Community Art

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Young Storytellers /
Teen Producers

The blueprint for the Community Faces Project included a vision to document the contributions and biographical information of the honorees. The honorees wanted to find a way for youth in the community to learn and grow from this project.

A plan for a multi-disciplined program offering training in writing, interviewing skills, and video production emerged as a way to both build the capacity of the young people and accomplish the task of documenting the project.

The team sought the assistance of Dr. AnnJeannette McFarlin, now retired-professor at Mesa College and local oral historian, and a team of award-winning filmmakers from the Media Arts Center San Diego to bring this element of the project to life.

The instructors each worked with a group of young men and women from the community in a series of workshops. Half of the 28 students, ages 15 to 24, undertook exhaustive training on the collection of oral histories, while the other half immersed themselves in video production techniques.

The video students edited the interviews into three-minute presentations on each honoree from which a 30-minute documentary chronicling the story of the Community Faces Project could be derived. The narrative traces the creative process of Community Faces through interviews with the honorees and artists and members of the Art & Design team.

The Young Storytellers/Teen Producers (as of 2003):
Brandi Alston, 15 – The Preuss School, UCSD
Spencer Anderson, 17 – Morse High School
Laura Benavidez, 17 – Patrick Henry High School
Enjoli Chappybarnes, 19 - Grossmont College
Jenerra Crenshaw, 16 – The Preuss School, UCSD
Chevroy Dryden, 17 – Mt. Miguel High School
Makda Fessenai, 16 – Patrick Henry High School
Marta Haile, 15 – Patrick Henry High School
Saba Hailu, 17 – Crawford High School
Jesse Horne, 18 – St. Augustine High School
Phylicia Johnson, 16 – Gompers Secondary School
Seamus Kennedy, 21 – San Diego State University
LaRon Lee, 16 – Patrick Henry High School
Samantha McKee, 16 – Patrick Henry High School
Chaunsey Miner-Bohannon, 16 – Serra High School
Kourtney Miner-Bohannon, 16 – Serra High School
Larry Moody, 17
Winston Morris, 17 – Chula Vista High School
Victor Rice, 17 – Morse High School
Valarie Robinson, 21 – San Diego City College
Ana Soto, 17 – Patrick Henry High School
Mehret Tareke, 17 – Crawford High School
Dejonte Williams, 16 – Sports Science Academy

Instructors:
Larry Asakawa
Juliana Marchand
Dr. Annjeannette McFarlin
River O’Mahoney Hagg