coming out stories. I set up the booth at Fisk University, Austin Peay State University, and at The Lipstick Lounge. Some participants told their stories on stage at an event at The Lipstick Lounge.
WORKING IT OUT
Winter 2018
Working It Out focused on employment stories from the LGBTQ community in Nashville. Interviews were recorded and collected, and some participants shared their stories at an event at abrasiveMedia. This was a THRIVE project and a collaboration with Tennessee Equality Project.
MY TRANSIT STORY
Fall 2018
This project was a collaboration with WeGo public transit and with photographer, John Partipilo. The entire series can be seen on the WeGo Instagram page.
 Music HealsFrom soul singer Jason Eskridge to healer, Karen Renee Robb, to DJ Tim Hibbs, the Seniors love music like none other. |  Poets and StorytellersPoets Ciona Rouse, Dana Malone, Henry L. Jones, and Denise Satterfield Wilson shared their love of language with us. |  Pretty As A PicturePhotographer HN James and I hosted a pop-up portraiture event at Elizabeth, called, "Pretty As A Picture." |
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 Portraits of Beauty and StrengthPortraits by HN James |  Field TripsThis is from our visit to Cheekwood. |  Elizabeth Community CenterMelissa Rucker keeps everything moving. |
 My Transit StoryAll photos by John Partipilo. |  Community at EC |