Blog 11 Eva Learns How To Make a Radio Piece (what???)

This week has been crazy!  I've been trying to put together segments and clips to bring our piece together and it's working...but very slowly.  I listened to the Kalima, Troy, Sheila, and Khai interviews again to pull together more of our piece.  I have a good dialogue going about arts districts being built up and in listening I've found important quotes for other sections.

Christina and I got together the other day to story board a little more, and by that we threw around a lot of ideas.  We have the really cool idea of using Troy's quote about how the arts can save lives and he can prove it to introduce everyone speaking in our piece.  So when he says "and I can prove it" it will go into "my name is Khai and I'm a poet" etc which seems cool because our piece focuses at part on art as an agent of change and how it impacts people.

Storyboarding is easier to do when you have listened to the pieces a lot, so that's what I've been doing.  That and trying to create links and put together something in garage band.  Our storyboard is pretty solid, it's just making the audio flow together but we are doing it!  We have lots of questions for Andrea and plan on sending her our piece this week for some help and feedback.

Blog 10: Storyboarding and finding change

This week the arts group met up to story board some more, and we have a lot of great content!  I specifically was pulling quotes regarding to neighborhoods and the idea of arts districts in Baltimore and information about specific artists and people.

While we were storyboarding, we kinda had this "oh crap" moment when we were like "how is all of this going to relate back to change?"  But I think as our piece comes together we will be talking about change from a perspective of art always being in Baltimore, but emphasizing how it has changed and grown over the years.

It was really cool to be storyboarding because while all of the interviews we have involve people from different backgrounds and, they all are talking about the same sort of things just with different perspectives.

Also this week I transcribed the Kalima Young interview.  I loved talking to her and hearing all of her ideas on creative place making, artistry in the city, and the future of Baltimore.  I kind of geeked out during her interview because of how she talked about the buy-in of individuals in spaces of investment and development.  Kalima's thoughts on displacement and opinions on complicating the narrative of gentrification are ones that I feel like are so important to address.  I'm not sure how they could completely fit into our piece, but I hope we can at least begin to talk about these ideas. I would recommend everyone check out Kalima's interview, but I think it would be especially interesting for the Uprising group to listen, just for some background and context of her comments in class last week.

Blog 9: A Labor of Love

This week has been a lot of listening and storyboarding.  I've listened to just about all of the arts related interviews we have and I'm coming to find out something super great about these interviews: they almost all possess feelings of community and growth.  What I didn't expect to hear is that in all of the interviews, there are people talking about how art has shaped their lives but also how art has been flexible in providing enrichment and reflection for the neighborhoods in which these people live and work in.

One of my favorite quotes I've heard came from Troy Burton, explaining that how Eubie Blake has come to be was "a labor of love of a lot of people"  I think that idea kind of sums of the ideas of Troy, Khai, Sheila, and others.  The arts community in Baltimore is about education and support.  Teaching youth, spreading awareness, and making people think differently.  It's a special way of changing culture.   I also think it's kind of funny because at the end of the day, our entire project is kind of a labor of love of lots of people.

What is kind of difficult for me is the fact that I see arts more as an agent of change, not a result of change, in a lot of how people are talking about their involvement.

This week I listened and storyboarded, and I'm continuing to do that and pulling out timestamps and quotes.  This weekend I should be going to an opening of an exhibit sponsored by the Contemporary which I'm really excited about!  We are moving forward, I'm a little worried because we don't have as many interviews as other groups and I feel so often that art reflects other types of changes, we just need to ask the right questions to understand the changes of our topic.

Blog 8: Transcribing and a Poem

I'm a few minutes late to posting this blog, but that's because I just finished up transcribing our first interview!  I'm transcribing and it's the best!!!! I seriously love transcribing, I mean yeah it sucks sometimes because it takes forever, but I think it is so amazing to get to listen and take down the unique thoughts and perspectives of every individual we interview.  Everyone has a different lens and ideas to bring forward, so I'm glad I can be a part of that.  The other great thing about transcribing is that it gives me an excuse to listen to the clips and begin to pick out and connect themes of those we interview.  While right now we only have one interview from DCAC, it still offers a lot of insight into how the space functions and why it is important in the community.

