Resources:
Sarah Rigg's Feature Article: Students respond to Ypsi history through art in “Ypsilanti Future History” project
Transcription:
Lee Van Roth: You're listening to 89.1 WEMU. I'm Lee Van Roth, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. Students across Ypsilanti Community Schools are learning local history in a hands-on way by turning it into art. A new project called "Ypsilanti Future History" invites students to explore the people, places, and events that shape their city and to imagine what its future might look like. The program is funded by a Michigan Department of Education Teaching Diverse Histories grant and led by Ypsilanti artist and educator, Nick Azzaro, who's here today to give us a look into what students are learning. Nick, welcome! Thank you so much for being here!
Nick Azzaro: Thank you so much for having me!
Lee Van Roth: So, for listeners who may not be familiar or if this is their first time hearing about this kind of a project, can you give us a brief overview of what Ypsilanti Future History is and what sort of inspired you to bring this idea to Ypsi Schools?
Nick Azzaro: Yeah, absolutely! Art is always my motivator. So, anytime I can do something creative and bring that to students to create opportunities to allow them to generate something, their view on the world, that's huge. This project is very much about student voice. So, that's where the future part comes in. We're bringing in Ypsi history as prompts. Now, anything that we bring into the classroom, students are going to respond to it. It may not look anything like that history lesson. And the lessons are fairly brief, but that's the point is to bring them something, this is where we came from, and then, I want them to tell us where we're going. So, there's absolutely no wrong answer. It's a lot of fun. The opportunity to bring in materials that maybe they didn't have a chance to work with before. It's just been a lot of fun.
Lee Van Roth: You're working with students across, grade levels and ages, working with elementary school all the way up through high school. How do you sort of approach these lessons and these ideas and curate them to the classes that you're in?
Nick Azzaro: Certainly. Because I've had experience working with different age groups before, I know, for the most part, the limits--who can handle what. For younger kids, I don't want to water anything down, but I do bring lessons that are maybe shorter or a little bit simpler and allow them to make something fun. For example, one project we're about to wrap up now in several of the schools is making masks for a made-up masquerade ball that would have taken place at the Epsilon Armory. This was a place that was built in 1923, demolished in 1989, but a place where a lot of Ypsi residents had celebrations, weddings, saw concerts. It was this amazing venue that was built initially for military use but turned into a community center that played a fairly large role in a lot of families' lives, giving the students a chance to learn a little bit about this structure and then create something as if they were going to a party there. Ultimately, they don't have to have an immediate connection to this building. It's a chance to create work, but I'm inserting this little bit of history that, likely, if they grew up in Ypsi, their family has been touched by. Meanwhile with high school level, for high school or middle school, we can deal with a bit more dynamic stuff. One of the projects we did that, I think, everyone enjoyed involved breaking glass Faygo bottles. And this one was a lesson attached to the urban renewal project in the 60's on the south side of Ypsi, where a little less than a 130 buildings were demolished--residence, commercial buildings. And one building was actually a Faygo distribution center at Huron and Harriet. When i learned that that was there I thought this could be an opportunity to take something that exists now, allow the students to interact with it. So, step one. Drink the pop. Step two. Wash the bottle out. Step three. Decorate the bottle however they want with paint markers with, with acrylic paint, with a handful of other options. And then, step four is to document the bottle, which I photograph them, so that they will live on forever. Step five is to break the bottles, so then they become similar to structures that were demolished during urban renewal. It gives the students a chance to recognize the importance of presence of something that only now lives on in either spoken word or photo documentation. Urban renewal was certainly not a good thing here or anywhere, and this is a chance to bring that back and talk about it. And hopefully, the students can connect to that they put a lot of time and effort into this, over several classes, in this bottle. And then, we're going to demolish it. It's a small way to make a connection.
Lee Van Roth: And from other work that you have done in the Ypsi area, both in arts and education, a big, driving force in your work is accessibility and ensuring that these art forms, as well as history, is presented in a way that is digestible. You kind of described that and how things are curated for age levels. But I'm wondering. Are there other ways that that philosophy is kind of coming through in this project?
