Poetic Inquiry

Our guest artist expert in class for the poetic inquiry group was Danielle Georges. I felt she gave an excellent, relatively comprehensive for the short time period, overview of the different types of poetry and its uses. Danielle also clearly explained the structure and composition of poetry and how it differs from prose. She's an excellent instructor who made the class engaging and interesting. While she did not answer our specific questions, it was an inspiring introduction that really took the fear out of writing poetry, at least for me, and that was worth so much. I wrote in my notebook, 'understand the nature of your tool', and I can't recall if that is something Danielle said or not, but it's a great way to explain the session. 

When it came time to hold our own session, I could tell that the class was eager to begin creating their own material. We had originally planned on leading 3 exercises... we could only fit one! "More time!" the class asked. I felt good knowing everyone was overflowing with ideas--- i'd love to hear what people think of the session weeks on and how it helped their writing, analysis, or research.

I found the session useful myself, and i created two good poems myself from data i collected at RAW artworks in Lynn. I gathered business cards from inside the art pieces done by high school aged kids in the program, with their own words on both sides. 

The first is a concrete found poem taken directly from the artists' quotes on the cards:

I then reflected on this and created a haiku that expressed the most true statements as they struck me:

grow up, build me up

particle in a dust storm

see me as a whole

In small groups we shared our poems with others and gathered their reactions. This is just as important as the creation of the poems, as the reactions to the data is data itself. here are some of the things they mentioned:

inside/outside

different angles/perspectives

puzzle

time/journey

carries powerful emotions

cries out

chaos/ cry from the chaos

juxtaposition

pressure to 'grow up'

judged for that moment

What was most striking to me was how they picked up on this notion of inside/outside; a theme that RAW specifically discussed in one of their programs; in fact, i think a whole exhibit was called inside/outside. I was pleased they caught on to the idea of internal chaos that I wanted to convey.

Then again, how do I know what the artists at RAW meant to communicate on these cards? Would they think  my poems express the same? Perhaps not: when reflecting upon reflections, the original intent and images can get distorted over time.Also, the opinions of those doing the reflections begin to take an effect as well. It's not like a mirror reflecting a mirror and the images go on and on: then, the image is a perfect copy, never distorted or altered over time. This work isn't like that, the researcher, reader, reflector, the writer... they can't not help but project their own feelings as they respond to the data they collect. No one is ever a blank slate- a perfect mirror. 

My project is a self-reflective journey that I hope will help me develop methods of exposing my own opinions and processes so that I can record them as they change. If I am more aware of my own reflections, then I can track how my research changes me over time. In the future, I will be working in communities where I will have opinions, biases, and judgments: this is fact. If I can become aware of these, in a methodical way, and record them, I can better see how I change, or rather how the community changes me. Perhaps I can transfer these skills to observing changes in others as well. 

My Research Question, part deux

I've completely re-done my research topic from the original one. Of course, this means more work! But I really like my new topic, as it involves self reflection and challenging my own assumptions. Earlier I noted my struggle to dedicate time and energy to this work, and so this question is the perfect challenge for me right now. 

Self Reflection: Using poetic inquiry to examine my own impressions of the community of Lynn, MA

How can poetic inquiry illuminate our own preconceptions and understanding about a community as we research it?

I am doing my internship at Boston Youth Arts Evaluation Project, which seeks to analyze, gather, and understand data about the impact of the arts in the lives of youth at risk. It is an off-shoot of RAW ARTworks in Lynn, MA. I realized that all I knew of Lynn was from what I heard from others, and I wanted to explore my preconceptions and be aware of them before I dive into this research to be sure that my own judgments do not cloud my analytic process.

Lisa asks: how will you track your own evolving perceptions?

This is the nut of the thing, really. How do I track it? This is what my internship is all about, too. Not only do I want to be focusing on my initial opinions and thoughts, and then my thoughts as I research and learn, but the evolution of this and most importantly how and why and record this in some way.

I need to research some more on this topic to get a better idea. I need to better understand the methods others have used so my work will be valid and more useful.

where I'm at...

I have to apologize for my inconsistent blogging. I have several posts I need to complete that have been gestating in my head for a while now, so hopefully I can begin to get them out.

