Hello friends,
I recently had the joy of working with fourth and fifth-grade students, creating silkscreen posters for their civil rights club. It was an unexpected ray of light that I didn’t know I needed, underscoring the generative power of co-created projects in the community. The experience also reminded me of a Grace Lee Boggs quote that continues to influence my practice as both an artist and an educator: “Movements are born of critical connections rather than critical mass.”
While making posters with fourth and fifth-grade students isn’t community organizing, it is a way to start cultivating a sense of interrelatedness and engage in the process of bridging and belonging right where you are. Bridging is building shared spaces where individuals can come together across difference to engage in creative expression as co-creators who embody different identities and viewpoints. Scholar John A. Powell suggests starting with “short bridges” closer to home and looking for ways to “make belonging infectious”. In our homes, neighborhoods, towns and cities we could begin to experiment with different forms of creative expression to animate our connections with each other, to make visible and amplify the breadth of social and cultural experiences and identities in our community. Yes, we can even start with fourth and fifth-grade students at our local elementary school. Over time, bridging pushes us to move beyond individualized strategies and network building to the deeper work of social healing and exploring the root causes of cultural and structural power imbalances and historical inequities.
Legendary civil rights activist and organizer Grace Lee Boggs called people to be both “imaginative and generative”. Her ideas of transformative organizing stressed the critical importance of human relationships for imagining a new concept of citizenship and forming movements capable of changing the conditions of communities from the ground up. Growing these critical connections is essential for joining our many short bridges to a broader, more inclusive pathway leading us toward life-affirming directions and community belonging.
We are building and supporting a few other short bridges this summer and shared the details below. We hope to see you there!
Another world is possible.
Fundraiser Print for Central Maine Pride
We released a larger scale print of this community favorite to raise funds for Central Maine Pride. The print is a two color screen print, 9 x 12 inches, incorporating an original woodcut in the design. You can purchase this limited edition print at our storefront studio in Waterville or email us to ship.
Maine International Film Festival Free Community Workshop
Stop by our storefront studio in Waterville on July 15 from 10am -12 to make a screen print during the Maine International Film Festival, and see a film while you are in town! MIFF runs from July 11-20 in Waterville, Maine.
Colby College Museum of Art Community Day
This annual community-wide celebration is hosted at the Colby Museum on campus July 26 from 12-4PM. Free and for all ages, the museum brings local partner organizations, businesses, community groups, and artists in for a day of art making, games, tours, music, performances, and food. Hinge Collaborative is offering a stamp carving workshop inspired by the exhibition Gertrude Abercrombie, The Whole World is a Mystery. Participants can print their stamp into a community accordion book and make individual prints to take home.
Who We Are
Hinge Collaborative is the artist team of Séan Alonzo Harris and Elizabeth Jabar.
Growing up we experienced the power of art as a place of refuge and an expression of our true selves. We both spent time in after-school arts programs with teachers and mentors who showed us that art-making was our first voice, a way to be seen and communicate with the world. Making art unlocked our purpose, gave meaning to our lives and provided a space for joy, healing, community, and pathway to our future.
After 30 years of experience in making, exhibiting, teaching and public engagement initiatives, we opened a creative studio to share our models and strategies for socially engaged art and civic action. Our creative practice includes workshops, exhibitions, participatory projects, limited edition prints, photographs, and community partnerships.
Thank you friend!
Much love and respect ❤️🔥