WHAT HAPPENED TODAY?
Click on each image for enlargement and description.
Click on each image for enlargement and description.
What Happened Today? was a large scale installation highlighting the relevance of printed news and hand-crafted objects and their combined ability to communicate parallels among the voices of the individual, the greater Houston community, and the world-news stage. What Happened Today? is comprised of two community-based components. One involved commentary from the lives of Houston residents as they interact with their local newspaper by responding to a question about their day, and the other included the collection of local and national events deemed worthy of the Houston Chronicle’s news cycle.
During the spring and summer of 2015, Houstonians responded to an ad in the Houston Chronicle by answering the question “What happened today?” on a 3-x-3-inch note and mailing it to HCCC. Individuals from all walks of life responded, from prisoners in Harris County jails and senior citizens to kids of all ages and immigrants starting to learn English. Responses were also collected from visitors to HCCC and from drop boxes in several locations throughout the community. Many of the responses are very moving, such as a man who “came out by kissing a dude” and a prisoner who missed his three kids. Through their anonymous notes, participants revealed the deepest, most trivial and also happiest moments they experienced on any given day. For the exhibition, a large hand-sewn quilt was made comprised of all the notes collected throughout this period of time.
For the second part of the project, HCCC and Morton worked with a number of local community groups, university students, arts educators, senior centers, and service organizations to make hooked-rug squares made from newsprint strips of Houston Chronicle news events. Groups like Neighborhood Centers, Inc., and ARTreach came together to create the rug modules and share stories. Nearly 20 groups participated over a sixth-month period. Visitors to HCCC also participated in the rug-making activity at various events, including Museum Experience Day and HANDS-ON HOUSTON. A floor installation was created from all of the collected squares by hand weaving strips of the Houston Chronicle into the rug, and was then integrated into the quilt/note textile demonstrating the integration between published and personal news.
The two project components combine to constitute what I consider “events, large and small”—the things that make people who they are and shape the lives they lead. While the rug installation acts as a visual condensation of newsworthy events, the quilt captures individual contemplation and commonalities.
What Happened Today? is made possible by generous support from theHouston Chronicle.
For more stories about What Happened Today?, below are links to a series of blog posts on the HCCC website
May 20, 2015
June 25, 2015
September 15, 2015
October 21, 2015
Article in American Craft, August-September 2015
During the spring and summer of 2015, Houstonians responded to an ad in the Houston Chronicle by answering the question “What happened today?” on a 3-x-3-inch note and mailing it to HCCC. Individuals from all walks of life responded, from prisoners in Harris County jails and senior citizens to kids of all ages and immigrants starting to learn English. Responses were also collected from visitors to HCCC and from drop boxes in several locations throughout the community. Many of the responses are very moving, such as a man who “came out by kissing a dude” and a prisoner who missed his three kids. Through their anonymous notes, participants revealed the deepest, most trivial and also happiest moments they experienced on any given day. For the exhibition, a large hand-sewn quilt was made comprised of all the notes collected throughout this period of time.
For the second part of the project, HCCC and Morton worked with a number of local community groups, university students, arts educators, senior centers, and service organizations to make hooked-rug squares made from newsprint strips of Houston Chronicle news events. Groups like Neighborhood Centers, Inc., and ARTreach came together to create the rug modules and share stories. Nearly 20 groups participated over a sixth-month period. Visitors to HCCC also participated in the rug-making activity at various events, including Museum Experience Day and HANDS-ON HOUSTON. A floor installation was created from all of the collected squares by hand weaving strips of the Houston Chronicle into the rug, and was then integrated into the quilt/note textile demonstrating the integration between published and personal news.
The two project components combine to constitute what I consider “events, large and small”—the things that make people who they are and shape the lives they lead. While the rug installation acts as a visual condensation of newsworthy events, the quilt captures individual contemplation and commonalities.
What Happened Today? is made possible by generous support from theHouston Chronicle.
For more stories about What Happened Today?, below are links to a series of blog posts on the HCCC website
May 20, 2015
June 25, 2015
September 15, 2015
October 21, 2015
Article in American Craft, August-September 2015