Home is where the art is
Ann Gradwohl and Lela Knox Shanks “loosely” knew each other before they were paired in “Stories of Home.” The Gradwohl and Shanks families have been acquainted for years. Gradwohl attended Irving Junior High School with Shanks’ son Eric. Gradwohl always talked to Shanks when they met, something that impressed the older woman. But as they began talking in preparation for the Lincoln Arts Council’s groundbreaking public art project that teams an artist with a family to tell that family’s story in art, they discovered a deeper connection — a linkage that reaches back to the 1960s and the Open Forum Club.
Members of that group, which included Shanks’ late husband, Hughes, and one of Gradwohl’s grandfathers, gave scholarly papers once a year. Those papers were supposed to be controversial. Hughes Shanks’ first paper certainly fit the bill. It was on Black Power — and it created a stir.
With their contribution to “Stories of Home,” Gradwohl and Shanks plan to continue the discussion that began at the Open Forum four decades ago.
“I feel that, in a number of ways, Mrs. Shanks and I have been handed a baton in a relay in an exchange of ideas that started years ago,” Gradwohl said. “It’s our turn to carry on the dialogue.”
“And take it farther than 40 years ago when my husband and her granddad met,” Shanks added.
Shanks and Gradwohl have spent so much time together since “Stories of Home” began in October that they complete each other’s sentences. That close connection became apparent to the two women when each sought out a copy of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” to present to the other as an anthem of sorts for their project.
Gradwohl searched online until she found the song on iTunes. Shanks made a special shopping trip and searched through CDs until she found one that contained the song that former President Clinton used as part of his eulogy for the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.
That kind of intimate connection might not be present with every artist/family combination. But a similar process is taking place with each of the 12 pairings.
“The artists are realizing that in each family’s story there’s a little of them — that ‘this story of a family has a resonance in my world view,’” said Pepon Osorio, the project’s artistic director. “Of course, they’re universal. This project has brought artists in touch with people going through similar experiences, and they’re starting to see that. The artists are beginning to recognize they’re part of a much larger picture. That’s really wonderful to see.”
It is because of Osorio that “Stories of Home” exists. The MacArthur Foundation Fellowship award-winning artist was featured in the first installment of the PBS series “Art:21 — Art in the Twenty-First Century.”
Among the work featured in the TV show was “Tina’s House,” a tabletop installation piece that told the story of a single mother and her two daughters who lost their house to a fire. Osorio showed “Tina’s House” in Tina’s new home and in other houses in Philadelphia and around the country.
Rose Anne Dowty, a Lincoln Arts Council board member, saw the segment on Osorio, thought the “Tina’s House” idea could be adapted to a community project and brought it up to arts council members, who agreed and invited Osorio to participate.
Osorio made his first visit to Lincoln in July 2004 to talk about the possibility of doing the project. He has returned to Lincoln several times since “Stories of Home” began, to help select the artists and families, then to meet with and mentor those involved with the project.
So far, Osorio said, “Stories of Home” has gone as well as could be expected. There have been some small glitches along the way and there will likely be more bumps in the road in what is seen as a pilot project that could serve as a model for similar community art efforts around the country.
“This project can’t be perfect,” he said. “If it is, why do it? Art is about that. Art is about imperfection.”
Anne Pagel, LAC project coordinator, agreed with Osorio’s assessment of the project, which she says has been rewarding but not easy.
“We’re all outside of our comfort zone,” Pagel said. “We’re doing new things. There has never been a project like this. This is the first time Pepon has done this, working with a community. Artists aren’t used to working collaboratively. We’ve all learned things about one another.
“The stories are not easy. They’re very heart-wrenching stories, a lot of them. It really does get into some deep emotion and thought-provoking stories. It’s not a particularly easy thing.”
But Pagel said the project has run as smoothly as any large-scale effort with which she has been involved and is already having an effect on the community.
“I think it’s going remarkably well,” Pagel said. “What we’re beginning to see is the sharing of stories, which is what we’ve been looking for all along. Months before the art is done, we’ve got Irving Middle School doing a play of their ‘Stories of Home.’ That’s what the whole thing boils down to — people thinking about their stories and how to tell them. To share them through art is a wonderful thing.”
