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In examining diversity, Artists & Communities participants
explored how the experiences, skills and ideas of people from various
ages and origins create the "culture" of their communities.
City of Hammond
Mayor's Commission for the Arts and Humanities
Hammond, Indiana
Janet Moran, Project Coordinator
Amie Dowling, Choreographer
The City of Hammond, Indiana elected to use its Artists & Communities
project to celebrate ethnic diversity and to capitalize on residents'
various cultural offerings as a means of attracting people to its
downtown.
"We've had a very wide and ethnically diverse population since the beginning of the last century - a lot of immigration to this area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as Mexico and the American South, as people came in to work in the steel mills and oil refineries in the area," says Project Coordinator Janet Moran. "We have over sixty different languages spoken in the Hammond school system, which will give you an inkling of where we are. We wanted our artist residency to capitalize on that, and celebrate the diversity of the area, with the hopes of expanding our understanding of different cultures."
Kamlish Gupta, Generation Dance Theater, Hammond, IN. All images ©
Matthew Kaplan 2000
Choreographer Amie Dowling came to Hammond with strong experience designing innovative site-specific performance works. That, combined with her commitment to local engagement, supported the organizers' vision of involving performance groups from communities across the city. Dowling perceived that this project was a way for residents of Hammond to repair some of the social fabric damaged by the high unemployment and deprivation resulting from the decline of local industries.
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Ballet in the Bank, Dance Connection, troupe at the barre, Bank
Calumet. All images © Matthew Kaplan 2000
"We are a very industrial [city]…and this entire area in the early
Eighties lost 90,000 steel jobs - so you can imagine the blight
and the unemployment that resulted," Moran explains. "Our thinking
was that if different [people] are given the opportunity to showcase
their own culture, they will be a little more appreciative of other
cultures. We had weekly workshops…and not only were we interested
in incorporating the different cultures into those…but also different
age groups…[and] people with disabilities. So it wasn't just ethnically
diverse people coming to work together, but…an intergenerational
group ranging from thirteen-year-olds to senior citizens in their
seventies, and people with varying abilities…."
Siempre Caliente Latin Dance Troupe. All images © Matthew Kaplan
2000.
The culminating day-long performance event, Arts Inside Out,
demonstrated how effective the arts are as a vehicle for cultural
exchange. Offerings ranged from Mexican folkloric dancing to traditional
ballet, gospel singing to contemporary Hindu dance, Irish step dancing
to Fifties swing. "It was great that the various dancers took the
opportunity to learn each others' dances - it was really something
to see an Irish step dancer all in costume learning to do the Salsa!
It was that sort of give and take," laughs Moran.
Hammond Firemen Steve Stanek and Diane Brezyzki team with dancer
Tom Truss in fire fighting routine. All images © Matthew Kaplan
2000
Performances were staged in settings as varied as a bank lobby,
a fire escape, and an electricity switching station. "We did a lot
of unusual things that astounded people who came…and we used every
inch of the downtown that we could think of", Moran says. "What
surprised me was how alive the downtown became again - there was
great energy, there was a lot of music and different beats, and
every time you turned a corner there was something new. A lot of
people suddenly realized that this could happen again - we could
have a vital downtown again…Where the arts go, people follow."
Additional samples of "Diversity" projects are included
in the book, Artists & Communities: America Creates for
the Millenium.
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