A Place to Call Home

Project personnel worked to listen to young people's stories and then amplify their voices through public art. The MAP team aimed to foster youth commitment by engaging and empowering them at every step of the project. Over the course of 6 months, the MAP project team used an approach that included photo-documentation and photo-elicitation interviewing (a technique that involves using photos, videos, and other forms of visual representation in an interview, with informants asked to comment on the images). The first step was to photographically document housing conditions along a major corridor cutting through the city. These photos generated team discussions regarding how housing conditions vary across the city's socioeconomic gradient. Then, the team gave cameras to 48 high-risk youth and asked them to explore and document what home means to them from their "insider" perspective. Next, a group of researchers and newly trained artists and undergraduate students interviewed the young people, using each of their images of home as the basis for photo-elicitation interviews. The interviews focused on the young people's personal experiences of home and, in some cases, homelessness.

The stories revealed in photo-elicitation interviews were the genesis of a range of multimedia art installations at a location where a real estate developer donated an abandoned row home - previously a place where drugs were used. In addition to art, the house provided practical information and resources regarding housing, jobs, education, and social services. The Art House became part of a block-long mural on Melon Street, envisioned and created by artist Ernel Martinez, who engaged neighbours in conversation and negotiation regarding how their individual homes and their block should be visually transformed. This process was designed to build trust among neighbours. "Martinez rejected the idea of an iconic mural for this project, instead developing a conceptual work that emphasized continuity and community while retaining the individual identity of each home."

Artist Shira Walinsky emblazoned nearby row homes with a series of murals incorporating symbols of security, shelter, and comfort - themes that had emerged during the project's photo-elicitation interviews. Walinsky's murals encouraged the local community to initiate conversations about the meaning of home. She augmented her large-scale works with smaller murals that were designed to draw attention to the universal need for heat, food, water, and shelter. Together, these works formed a path to the art house and were designed to offer opportunities for neighbours to reflect on the importance of housing security. Within the art house, Martinez had installed furniture crafted out of the transcribed interviews with the high-risk youth. A dining table, chairs, wallpaper, and dinnerware were all sculpted from paper, conveying the stories shared by the youth and also metaphorically underscoring the insecurity of home for many of these youth. In adjoining rooms, stop-motion animation by Damon Reaves wove together images of a classic Philadelphia row house, including its active interior life, with audio recordings from youth interviews. These animations contrasted images of domestic comfort with the struggles that youth encounter as they attempt to identify secure housing. Upstairs, visitors could see and listen to prints and an audio mural by local radio station WHYY's Elizabeth Perez Luna.

Economic Development, Health, Youth.

According to organisers: "Artists, students, staff and research team members developed new skills that allowed for effective engagement. The project team, which included a group of approximately two dozen undergraduate students..., developed new skills in photo-elicitation interviewing and the use of human stories in the creation of public art. Artists, administrators, and assistants were also trained in interview methods." In addition, "[c]ommunity members were given a voice, and were given a say in the physical transformation of their neighborhood; they initiated new relationships and found a renewed sense of connection to their own homes and block....Stigma and shame were reduced through sustained dialogue across the project team, in interview dyads, and in public forums....The project inspired many of the youth involved to reach out for help. Youth participating in the project encouraged their peers to get involved as well, and to seek help and services for their housing needs. Residents of Melon Street and visitors to the Art House were also invited to share in the information and social service resources provided through the project."

"As artist Ernel Martinez reflected on the project, he commented that sometimes the art is in the mural - in its colors and forms - and sometimes the art is in the process - in the coming together of once-distant neighbors to revitalize the space they share and call home. This latter art - fostered in large part by the dedication of the lead artists themselves - was evident on an active community paint day, with residents across generations participating. It was also apparent when the exhibit opened: There was life on Melon Street, with hundreds of people - including all of the 48 originally involved high-risk youth - coming together to witness the change. They were there to join their voices together regarding the meaning and challenges of housing and homelessness."

"In the future, the team will continue working to understand local residents' concerns regarding housing insecurity and the meaning of home. One plan under consideration is to select some of the 48 young people who were originally interviewed for the project so that they can assist in interviewing additional community residents. The team also hopes that the Art House concept will be revived to provide an ongoing 'third place' where community residents can gather to learn, generate art and nurture social relationships among neighbors. In addition, the Art House will serve to connect residents of the immediate neighborhood and the broader Philadelphia community....The artists from this project described a strong desire to foster the assets of the neighborhood and its youth, particularly through efforts focused on education, economic development and job readiness. For example, the Art House may be used as a location for workshops, to provide solid skills and opportunities for the youth of the neighborhood. Potential workshops include college preparatory work, or helping youth find internships."