In Our Neighborhood
Expressing a Sense of Place
an
OAC residency
at the Kennedy Heights Art Center,
Cincinnati, Ohio
2008
with
Visual Artist
Kate Kern
Show us your path through the neighborhood.
Mark the places that have significance for you.
Walking through the neighborhood
a daily ritual for exercise
and mental health,
a chance to connect
with a friend.
Sometimes its pitch dark when we set off at 6 am.
Which houses have lights on?
Who else is up at this early hour?
Up Ridge, across Woodford, through some residential streets.
Try to keep up our pace to get the heart pumping.
What do I notice about the neighborhood?
A few people walking dogs, once in a while a jogger.
It's quiet, but not for long.
The world is waking up.
Looking at historical photographs
we see some
of the same places.
Show us something that holds a neighborhood memory for you.
I have lots of friends in my neighborhood.
We like to play in our tree house.
These are walnuts
from our yard.
My favorite memory is my preschool because all my friends are there,
and that is my favorite memory.
I was playing in the backyard in my preschool area with my friend Cara we were all playing together and
I still remember her even though she moved.
Yin Yang
Kennedy and Montgomery
Location and use
Kennedy School
Action and protest
Church and community
State and society
On and on
Thinking of Kennedy School as the center of the Mandala - Positive space/negative space…
Children walking to school; infinite paths to school and back, day after day
Parents making the same path to and from school, working in the lunchroom, making a library.
Paths radiating to and from a positive space
Circles beside the school where we had Halloween costume parades
Circles in Drake Park for community parades and levy car parades
I am always remembering my community in prayer.
I am very hopeful in reference to Kennedy Heights, as we are a HANDS ON COMMUNITY.
We are a colorful community.
Rehabbing the house at Wyatt and Akinside - the first project of the Kennedy Height's Redevelopment Corp and a real eye-opener as to what is involved in turning an old house into a marketable one.
One of the oldest houses, we were told, in KH.
When I moved to KH the community was separated by race.
We began to talk with each other and the neighborhood became diverse with many colors.
What I like about this train is all the Silverton kids would be out on the playground playing football for three hours and the man that ran the train blew the horn for the kids so they could kick off the football. When the game was over the train would let us know it was time to go home.
The DHS is important because it holds the history of our area of town. It is a 160+ year old farmhouse who unfortunately lost a chimney in the storm recently. I serve teas twice a year as a docent and decorate it every Christmas and spring.
This piece of plastic is really meant to be glass, raw in form.
To me Iris Ave. is like a piece of glass: many particles melted into a solid.
We see through each of our outer surfaces to the real person.
We are all ages, races, religious backgrounds and political affiliations.
But we care for one another, we love one another.
Walking to school with friends on snowy days knowing we would just have to turn around and walk back home.
Not enough snow to make a snowman.
Barely enough to make a snowball.
No salt..
no snow removal equipment..
Delightful!!
Images of residents creating the art work in the
In Our Neighborhood
exhibition.
On Our Street
Kevin Stewart photos printed on silk and sewn together with Kennedy Heights map details.
In Our Living Room
Family photos brought in by community members create a living room that surrounds the projection of the memories and visions in the slide show,
In Our Neighborhood.
In Our Flower Garden
Residents of Geier Apartments used drawing ink (applied with a brush) on enlarged maps of the neighborhood to create a lush colorful garden of flowers, inspired by the circa 1920s Kennedy Heights Business Men's club booklet that refers to Kennedy Heights as the garden spot of Hamilton County. In Our Flower Garden
Residents of Geier Apartments used drawing ink (applied with a brush) on enlarged maps of the neighborhood to create a lush colorful garden of flowers, inspired by the circa 1920s Kennedy Heights Business Men's club booklet that refers to Kennedy Heights as the garden spot of Hamilton County.
Our Stories
After school youth group interviews elders in the community
Many residents came in to share their stories through writing, drawing on a map and sharing a significant object or photograph
Under our canopy
When asked to describe our neighborhood many residents mention our trees.
One resident talked about how the “trees hold the community”, another about the “trees being a witness to our story”. Many people shared memories of raking leaves, enjoying the shade, playing in and around our trees.
The blue leaves and stars were made by Karen Ater-Linser's Friday morning first and fourth grade art classes at Woodford Paideia School.
The leaf shape comes from a mature catalpa tree right outside the school's art room. If you look carefully at the leaves you will see spiral patterns drawn by the first grade.
The star shape comes from a starfish. If you look carefully can see each star has an eye. These star leaves are watching our community. They are the witnesses mentioned in the resident's story.
The white daisy like flower comes from a photograph of a single aster flower out in the KHAC garden.
Big and small versions of this flower fill in – in-between the blue leaves and stars to inspire us to think of the sky that you might see as you look up through the leaves of a tree.
Acknowledgements
Historical photos courtesy of the Arthur Glos Pleasant Ridge History Collection of the Pleasant Ridge Branch Library
Map image from page 35 , 2003-04 Edition of Graphic Street Guide to Cincinnati, Metro Graphic Arts
All other photographs ©Kate Kern 2008