The interview I transcribed was with a man named Khai who is an executive at the Downtown Cultural Arts Center working specifically with events, planning, and donations.  He was able to talk about his favorite memories of Baltimore, describe the uses of the spaces, and explain DCAC's role in the community, specifically following the uprisings.  The amazing thing about this interview was that Ilesh and Christina got Khai to talk about his own involvement in the arts and actually recite an original poem!  He also mentioned an artist that we could potentially reach out to, Paul Lane.  Paul has a lot of works in the DCAC and is a local resident of the area.

My schedule doesn't really allow me to spend lots of time downtown going to these different spaces, so I'm glad that I can still contribute to my group by helping out with a task that others don't really like to do.

ps- for everyone else transcribing, a good program to use is otranscribe.  You can pull it up just in your web browser but it will let you slow down, pause, and timestamp as you interview.  When you're done you can automatically export the transcript to google drive!

Blog 7: An Intro and a Light City Discovery!

Within Baltimore City, a vibrant art community thrives.  Festivals, arts districts, galleries, and theaters create an environment that inspires creativity within the city.  The following segment explores the missions and histories of the Downtown Cultural Arts Center, Contemporary Museum, Eubie Blake Cultural Center, and Arena Players. Each venue offers a different aspect of arts in Baltimore. Whether it is community arts programs, formally trained artists and galleries, jazz, or historically African-American theater performances, diversity exists downtown in the arts of this area. Through meaningful conversations with key stakeholders [I want to find another word...something more personal and explanatory], artists, and patrons we aim to answer: What does art do for this neighborhood in Baltimore?

Trying to gather information on the following things:
Intended and unintended who and how these spaces are used
Juxtaposition of Contemporary vs DCAC

In the last week, not too much has been going on in my group. Starting this week we will be visiting the venues and galleries to learn more about the missions of these groups. We will be attending several events coming up including an open mic, comedy show, and gallery opening. I plan on further exploring the history of these spaces so that Ilesh and Christina are prepared for their interviews and I'm also preparing to transcribe the interviews we get. I'm not available a lot to go to these spaces so I hope to help in whatever behind-the-scenes ways that I can.

Off topic, but not since it's art related...I went to Light City this week!  I was super surprised (and very very excited) so see that one of the art installations involved an Out of the Blocks segment.  The festival had several pieces that explored social justice issues, community interaction, and lots of other stuff I haven't yet seen.  I'm going back Friday and Saturday so I am excited to see what else is out there!

Small Assignment #2 Interviews

Amy Royce Interview:

[1:04]  we just moved back to this building in 2014, uhm as a way to be con- connect with the community. We were at Powerplant Live for a number of years uhm and it that is a more commercial district in the city uhm so just by default by moving back to this building we’re already engaging with people on the street level which, um, was a little difficult to do before and that’s been really nice. 

[ 7:20] I mean it’s gonna change, it’s it’s changing I suppose, I didn’t have any preconceived conception, I worked in a under a under represented, neglected community before coming here so for me it uh the uh it was i didn’t look at things that way, uhm I just saw that there was a need for MAP to be here and that we should be here and that now we are here so we’re moving in the right direction. 

[10:37] Uhm, I don’t think Bromo’s like Station North, nor should it try to be like Station North. Its got its own unique history, it used to be a garment district, there’s a lot of different uhm, uhm perspectives, there’s a lot of different routes the district could take in-in capitalizing on that history and integrating it into its plan

[14:14] Well, I mean I could see it becoming m-mo, I’d love to see it become more of a-a of an industrial sort of making district where, uh, you know maybe we go back to that garment making idea, you know? 

