The Austin Project
Joni L. Jones/Omi Osun Olomo
University of Texas at Austin
The Austin Project was born out of my desire to move more vigorously toward social change. My 20 plus years teaching in the classroom had allowed me to share ideas about society and art, and reshape my own, through the stimulating exchange with a wide range of students. My equal time spent as a professional performer (albeit, in the evenings after classes and meetings, around grading and publishing and conferencing) gave me an opportunity to embody the transgressive strategies of a jazz aesthetic and Theatre of the Oppressed. Neither the classroom nor the performance space seemed to provide the most appropriate or effective space for the direct personal and political confrontation that I feel is necessary in order for radical and abiding social change to take place. Activism in the classroom is deemed tyrannical coercion, and activism on stage is denigrated as unprofessional, sloppy, and naïve.
In 2003, without a fully formed idea yet to hold, I approached a friend, Lambda Award-winning writer Sharon Bridgforth about serving as Anchor Artist for a project I was developing. At that time, I only knew I wanted to bring together artists, scholars, and activists because I knew firsthand that these groups worked tirelessly in their own domains to try to bring the values of justice and peace to a beleaguered world. Each of these groups have specific methodologies they employ, each of these groups knows the value of hard work, and each of these groups puts their own philosophies on the line often amid controversy and hostility. Artists, scholars, and activists share passion and commitment though their approaches to their work differ. Artists and activists are generally accustomed to working as a collective. They must decide how decisions will be made, they must listen to contrary opinions from within their own group, and they must learn to negotiate in such a way that the good of the whole will hold sway. Scholars are typically rewarded for solo work—the single authored essay or book remains the primary way in which promotion and prestige are granted; yet, the research skills that unearth necessary details, the writing skills that require synthesis, clarity and zeal, and the teaching skills that insist upon interpersonal responsiveness join the scholar to the detail and passion of the artist and to the endurance and commitment to a collective of the activist. I felt that if each of these groups shared their methods with the others, each group could walk away with a new set of approaches that could re-invigorate their work.
With these ideas only partially articulated for myself, I invited Sharon to head a yet unidentified group of artists, scholars, and activists. Sharon brought to the project her seasoned experience leading intensive writing workshops and her training in the New Bridges Dismantling Oppression Facilitation Technique. From this previous work, she had a clear idea about the group with whom she wanted to work. As we talked, we realized that to do the personally transformative work that we believed was critical for lasting social change, we needed a group with some common denominators to lessen the internal barriers the group might face. If the intra-group tensions were too great, Sharon and I could not get to the core personal work that was essential. In this way, it was decided that the group would be women, and primarily women of color.
I then invited several women to participate in an 11-week workshop to explore identity and society by learning writing techniques based on a rigorous interrogation of personal truths. We were to meet every Saturday for three hours under Sharon’s leadership. Three guest artists would join us during the 11 weeks to offer additional ways of exploring personal honesty and ways of incorporating those discoveries into our writing. I chose women who fit into one or more of the designated categories, and women who could commit to 11 weeks of intense work.
I now know that this work owes a debt to June Jordan’s Poetry for the People, though I was unaware of Jordan’s magnificent venture before I started The Austin Project. I did know of Anna Deavere Smith’s Art and Civic Dialogue at Harvard, and from that work I realized that local artists should be fully integrated into The Austin Project, not only as audience members as with ACD but as workshop participants and artists themselves alongside the nationally acclaimed guest artists. From SueWood’s Animating Democracy I realized that it was risky business to have the TAP participants perform in a traditional theatrical context in which traditional theatrical expectations of style and experience were the norm. Instead, I chose venues and encouraged particular aesthetics that suggested the audience experience this work using a different set of standards.
The Guest Artists included Laurie Carlos, Robbie McCauley, Daniel Alexander Jones and Carl Hancock Rux. The Austin artists who opened for them were Zell Miller III, Dashade, Marta Perez and Eric Dannenbaum, and Darla Johnson. The workshop participants included
Scholars Lisa Moore (Faculty, UT), Gloria Gonzales (Faculty, UT), Detine Bowers (Faculty, HT), Rosalee Martin (Faculty, HT), Joni L. Jones/Omi Osun Olomo (Faculty, UT), Jane Park (Grad Student, UT), Shannon Baley (Grad Student, UT), Amber Feldman (Grad Student, UT), Tracey Swan (Grad Student, UT), Courtney Morris (Grad Student, UT)
Artists Florinda Bryant, Shia Barnett, Carole Metellus, Angela Kariotis, Jackie Lawton,
Activists Rajasvini Bhansali, Geeta Cowlagi, Theresa Burke-Garcia, Monique Cortez, Deisi Perez, Adrienne Baker, Erika Gonzales, Bianca Flores, Krissy Mahan, Kristen Gerhard.
This work has changed the lives of the women involved and the lives of many audience members who served as witnesses. In order to extend the reach even further, a forthcoming book will detail the work of TAP including philosophy, exercises, and the writing that was generated over the three years of its existence. The genuine work to collaborate and to produce art that transform both the writer and her witnesses has given me courage and inspiration to stay on the front lines of the struggle for a peaceful and just society.
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