Glyphs of Time :: a blog by jarvis grant

December 2, 2013

Citizens We: A Portrait of Communities

Cover Image for "Citizens We: A Portrait of Communities"

The cover for Citizens We’s first project,
“A Portrait of Communities.
©Jarvis Grant

For the past 18 months I have been working on a community portrait project, Citizens We. At times the progress of the project was looking pretty bleak. Even so, with the help and support of Joanne Henson and Terry deBardelaben the project received funding from the Humanities Council of DC and the DC Commission of the Arts. With the Council funding first phase of the project, a book of forty-two photographs was created, “A Portrait of Communities: Faces & Places”.

Back Cover: Daisy Hannah, Activist  ©Jarvis Grant

Back Cover: Daisy Hannah, Activist
©Jarvis Grant

On December 5, the Humanities Council will host DC’s “Largest Exhibition of Community History and Historic Preservation”.  The Humanities Council of Washington, DC. (HCWDC) proudly presents its’ 7th Annual DC Community Heritage Project (DCCHP) showcase. The showcase will be held Thursday, December 5, from 6:00 – 9:00 pm at the new home of the historic Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, 101 N Street NW, admission is free. The evenings’ program will feature a screening of a film that highlights 18 local history and preservation projects. Attendees will also be able to meet people that led the projects and view the products produced as a result of the DCCHP grant. Remarks will also be delivered by Lionell Thomas, Director of the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and David Maloney, Director of the DC Historic Preservation Office.

I am honored that Citizens We is part of this Showcase and want you to attend! Come join us and learn something new about DC’s rich history by registering a http://dcchpshowcase2013.eventbrite.com.  To register by phone, please call 202.387.8391. RSVPSs are strongly encouraged. For further information, visit http://wdchumanities.org.

 

 

BuyA Portrait of Communities by Jarvis Grant at Blurb.com

 

 

 
Share

February 5, 2012

Citizens We Community Portrait Project, Continues…

Citizens We Logo

Nancy

Nancy, ©Jarvis Grant

A few month ago, I launch a proposal on USA Projects. I was seeking funding for, Citizens We. At that time I was looking to get $5000 for an upgrade to a new 24 inch Epson printer. Well, I didn’t make my goal and the USA Projects aspect of the project folded. With USA Projects it’s an All or Nothing deal. The odd thing is that while I got nothing from the USA Projects part of it, Citizens We actually began to pick up speed and developed a life of its own. People in the community bought into it, and it started to develop a life of its own.

The strange thing about the “Crowd Funding”  model was that many of the people I actually knew, friends and family,  didn’t support the project. They all wanted to write me a check! But, that’s not how this model works.  With Crowd Funding, you “pledge” an amount to a 3rd party organization. Three folks I knew, my daughter, Maya, and two Howard University classmates, Clarissa Sligh and Dan Wade, along with a former student, which I believe was Chris Belcher (or Chris Smith) bought into the process. The rest were strangers! Now, as disheartening as this was, I came out of the experience feeling pretty good. A colleague  of mine Debra Weiss gave me a call from LA to let me know she believed in the project and would add her support for it to continue. That call was HUGE to my ego and my sense that the Citizens We was an important project to keep pushing forward.

Back in December of 2011 another friend and colleague, Joanne Henson, offered me an opportunity to setup an impromptu studio at her Holiday Craft Bazaar. This afforded me the change to setup the studio, and solicited people to be a part of the project.  Along with making the photographs was doing the paperwork for Citizens We. This would not have been accomplished without the help and encouragement of my friend and now Project Director, Terry deBardelaben. Terry was the one who gave me the idea of a community portrait project, and her support has been my most valuable asset. Photographers like to believe they can do everything by themselves. At least that’s what their PR hype will push forward. But now I see that all artists need someone to manage the details. Or if are not managing those details, to point them out to the photographer/artist,  so their attention and action can be addressed.

Here are a few of the portraits I made at Joanne’s Holiday Craft Bazaar. There are some exciting things happening with the project that I’ll be sharing once we are underway. So for all of you that supported the project when it was on USA Projects thanks so very much! New aspects of the project are proceeding, and I’ll be informing you of the progress. Thanks a lot for your continuing and renewed support for Citizens We.

Slideshow:
Fullscreen:

 
Share