“The Laramie Project” as Community Based Art
Is the “Laramie Project” community based art(CBA)? Well, on the surface, the “Laramie Project,” a play that consists of dialogue taken directly from community interview, seems like CBA: it contains community and art elements. However, if we truly ponder whether or not the “Laramie Project” ought be defined as community based art, a further question emerges: what makes some artistic piece one that is CBA? And does the “Laramie Project” fit this mold? This paper serves to show that the “Laramie Project” is, in fact, community based art; further, this paper serves to clarify for the fear of potential confusion on future literature “the Laramie Project”: one cannot rightly judge or understand a piece …show more content…
It seems so for multiple reasons. For one, as the crew interviewed people in the town, some people argued that the murder of Matthew Shepard misrepresented the town; others argued the opposite. This exemplifies the community’s self awareness because people began to wonder: what does Laramie represent? Also, “the Laramie Project” crew lessened criticality by interview all who were willing; they were not biased to one certain group. Everyone had an equal voice in “the Laramie Project.” Further, when the play was presented back to the town, it existed as a literal representation of Laramie after the death of Matthew Shepard. This, in itself, supplies self-awareness to Laramie: people of the community could view themselves from the outside in. This, unless the viewer were literally brain dead, must lead to some internal reflection on Laramie: the mind reflects as one watches the play. It seems clear, then, that the “Laramie Project” correlates to the first part of Helguera’s claim-- that CBA tends to pronounce a community’s self-awareness by reduction of criticality. Yet, does the “Laramie Project” also correlate to the second part of Helguera’s claim-- that CBA tends to promote positive social …show more content…
For example, the “Laramie Project” seems to promote both diversity and acceptance. These are not done outright, but, rather, these two qualities are woven into the structure of the play. By way of illustration, the playwrights did not alter any dialogue given to them in interviews: they accepted all views though they may have disagreed with some (e.g. the priest they meet on the strip). And while this directly shows the promotion of acceptance, it also implies the promotion of diversity. To find the direct promotion of diversity, however, it must be said that there are many varied voices in the “Laramie Project.” From people who are against a gay lifestyle, to people who support gay rights, to people who are gay themselves, to people who are sad about the incident, to people who are angry about the incident, there is no shortage of diverse voices in the “Laramie Project.”
When it comes to Helguera’s claim, then-- that community based art is a medium that pronounces a community’s self-awareness via a reduction of criticality; community based art is a medium that promotes positive social values-- it seems clear that the “Laramie Project” directly correlates to this idea, or quality, of community based art. To further solidify the “Laramie Project” as CBA, however, there exists a model, called CRAFT, that some professionals use as guidelines to create effective community based art. Can CRAFT be found in the “Laramie
Is the “Laramie Project” community based art(CBA)? Well, on the surface, the “Laramie Project,” a play that consists of dialogue taken directly from community interview, seems like CBA: it contains community and art elements. However, if we truly ponder whether or not the “Laramie Project” ought be defined as community based art, a further question emerges: what makes some artistic piece one that is CBA? And does the “Laramie Project” fit this mold? This paper serves to show that the “Laramie Project” is, in fact, community based art; further, this paper serves to clarify for the fear of potential confusion on future literature “the Laramie Project”: one cannot rightly judge or understand a piece …show more content…
It seems so for multiple reasons. For one, as the crew interviewed people in the town, some people argued that the murder of Matthew Shepard misrepresented the town; others argued the opposite. This exemplifies the community’s self awareness because people began to wonder: what does Laramie represent? Also, “the Laramie Project” crew lessened criticality by interview all who were willing; they were not biased to one certain group. Everyone had an equal voice in “the Laramie Project.” Further, when the play was presented back to the town, it existed as a literal representation of Laramie after the death of Matthew Shepard. This, in itself, supplies self-awareness to Laramie: people of the community could view themselves from the outside in. This, unless the viewer were literally brain dead, must lead to some internal reflection on Laramie: the mind reflects as one watches the play. It seems clear, then, that the “Laramie Project” correlates to the first part of Helguera’s claim-- that CBA tends to pronounce a community’s self-awareness by reduction of criticality. Yet, does the “Laramie Project” also correlate to the second part of Helguera’s claim-- that CBA tends to promote positive social …show more content…
For example, the “Laramie Project” seems to promote both diversity and acceptance. These are not done outright, but, rather, these two qualities are woven into the structure of the play. By way of illustration, the playwrights did not alter any dialogue given to them in interviews: they accepted all views though they may have disagreed with some (e.g. the priest they meet on the strip). And while this directly shows the promotion of acceptance, it also implies the promotion of diversity. To find the direct promotion of diversity, however, it must be said that there are many varied voices in the “Laramie Project.” From people who are against a gay lifestyle, to people who support gay rights, to people who are gay themselves, to people who are sad about the incident, to people who are angry about the incident, there is no shortage of diverse voices in the “Laramie Project.”
When it comes to Helguera’s claim, then-- that community based art is a medium that pronounces a community’s self-awareness via a reduction of criticality; community based art is a medium that promotes positive social values-- it seems clear that the “Laramie Project” directly correlates to this idea, or quality, of community based art. To further solidify the “Laramie Project” as CBA, however, there exists a model, called CRAFT, that some professionals use as guidelines to create effective community based art. Can CRAFT be found in the “Laramie