Rollins College – PWAU Project Page
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The Sanford Project - Rollins College
Grantee: Olivia Zuk
Title: Student
Based on the question, “How do you picture your community?” The Sanford Project uses photography to capture people’s culture and landscape to show that the news media’s portrayal of a particular area should not always be taken as fact. This project aims to have a diverse group of participants in Sanford, FL make photographs of the culture and landscape they know and love — the way they see it. Project participants will document the culture of primarily African American neighborhoods and lower income areas; community events such as front porch barbeques, church, and neighborhood gatherings; the Sanford Flea Market; the local culture of basketball, clubs, and lifestyle events; the downtown’s business owners, cultural events, and music scene; local political life; as well as the rich history of Sanford through the Historical District and the Historical Society. The project culminates in a community exhibition that showcases the participants’ work. To continue the message of the Sanford, Florida project beyond the exhibition, the organizers are designing a website inviting people from all over the world to submit photo essays that share a vision of their communities. The organizers hope that people will be inspired to take pride in their community as a result of this project.
View project website
Tumblr:
http://sanfordproject.tumblr.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TheSanfordProject
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/thesanfordproject
Exhibition at Orange Studio - Sanford, Florida:
http://thesanfordproject.com/the-show/
The Sanford Project featured via Orlando Weekly:
http://orlandoweekly.com/arts/visual/the-sanford-project-weaves-together-a-community-1.1636589
What is the story that you will convey through the project? How do you hope people will think or act differently as a result of your project?
The story of this project is one of history and value. Sanford Florida is suffering because of the media's exaggerations of real life events. People now fear Sanford because of one incident. The same is true for places like Detroit, Syria, and Egypt. We want this project to encourage people to take their lens and capture the culture and landscape they know and love the way they see it. We think it is important to have many perspectives challenging the stereotypes.
We want the world to see a diversity of people who value their history, their culture, and their community and how each is special and unique. We hope people will think differently about places they once feared. We this will open peoples minds. We hope this will inspire people to take pride in their community and find something special about it.
How are you going to create an event that brings together people from different disciplines and backgrounds?
The internet is a powerful tool for connecting people from all over the world. I am going to build a website out of the project in which people can submit their own photo essays that highlight their communities. I have friends attending Change Maker Campuses that are of diverse backgrounds. They will be involved in adding their perspectives and culture backgrounds. I will be calling in faculty members who specialize in Philosophy, Historic Preservation, English, and Environmental Urbanism to draw the connection between culture and landscape. These faculty members have been chosen because of their involvement in the community and the school. Culture is a multitude of religion, architecture, environment, and language and each student/professor can shine light on these topics. Each submission on the website grows the web or what we know and understand of culture and landscape.
Grantee:
Olivia Zuk
I am a full time student at Rollins College studying Environmental Studies - Civic Urbanism. I work part-time at a marketing company Go Big Marketing and at Rollins Radio WPRK 91.5 as a show host and Music Director. My radio show aims at bringing issues to light and connecting the artistic community. I bring a variety of people on the air from people who make their own coffee, local zine creators, and national touring bands. I have worked with Global Peace Film Festival and interviewed film makers on the air. I have written for music blogs and interned at professional music and marketing agencies. I am very passionate about my community and environment. I believe both are inextricably bound and by protecting the environment the community is built stronger.
Collaborators:
Julian Chambliss: Associate Professor of History at Rollins College
Photographers:
Peter Gonzalez: International Studies at Rollins College
Danielle Darden: Russian Studies at Rollins College Alumni
Destiny Deming: Photography at Daytona State College
Christopher Garcia: Photography at Daytona State College Alumni
Aaron Harriss: English at Rollins College, Photography at Daytona State College Alumni
Victor Rollins: Photography at Daytona State College Alumni
Writers:
Lauren Cooper: Communication Studies and International Business at Rollins College
Lauren Silvestri: English at Rollins College
Public Relations:
Hannah Zuk: GO BIG Marketing, Accounts Manager
Patrick Greene: The Gallery at Avalon Island, Gallery Director
Leila Grey: University of Central Florida
Web Development:
Elvis Guillen
Faculty Advisors:
Richard Reep: Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Rollins College
Christine Dalton: Associate Professor of History Preservation at Rollins College, Community Planner/ Historic
Preservation Officer of Sanford, Florida
Dawn Roe: Assistant Professor of Art at Rollins College
Julian Chambliss: Associate Professor of History at Rollins College
Chief Editor:
Rachel Gonzalez: English at Rollins College
What expertise and experience equips you to lead this project?
I am equipped to lead the project because of my network. " I have stood on the shoulders of giants" (Isaac Newton). I am extremely lucky to attend a magnificent school with brilliant faculty and students that are my colleagues and collaborators. I idolize the genius and artistic talents of this community. I am an excellent communicator and have access to a form of media (the radio) that allows me to reach over ten thousand listeners in just the Orlando area. I currently work with marketing and know how to build websites, graphic design, and operate social media effectively. I am driven and organized. Leadership is a quality I naturally possess and have experience in many leadership positions from team captains to managing. I can direct a tasks in order to make sure they are done timely and effectively. I am a loyal and trusted hard worker.
What are your ideas for keeping the dialogue and community going?
The dialogue in the community will continue through featuring the work of community members and different communities. We aim to highlight an artist or artisan each month and ask people to submit their or a friends work. We hope this project will take off in other cities, states, or countries and inspire them to capture what makes their community special. We will also feature their work. Localism, markets, and artists make communities stronger, they are also sustainable. Local artist and museum curator Patrick Greene is working on a project called the “Transit Interpretation Project (TRIP)” where local artists are given a day pass to ride the bus then a month to create art capturing the experience in any medium they wish. I participated in this project with a photographer on the Sanford Project. We are working on ways to further collaborate with TRIP and the network of artists involved with it. We want community pride to create sustainable living. We also want people to see the world outside of the images we are berated with by the media. If people are inspired to go out and capture their world we want to share it with the world. We have a few collaborations in the works that we are very excited about. Florida writer and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Bill Bellville reached out to us and I am meeting with him next week to talk about collaborating and his views on Sanford. He is introducing me to his friend who is currently making a documentary on Sanford with the same goals of exploring the Travyon Martin case and its effect on Sanford.