“Stranger with a Camera” effectively demonstrates that entering a new community, despite the best of intentions, must be executed in a certain way. As evidenced in the afore-mentioned film, infringing upon people’s personal space without permission will inevitably lead to hostile (if not dangerous) conditions. However, acquiring permission is only one of a plethora of measures that need to be taken in order to ensure a successful entry into a community, especially when the goal entails art-based community building. The artist must introduce oneself, explaining his/her vision for a better community and his/her plan to offer the tools necessary to foster such an environment according to the wishes of the community members. If members seem open to the concept, the artist needs to begin building relationships with them in order to establish a basis of trust. In order to do so, the artist must focus mainly on perfecting the art of listening, while keeping a few other principles in the forefront of the mind: respect, reciprocity, and adaptation.
Since the artist is entering a space that is not his/her own, he/she must be respectful of the unique nature of the space, taking its particular context and environment into consideration. A key element of showing respect to the community involves a strong knowledge of its history, values, and struggles. Such a knowledge can be acquired through prior research, as well as conversations with members of the community. It is incredibly important for the artist to have a grasp of the core issues of the community in order to effectively assist the members in creating a strong, positive result. Additionally, in taking the time to learn about the community’s past and be sensitive to it’s issues, the artist appears to genuinely care about the cause/people and therefore seems less threatening to members. For example, in “Looking In/Looking Out”, university students experienced difficulty in gaining the trust of their middle-school partners. The youth initially felt incredibly self-conscious and hesitant to participate. However, after the university students made a consistent, supportive effort to listen, the youth began to feel safe and blossom.
Much like the aforementioned story, trust will take a while to develop. However, respect is undoubtedly the first step, as it fosters an atmosphere of reciprocity. This is key to creating a creative atmosphere in which ideas can be bounced around without hesitation. Once members know that they are respected, they will feel assured that their feelings/thoughts/ideas will be respected, as well, and will resultantly begin to express the community’s concerns and needs. Essentially, the artist must create a non-hierarchal relationship, in which everybody’s ideas are equally considered in the planning and implementing of a project. Each person involved in the project exists as both a teacher and a student. In the case of the artist, he/she holds responsibility for stimulating creativity, encouraging the expression of both individual and collective voices in the community. However, he/she cannot dictate a set project or concept because he/she must also listen and observe, learning from the members involved in order to truly understand and be responsive to the needs of the particular community in question.
In fact, oftentimes, the artist will find that his/her initial idea fails to serve the community – hence the importance of adaptability. While it may be difficult at times as an artist to fight the desire to push forward with his/her vision, one must realize that art-based community building ultimately exists to benefit those in the community. For example, in “You Can Only Hear if You Really Listen”, the university students heading the project encountered reduced attendance/participation after trying to force tedious/confusing/irrelevant activities upon their participants. As the leaders soon discovered, it is not the artist’s interests and needs but instead the community’s that must be engaged and addressed in order for a successful collaboration. Thus, the artist must first and foremost truly listen to the community voices and then re-direct the project in the most beneficial way. Such improvisation also reinforces the egalitarian atmosphere, steering members of the community away from the idea of being passive viewers and instead encouraging them to be active participants in their future. The improvisation guarantees that no plan of action is set in stone, and with each new direction of the project, the artist is reminded to constantly reassess the principles and activities to ensure that they are in keeping with the real situation at hand. With so many creative forces in play, there is ample potential for endless changes to the original plan, and the artist must always remember to approach each new idea and its ensuing problems with patience and positivism.
By employing these main qualities (while also avoiding inconsistency and the imposition of one’s own viewpoint), the artist should gradually make his/her way into the community’s inner circle. Although the artist and the community oftentimes begin as strangers from completely different walks of life, they oftentimes discover that the collaboration of their different values and practices enables them to achieve common goals that were otherwise unattainable.
My involvement with the “Building Community Through the Arts” class has already exhibited this truth. Only three classes ago, I made an apprehensive trek to Xavier University. I did not know any of the students in my Tulane section, much less any of the students from Xavier, and while I was more than happy to get to know them, I was unsure if they would feel the same way towards me. After all, I was intruding upon their campus and their teachers. Luckily, the artist-teachers involved have ample experience in community-entering. They incorporated all of the above-mentioned techniques into class discourse and icebreaker games, fostering a respectful, reciprocal, and adaptable environment from the very first day. Resultantly, I had absolutely no problems with submerging myself in this new mini-community and almost immediately felt safe (as evidenced when I cried during one of the games). Although I was privileged enough to partake in a positive community-building experience, I can imagine how terribly traumatic a negative experience could be (such as the one in “Stranger with a Camera”). Consequently, I understand the importance of the above-mentioned tools and look forward to actively utilizing them in my work with “The Porch Project” in the 7th Ward in the upcoming months.
