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The
Citizen Artist |
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We Are All Connected: Elders Share the Arts By Linda Frye
Burnham and Susan Perlstein For almost 20
years, New York's Elders Share the Arts [ESTA] has been creating models for
planning and sustaining meaningful connections among generations and between
cultures living in the same communities. This article is the first chapter of
Generating Community, a book by
ESTA's founding director, theater artist Susan Perlstein, and Jeff Bliss, the
intergenerational arts coordinator. It outlines their startlingly creative
programs in four culturally transitional neighborhoods\East Harlem,
Brooklyn's Northside, Flushing and Flatbush\including groups of deaf
children and elders. \Eds. Elders today
still remember a time when extended families lived together and shared each
other's daily lives. Increasingly, however, elders tend to be isolated from
their communities, and especially from children, and come to feel they are no
longer useful people: No one cares about what they know and there is no one
to listen to their stories. Children, for their part, are cut off from the
elders' wisdom and caring. In ESTA's early
days\as we worked with elders to create Living History presentations in
nursing homes, senior centers and other settings\we heard many
complaints about children. "The kids are ruining our neighborhood,"
some elders would say. "There's no discipline." "I wouldn't
want to be a kid growing up today." It was this isolation of elders from
meaningful activities with children\as well as the seniors' real fear
of being targeted for ridicule and crime by young people\that inspired
us to begin our program of intergenerational workshops. We realized there was
a pressing need to reinvent family and community connections. We started by
researching model intergenerational programs. We reviewed current literature
in education, psychology, cultural anthropology, social work and the
community arts. We contacted national organizations dedicated to the elderly,
to the young and to intergenerational or multicultural
issues\organizations such as Generations United of the National Council
on Aging, and the Center for Intergenerational Learning at Temple University
in Philadelphia. We asked them to describe their programs and to refer us to
other resources. Locally, we sought information from the New York City
Department of Aging and the Board of Education, as well as from other arts
and cultural organizations. We also interviewed the seniors in ESTA's Living
History program, staff in the senior centers and nursing homes, the young
people with whom we had piloted smaller projects, and their teachers. We discovered
three types of intergenerational programs: youth serving seniors, seniors
serving youth and mutual or reciprocal programs. Projects in which youth
serve seniors include "meals on wheels," "home shopping"
and "friendly visitors." Seniors serve youth in mentoring projects,
latchkey programs and foster grandparent programs. Mutual or reciprocal
programs often involve working together on cultural, environmental or
political projects. Clearly, the
reciprocal model fit our goals best. In cultural projects like those offered
in this book, young and old learn and practice new skills, cooperate, share
experiences, and practice teamwork with decision making and problem solving.
Creative expression fosters self-esteem, pride, joy and a sense of
accomplishment. For a few years,
we experimented with many different kinds of programs, all based on
transforming oral histories into theater, dance, music and writing. Out of
this experience we developed the Generating Community program in 1991 as an
answer to the concerns of cultures and generations coming into conflict. Seeing
that all these different groups had no meeting ground, we conceived of the
program as a place for them to talk\not just to complain at one
another, but to create and to learn together. Instead of letting the groups
face off against each other, in Generating Community we turn everybody's head
to face in the same direction, toward a common goal. Creating this turnaround
is crucial; it's also tremendously exciting. In the Living History community
plays in our programs, the various groups explore their problems, and
together find solutions to them. In the process, something new emerges: In
our program in Spanish Harlem, for example, participating seniors have become
surrogate grandparents for children whose grandparents never left Puerto
Rico. Once we developed
our basic objectives, we outlined specific goals for our program and a list
of responsibilities for the participating groups. In the beginning, one group
needs to assume responsibility for getting the program off the ground. ESTA
initiated the projects described here by researching, organizing and
