Northside Stories

I am a person with lots of knowledge and imagination
I wonder how many stars there are in the universe
I hear dragons thundering past
I see this world living in harmony
I want to have more fun
I am a person with lots of knowledge and imagination

I pretend that D&D [Dungeons & Dragons] is real
I feel the need to find something out
I touch the air around me I worry that America will
become the bullies of the world
I feel upset that I never got to meet my grandpa
I am a person with lots of knowledge and imagination

I understand that some things don’t go my way
I say down with George Bush
I dream of many things
I try to get good grades

I hope to make a difference
I am a person with lots of knowledge and imagination

-Tiernan, 11

Portraits.
What is a portrait?
Visual, audio, written?
Concrete, ephemeral?
Staged, spontaneous?

This summer The Peace Foundation, The Walker Art Center and Northside Stories have collaborated in Portraits of Peace.
A group of youth document and gather portraits by going to several venues in Minneapolis to photograph and digitally record interviews.

Describe each other?
How long have you known each other?
How did you meet?
How are you alike?
How are you different?

How do you connect?

Concepts, words, dialogue…
My creativity for Northside Stories comes by seeking, collecting and waiting for that sentence, thought or word. I know just when to take the painting away or how to encourage someone to continue with an idea.
Over the years I have learned to hone my listening skills…to pick up the gem that is so often in the mundane…Isnt this what alot of artists do? We love the mundane, we make it beautiful by giving it life and paying attention to it.
I was privy to this stunning conversation between a mentor and a youth.

It was the end of my work day, I was getting into my car in North Miinneapolis. As I was getting ready to drive off, this small child, about 5 or 6 years old came running up to my car and waving a magazine. As I looked closer, I saw it was a Playboy. I asked him to give me the magazine so I could throw it away. After about ten minutes of my coaxing, he handed me the magazine. As he handed me the magazine he asked me “Do you have any candy?”

Self Portrait/ Self Image
Freshman Students, Ms. Eva Lockharts’ English Class
Patrick Henry High School
Winter 2005/2006

SP/SI was a series of three portraits-representational, abstract and collage.
Ultimately, I wanted students to consider media representation-specifically how media influences them.
Along with these visual pieces, I asked students questions about themselves, their neighborhood and their choices. There was also an “I am” poem written with their English teacher Ms. Lockhart.

BLIND CONTOUR , Abstract Self Portraits (shown below)
I asked students to close their eyes, imagine then draw the outline of their faces.
We then used the somewhat difficult medium of watercolor. Some students had issues letting go enough to close their eyes in order to see. One student exclaimed “I cant close my eyes. I don’t know these people around me, I don’t trust them and I don’t know what they will do!”

Maisong, Freshman, Patrick Henry High School

Antoinette, Freshman, Patrick Henry High School

Chole, Freshman, Patrick Henry High School

One of the aims of the North Side Stories project is to create public art that travels in hopes of inspiring dialogue, action and change.
Pictured below is Jim,Chairman, Hawthorn Area Community Council, sporting a NSS T Shirt.
Interested in owning your own NSS T ? Drop us a line, tell us your story!

Also feel free to email Roberta@folwell.org or Vann@folwell.org

I think I have the most wonderful job. I get to be creative all day long. I hang out with people and write down all the gems they say, I paint, I meet, I draw, I write, I am challenged…
This was a conversation between Jarret, 8 (City Kids) and Io, 35 while working on a mural.

Io: “Why dont you dance?”
Jarret: “There isn’t any music.”
Io: “You’ve got music in your heart.”
Jarret: “I know but I dont know what part.”

The mural is first in a series that will be hung along Fremont Ave. N.
This one is titled “Underwater”.
Images by City Kids youth, arranged and painted by Io Palmer with help from City Kids.

These are excerpts from Self Portrait/Self Image, an ongoing arts project asking youth to look at themselves in relationship to society, media and culture. The pilot project was done in collaboration with Ms. Eva Lockhart, english teacher at Patrick Henry High School.

These pieces were created by Maimee and Jasmine, Freshman, North Minneapolis.

When asking young people what their thoughts are on art, this one stood out as eloquent and clear.
The images are part of Self Portrait/Self Image, a project done with freshman students from Patrick Henry High School. Students were asked to consider how they see themselves in relationship to media culture.

A simple and thought provoking poster collaboratively created for North Side Stories.