William Interview:

[1:05-1:10] If they’re going to replace it with something else…just to tear it down and have nothing else I guess that’s kinda sad

[1:35-1:49] Farmers market, yeah.  But to tear down the stores and not replace them that would be sad.  Upstairs, I mean people can really eat anywhere, but to take down the actual stores, that’s the essence of the market when you think about it

[5:00-5:11] I just videotaped some kids performing downstairs and I thought it was nice.  Like if they have different events, different things…

[5:12-5:24] I thought they put the people upstairs from keeping the actual people that frequent the market that so it’s like a little cubby hole to hide everybody away 

[5:54-6:00] There’s no need taking the stalls down if you can’t find vendors that can afford to rent the spaces 

Marvin Brothers Interview:

[0:16-0:23] I love Lexington Market, Lexington Market number one I’m telling you.  I love Lexington Market

[1:01-1:09] Don’t change nothin’ don’t change nothing.  Leave it like it is, leave it like it is…

[2:47-3:00]  The one thing I hate about Baltimore…Fucking Police.  I don’t hate the police I hate the way the treat us.  It’s not right.  That’s not right at all the way they treat us, it’s not right at all.  And they got to change real soon”

[3:10-3:15]  Stop the killing, let’s stop the killing…

Johnathen Curtis Interview:

**what’s interesting about this interview is that John doesn’t come to Lexington Market often.

[0:33-0:46]  Lexington Market is a historical landmark to Baltimore, which a lot of people don’t know.  This is one of the major places they used to trade slaves.  What it means to me is I mean there’s a lot of culture here as far as like the food and stuff.  But the people from Baltimore, they don’t really know the history of Lexington Market.

[1:33-1:50]  You’ll see all types of shit outside.  From like drug addicts….it’s pretty fucked up for this to be a historical landmark and have so much bullshit smack dab in the center

[3:48-3:56] Cross Street Market, it’s a lot less tense there but I mean oh I mean less tense in terms of like drugs

[4:40-4:46] No one’s gonna want to eat produce here.  No one wants healthy they come here for cheap, unhealthy food.  

[9:42-10:50] My biggest takeaway is that being um being not only a black man we get racially profiled just like everyone else….how can I prepare my son for something I didn’t personally go through [being profiled]

[10:55-10:57] My biggest take away is how do I raise my son in a society like this

[11:03-11:39] I love Baltimore!  it’s a great city as far as the weather, the people..Baltimore gets such a bad rep but no one knows like Baltimore’s a college town…for it to be such a small city and so much shit happens here it’s kinda crazy living here

James Interview:

[0:28-0:47] Pennsylvania Avenue was the backbone of the city for Blacks. Pennsylvania and Gay Street…now when you go one Pennsylvania Avenue you don’t see none of the history 

[1:22-1:30] Baltimore is a beautiful city.  You know the people in Baltimore they’re very friendly 

James Williams:

[1:40-1:42] Yes, a lot of cops

Blog 6: Why didn't I take more pictures?

Before I begin my actual blog, I'll start with some random (but I guess important) thoughts: I was excited to write my blog this week about our adventure to Lexington Market and to post lots of pictures with my thoughts until I looked back at my phone and realized I only took two pictures our entire walking tour.  At first I was sad...I didn't have anything to Instagram or show my friends how cool it is to still get to take field trips in college.  But then, I got kind of mad at myself.  I think I too often associate taking photos with being a tourist and with that I guess this idea of the places and things I would take pictures of just for entertainment purposes.  Taking the picture would memorialize the space in my mind as an attraction that I once was at and I would remember the space as it was in that photo and that moment, rather than as what it really is...someone's home.  It just seems kind of weird suddenly that I wanted to take pictures of someone's neighborhood, even though any other time this would be a normal thing to do.  I think maybe during the walking tour, or just arriving at Lexington Market I felt way more like a guest than I do in other parts of the city that I visit so often.  Taking pictures would have made me felt like I was taking pictures at the zoo.

But anyway, the real blog assignment about the walking tour:

I LOVED getting to meet at Lexington Market for class last week and going on the walking tour.  Arriving at Lexington Market, we were really thrown into the hustle and bustle of the market and it helped me to begin to really capture and understand the potential for stories to hear with our project.  The walking tour itself was really interesting to me.  At first I was worried that it would be as crowded throughout as it was at Lexington Market, but as we got further from the city and main transportation lines, the crowd died down almost completely.  While the lack of crowd on the rest of the tour could be due to the cold weather that day, I think it also speaks to how Lexington Market is such a centralized and important place in the community that regardless of the time or weather, there's a lot going on and people around.

