Public & Applied Humanities (PAH) 420 Innovation & the Human Condition “The Murals of El Pueblo” F2023, S2024: students deployed urban humanities methods to produce design concepts and prototypes to activate murals of El Pueblo. Prototypes include intergenerational activation strategies, interactive directories, recipe zines inspired by mural iconography, bilingual children’s activity books, Route 18 - 6th Avenue landmark bus tour and many. Brief: This course equipped students with the skills to use the humanities’ intellectual and analytical traditions to identify and pursue strategic responses to opportunities for innovation in the human condition. In collaboration with a community partner, the Sunnyside Foundation (SF), whose mission centers on service to Tucson’s Southside, this course will focus on SF’s efforts to revitalize and reactivate El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, a hub for recreational and public services, neighborly exchange and community place-keeping in the area and beyond. A key El Pueblo project SF is directing is the restoration of El Pueblo’s historic murals. These cultural treasures are visual expressions of the legacy of the site, especially its spatial identity as a node of Latine/Indigenous/mixed heritage cultural and political empowerment-- contextualized such forces as the historic Chicano movement the 60s and 70s, the vigorous environmental justice advocacy sparked in 80s that continues to this day, and the center’s dynamic leadership in spearheading intergenerational services for a diverse Southside community. Along with additional community and campus partners, we will apply a suite of applied and public humanities engagement strategies to co-produce prototypes for well-researched (visual, spatial and collaborative, archival), multi-sensory and immersive activation ideas, with a focus on digital or print publication (i.e. zines and fotonovelas etc) and mapping (counter-tours, thickmaps, StoryMaps etc), to connect the public to the rich languages and visions contained and inspired by the murals of El Pueblo Center. A program of the final course review can be accessed here.
Acknowledgements:
Fall 2023 Liz Soltero & Selina Barajas (Sunnyside Foundation); Cassandra Becerra & Netza Aguirre (Office of Congressman Raul Grijlava); Brianna Velador, Martha Diaz & John
Munoz (Frank de la Cruz Library), Nicholas McCullough, Keith Bagwell and Elvira Suarez Din (Office of Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, District 5); Adriana Gallego, Abby Christensen, Wylwyn Reyes (Arts Foundation of Southern Arizona); Jessica Wolff (Artist, Los Niños Elementary); Alfonso Chávez (Flowers and Bullets); Denisse Britto (CCP); Brittney Crawford, Stephanie Springer, Suzanne Panferov, Giulia Negretto (PAH); Alba Fernandez-Keys (Special Collections); Jennifer Nichols, Niko Sanchez, Mona Nakamura (CATalyst Studios).
Spring 2024 Veronica Mercado, Laura Corrales & Selina Barajas (Sunnyside Foundation); Cassandra Becerra & Netza Aguirre (Office of Congressman Raul Grijlava); Nicholas McCullough (Office of Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, District 5); Jasmine Chan (and Mila) (City of Tucson, Parks and Rec), Jessica Wolff (Los Niños Elementary); Anna Sanchez; Brianna Velador & Martha Diaz (Frank De La Cruz Library, Marcos & Nicky Cardenas (El Pueblo Senior Center); Gia del Pino, Lizzy Gueverra (CCP); Judd Ruggill, Brittney Crawford, Stephanie Springer, Lily Reese, Giulia Negretto, Chase Crehan, Jasmin Lopez (PAH); Lisa, Duncan, Michelle Boyer Nicole, Bob Diaz, Alba Fernandez-Keys (Special Collections); Jennifer Nichols, Rachel Castro, Gerald Zivic, Niko Sanchez (CATalyst Studios); Abby Christensen (Arts Foundation of Southern Arizona); Aika Adamson & Rebecca Ballinger (World of Words); Heather Froehlich (UArizona Libraries); Kathryn Yahner (Western National Parks Association); Feng-Feng Yeh (Chinese Chorizo Project); Alisha Vazquez (Mexican-American Museum-Sosa Carillo House)
Celebration of Life: A Cynthia Reyes Aponte Retrospective Arts & Culture Research Exhibition Sadie Beebe, Brennan Townsend, Jeremy Gabriele, Reagan James
This project celebrates Southside Tucson’s art history through an open-air exhibition and catalog that will connect the work of muralist Cynthia Reyes Aponte to other female artists in the Southside. The objective of this project is to imagine an art exhibition at El Pueblo that will be open to the community and activate the Center. The main prototype will be a catalog that accompanies and outlines the work displayed in the exhibit and a collection of writings that contribute important histories to the Southside Tucson art community.