Artists & Communities Host Site: Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation
141 Olo Street
Woonsocket, RI 02895

Millennium Artist:
Stephen Farley
Graphic Designer and Photographer
Arizona
E-mail: sfarley@igc.org
Web site: www.tilography.com

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Summer jobs can be an important part of growing up - they provide a chance to develop valuable work skills, gain independence, and to earn money for the coming year.

During the summer of 2000, a team of eight teenagers from the neighborhoods of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, got all of this and much more from their summer jobs - they learned about their neighbors, themselves, and the remarkable history that has made their community unique.

Working with designer Stephen Farley through his Artists & Communities residency with the Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation (WNDC), the team explored the past and present of Woonsocket's Fairmount, Veterans Memorial, and Constitution Hill neighborhoods.

Stephen Farley brought a wealth of experience to his role as guide and mentor for this project. His graphic design practice has always involved community art, and since 1997, Farley has worked with a range of young people in Tucson, Arizona to create a series of books exploring the history of their neighborhoods.

Throughout summer 2000, Farley's Woonsocket commUNITY Team - Shalisa Williams, Jermaine Warner, Brandy Wilson, Temitayo Adenodi, Tolulope Adenodi, Tarika Harmon, Javier Alicea, and Aneliz DeJesus - interviewed 29 long-term and more recent residents, gathered family snapshots, and researched local businesses, schools, and community organizations. From their interviews and research, they wrote a series of articles on aspects of the neighborhood including schools, teenage life, landmark businesses, social clubs, and working life.

Early in October, the commUNITY Team, together with Stephen Farley and the Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation, formally launched their publication, A Different View. Throughout the book, the voices and images of neighborhood residents trace the evolution of Woonsocket over 60 years from a mill town in the early 1940's, through economic and social decline in the 80's, to its remarkable regeneration in the 90's through the efforts of a core of 'local heroes.'

Residents' stories speak of close family and community ties tested by the rapidly changing ethnic and economic makeup of their neighborhoods. The accompanying photographs provide a privileged view of the family occasions, social events, and physical landmarks defining their community. Together, A Different View captures the prevailing values and sense of place that make Woonsocket's neighborhoods unique.

In the introduction to A Different View, Stephen Farley writes, "…over the course of one incredible summer, I first got to know eight amazing teenagers, each of who worked much harder than any of us expected as we put this book together. We interviewed 29 brave and generous residents, and met innumerable other folks who have made this a community with heart. As you will find out in this book, the roots of that heart run deep…"

MILLENNIUM ARTIST BIO

Stephen Farley is a graphic designer, photographer, muralist, videographer, art director, and educator who is a strong believer in the power of sharing the stories of everyday people to build community. Farley has realized commissions from the Arizona Department of Transportation and the City of Tucson and invented a new process called "Tilography" for adapting photographic images to permanent, large-scale glazed ceramic tile murals.