A community based art project developed by The Community Art Cooperative, YOU ARE HERE NOW sought to spotlight individual histories, and to comprehend the ways in which those histories intersect to form a shared history and future.
YOU ARE HERE NOW was an interactive photographic documentation of the personal histories of individuals living in the East and North Ends of Lexington, KY hosted by The Community Art Cooperative of 2017. The Community Art Cooperative, or CartCoop, is a collection of individuals living and working in the East/North End of Lexington. The goal of the cooperative is to learn from established community activists and promote community engagement through creative endeavors. Using the skills and connections learned, the collective works together for a year to create an artwork that celebrates the history and diversity of our communities.
At the opening reception of YOU ARE HERE NOW, we invited those who have ties to the North and East Ends to bring photographs depicting moments of personal history. Photos collected during the opening became part of the installation’s interactive timeline, which highlighted small fragments of life history that have contributed to each person’s arrival to the East and North Ends.
Participants were then photographed with those artifacts & invited to visit the gallery once again at the closing of the show to see how these recorded artifacts combined to depict a diverse Lexington community. At the end of this project, participants were able to recognize more of the ways in which we are alike, instead of focusing on the biases and stereotypes that divide our community.
Funded by BGCF and in collaboration with The Community Art Cooperative consisting of Ciara LeRoy, Stevie Morrison, Savanna Barnett, Joyce Johnson, Saunda Coleman, Kurt Gohde, & Kremena Todorova. Portraits by Savanna Barnett.
Felice Salmon 