I'm just totally exhausted lately. My job should take up 35 hours of my week, but it's taken more like 45. And it's taking everything out of me, psychologically. And I know I am not alone. My question to the class, if anyone has any answers, is how do you find the mental capability at the end of the day (if your work is like mine and rather unrelated to our field) to turn to this work with fresh eyes? I am struggling with this lately, and I'd love any guidance or advice. It sometimes begins feeling like this looming elephant in the room with me all the time; one I love and want to play with, but that demands attention and care that I find myself struggling to muster.

In the end, I am here at Lesley for this program and this work so I need to find a way to do both. I feel like a glass that is completely full, and as more is poured in, more of the old spills out. Does the glass ever grow, or does it just break eventually?

I also am reminded constantly how everyone, especially the communities I will someday work in, has got it rough. We're all overloaded. There's a quote that I can't quite remember, about remembering that the other person is running their own marathon, or something...regardless, appreciation and understanding is at the heart of what we do.

And with that, i'm on to my long overdue postings...

Reflection on today's Arts and Activism Conference

So I just got home from the Arts and Activism conference, where I attend a 4 hour youth development workshop. On the whole it was quite educational, and the tools presented regarding youth development outcomes are going to prove useful. I was also pleased to see the BYAEP frameworks so thoroughly examined. I wish more community arts students were present, as I'd love to discuss the event.

I do, however have some critiques of the day. I'm mainly doing this not to change the event in the future but rather for my own practice and reflection.

At the end of the session, we were divided up into small groups and asked to apply the outcomes and the BYAEP framework to the process of a youth based film making project. It was the first time that we had group conversations about real, concrete examples of activities that would facilitate these possible outcomes, and the only time we saw but one example. And we were just getting into the good, nitty gritty stuff of conversation about these activities when the exercise was over. Personally, I felt that the time spent on some other activities was not useful. I know I tend to be the grumpy dwarf about some sorts of activities (i.e. scarf dancing, etc.) as an administrator, but in a professional development setting, I'd rather get down to studying useful, applicable examples than inventing a movement that expresses myself. I know, too that many of you will disagree with this, but perhaps if the day were longer we could have fit everything in. In the end, I did not get enough time to discuss real world applications that utilize the concepts we were learning.

Another thing that really bothered me today, and something I have noticed at other points since I've begun this program, is a lack of professionalism. I'm not saying we all aren't professionals, but I noticed some behaviors and some instances that speak to this.

There were several times during the day that individuals were talking over someone else, perhaps in the corner in private conversation, or in the circle as a prior exercise wrapped up. If we are going to be generous of our time and attention, we must also respect other's time and attention. This sort of thing would never fly in a business meeting. I do understand that the nature of artistic work can be self indulgent and that freedom of expression is encouraged. But this isn't a romper room- we all have goals for what we want to accomplish for the day.

Another instance is being respectful of the assignment/directions given during an activity. For example, the facilitators asked for a response from each person around the circle of a word or a few words, but soon enough people were talking for minutes at a time about themselves without any real point or direction. I am not trying to detract from the fact that people in the group had much to reflect upon, and it's great that everyone was buzzing with ideas and appreciation, but spilling your innermost feelings as you have them was not the given task. I think sometimes in this work we forget to apply our "is this useful towards the goals of the session?" filter. In class when we are in a nurturing environment there is more room for the babbling process of self reflection, but in a limited time frame it can be frustrating. Perhaps this is a critique on both sides of the relationship here: the facilitators need to intervene when time constraints are not being respected, and the participants need to respect that there will be avenues to express their reflections, and those avenues need to be made available to them after the event or at a different time.

Ugh: crying. I might be unpopular in this opinion (and please comment if you disagree) but I don't think crying is appropriate in these sorts of gatherings. If we want our work to be taken seriously, we need to encourage ways of expressing that you have been moved in ways that are not only professional but useful to the group. Crying does not effectively illustrate to me how you are going to use this new information in ways that will carry the work forward.

I think there were many excellent things that came out of the session today, but there was a part of me that was looking for a more pragmatic experience.

I realize I've put a lot of negatives in this post. The positives are getting their OWN POST! because they are so special. Grumpy dwarf is done, for this episode.

