Summary of C3: Meeting 3, Tuesday March 7th 6pm-8pm
Written by: C3 Intern, Karen Mestizo 

After bringing C3 members up to speed on the last two meetings, artists presented a recap of what their projects will capture and what conclusions have been made about the direction of the physical form (see bullet points below). We then encouraged everyone it would be best to split the group between advocates and former/current foster youth.

Former and current foster youth helped by providing their perspectives on their experiences to better help Bridget and Elliot understand what next steps to take for the projects around creating a visual and emotional experience for visitors. Advocates lent their knowledge on what “little things” would benefit foster youth at Melody’s table, as well as collaborated and brainstormed with Lauren, MAH’s new and eager Dialogue Catalyst, on how to extend the exhibition through community engagement activities. 

Here is an update on the artists projects:

Melody will be creating a project around the Little Things using thread and weaving techniques. Melody worked with the youth to explore what kinds of small actions make foster youth feel appreciated. She will be weaving in strips of papers that have writing on simple ways people can help foster youth. People will be able to grab the strips straight from the art piece. Melody was gracious enough to bring in a prototype of what the project of “The Little Things” could possibly resemble, although she imagines the installation will be a lot larger than in the picture. 

Prototype of Melody Overstreet’s weaving project

Elliott will be building a 3D project around resiliency, and though it is still unclear what the form will take and how the content will be projected, but he was hopeful that the meeting would help guide him to a clearer conclusion. Some questions Elliott asked at the meeting were, “what is resiliency?” and “how do you become resilient?”

Understanding resilience in Elliott Taylor’s project

Bridget introduced us to her artistic stop-motion skills and communicated that her project will take this form along with the content being represented as metaphors. Bridget created an extensive questionnaire that asked questions like, “if hope was an object what would it look like?”; “if your house(s) in foster care were found in nature, what would it be?”; “if the event that put you in foster care was a kind of weather or natural disaster what would it be?”…among many more! Former and current foster youth were free to answer any of the questions.

Video still from Bridget Henry’s stop-motion example

I once again I had the awesome opportunity to be in Bridgett’s workshop. When I began reading the questions, I hesitated to answer. Not because I didn’t want to, but rather because the questions took me back in time and required deep thinking of what my experience was like. As I looked around the table, I also noted my experience was shared as people gazed into the distance deep in their thoughts. Some shared that their experiences resembled a tsunami. The tidal waves were coming in slowly and quietly, but within an instance they were hit with waves drowning them all at once. The questions were a brilliant way of gathering true and delicate experiences for the project’s content around experiences of transition age foster youth through artful storytelling that will also spark empathy.

We ended the night in laughter with a closing activity that turned us into a musical train. Though we can reach deeply into shared personal experiences, it is also important to infuse some fun and play into the mix! Our silly musical beats wrapped up our night, and we can now look forward to our next gathering on Tuesday, April 11th. Click here for more photos of our night together.