Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life

Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life is a documentary/public art project that created large murals aimed at expanding awareness of historic and contemporary persons and places in Southwest Central Durham. It grew out of local conversations about neighborhood goals, and combined an artist's residency with collaborative documentary exploration and art-making in community settings.  Primary partners in this project were the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University, the Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project (QOL), and Duke University Office of Community Affairs. This video captures the final public event in this project, Durham Get Together, held April 28, 2008, at the Center for Documentary Studies in Durham. It features comments from artist Brett Cook and CDS Community Documentary Programs Director Barbara Lau.

Go here to view video.

Additional videos and information:

Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life Documentary Video (from the Face Up exhibition):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnnd7U1Ju18

Duke News video highlighting the Face Up: Community Art Fiesta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqW3EAXaHUc&feature=relate

"It had taken me about a lifetime to discover that true emancipation lies in the acceptance of the whole past, in deriving strength from all of my roots, in facing up to the degradation as well as the dignity of my ancestors." This quote from Pauli Murray appears on the Durham Food Co-op building, Durham North Carolina.

Text from Pauli Murray is projected on the front of the Lakewood Elementary School building, Durham, North Carolina, as part of the installation process. This is the third of five works from the Pauli Murray Series in the Face Up: Telling Stories of Community LIfe Project.

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