Here At Home: Sullivan County

Everyone has a unique connection to their home, town, and surrounding area. People are thinking about this a lot now that we are home so much of the time. We all have things we like about where we live and things we wish were different.

We’ll use the art of photography to talk about this – and as a way to feel less isolated.

Thank You for your participation.

Join us in this free 3 session exploration of “Here At Home: Sullivan County”. Starting on Friday May 1, at noon, on Zoom  (Alternate times will be available)

HPAC’s Gallery222 will create an online exhibit of your work and plan a physical show when it is safe to gather in public again.

Session 2:

May 8th.  Below are the prompts for this second week of photography, as we continue to explore our environemnts:

    • Is there something from last week that you want to express in a different way?
    • Is there something in your home that you see differently as a result of spending more time there?
    • Is there an object or place in or near your home that says, “I’m home now,” when you see it.
    • What do you see near you that marks this specific time?
    • If someone else came to photograph your home in the time of the 2020 pandemic, what would you want them to document?

Session 1:

May 1st.  Below are prompts to get you thinking about the kinds of images you to capture during this unique time:

    • Are there places in or near your home that evoke specific moods or thoughts?
    • Has your home changed as a result of social isolation
    • Where in your home do you feel, restful, productive, safe, quiet, concerned, motivated, irritated…?
    • Is there something about your home that you wish you could change?
    • Do you see anything in your home that connects you to someone you can’t spend time with right now?

 

How will the project work?

We will introduce ourselves and talk about the kinds of images and ideas we want to gather. For a few days, we will take photos. Each person will choose 1-3 photos, write captions for them, and email them or tag them on instagram with #staystrongmakeart

Our second session will be a go-round. We’ll share and discuss our photos. We will talk about prompts for more photo creation.

During the third session, we will discuss the work, see if we want to extend the project, and plan ways to share our photos with a wider audience.

You will need:

A camera or phone that takes digital photos and a way to email these images.
A phone or computer that you can use to join Zoom meetings.
About an hour a week for a meeting

Project Host Alyce Barr is an artist and public educator.

“Participatory photography or photovoice draws on my work in education, visual art, and social engagement. Photovoice is a research/social action methodology that uses participatory photography as a way for people to share ideas, concerns, needs – and use their pictures in social action. I took part in training through the Photovoice © organization in London in February 2018 and there I started to develop the foundation for this project.

My art is informed by undergraduate training in ceramics, metalsmithing and sculpture, work in individual and cooperative ceramics studios, a graduate fellowship in sculpture and exploration of photography, drawing, painting, and bookmaking. For over two decades I was a public-school teacher and founding leader of a secondary school.

I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Hurleyville where I spent lots of time playing in the woods under a very big sky, staring at Catskill Mountain terrain. Colors of moss, shale and lichens in Sullivan County woods, textures of stone walls, drifting snow, fields of hay and corn, and the flat black dirt of Orange County onion farms are burned into my memory.”    –  Alyce Barr