Stuart Chittenden and The Union for Contemporary Art: Stories from the Redline
Stuart Chittenden and The Union for Contemporary Art: Stories from the Redline
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
KHN Alum (2018), Omaha, NE Interdisciplinary Artist and conversationalist, Stuart Chittenden, invites Omaha, NE / Metro Area community members to share their testimony on how the legacy of Redlining has impacted their personal lived experiences in a new phase of the Undesign the Redline exhibit, Stories from the Redline - Documenting Experiences of Housing Discrimination in Omaha. The Undesign the Redline exhibit seeks to create a space where truth-telling can flourish.
From The UNION for Contemporary Arts:
The new project, Stories from the Redline, began last December, with the mission of further deepening community connection and bringing long-hidden truths to light with the hope of inspiring change. Community members are invited to join Chittenden in creating a recorded testimony of their personal experience. Individuals of all generations who have been impacted by Redlining and other forms of institutionalized racism or who have visited the exhibition and been touched by its emotional and moral resonance are invited to participate.
Chittenden notes: “The practice of Redlining was inherently damaging to communities and our sense of being connected to each other. Sharing stories enables us to perceive the impact of this on people’s lives, to bear witness to people’s experiences, and to begin the process of dismantling the barriers – social, economic, and geographic – erected between us.”
An archive of the recorded interviews will be held publicly online, serving as an extension of the Undesign the Redline exhibit. Selections of testimony will also be integrated into the exhibit itself, allowing visitors to situate national patterns of discrimination within the personal lived experiences of Omaha residents. Most importantly, though, the Stories from the Redline project seeks to contribute to a community-wide conversation about race, racism, and systemic inequity while outlining steps toward building a better future.
As Chittenden says: “We affirm the dignity of our neighbors by listening and sharing.”
To share your personal Redline testimony, please fill out the short questionnaire at the link below to start the process. (see link) You can also reach out to Stuart Chittenden directly at stuart@u-ca.org to schedule a time to share your personal Redline testimony.
Omaha residents may be most familiar with Stuart Chittenden’s “Lives” radio talk show which has aired weekly on KXNB Mind & Soul since January 2017, featuring interviews with numerous prominent community members engaging in awareness-raising dialogue.
Chittenden observes: “I’ve learned that everyone has a deep need to be heard; to be really seen and appreciated as a person. Everyone has a story. Everyone matters. People just need a space in which they can share something of themselves with someone who is there with one purpose: to listen.”
All show details via The Union for Contemporary Arts website, and Stuart Chittenden's instagram (see below). For more about Chittenden, follow the links below, including Stuart's TedEX talk, and also see his bio in our Resident Directory.
Congratulations, Stuart!
Photo credit: Stuart Chittenden's headshot by Andrew Marinkovich. All other photos via UNION for Contemporary Art's website.