fundraising. Ultimately, however, all groups must take responsibility for a
project's continuation. Here is a sticky point in partnership development:
how to inspire shared ownership of a community project. We compiled a
"Partnership Packet," which included a detailed definition and
description of both the overall project and the role and responsibilities of
each partner. We drew up a two-year contract that would commit the
partnership team to figuring out how to sustain the alliance beyond the
initial project year. We then selected
four transitional neighborhoods and called school principals and directors of
senior centers to tell them about our idea. If they seemed interested, we
asked them to send us letters of interest. In turn, these letters accompanied
our requests for funding from national and state organizations and private
foundations. Over the course
of the first year, we trained staff members of the groups we worked with, so
that after the second year, a different partner became the coordinating
group. In one case, the school kept the program going, and in another the
community center coordinated. Generating
Community consists of a weekly workshop program that brings seniors in
nursing homes, community centers, and senior centers together with youths
ranging in age from pre-school to high school. Each program lasts for about
30 sessions. We start out by training the participants in the skills of oral
history, in order to produce life histories of both the elders and the
youths. The two groups
then work together to turn their stories into theater, storytelling or dance
performances, or into murals, paintings, journal writing or poetry. A public
presentation of the work\usually as a performance, but sometimes as
booklets or other printed formats presented as part of a festival\is
the crucial community-building element of the project. The presentation may
be staged at the school, the senior center or a central public
place\such as a museum, library or theater, or at several of these
locations. The project
takes two years to implement fully, and depends on three community groups
working together: a senior group, a youth group and an arts group. The senior
group may come from a senior center, library, union retirement program,
nursing home, volunteer program, adult day-care facility or church. The youth
group may come from a school, community center, or scouting or other
community youth group. The participating arts group can be a museum, arts
council, community artists' organization or settlement house. Any one of
these three groups can originate the project by linking up with the two
others. In our programs,
elders from the senior group typically come together with the young people in
a workshop led by an artist who has been trained in group work. At ESTA, we
train the artists ourselves; in many cases artists can be found through
community arts groups. Many theater people and dancers have group-work
training, so do people trained in creative arts therapy. It is vital,
however, that the participating artist have training, as well as experience,
in working with groups. During the
program's first year, the artist trains program assistants from the senior
and youth groups, who then assume more responsibility for leading the program
in its second year. When the second year ends, these trained representatives
become central to the groups' ability to continue the program into the
future. This is the
basic program model, but many variations are possible. We have found that
teachers will often assume the role of the teaching artist and continue the
program themselves. In some programs, we had seniors who had been artists.
The program gave them training in leading the workshop, and they took over
this role when ESTA's participation concluded. Our communities
face many challenges today. Seniors encounter ageism; youth are adrift;
neighborhoods are fragmented. People often keep to their own kind. We have
found that Generating Community creates solutions to these problems. In many urban
communities, one ethnic group grows up and moves out and another group moves
in\often leaving the poorer, older people living in their neighborhood
with people from an unfamiliar culture. Feeling their world shrinking, these
elders are likely to further isolate themselves. This isolation
makes it easier for the new young people to see the seniors as
"other," and vice versa. Dissatisfied young people can easily
target the elders whom they do not know or understand, taking their
free-floating anger out on elder victims. Not surprisingly, many older adults
fear young people and avoid them. Our initial
approach to ageism is to have young people write poems about what they think
of seniors at the beginning of the program, before the groups come together,
and then again at the end, after they have spent months working together. In
this way, we record the transformation of attitudes that occurs.
