LOCAL HOPE: CREATING REGIONAL ART
Ages 16-29
Fall 2020, Online
People raised in New York City have a joke about themselves, which goes something like this: "Of course I've never been to the Statue of Liberty — I'm from here!" The Romans, residents of another city where "seeing the sights" can be a powerful experience, were convinced where we live shapes us just as much as our parents do. As a result, they called their homeland patria, which sounds a lot like their word for “father.” Of course, to capture the flavor of a region, we need to move past the New York attitude and examine our home in a meaningful way. Baltimore offers a cultural environment rich with interesting regional detail. In this multimedia workshop, student fellows will view their city from inside and out, as natives and as objective observers, identifying its distinctly Baltimore qualities, and creating visual and literary art grounded in those singular attributes. Subjects for this project should include the neighborhood where a fellow lives (or has lived) and at least one other location or activity that is significant to their life in the city or environs. Through still and moving images, and through audio recording, they'll discover and collect the settings, music, food, street sounds, and personalities that characterize the region. Each fellow will write an original piece of nonfiction, fiction, or poetry to accompany their images. By combining the reflective potential of words with the visual power of film, fellows will see their home place in a new way. Fellows will connect with the instructor and the group on Zoom twice per week to share progress, review peer material, ask questions, and receive feedback, and should expect to spend additional time outside the workshop thinking, writing, and working on their projects. Their best work will appear on the program website and at a virtual exhibition. Limited to 8 student fellows.
Somer Greer is a writer and photographer who lived in Baltimore for close to a decade, working as a writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University and other schools in the Mid-Atlantic. He now lives on Bayou Vermilion in Lafayette, Louisiana. Currently, he is working on a series of candid photos of Cajun musicians.
William Wagner is a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate studying applied mathematics, environmental studies, and visual art. They are a program assistant for Baltimore Youth Film Arts.