Earlier this month, Osorio returned to Lincoln for his final mentoring sessions with the artists and families.
Two evening meeting with the artists were filled with discussions of the ethics involved in the project. Rather than revealing things about themselves through their work, the artists are dealing with questions of what’s private and what’s public, what’s voyeurism and how much do the artists want the audience to know about the families’ stories.
That’s an important part of the process, Osorio said, pointing out the contrast between what the artists are attempting to do with television reality shows that manipulate what is presented for dramatic or comedic effect.
“The beauty of it is this is not reality,” Osorio said. “This is real.”
He also accompanied each of the 12 artists on a visit to the homes of each family.
“As I visit the families, I see so many images,” Osorio said in an interview midway through his January visit. “The houses themselves are installations.”
Those visits also convinced Osorio that the artwork produced in “Stories of Home” will touch on broader issues than just telling one family’s story.
For example, he said, a Bosnian immigrant family came to the United States with no possessions, yet now has a house full of things. In contrast, families in Hallam, who are also part of the project, lost everything in the tornado that hit there two years ago. Those experiences are ripe for artistic commentary on consumerism and the value we put on possessions.
“You’re sitting in a house that is full of things, and I just kept thinking ‘What’s the lesson here?’” Osorio said. “What’s the lesson to be learned from all the families? Eventually, I hope the artwork will tell me that. These families are about to share these things with us. To me, that’s incredible.”
Osorio won’t be back in Lincoln until May. That’s when the artists are to have their work completed.
Even though the initial work on the project has been collaborative, when it comes time to create objects or video-based pieces to reflect the families’ stories, those decisions and the final product will come exclusively from the artists.
That is how it has to be if the project is to have artistic significance.
“Ultimately, it has to be a work of art,” Osorio said. “It has to be a work of art that will translate that process, that when you look at it you know it’s telling a story. But aesthetic qualities, formal elements — all that stuff matters at the end of the process.”
Once they are completed, the artworks will be displayed in houses, businesses, schools, community centers and other places where art isn’t usually displayed.
“For me, it’s about placing art in a completely different context,” Osorio said. “Where should we go? How should we place it first? How do we make the cross-cultural references? We’re now thinking about what is the most appropriate thing to do.”
One thing is certain: The work being created in “Stories of Home” isn’t going to a museum.
“This is not for thousands to view at a time,” Osorio said. “I wanted to bring back art to its original purpose — to bring it back to the community. If you look at the curio cabinets where museums started, that happened at a very intimate level. That’s what I’m interested in doing now. I don’t think the museum is the ultimate place for showing art. There are other possibilities that are equally important.”
The immediate concern, however, is the creation of the art.
The artists have been given only general guidelines for their pieces. Because the artwork will be moved from place to place, the pieces have to fit in a 48x24x36-inch crate and weigh no more than 80 pounds. Beyond that, what is produced is up to the artist, who can work in any media and take any approach he or she chooses.
“I think the families and artists are realizing they have to come up with an idea and objects,” he said. “There seems to be a lot of information out there, that the families and artists know each other. Now it is time to move on with the process.”
It may be a few weeks before artists begin to work on their pieces. But Osorio said that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Artists like to work under pressure,” he said with a laugh. “It’s also true that you can’t force yourself to create something that has some depth and meaning without inspiration. … It’s not that they don’t have ideas.”
Gradwohl agreed. The problem she is facing isn’t one of having enough ideas. Rather, her challenge is honing an idea that will reflect Shanks’ story while touching on themes and issues that will resonate with a wider audience.
“We really consider the final product to be a vehicle through which we can involve the community in the dialogue,” she said. “It’s been the exchange of ideas that’s been the most valuable part of the project.”
Gradwohl, who had a video art show that used 14 television sets at Haydon Art Center last year, hasn’t decided what she’s going to do or the media she will use. But she said her piece will likely have some element related to walking, an activity she and Shanks share and have done together.
