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The Brushy Fork Watershed
Issue 17 | June 29, 2015
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Inside this Issue
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Stories: Elevating in the Most Levelling Way
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." • Maya Angelou
For the past decade, the Brushy Fork Annual Institute has brought together folks from throughout the mountains and foothills of central Appalachia to learn and share best practices for promoting community development.
Each September, we have gathered on the beautiful campus of Berea College for three days of dialogue and deliberation about how to create better communities and better leaders. In addition to the hopes and dreams they bundle together and bring, participants bring stories to share — stories of communities, of families, of success, and, sometimes, of despair. Community and connections are made through voicing these stories. This mingling of many voices is at the heart of what has made the Annual Institute an event that many of our participants anticipate year upon year.
As we prepare for our 11th Annual Institute, we have turned our attention to the organizing and empowering effects of story — particularly to providing opportunities that allow unheard stories to arise among the many voices of the region. This theme will be present throughout the Institute, but two new workshop tracks will seek to elevate the voices of two specific groups. These groups are often peripheral voices in discussions related to regional development, whose interests are often represented by proxy.
In Engaged, Encouraged and Empowered: A Track for Youth Leaders, participants ages 16-24 will use story as a way of recognizing and unleashing their personal leadership capacities. These young leaders will leave with a results-based action plan to guide their journey to applying their voices in service to their communities.
In the Women & Leadership track, participants will investigate power, opportunities, and challenges related to women securing positions of leadership. Participants, both male and female, will use story sharing to explore how to elevate the voices of women in community leadership, how to broaden their circles of influence, and how to support other women seeking to achieve the same. We hope participants will return home with personal connections and allies that will provide ongoing support to each other while working through this common struggle.
No matter your age, no matter your gender, we invite you to join us this September in Berea. We look forward to hearing your story and celebrating the worth and wisdom that lives within us all.
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6 Ways to Tell Your Story
Stories can take many forms, and in today's media-rich landscape there are endless possibilities for creating and sharing content. These six creative approaches can help you share the story of your community or organization effectively with others.
Community Theater
This form of storytelling is ageless and powerful. Many communities begin with a process that involves collecting personal and local histories through story circles. These oral histories are then woven into a unified narrative resulting in an intimate staged production for the community. Communities regularly report how such activities lead to increased civic engagement and local pride.
Examples of successful projects abound. For example, the Cowan Community Theater recently worked with Director Bob Martin to create The Homecoming, "a collage of memory, stories, images, and music about the history, realities, hopes, and humor" of the Cowan-Whitesburg community. The 2015 Annual Institute also features a workshop track for those looking to learn more about the process of building relationship and community through story and performance. Track leaders Richard Geer and Qinghong Wei will share the secrets of the Story Bridge model, which leads communities from story to action.
Take It to the Street
No venue? No problem! One of the great things about theater is that it doesn't have to conform to typical notions of what a production or performance space should be. In the absence of a stage and state-of-the-art sound and lighting, many communities have made creative use of existing assets. Some have repurposed abandoned storefronts into practice and performance spaces. In Manchester, Kentucky, a former hardware building now houses a coffee shop and stage. Others have made temporary reuse of open or neglected places by encouraging pop-up cafes. What folks are finding is that we're limited only by our imaginations.
For example, in Vanceburg, Kentucky, folks didn't allow a lack of a stage to derail their plans. Instead, they took the performance to the street using promenade theatre, a form of drama that encourages the audience to move throughout the scenes. Resulting from local oral histories, the performance was designed to provide a snapshot of a typical summer day on Main Street circa 1964. The performance space was Main Street itself, only as it would have appeared 50 years ago. The community blocked off the street, added some historically accurate embellishments such as classic cars, and staged a sequence of performances that unfolded on the sidewalks. As participants moved throughout the scenes, the action unfolded against the backdrop of a historic movie theater or reimagined local five-and-dime.
To discover what assets and possibilities may exist in your town, assemble a group of folks and make time to walk your city. In addition to identifying potential performance spaces, these walking tours may also help you discover interesting local architecture, learn about historic places, and identify other tourism or development opportunities. How many abandoned storefronts, buildings, and lots exist — and how might these be put to better use?
Get Festive
After taking it to the street, you may find that others are willing to join your parade. Another approach is to identify the distinct cultural features of your community that need celebrating — and what better way to celebrate than organizing a festival?
Festivals can serve many purposes, including providing education and entertainment, promoting ethnic understanding, and preserving and celebrating local traditions, histories, and cultures. They also serve as a fun way of building community capacity through fostering a sense of shared identity and belonging. Inspiration for a theme may emerge from collecting stories, walking your town, or paying a visit to your local library or historical society. But chances are you already know what is distinct about where you live. The key is to find an entertaining format through which to share those features with others.
For an example of how others have approached this work, check out this photo gallery of the SaltWorks Appalachian Homecoming, a new local festival organized by the members of a Clay County volunteer group called Stay in Clay. This annual festival is organized around a historic pioneer village established in the late 1700s. The village, complete with rustic cabins, is the site of the first commercial salt works in Kentucky, and the county was known as the largest domestic producer of salt up until the Civil War.