"Seniors are cranky people," "They don't like us" and
"They're dumb" turn into "They're my friends," "We
have fun together" and "We can do things together." We find,
moreover, that young people and seniors maintain their relationships after
the program ends: They walk each other home; the kids bring the seniors
groceries; they meet on the street and stop to exchange greetings. Traditionally,
older people functioned as role models for younger generations. Now, the loss
of opportunities for relationships with young people has robbed elders of one
of life's greatest pleasures. Generating Community gives seniors back the
chance to pass on the wisdom and skills acquired in a lifetime of experience;
to continue to care for others at a time when they themselves may be the
recipients of care; and to learn new skills, remaining creatively engaged in
the world. Young people
today are often on their own in a way their parents and grandparents never
were. Working parents or guardians may leave them unsupervised; their
teachers are often overburdened and lack the time to give them personal
attention. Without these traditional support systems, many young people feel
unsure of their future. To discover
their interests and direction in life, young people need opportunities to
explore ideas, feelings and possible roles in a creative way. They need to
develop emotional and social skills, as well as the skills of problem
solving, decision making, and planning for the future, which prepare them for
adult relationships and jobs, and enhance their sense of self-worth. Finally,
they need situations to which they can contribute something real and
meaningful, as well as experiences that teach them responsibility and
accountability. Relationships
with caring, interested adults are a key factor in helping young people to
grow up. Just one person who listens to a young person's opinions, concerns
and feelings without judging can create a lifeline to self-respect. This is a
traditional role of the grandparent\reassurance and support. Generating
Community creates a setting in which this type of support can be reborn. For
example, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, well-known for
violence and drug dealing, we brought Dominican teenagers together with frail
elderly people. We trained the kids to explore turning points in life, and
they interviewed the seniors about their work histories, asking questions
about how the elderly people found jobs when they were younger. This process
provided the teenagers with role models for solving problems and making
decisions in their own lives. Generational
problems are compounded by cultural issues. Like other metropolitan areas in
the United States, New York City's remarkable diversity remains a source of
both cultural richness and conflict. The "conflicts," however, get most
of the attention. With finite public resources and growing populations of
disadvantaged young and old, public policy often defines one group\such
as "youth at risk"\as "more needy" than
another\say, "impoverished elders." This false hierarchy of
needs is based on a competitive rather than a cooperative way of thinking. It
sets groups in conflict with one another\instead of recognizing that
these groups can help each other to solve their mutual needs\and keeps
them segregated in daily life. The lack of a
community meeting ground creates a sense of alienation and prejudice between
groups that occurs primarily because they don't know each other. For example,
in Flushing, Queens, where older Eastern European adults live with many
immigrants from the Pacific Rim countries, we assigned the seniors to
interview each other about the changes that had occurred in the neighborhood.
The interviews were full of remarks like: "The Koreans should go back
where they came from\what makes them think they can take over?" But
as soon as they got to know real Korean children in the workshop, the seniors
realized these kids had the same goals that the seniors' own children once
had: to get an education and a job, and to become responsible citizens. Sol's reaction
was to tell his group of children that he would be there to talk to them
anytime; he gave them his home phone number. Erna said this was the most
important program of her life because she could give the children a real
education\and she told them of her escape from Nazi Germany. The
appreciation the seniors received from the children as they shared their life
experiences was a wonderful surprise. Generating
Community's vehicle for dispelling age and cultural stereotypes is the
process of creating an intergenerational presentation. The program offers
many young people their first real friendship with an older person. One fifth
grader said: "I thought they wouldn't be interested. I really can talk
to Sol, and he gave me his phone number." A teacher remarked, "One
caring person encouraging a child can make all the difference in that child's
life. ESTA helps make those personal connections." On a practical
level, seniors feel safer walking home when they are greeted on the way by
children they know. On a deeper level, they feel needed, useful and creative.
"I like being with the children," said Mary. "I feel younger,
and they help keep me spry." Fanny said, "Children tell you the
truth about what is happening now. I like listening to them." Another
senior admitted, "I didn't expect to get so much. We really care about
each other and had a great time making the play." Generating
Community exemplifies lifelong learning. In sharing stories, both seniors and
youth learn about the past and the present. They get to play out roles that
give them a deeper understanding of the stages of life. For seniors, the
process reawakens a sense of what it was like to be children, and shows them
what children are like today. Young people tend to be isolated from elders;
the program connects them to the human story. Finally,
Generating Community demonstrates how culture builds community. At our
community presentations, the audience sees itself reflected in the Living
History play, or mural, or writings by young and old. "That's me they're
talking about!" they exclaim. "I like this because it's about my
life and what I care about." "I like how they spoke. It's honest
and about real life!" One parent
credited the program for the fact that her child behaved more respectfully at
home. She said that the oral-history interviews brought her family closer
together, and added that she was proud to see her daughter on stage. Another
parent remarked, "Every time I walk into the school and see the
Community Tree mural, I'm reminded that we are all connected." This essay
originally appeared in High Performance magazine, Spring/Summer 1995. Original CAN/API
publication: September 2002 |
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Go here for
additional reading...
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