INC NEWS - MURAL TOUR BY BUS or BIKE: this Sat.

[RW Pickle]

Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life
MURAL TOUR BY BUS or BIKE w/ Brett Cook
Saturday, September 13, 2008, 2–6 p.m.
7 sites  •  13 murals
Tour begins at the Center for Documentary Studies, 1317 W. Pettigrew
Street, Durham
DIRECTIONS: http://cds.aas.duke.edu/about/here.html

Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life, a collaborative public art
project in Durham, North Carolina, engaged more than 1,500 people in a
series of events that fostered new connections and dialogue, expanded
awareness of local history, and resulted in the creation of fourteen
permanent public murals. Now installed on the exterior walls of
businesses, schools, and other publicly accessible places downtown and in
Southwest Central Durham, these murals reflect the creative involvement of
toddlers, elementary school children, middle and high school students,
college students, professors, neighborhood residents, and elders­wealthy
and working class; African American, Latino, Anglo, and Asian. The project
opened artistic and documentary processes to many groups and individuals
whose paths had never crossed.

The collaboratively created artworks are a visual reminder of the Face Up
project's powerful practices, which gave participants the chance to
experience being in community together. One participant shared, "We were
not there to root for our team, or listen to a lecture, or to watch our
kids in a play. We were gathered together to make art, think about the
significance of our community, and share our ideas."

To honor both the history of Durham and contemporary life and culture,
several of the murals depict Pauli Murray­selected as the central figure
for this project because of her Durham roots and her journey as a champion
for civil and human rights. A historian, attorney, poet, activist,
teacher, and Episcopal priest, she worked to address injustice, inspire
community action, and promote reconciliation among cultures and economic
classes. Her eloquent words express her vision for true community just as
the statements that accompany the Durham Community Portraits reflect the
views of the residents they depict.

Pauli Murray was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1910. When she was three
years old her mother died, and she moved to Durham, North Carolina, to
live with her aunt and maternal grandparents. A professor of American
studies at Brandeis University from 1968 to 1973, she was the editor of
States' Laws on Race and Color, which catalogued state statutes that
discriminated against African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, and
other groups. She was a co-founder of the National Organization for Women
and the first African American woman Episcopal priest. Her other books
include Dark Testament and Other Poems; Proud Shoes: The Story of an
American Family; Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage; and
Selected Sermons and Writings, edited by Anthony Pinn. Pauli Murray and
Caroline Ware: Forty Years of Letters in Black and White, edited by Anne
Firor Scott, was published in 2006.

Brett Cook creates objects and experiences that defy classification in any
single discipline. His work has been shown at museums and galleries since
1991, concurrent with a practice manifested in public projects since 1984.
His community-based projects have focused on such diverse subjects as
spirituality, poets and intellectuals, politics, and place. Cook's art has
been recognized and included in exhibitions at the Smithsonian's National
Portrait Gallery and Anacostia Museum, as well as galleries in New York,
Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco and at universities in Arizona,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, and Ohio. His work has also been
featured in the New York Times and Art in America. Equally notable is his
approach­the attentiveness he demonstrates when listening to the community
members with whom he works, and the environment he creates to support
opportunities for growth. Cook was the Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair
Professor for Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University
and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in spring 2008.
http://www.brett-cook.com

Face Up is a project of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke
University in association with the Southwest Central Durham Quality of
Life Project and the Duke University Office of Community Affairs.
http://www.faceupproject.org

Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
http://cds.aas.duke.edu

Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project
http://www.durhamqualityoflife.org

Face Up is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council with funding from
the state of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts. Other
major supporters and partners are the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation; the
Mary D.B.T. Semans Foundation; the Council for the Arts, Office of the
Provost, Duke University; the Visual Studies Initiative, Duke University;
the Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies, Duke University;
the Office of the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government
Relations, Duke University; the Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair
Professorship in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke
University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; TROSA
(Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers); Greenfire
Development; the Durham Food Co-op; Lakewood Elementary School; the
Chameleon; the Azteca Grill; the Institute for Southern Studies; and the
Lakewood-Tuscaloosa Neighborhood Association.


FACE UP: COLLABORATIVE ARTWORKS IN DURHAM
The tour begins at the Center for Documentary Studies, 1317 West Pettigrew
Street, Durham, at 2:00 p.m.

1  [arrive 2:20, Depart 2:45]
Pauli Murray and True Community  •  TROSA Furniture, with support from
Greenfire Development, 313 Foster Street
"True Community is based upon equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. It
affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human
ties that bind us together."­Pauli Murray, "Challenge of Nurturing the
Christian Community in Its Diversity," sermon, March 1979

2  [arrive 2:55, Depart 3:20]
Pauli Murray Roots and Soul  •  Durham Food Co-op, 1101 West Chapel Hill
Street
"It has taken me almost a lifetime to discover that true emancipation lies
in the acceptance of the whole past, in deriving strength from all my
roots, in facing up to the degradation as well as the dignity of all my
ancestors."­Pauli Murray, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family

3  [arrive 3:30, Depart 4:15]
Aztec Calendar  •  Azteca Grill, 1929 Chapel Hill Road
There was not just one Aztec calendar; there were two. The xiuhpohualli
(year count) had 365 days and was a solar and agricultural calendar. The
tonalpohualli (day count) calendar had 260 days and was the sacred
calendar, used for divination. Together the two calendars formed a
fifty-two-year century, the Calendar Round. In Aztec cosmology the
equilibrium of the universe is always in danger, and the tonalpohualli was
created to bring balance. The notion that everything consists of two
opposing forces was essential to the Aztecs.

Pauli Murray and the Virgen de Guadalupe  •  Institute for Southern
Studies, 2009 Chapel Hill Road
The Virgen de Guadalupe is a significant cultural and religious symbol in
Mexico, and for many people she represents a loving, affirming presence.
Pauli Murray was the first African American woman ordained to the
priesthood in the Episcopal Church; she preached about diversity,
wholeness, and community, and her life and work are an inspiration.

Avalokiteshvara Buddha  •  The Chameleon, 2013 Chapel Hill Road
In Sanskrit, the name Avalokiteshvara refers to the power of seeing. This
enlightened figure is never blind to the suffering of any living being.
Avalokiteshvara is sometimes called the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion­he
is one who works to create well-being in others.

4 [arrive 4:25, Depart 4:45]
Pauli Murray, a Youthful Spirit   •  Lakewood Elementary School, 2520
Vesson Avenue
Pauli Murray, a member of the influential Fitzgerald family, spent her
formative years in Durham, where she developed dignity, self-respect, and
an appetite for achievement.

5  [arrive 4:55, Depart 5:30]
Durham Community Portraits  •  TROSA, 1820 James Street
These seven murals depict families, students, and activists from Southwest
Central Durham neighborhoods. Framing the images are the residents' own
ideas about the meaning of community.

The tour ends at the Center for Documentary Studies at 6:00.

------------------------------------------
Lynn McKnight
Associate Director for Programs and Communications
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
1317 W. Pettigrew Street
Durham, NC 27705
919-660-3663
919-681-7600 (fax)
http://cds.aas.duke.edu