Racially, the market was very diverse and I definitely felt out of place as a white visitor while everyone carried on so naturally in the space.  While I wasn't outwardly singled out, as we continued to walk around on our tour I felt more comfortable as we entered areas like Mount Vernon.  During our entire walking tour, we only actually passed a handful of people walking on the streets.  It was almost eerie how quiet it was, and I almost felt like I was intruding which may have added to my picture feelings I talked of at the beginning of this blog post.  I also really loved walking around and hearing my classmates give the history of spaces that they had researched.  I would be curious to return again on a day when it is warmer, and on a weekend, to see if more people are out around where we did our walking tour.  Maybe then I wouldn't feel so out of place.

I was also bummed that I couldn't join the rest of class for dinner, but I hope to head over to the other market some time soon to check it out.  It definitely had a completely different vibe all together than Lexington.  It is so crazy to me that all of the places we walked to are so close to one another, because I feel like the business of Lexington is so removed from the quiet neighborhoods we walked though and other shops we saw like Antique Row.  Going back, I also would want to take more pictures.  The faces of the buildings and homes made it so apparent that the streets had a history to be learned.

But here are the two actual pictures I took during our walking tour, one is of the vacant and destroyed building next to a coffee shop we passed.  The other was of the Bun Shop.  My roommate actually goes there to study a lot (we live in Catonsville so it's interesting to know she goes to the city to study), so it was kind of funny to walk by there.

Blog 5: Lots of Notes, Lots of Questions

I loved having Andrea Seabrook in class last week. I felt like we needed her to come in and inspire us with her words, but also make us really think about the project and where we were going with it. Above all, I think she asked the questions we were all thinking, whether we realized it or not: Why does Bromo matter? And even more than that, does it matter that it is an art district? The decision to not necessarily focus on how and why the space is an arts district suddenly opens up so many more questions and opportunities for us to explore the area without this label that seems as though many don't know or really care about. It's not that figuring out why residents and those that invest in the area don't have a lot of ties to the arts district designation, but our other questions seem to offer more towards the project. Andrea's lecture (although I'm sure she wouldn't call it that) about figuring out the focus of our project was really useful and narrowing our project down and figuring out what we want to do moving forward with the semester.

Another major question I wrote down during class with Andrea was:

Why did this happen this way?

I think it will be important for us to keep this question in mind while finalizing the format and outline of our project.

The working outline of exploring different aspects of the space leading up to the uprisings and culminating with a final piece on the uprisings themselves is really powerful and exciting. I think especially coming up on the one year of the events, we are in a really unique place in time to be exploring this. I think our timing in it being one year is a huge strength. However, timing on the other hand, deciding on this right before spring break, will be a weakness because we are in such a time crunch already. I also think it could be difficult to really put themes such as theater and entertainment into this timeline leading up to the uprisings, but I'll be excited to see how we are able to do this through questioning and further brainstorming and focusing in on the project.

Having experienced a version of this project in the Station North class, I laughed when Andrea said we shouldn't first transcribe and see how the pieces fit together because that's exactly what we did. And in the lab I work, that's still what we do. It is a very academic approach, but I think we can find ways to still do it and appease Andrea's anti-academia attitude. In my anthropology capstone class we recently talked about interviewing and how to utilize the information we collect during such interviews. Semi-structured interviews with a broad question that will kind of open the gates for us seems like a great way to hear peoples stories...I haven't figured out what that question is but I'm working on it. And for us to still transcribe at first since that is how we get oral histories, the method of select transcription during initial listenings to interviews might be beneficial for us.

I would like to help pick out those themes and transcribe, because that's what I'm used to and pretty good at. But I would be interested in maybe helping at least structure and plan questions for interviews.

Blog 4: A Listening Exercise

The interview I listened to this week was with Amy Royce, the executive director of Maryland Art Place (MAP).  The interview itself is very informative in the history of MAP and with a lot of information about arts districts and Bromo.  However, it kind of falls flat to me.  I would have really enjoyed hearing more about specific exhibitions in the space and Amy’s favorite memories and moments at MAP.  While at times Amy kind of seems nostalgic and optimistic about MAP and how it has moved back into Bromo, I would have loved to hear more about the why behind these feelings.  I felt like a lot of the interview was a lot of an advertisement for MAP until the questions shifted.  Amy was able to speak about how MAP has gone about reaching out and involving the community, but also the physical division she feels within the city due to the light rail and other commercial and residential divides that she sees in place.