“Symbolically, walking has been really important in thinking about the Civil Rights movement and how the act of walking was a form of peaceful protest,” she said. “Much of the focus has been on which story to tell. We haven’t decided that yet. But something will be related to education, the iconography will represent education.”
Education is important in telling Shanks’ story from day one. She was born in a house that served as the first school for black children in Oklahoma City.
Education has also been a key element in the battle against segregation that Shanks has participated in all of her life.
But she and Gradwohl were insistent that their piece wouldn’t just be a look back.
“Many of us must return to school on some of these issues,” Gradwohl said.
“Issues as they relate to the problems of today — not just to sit around and talk about the story, but as they are related to the national issues and international issues,” Shanks said. “Otherwise, what value is it to me?”
That conversation between Gradwohl and Shanks, which began more than three months ago, will continue for four more months. Then in June, they, along with the 11 other artists and families, will invite the community to join their dialogue as they tell “Stories of Home.”
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
‘Stories of Home’ timeline
October 2005 — Artists and families are chosen and begin meeting together
January 2006 — Pepon Osorio, artistic director, holds his final mentoring sessions with artists and families.
May — Artwork is completed.
June — The first group show of the 12 completed pieces opens. The group shows will be held in schools, community centers or businesses.
July through September — Artworks shown individually in homes around the community. Each piece will be in one location for two weeks, then will move to another site.
October — Second group show.
November through January 2007 — Individual exhibitions in homes.
February 2007 — Final group show ends with the auction of the artwork.
Source: Lincoln Arts Council
‘Stories of Home’
artists and families
* Caitlin Applegate with the Khamisa Abdalla family
* Kate Brooke with the Zainab al-Baaj family
* Santiago Cal with the Leo Yankton family
* Larry Gawel with the Micaela Sanchez/Carmela and Patricio Sanchez Jimenez family
* Ann Gradwohl with the Lela Knox Shanks family
* Robert Hillestad with the Maida Kapetanovic family
* Kristen Martincic with the Barbara Baier and Lin Quenzer family
* Deborah Mitzlaff Koenen with the Jan Peregrine family
* Leora Platte with the Susan Stevens family
* Larry Roots with the Laura Edmonds family and other Hallam families
* Rana Schmitz with the Anne Harrison family
* Robert Schwieger with the Teresa Nguyen family
Source: Lincoln Arts Council
Members of that group, which included Shanks’ late husband, Hughes, and one of Gradwohl’s grandfathers, gave scholarly papers once a year. Those papers were supposed to be controversial. Hughes Shanks’ first paper certainly fit the bill. It was on Black Power — and it created a stir.
With their contribution to “Stories of Home,” Gradwohl and Shanks plan to continue the discussion that began at the Open Forum four decades ago.
“I feel that, in a number of ways, Mrs. Shanks and I have been handed a baton in a relay in an exchange of ideas that started years ago,” Gradwohl said. “It’s our turn to carry on the dialogue.”
“And take it farther than 40 years ago when my husband and her granddad met,” Shanks added.
Shanks and Gradwohl have spent so much time together since “Stories of Home” began in October that they complete each other’s sentences. That close connection became apparent to the two women when each sought out a copy of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” to present to the other as an anthem of sorts for their project.
Gradwohl searched online until she found the song on iTunes. Shanks made a special shopping trip and searched through CDs until she found one that contained the song that former President Clinton used as part of his eulogy for the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.
That kind of intimate connection might not be present with every artist/family combination. But a similar process is taking place with each of the 12 pairings.
“The artists are realizing that in each family’s story there’s a little of them — that ‘this story of a family has a resonance in my world view,’” said Pepon Osorio, the project’s artistic director. “Of course, they’re universal. This project has brought artists in touch with people going through similar experiences, and they’re starting to see that. The artists are beginning to recognize they’re part of a much larger picture. That’s really wonderful to see.”
It is because of Osorio that “Stories of Home” exists. The MacArthur Foundation Fellowship award-winning artist was featured in the first installment of the PBS series “Art:21 — Art in the Twenty-First Century.”
