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.
Gabe Bermudez, Peyton Broskoff, Jake Kaiser, and Danielle Matteson Etapas de la Comida is a recipe zine intended for both
current and future users of the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, as well as, University of Arizona students. For
our project, we have decided to do a recipe zine based on the different stages of life as seen in the
Celebration of Life mural by Cynthia Aponte. We will focus on childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and being
an elder. We also plan to go out into the community and go and eat at a restaurant in the Southside. We hope
to share this zine digitally with university students so that they can connect to the El Pueblo, and we also plan
to have a printed copy for the Frank De La Cruz Library so that community members can connect to the
murals by making food. The overarching goal of this project for us is to connect with the murals. We hope our
readers do this while making our collected recipes. We hope our readers will think about their own lives and
how food has played a part at every stage.
Mia Roig, Taylor Suchevits, Stevie Onaga, Jeffrey Brown, and George Downing La Moda y El Pueblo is a fashion zine inspired by
the past, present, and future of the murals and people of the El Pueblo community. We believe that fashion
connects us all and has the power to bring together communities. Fashion showcases individuality, culture,
and so much more. Our zine highlights the fashion within the community through photography, writing, and
design. We hope to encourage readers to engage with the Southside community and recognize that art and
fashion surround us in ways we do not always comprehend.
Emily Major, Olivia Green, and Edoardo Gottardi Zamperla
El Pueblo Center Activity Book/Libro de Actividadesis a children’s activity book with Leo the Librarian bringing you along through the activities. Inspired by the legacy of Frank De La Cruz, a local late librarian who was a strong and influential advocate for justice, community engagement, and literacy, we introduce “Leo the Librarian” or “Leo el Bibliotecario” as the protagonist and guide for our young readers in this interactive activity book designed for El Pueblo. In this project, we aim to cultivate a meaningful connection between young visitors and their cultural heritage. Leo is meant to personify Frank’s passion for literacy, equity, and the creation of community spaces that bring together people and literature. Through a variety of puzzles, games, and bilingual content in both English and Spanish, this book presents the artistic and cultural importance of the center’s murals in a way that is fun and educational, and encourages kids to explore the outdoors. By blending entertainment with cultural education, this activity book acts as a tool for cultural engagement.
Stephanie Husman, Lily Reese, Will Liebes, Haoxing Li
An inclusive guidebook using photography, art and spatial ethnography to celebrate local history, art, and culture in and surrounding El Pueblo, encouraging its readers to explore the center and its surrounding landmarks.
Selected pages from The Heart of Southside of Tucson along with field sketches from the guidebook by Haoxing Li.
Zuleth Gomez, Leticia Madrigal. Jack McDonald Seeks to enable UArizona students to become comfortable using public transportation that intertwines various parts of the city. Consisting of both a digital StoryMap and physical map, the project locates significant Tucson Southside cultural landmarks on the important Sunlink Bus #18 as riders make their way to the murals of El Pueblo.
Brochure for the project Navigating Tucson Cultural Treasures that locates significant Tucson Southside cultural landmarks on the important Sunlink Bus #18 as riders make their way to the murals of El Pueblo.
Raina Hayes, Giselle Pereyra, Lizeth Miranda, Bowman Roach, Senguang Li
Directories and information hubs that centralize information about El Pueblo Center to guide new users to their resources. This project seeks to revamp the site’s physical hubs with a new design, while linking them via QR code to a website that draws users to connect to a tour of its buildings, a centralized calendar, and a deeper dive about El Pueblo’s workers and its murals.
This is the virtual tour that you can find on the website, shows where each building along with a little bit about what goes on in there with pictures and small videos.