I think this interview really speaks to the importance of the interviewer and the recorder working as a team.  I think this is something that is really vital in completing a more successful and thorough interview.  By having questions from both Kaitlin (the interviewer) and Adam (the recorder) there are almost two sides to this interview.  I think the two interviewers speak well to  the idea of not just using the questions written down, but also following up with questions not necessarily related to the ‘original plan’.   

For whatever reason, this interview overall kind of rubbed me a strange way.  I'm not sure if it was just that Amy's position in MAP has made her very knowledgable and able to give straight forward answers or what, but it was just kind of dry to me.  While full of information, it lacked something.  I am definitely interested in checking out the space and comparing it to other similar venues I have been to.

Blog 3: Flexibility is Key

Interviews are hard.  This week's blog was supposed to be dedicated to the interview I was to have about the Bromo Tower, my place for our small assignment, however earlier today I got an email saying my interviewee was unable to meet, messing with the timeline of things.  However, I won't dwell and instead thank Professor King for flexible deadlines (thanks again!!).  Interviews are stressful and nerve wracking, however I'm grateful for the opportunity to be involved in a class that values such qualitative methods of research.

My experience with interviewing in the past has been more behind the scenes.  It's been transcribing and coding, involving myself in smaller projects and interviews with people semi-close to me.  This semester will be different as I engage firsthand in the interviewing.  In the future, I'll make sure to plan my interviews before deadlines a little more, but luckily I can take the advice from peers in class tomorrow and use it towards my interview.  I definitely plan to rework my questions more to make sure that they are open-ended, and really pay attention to how people speak and tell their stories.  I love the idea of capturing how people talk and am really interested in working towards doing that.

Throughout class last week we focused a lot on the separation of Baltimore throughout history.  Baltimore as a city seems to me to be consistently divided, almost always through methods of gentrification.  I think that a major question of our project should relate to these divisions within Baltimore that exist.  I think it would be important and beneficial to ask every person we interview: what is your Baltimore.  By asking that question, we can look for themes based on what individuals talk about, it could be the people or the places, I just think a lot of the project needs to build off of what we receive from those that we talk to...this kind of relates back to the idea of being flexible in building the project.

I think my focus would be best in finding these over-arching themes.  I enjoy thinking critically and trying to put together and find the connections (or disconnections) of stories.  I also think it could be really fun to have people participate in cognitive mapping, and through that put together something for the project.

Blog 2: Bromo Tower...Fit for a Captain?

I still have a lot of time to fill in for my place, the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower located at 21 S. Eutaw Street, but here’s the timeline I have so far.  Also, for now I'm adding hyperlinks so I can later go back and add citations when I figure that out on here.

1911- Tower constructed, designed by Joseph Evans Sperry and built by Captain Isaac Emerson, a pharmacist and owner of Bromo Seltzer, a popular headache and handover remedy.  The tower would act as a large advertisement for Emerson’s company located adjacent to the tower.  At the time of construction, the tower was the tallest building in Baltimore at 289ft. In 1923, it lost this designation as tallest building (I’m not sure to what building yet, but I should figure this out!)
Captain Emerson was a real captain!  He received this naval ranking for his actions during the Spanish-American War.  Upon returning, he had the idea for the tower to be modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy.

On the top of the tower, Emerson had a 51ft illuminated, revolving replica of his famous blue bottled drug.  The replica itself weighed 20 tons.

Also some things to know, there is no 13th floor (however there are 15 total) and because the floors are so small there is only a bathroom on every third floor.  Also the minute hand on the clock itself is a little more than 12 feet long.

The architect's original drawing of the tower, found on the Baltimore Sun website.

1936-  Due to structural concerns, the bottle was removed from the top of the tower.
1969- Bromo Seltzer Factory attached to the tower is torn down51973- John F. Steadman Fire Station opens (I’m not sure if this was attached or in…still need to finalize where but I’ve read about the fire station on multiple sources).  The tower is added to National Register of Historic Places.
2007- Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts began renovations to create 33 artist studios.
The tower itself originally operated as an office building and held businesses such as Cone Export and Commission Co. (I plan to look up more about the business to find out the next steps to the story!).  I’m still looking into what businesses operated out of the tower, as well as why they closed.  The tower now operates as artist studios and on Saturdays the tower is open to the public with artist studio tours and clock room tours.