Mix It Up
Keep in mind that telling effective stories doesn't have to be time-consuming or super expensive. As NeighborWorks America reminds us, sometimes the best way to move hearts and minds is through the 'naked voice.' Decisions about what medium to use will be informed by a number of factors, including available resources, intended audience, project goals, and the skill sets of team members to name a few. But the story itself may also determine the form. For example, stories about survivors of domestic abuse may make for a powerful play with moving monologues, but may be less effective as a community mural. The keys are to pair form with function and ask what is the most effective way to tell this story to achieve our goals?
You may find that in some cases, the best way to capture and share a story is through technology most of us carry in our pockets, using free mobile applications like StoryCorps to record interviews with loved ones. Others may find that stories are best expressed through song, photographs, artwork, or murals. Each of these forms present opportunities for skill building and sharing among community members and potential for reaching new audiences. They also help to keep things fresh and interesting.
Go Digital
Look, we admit that Polaroid instant cameras and vinyl have a certain charm, and we're not suggesting that you abandon those completely. There are few things that bring people together as well. For proof, produce a photo album at your next family gathering or drop by a local record fair. The issue is that these good times are only shared among a few, and going digital enables you to reach a wider audience, effectively growing your community.
Although many people think of digital stories as photos or videos combined with narration and/or music, other forms such as animation and short films can encourage creativity and experimentation, leading to further skill development. To check out examples of digital stories, see PlaceStories or visit Carpetbag Theatre's website.
We also invite you to attend our Annual Institute track, Digital Storytelling for Impact, led by Mimi Pickering of Appalshop. This track will focus on developing communications strategies and digital storytelling skills.
Join the Crowd
Although we all have a unique story to tell, the true joy of story sharing is finding ourselves in the words and lives of others. Powerful stories reveal as much about the reader or audience as they do the source or author. One of the characteristics that makes story sharing so affective is that each narrative reveals different perspectives and contours of our communities. These voices, working together, reveal the complexities of community life. As the playwright Thornton Wilder wrote in Our Town, they create a record of "the way we were: in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying." Each story is a testament to life as experienced by others. The more people who are involved, the richer the narrative record becomes.
One way of connecting with folks beyond the community is through crowdsourcing, a process of soliciting contributions from a large group of people, usually through online means. One example of how such efforts can be used to connect with folks within the region and beyond is the Coal Camp Documentary Project organized by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center. This interactive site is designed to collect and share information about coal camp life through those who lived it.
Another crowdsourced project, Looking at Appalachia, includes photography, writing, audio, and video about the region. The intent of the project is to explore the diversity of Appalachia and chronicle regional life fifty years after the declaration of the War on Poverty. Although curated by Roger May, a North Carolina photographer, the project draws from the contributions of folks from across the region to create a living reference defined by those who live here.
In the words of Helen Matthews Lewis, "I guess our last word is stories are important. It's important who names people and places, who tells the story, who constructs the history, who uses it and why, and how important it is that we keep revising, inventing, constructing, and deconstructing our history for our own survival."
Nationally, too many people misunderstand the story of Appalachia: partly because others are telling it for us and getting it wrong and partly because we haven't done enough to tell our own version of history and represent our truthful, authentic selves in all of our complexity, glory, and yes, imperfections. |
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From Bonnaroo to Carnegie Hall to Berea:
Ben Sollee to Perform at Annual Institute
Following Wednesday night's dinner at the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant, participants will be treated to a secial musical performance by Kentucky-born cellist and composer Ben Sollee as part of our outdoor cafe. Sollee is known for his innovative playing style, genre-bending songwriting, electrifying performances, and wide appeal — his performances have recently graced the stages of both Carnegie Hall and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. If you've seen him perform, you know it's not to be missed. For listeners just discovering Ben's music, you'll find there's a lot more to it than just songs.
Watch the video below for Part 1 of Ben's story. What's yours? Leave a comment on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #whatsyourstory. |
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Annual Institute Scholarships:
Apply Online by July 15
Thanks to the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Kentucky Department for Local Government, 2015 Annul Institute scholarships are available for individuals and teams from KY-ARC distressed counties. Apply online. |
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Earn Rewards as a Grassroots Promoter for this Event
Promotion pays! We're looking for dedicated on-the-ground community organizers to help us spread the word about the Annual Institute. If there's one thing we know about our community partners, it's that you know how to organize others and motivate them to action. We'd like to invite you to put those skills to use while earning rewards for each registration you help make.
Becoming a promoter for our event is easy! Use the link below to register. Upon registration, you will be provided a unique weblink to share among your social networks. You earn $10 for each friend who registers using your link. These credits will be processed as registration fee reductions at the close of registration, currently scheduled for September 11, 2015.
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DOWNLOAD AN EVENT BROCHURE
As part of our efforts to promote sustainability, this year's brochure will not be printed, but is made available as a downloadable digital file.
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Our Mission:
Committed to the attainment, for all, of lives that are worthy of equal dignity, we work with both existing and emerging leaders to help communities build for tomorrow. By working to grow local leadership, motivate civic engagement, and support the development and articulation of community-driven visions, we seek to improve the life—and quality of life—of communities throughout Appalachia, with a specific emphasis on those designated as economically distressed.
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