Artist Residency At The Painted Bride

During this residency I continued my previous work of “unmapping” Philadelphia neighborhoods. This time, I focused on the East Parkside area. Through a series of interviews with the matriarchs and patriarchs of this community I learned a lot about its history and more importantly the aspirations for its future. Initially, my interest was focused on what the neighborhood used to be. What were the schools like? The churches? What were the best places to eat? The scattered pieces of memory that have endured the times. My hope was that these stories would help current and future residents understand their own place in the ever expanding narrative of this area and have reverence for its history while gaining a sense of responsibility for its future.

I realized early on that I would need to pivot.

This community is very tight knit and weary of outsiders coming in, asking questions, exploiting their narratives and then disappearing. It took some time for me gain the trust of this community and prove that my intention was to be a of service to East Parkside. That the work I wanted to do was for them and wouldn’t be sold or even shown outside of the neighborhood.

I also realized that the three months The Painted Bride designated for this residency wouldn’t be enough.

Ultimately, my plan is to create an audio archive. Additionally, I plan to use the interviews audio to develop visual works that bring these narratives to life using a combination collage and cyanotypes. I’ve begun this process and started shared my process in a wonderful workshop called Blues of Parkside and community exhibition called Between Matriarchs.

This is only the beginning. The Painted Bride called this residency, Proof of Life. Overall, this idea resonates with my practice and is one that requires intentionality in its focus. My interest in offering counter narratives of Black life has been a consistent component of my practice and the space to restore memory is a privilege I’ve been grateful for with this opportunity at The Painted Bride.