Research Topic

I am interested in researching the power of metaphors in articulating a process that is largely internal.

I love to write, and metaphors are a powerful tool for a writer to help the reader understand a concept. But how would metaphors help a learner? And do they always need to be written down? Or can they have the same power in movement and art?

My proposed 'experiment' is this: at the end of class, to tell everyone to think of metaphors that describe the process of this course, and to do it through writing, visual art, or movement. Then I would like everyone to present their metaphor in class and have a discourse on the results. I might record this as well.

What I want to know is if the process helped anyone work through the difficult nature of this course? or did it even help refine one's question?  What medium did you use, and why? Or was this not helpful at all?

I want to know because I imagine in my future work that I will be working with organizations that are having difficulty articulating the methods and process of their arts based projects, and need to for a grant or the like. I want practice in working with a group as well.

Reading Responses, Arts Based Research

As I read the materials for this course, I am struck by a repeated theme of 'translation'; how can the data collected through arts based research be communicated in ways that make sense to a wide variety of audiences. How can we communicate the effectiveness of this work to scientists? policy makers? foundations? education administrators? There are so many people who could benefit and would like to understand, but it's an immense challenge to translate the information so that others not in the field can understand. In another course, a guest panelist mentioned that 'people like us' have "drank the punch", and it's a constant battle to explain the nature of this work to those who have not.

Luckily, the arts have a way of moving people emotionally that raw data and numbers cannot. The fact that most of us are so comfortable with the arts as a means of dissemination means we have this skill on our side. The arts also can help us process the information we've discovered, or even help the subjects process it. The story that Lisa told in class about the teenagers working on the Playwright Mentoring project at Barrington Stage is such a wonderful example. Sean McNiff wrote that:

...the arts help us improve the way we interact with others by learning how to let go of negative attitudes and excessive needs for control, learning how to foster more open and original ways of perceiving situations and problems, gaining new insights and sensitivities towards others, learning how the slip stream of group expression can carry us to places where we cannot go alone, learning how to create supportive environments that inspire creative thought...

Often the translating that is most important is from what is in our heads as ideas to tangible concepts.

Another interested concept discussed in the reading is that arts projects tend to be multidisciplinary. Does this help with my translating issue? In Chapter 1 of our text, Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor writes:

Blurred genres tend to have the goal to speak to diverse audiences both within and outside the academy. The use of accessible, vernacular, and aesthetic language and image, helps to explicity reach out to larger, more diverse audiences...

I've decided that this concept of using the arts to assist in articulating an intangible process is what I want to focus on this semester. How do we make our results valid and useful? When the process is often more important than the product, how do you measure that? Often this type of research just presents more questions than answers. This is SO hard for me and I find that it is so hard for the class as well. More on this in my next post, on my research topic.

Arts Based Research, First Post

Welcome to my Arts Based Research blog!

I am really looking forward to this class. My interests in the area of inquiry, assessment, and evaluation are really taking off, so I am really looking forward to getting the tools that will help me in my thesis.

While reading the course text book (New Creative Community) for another class that I am taking, Ideas into Action, I came across the following quote by Arlene Goldbard about the nature of community work:

"But because it essentially participatory and collaborative, because the question of success has more to do with process than product, the evaluation of community cultural development work must be grounded in conversation among practitioners and participants. The judgement of success rests with the participants." (154)

And later:

"Can it be demonstrated that funds invested in a community cultural development work will produce lasting value for a community, help to bring about lasting change?" (155)

These questions were already buzing in my head. In class, I wrote in my journal that foundations/government funding bodies all report to some higher power, often the bottom line. This mindset has permeated into the arts funding world and now community arts, which in itself cannot be measured or quantified in either process or product, needs to answer to this baseline requirement of measurable success. How can we use the arts to communicate to those in this world that the process is more important than the result? That the products and achievements cannot be measured so much as felt? How can you prove progress with arts based community development?

My research then is to establish effective, proven methods of recording, sharing, measuring, and communicating the powerful positive effects of arts based community development that can be understood by  both sides of this funding conundrum. How can both sides learn from one another? Where are the roadblocks in the communication pathways?

I'll post later on the chapters in Arts Based Research, as they inspired different questions altogether!