Common Ground

People ask about the relationship between community organizing and social practice or community art. I do think it can be complex. On Common Ground we worked in collaboration with a community organizing group from Albuquerque that I respect. What I found, however, was the creative language our 150-person ensemble from three different communities (white, native and Hispanic/Latino) did not want to fit into any conventional political language of urgency. The project was transformational, I was often told, as personal agency and broken relationships to self and others were healed, youth voices were lifted, inequities and shadows were named and addressed, and the community expressions were were lifted and witnessed. I heard the phrase we are breaking the cycle. Songs of intergenerational common visions and wisdoms, poems about relationship to the earth, creative dialogues about racial and economic injustice and trauma were deeply and honestly addressed. Healing happened. This created a context and living narrative that enabled healing and resilience as opposed to a story of depletion and defeat that was weighing many people down.

In the end a community saw itself anew as a cross-section of participants from those traumatized communities expressed their truths, intuitions and powerful imaginations. Their expressions addressed their trauma with courage, vulnerability and powerful expressions of their fierce and undeniable resilence and creativity.

A bit of history….

In 2008, Littleglobe launched its first Common Ground project in rural New Mexico. Commissioned by the NM Arts and Social Justice Committee and in partnership with The Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Southwest Organizing Project, Littleglobe chose to base its first rural collaboration in the small town of Cuba and the two eastern Diné (Navajo) villages of Ojo Encino and Torreon.

These interrelated communities are deeply affected by racism, poverty and homelessness. The struggle to survive reinforces differences between these communities, and yet they share a basic desire for connection and growth and incredible expressions of resilience.

During the fall of 2007, the Littleglobe team visited the area, getting to know firefighters, teachers, health care workers, artists and a wide range of other community residents in the TOC area. From January to June, 150 residents (including high school students at Cuba High School and middle school students in Ojo Encino and Torreon), ages 5-85, came together on a weekly basis for fellowship, creative exercises, and community dialogue.

The diverse ensemble then created and produced a multi-media festival of music, original films, movement, spoken word, poetry that reflected the history, challenges, joys and dreams of the group.

Common Ground TOC Documentary

The Common Ground TOC Festival was a testament to communities coming together, across many boundaries, to create a collective vision. Residents subsequently formed the TOC Regional Community Council/I-YOU, now administering art and community development projects in the area. Littleglobe continues to work with the council, supporting their impressive efforts toward transforming their community.