I am still very much trying to put together the basis of my place research.  I’m still pretty google-deep in researching, but have been referred to a lot of Baltimore Sun articles which I plan to follow up on and continue to look through.  My biggest struggle right now is that details are vague.  While the tower has a lot of information available, it’s all the same information.  I need to find out more about the businesses in the tower, what artists have studio space in the tower, and more of the real story.  

Honestly, I’m still very unsure of where we are going with the radio series.  I feel as though we might need to dive into the details a little more on the last semester Bromo project to help figure out what our next step is.  Ideally, I’d love to continue capturing the energy and feelings of the district.  It would be amazing to have people answer the question “describe where you currently are and why” and hear their thoughts on the places and spaces we are meeting them at.  

Blog 1: Getting to know the Bromo

    The Bromo Speaks radio series showcases how the projects have changed and gotten more advanced as semesters have passed.  My favorite part of the series is the introductions for every segment.  The introductions to the pieces is something that I have felt like is most important in creating consistency and fluidity of the projects and I think Bromo Speaks does this almost perfectly.  The consistent intro sound clip creates a tie between the days that  captures the sounds of the district and gives the piece life.  I really enjoyed how in some segments interviewees introduced themselves and where they were in the beginning of the piece.  Making this part of the introduction consistent in every segment could expand the listeners understanding of Bromo.  I love all of the sounds and these small details of introduction throughout the whole radio piece.  By having these details, the life of the Bromo Arts District is captured to a larger extent.  The background noises of spaces like Lexington Market create a fuller view of the residents, business owners, and visitors of the space. 

     While I don’t know what much could be improved, other than creating more consistency, I  think that the stories could be expanded.  I think that there is a lot of that space that could still be explored, I know that before last semester, I did not even know that Bromo had a specific name for itself, I think that there could be an expansion in developing a better understanding of where Bromo is and why it is an important place in the city.  I think that what could make the projects better overall is creating a supplementary piece to help listeners explore the space more.

     While it did not have the same introduction (it was lacking the names of interviewees), I think that Day 2: Lexington Market was the strongest day.  I think this strength comes from the history that is told through the piece but also how listening to the piece really puts you in the space.  I feel as though this piece represents more of the people that you could meet any day in Bromo walking down the street.  I think it captures a sense of community and history that is needed and such a large part of the neighborhood.

     I think with our project, we should really focus on continuing to capture the feelings and essence of being in the neighborhood.   We have a cool opportunity to continue to build and grow from the relationships made last semester through the Bromo Speaks project and I think we should really take advantage of that as we continue.  I also think we should continue to to separate the pieces based on themes that make sense organically.  We should see where the interviews and works lead us, not being afraid to make changes in focus as needed.  I would be interested in finding out from the group their experiences in Bromo and hearing specifically from students in the course last semester.  I think they could provide insight into what was left out of the piece last semester and why...maybe there is something in that we could build from.  

     Of the possible project ideas, there are several that are most interesting to me.  I think that Mapping Bromo...walking tour could be interesting to create as a guide for people to explore Bromo.  I think that this side of the city is so close and so accessible, but so many people to realize what is there.  I think we could provide an opportunity to show this side of the city.  I would like to know more about what makes Bromo an arts district and what that's like as compared to other arts districts in the city and what their involvement is.  Over the summer and during the fall semester, I worked in another arts district in the city, in Highlandtown at the Creative Alliance.  During my time there I learned a lot about how the organization engaged the community in the creative process and I would be interested to see how organizations in Bromo do similar, or completely different, work.

     I think I may be interested in helping with interviews, but I know my strengths include researching, analyzing interviews (including coding for themes), and GIS/map making.

I've been to Bromo only a couple times, mostly to see plays or go to Lexington Market.  The last time I was there was for the Bromo Speaks listening party.  Before that, I attended a play at the Everyman Theater.  Here's a picture from November!