Day Thirteen: Tuesday, January 17
Listen to Our Audio Clip:
Yuck! It rained REALLY hard all morning. Shawny and Justin went out early to get our massive load of laundry; they had to take the trailer to carry the load without getting it all wet. To spare the breakfast crew from cooking in the soggy tent, they brought back piles of donuts for breakfast. Six dozen donuts, 150 donut holes, and a large king cake kept us going until we cleaned up the tent and divided up laundry once again. We lost so many socks this time that we might have to go to the store and replace some.
People kept their spirits up during our rained-out morning. Many worked on the projects that they will present on Wednesday, February 8, at 7:00 in the Soda Center at Saint Mary's. All are welcome to attend. By way of explanation, each student is a member of a four- or five-person group. Each group must complete at least three multimedia projects that include audio, still photos, and text from our course readings. At the presentation event, each group will show only one. (We hope to post all of the projects on the website after February 8th, technology permitting.) In addition, we expect to premiere a documentary video that will have been shot and edited by our instructor Marcia in collaboration with another team member, Elijah. On the group projects, a few people are picking up audio editing pretty quickly; that means that as we are all gathered in the bus, we hear little snippets of the same interview over and over again. The pieces that they are picking are very powerful ones, though, so it is a pleasure to have some of these lines of conversation burned into our heads pretty permanently.
We finally got going after lunch (texturized vegetable protein and couscous with barbecue sauce - it's better than it sounds) and headed down to the Neighborhood Gallery on Aretha Castle-Haley Blvd. It is run by Sandra Berry and Joshua Walker, whom Shawny met when she visited New Orleans to scope out the scene last December. Their community gallery/theater was not flooded (it was just beyond the lines), but the wind blew off their roof. Thus, they have water damage, but not the same kind that we usually encounter. Their building has four main purposes: 1) a neighborhood art gallery with pieces that tour internationally, 2) a community performance space, often starring the vocal talents of Joshua himself, 3) a thrift store that recycles usable goods back into the community, and 4) residential space for Sandra and Joshua and for renters. Thus, when it is fully functioning, it is an important hub for the entire neighborhood in which it is located.
Joshua has been working to secure the roof (it won't really be fixed until March), so they were ready to reorganize their spaces to get them up and running. They had three major problems: 1) major clutter was crowding all of their spaces, 2) items inside (including artworks) were water damaged, and 3) the ceilings were buckled. When we arrived, they told us that there was too much work for us to complete, but they would be grateful if we could get it started. One set of people (Emily, Kayla, and Rachel) got to work organizing Sandra's office, another set began clearing the theater space, and another group began to organize the thrift shop. Joshua came in to round up some volunteers to help him set up some scaffolding; without any prompting, he picked the Verrips brothers, among others. The scaffold was headed for the art gallery, and when the Verrips brothers saw the buckled ceiling in there, there was no turning back. They started pulling out tools right and left, and, standing on a 15-foot-high plank, began to rebuild the ceiling with the original wood. They were showered by acorns that had been stored up there by quite a large family of squirrels, and they even got hit with a few very large bones (we're not sure if the squirrels had anything to do with those). Joshua was thrilled with the work that they did.
The group that was working on the thrift shop ran into some interesting dilemmas. Since we arrived, we have been in demolition mode, clearing out possessions as quickly as we could. Thus, when we entered the thrift shop donation area and found bags of used clothing and other goods, we were ready to send them flying onto the curb without consideration. But when Sandra came around, she reminded us of how desperate many returnees are to replace the items that they have lost. The clothing that looked marginal to us would be precious to many of the workers who were returning to the neighborhood. We have all commented about how we are losing interest in worldly goods, especially after seeing what a hassle they can be in situations like this one; through Sandra's influence, however, we began to rethink our positions again, remembering that the smallest item can be of immense importance to someone in need.
From there, we managed to organize the art collection, first dividing things into categories of "damaged" or "not damaged," then getting pieces by a particular artist together. Finally, we cleared the performance space so that the stage could be used again. When all of these jobs were completed, the ceiling work was still underway. That meant that we had 20 or so idle workers. . . and an empty stage. We don't need to tell you what happened next.
But we will. A few people started a drumming circle of sorts, using real and improvised percussion instruments. Jorge began a pretend call-in radio show. Lots of songs were sung. And even though a brutal chill was spilling into the open door of the space, warmth glowed throughout.
And then came the grand finale: Joshua and Sandra performed for us. They talked about the history of the space and of their relationship, and of the importance of bringing their building back to life. And then they sang. Joshua's voice is an incredible bass (or baritone?), making him a perfect candidate for the first song he chose: "Old Man River." Though many of us had never heard that song before, we all knew that his rendition of it was something very special. Even while we were still wearing our latex-lined work gloves, we jumped up and gave him a muffled standing ovation. He then sang "Count Your Blessings" and then they both sang the theme song of their space: "The Neighborhood Gallery" (on which they unfortunately discovered that we are not reliable at clapping a rhythm line to keep the beat). After that, Joshua even managed to convince Shawny (with her croaking half-voice) to join him on an encore: "You Are My Sunshine."
We felt the sunshine in that newly-reopened room. It made us happy when skies were gray...
Princess Shane shows off his raingear.
Home sweet home. Here's a good look at our cozy life in the bus in which we've been living.
The Neighborhood Gallery, a place known for its community works and inspiration. We had the pleasure of working to restore its structural beauty as well as its exhibits.
A view of the gallery where we worked. Many beautiful artworks were displayed. Few were damaged, unlike the gallery itself.
Sandra Berry is one of the proprietors. She made extra effort to include us as part of their neighborhood's family.
Sandra talks to us about one of her favorite pieces on the wall.
The Verrips brothers worked together (with little fighting!) to repair the buckled ceiling in the gallery.
Mallory, Bree, and Courtney play music and dance on the stage, while everyone else cleans up.
Jorge entertained us all with renditions of songs from his personal file.
Mal, Sal, Vanessa F., Rachel, and Courtney watch and laugh as Jorge bangs away on the conga.
Joshua, co-owner of the Neighborhood Gallery with his wife Sandra, gave us the honor of singing songs that warmed our hearts.
Sandra marvels at our living conditions.
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