Hyde Park Visual History Project

Today, I’m at the Hyde Park Historical Society helping to digitize their image collection, which I will later include in the project. Several things come to mind while I’m here.

I’ve been having these great conversations with a few artist friends of mine.  We’ve been talking about the role of the artist.  Maybe this points back to things I mentioned in my post of staatsburg, but my feeling is that as an artist I should take a strong role in supporting my community. My feeling is that the guise of the artist as auteur or “special” has far too long placed artists at the fringe of society.  Why can’t we be active participants in everyday decisions.  Or play a pivotal role as instigators of bringing community together.  Many have suggested that the president hark back to the role artists played in the WPA. Maybe that is a start, but it must go beyond visual identity or social critic.  It must be about direct engagement. I look to people like Harrel Fletcher, Grant Kester and Rirkrit Tiravanija as points of reference, but more has to be done.

Below is the front and back of an image that I just scanned depicting a women’s basketball team from Hyde Park.  My primary focus for this project is the visual material and how it provides a representation of the people and place of this area of New York.  But, these names continue to interest me.  Over time, I’ve been able to associate generations of families.   This is something that people did while viewing things in Staatsburg.  Am seeing this as a interesting dynamic for the final presentation, interlinking still and moving images into a space that continues this dialogue.   Maybe it is not about the local, but about the people or place and how they are named?

In the past year, the Hyde Park Visual History Project has been working with the community of Hyde Park, NY to explore the relationships between people and place.  This has been an amazing experience as many individuals have come forward to participate.  We thank everyone for their help and look forward to continuing the project next year. 

As a part of the new year, the project is reworking its web presence.   This new site will be the center of these efforts further connecting with the community and others interested in the project.