Among the work featured in the TV show was “Tina’s House,” a tabletop installation piece that told the story of a single mother and her two daughters who lost their house to a fire. Osorio showed “Tina’s House” in Tina’s new home and in other houses in Philadelphia and around the country.
Rose Anne Dowty, a Lincoln Arts Council board member, saw the segment on Osorio, thought the “Tina’s House” idea could be adapted to a community project and brought it up to arts council members, who agreed and invited Osorio to participate.
Osorio made his first visit to Lincoln in July 2004 to talk about the possibility of doing the project. He has returned to Lincoln several times since “Stories of Home” began, to help select the artists and families, then to meet with and mentor those involved with the project.
So far, Osorio said, “Stories of Home” has gone as well as could be expected. There have been some small glitches along the way and there will likely be more bumps in the road in what is seen as a pilot project that could serve as a model for similar community art efforts around the country.
“This project can’t be perfect,” he said. “If it is, why do it? Art is about that. Art is about imperfection.”
Anne Pagel, LAC project coordinator, agreed with Osorio’s assessment of the project, which she says has been rewarding but not easy.
“We’re all outside of our comfort zone,” Pagel said. “We’re doing new things. There has never been a project like this. This is the first time Pepon has done this, working with a community. Artists aren’t used to working collaboratively. We’ve all learned things about one another.
“The stories are not easy. They’re very heart-wrenching stories, a lot of them. It really does get into some deep emotion and thought-provoking stories. It’s not a particularly easy thing.”
But Pagel said the project has run as smoothly as any large-scale effort with which she has been involved and is already having an effect on the community.
“I think it’s going remarkably well,” Pagel said. “What we’re beginning to see is the sharing of stories, which is what we’ve been looking for all along. Months before the art is done, we’ve got Irving Middle School doing a play of their ‘Stories of Home.’ That’s what the whole thing boils down to — people thinking about their stories and how to tell them. To share them through art is a wonderful thing.”
Earlier this month, Osorio returned to Lincoln for his final mentoring sessions with the artists and families.
Two evening meeting with the artists were filled with discussions of the ethics involved in the project. Rather than revealing things about themselves through their work, the artists are dealing with questions of what’s private and what’s public, what’s voyeurism and how much do the artists want the audience to know about the families’ stories.
That’s an important part of the process, Osorio said, pointing out the contrast between what the artists are attempting to do with television reality shows that manipulate what is presented for dramatic or comedic effect.
“The beauty of it is this is not reality,” Osorio said. “This is real.”
He also accompanied each of the 12 artists on a visit to the homes of each family.
“As I visit the families, I see so many images,” Osorio said in an interview midway through his January visit. “The houses themselves are installations.”
Those visits also convinced Osorio that the artwork produced in “Stories of Home” will touch on broader issues than just telling one family’s story.
For example, he said, a Bosnian immigrant family came to the United States with no possessions, yet now has a house full of things. In contrast, families in Hallam, who are also part of the project, lost everything in the tornado that hit there two years ago. Those experiences are ripe for artistic commentary on consumerism and the value we put on possessions.
“You’re sitting in a house that is full of things, and I just kept thinking ‘What’s the lesson here?’” Osorio said. “What’s the lesson to be learned from all the families? Eventually, I hope the artwork will tell me that. These families are about to share these things with us. To me, that’s incredible.”
Osorio won’t be back in Lincoln until May. That’s when the artists are to have their work completed.
Even though the initial work on the project has been collaborative, when it comes time to create objects or video-based pieces to reflect the families’ stories, those decisions and the final product will come exclusively from the artists.
That is how it has to be if the project is to have artistic significance.
“Ultimately, it has to be a work of art,” Osorio said. “It has to be a work of art that will translate that process, that when you look at it you know it’s telling a story. But aesthetic qualities, formal elements — all that stuff matters at the end of the process.”
Once they are completed, the artworks will be displayed in houses, businesses, schools, community centers and other places where art isn’t usually displayed.
“For me, it’s about placing art in a completely different context,” Osorio said. “Where should we go? How should we place it first? How do we make the cross-cultural references? We’re now thinking about what is the most appropriate thing to do.”
