A multi-media urban ethnography culminating in a bilingual community-sourced exhibition, history book, and thesis report.
Approach
In partnership with a local tenants’ association, Que Viva Lyman Terrace sought to challenge negative perceptions of public housing and explore resident participation in redevelopment.
Focusing on assets within the community, we interviewed the tenants and asked them to share stories, photographs, and imagery from a recent movement to protest a demolition proposed by the city. Collecting these documents, coding for themes and patterns, and joining in community meetings as participant observers gave us insight to the struggles of the tenants, and the social and historical context of their movement. Working from the materials provided by community members, we crafted a small public exhibit that included quotes, audio stations with excerpts from our interviews, and imagery. We branded the exhibition event with a strong visual identity and a series of printed and laser-cut materials embodying common themes of the project – unity, diversity, and empowerment. The exhibition was then recorded in a bilingual history book as a permanent record of community activism.
Team
In collaboration with Erika Linenfelser at Hampshire College