What does it mean to care for a place? Stories South of 22nd SS22.ST is a digital hub featuring an ongoing collaboration between Sunnyside Foundation (SF), whose mission centers on service to Tucson’s Southside and the University of Arizona, working to bring the Southside’s cultural, historical and speculative imaginaries into the public eye.
This site hopes to showcase what re-investment by and for the community looks like on the ground. Together with stakeholders, the collaboration results in an ongoing portfolio of exchanges that SS22.ST documents, including site-specific courses, community storytelling, arts and culture activations and creative making projects that narrate the treasures Southside holds, the caretaking its residents embody and the changes they seek to manifest. Drawing from a blended “urban humanities” research toolkit from urban planning, design and the humanities, these project build on case studies, visual literacy, archival research, mapping/site plans, site visits, community storytelling, spatial ethnography, pin-ups, community photo-shoots, image co-creation, co-curation, modeling, and other methods to bring the stories South of 22nd to life.
The heart of the Southside. Beginning in 2023, Sunnyside Foundation (SF), began directing reinvestment energies toward reactivating El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, a Southside hub for public services, neighborly exchange and community place-keeping in the area and beyond. Located at the intersection of Irvington & Sixth, it is adjacent to the Laos Transit center and the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, houses such key Tucson Chicano cultural landmarks as the Frank De La Cruz Public Library and the headquarters of US Congressman Raúl Grijalva.
Artist Collaboration The site features two collages created by Jessica Wolff, the first, a través de nuestros ojos / through our eyes as part of the landing page, and the second, de nuestras manos / from our hands to lead the feed.
The artist developed southside shapes, a collection of abstracted icons that are referenced in the collages and throughout the site, shaping ss.22.st’s graphic identity. As they write: “The shapes were created with the intention to build a visual identity of Tucson’s Southside through iconography. By mixing both geometric and organic shapes in this collection, the hope is to better reflect Tucson’s Southside desert and urban landscapes.”
a través de nuestros ojos / through our eyes, Jessica Wolde nuestras manos / from our hands