One thing is certain: The work being created in “Stories of Home” isn’t going to a museum.
“This is not for thousands to view at a time,” Osorio said. “I wanted to bring back art to its original purpose — to bring it back to the community. If you look at the curio cabinets where museums started, that happened at a very intimate level. That’s what I’m interested in doing now. I don’t think the museum is the ultimate place for showing art. There are other possibilities that are equally important.”
The immediate concern, however, is the creation of the art.
The artists have been given only general guidelines for their pieces. Because the artwork will be moved from place to place, the pieces have to fit in a 48x24x36-inch crate and weigh no more than 80 pounds. Beyond that, what is produced is up to the artist, who can work in any media and take any approach he or she chooses.
“I think the families and artists are realizing they have to come up with an idea and objects,” he said. “There seems to be a lot of information out there, that the families and artists know each other. Now it is time to move on with the process.”
It may be a few weeks before artists begin to work on their pieces. But Osorio said that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Artists like to work under pressure,” he said with a laugh. “It’s also true that you can’t force yourself to create something that has some depth and meaning without inspiration. … It’s not that they don’t have ideas.”
Gradwohl agreed. The problem she is facing isn’t one of having enough ideas. Rather, her challenge is honing an idea that will reflect Shanks’ story while touching on themes and issues that will resonate with a wider audience.
“We really consider the final product to be a vehicle through which we can involve the community in the dialogue,” she said. “It’s been the exchange of ideas that’s been the most valuable part of the project.”
Gradwohl, who had a video art show that used 14 television sets at Haydon Art Center last year, hasn’t decided what she’s going to do or the media she will use. But she said her piece will likely have some element related to walking, an activity she and Shanks share and have done together.
“Symbolically, walking has been really important in thinking about the Civil Rights movement and how the act of walking was a form of peaceful protest,” she said. “Much of the focus has been on which story to tell. We haven’t decided that yet. But something will be related to education, the iconography will represent education.”
Education is important in telling Shanks’ story from day one. She was born in a house that served as the first school for black children in Oklahoma City.
Education has also been a key element in the battle against segregation that Shanks has participated in all of her life.
But she and Gradwohl were insistent that their piece wouldn’t just be a look back.
“Many of us must return to school on some of these issues,” Gradwohl said.
“Issues as they relate to the problems of today — not just to sit around and talk about the story, but as they are related to the national issues and international issues,” Shanks said. “Otherwise, what value is it to me?”
That conversation between Gradwohl and Shanks, which began more than three months ago, will continue for four more months. Then in June, they, along with the 11 other artists and families, will invite the community to join their dialogue as they tell “Stories of Home.”
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
‘Stories of Home’ timeline
October 2005 — Artists and families are chosen and begin meeting together
January 2006 — Pepon Osorio, artistic director, holds his final mentoring sessions with artists and families.
May — Artwork is completed.
June — The first group show of the 12 completed pieces opens. The group shows will be held in schools, community centers or businesses.
July through September — Artworks shown individually in homes around the community. Each piece will be in one location for two weeks, then will move to another site.
October — Second group show.
November through January 2007 — Individual exhibitions in homes.
February 2007 — Final group show ends with the auction of the artwork.
Source: Lincoln Arts Council
‘Stories of Home’
artists and families
* Caitlin Applegate with the Khamisa Abdalla family
* Kate Brooke with the Zainab al-Baaj family
* Santiago Cal with the Leo Yankton family
* Larry Gawel with the Micaela Sanchez/Carmela and Patricio Sanchez Jimenez family
* Ann Gradwohl with the Lela Knox Shanks family
* Robert Hillestad with the Maida Kapetanovic family
* Kristen Martincic with the Barbara Baier and Lin Quenzer family
* Deborah Mitzlaff Koenen with the Jan Peregrine family
* Leora Platte with the Susan Stevens family
* Larry Roots with the Laura Edmonds family and other Hallam families
* Rana Schmitz with the Anne Harrison family
* Robert Schwieger with the Teresa Nguyen family
Source: Lincoln Arts Council
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