Nick Azzaro: A largely material choice. I want to make sure that everyone in the room, no matter what their interest is, no matter the level of artistic ability is, everyone can participate. So, most, if not all, of the projects are fairly simple and straightforward. If students want to go above and beyond, there's the option for that. But I want make sure that everyone has the chance to create something meaningful, something that speaks to their experience. So, I am choosing materials that are fairly easy to come by, so if they wanted to replicate certain things. The masks, I mentioned, for the masquerade party are cardboard squares. I did purchase them. I didn't cut a bunch of cardboard boxes because there's several hundred I'd have to cut out, so using cardboard with popsicle sticks taped to them, I drilled eye holes, hundreds of different masks. But this is ultimately something students could generate at home. They're attaching construction paper, cutting it however they'd like, pasting it on. I have also given access to old, out-of-use library books from the Willow Run Community Schools District, so if they want to cut from those pages, they can decorate these masks however. But every one of the materials is something that is fairly simple to come by, and I learned that, as a teacher going through COVID, how inaccessible even things that I thought were fairly accessible became. So, the ability to find. What do we have laying at home? Cardboard, paper, paste, scissors or we're going to tear stuff up. Doesn't matter. We can still make a statement.
Lee Van Roth: And what has the student response looked like throughout this process, being that this is so open-ended and there's so much room for creative freedom here. What does the student's response looked like in response to having all of this freedom?
Nick Azzaro: I'm not going to truly know the full scope until the end of the year. So right now, I'm the fun guy that visits classrooms. I go by Mr. Nick in the classroom. "Hey, Mr. Nick's here!" And usually, I get a few eye rolls. But for the most part, I am a break from what they would normally do. And that's both art and a few social studies classes. So, ultimately, I've giving them a break for the norm. For the most part, in the immediate, it's a fun experience. People are looking forward to it. I've got now a good amount of archived work, which the students get to keep the originals for the more part. Anything else, I photograph everything, so that I can reprint stuff for the final show. My hope is to have this final show at the end of the year, both whether it's in the school or at institutions in the community or all of the above. Bring students to that. Allow them to see outsiders interacting and engaging with their work. That's really going to drive it home. It's not just they're doing this for a grade. Participation is really up to them in this case. I want them to see how their work impacts other people. So, to answer that question fully, we'll have to wait till the end of the year because I really want them to recognize their value, their importance, and what they're creating is amazing.
Lee Van Roth: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm Lee Van Roth talking with Ypsi artist Nick Azzaro about the Ypsilanti Future History Project. We've discussed a couple of the different pieces of Ypsi's history that have come up in these projects. And you mentioned the Armory, the Faygo Distribution Center. How did you decide on some of these historical topics to bring into this space?
Nick Azzaro: That is a wonderful, wonderful question, and that has been one of the toughest parts. Because I've known some of the history that I'm bringing to classrooms, but I'm learning a great deal more in real time. So, I'm doing the research, meeting with historians, meeting with community members, trying to get as much information as possible, and synthesizing that into projects. The projects I've selected so far are based on either they've come up in the historical perhaps that have come up from multiple sources or they come up for community members. Everyone has a story, for example, about the armory. So, I thought that would be fun, even though the students who can even see the building, it is a geographic location that I point out and I say, "Most of you know, for example, where Buffalo Wild Wings is on Huron/Whittaker. This army was almost across the street. Most students can then picture it. The Faygo distribution center--I can give them an actual coordinate where it is. A lot of students know that area. So, those two are good examples to point to, just because it's something they could potentially see today if they wanted to.
Lee Van Roth: What are you hoping that not just the students, but their families and other community members get from seeing all of the work that you and the students have sort of put into all of this?
Nick Azzaro: I want them to recognize the ability to make statements is something that everybody has. It becomes a powerful thing. I hope that they're valuing their own work and again not just doing something for a grade, because, again, this goes so far beyond school. Bring something or bring a lesson, but ultimately, it's what do they have to say. Projects we did we did all of the elementaries. Who is Demetrios? So, who is the namesake of Ypsilanti? He's somebody who was a Greek war hero that fought in Greece's war for independence from Turkey--an amazing person who's never been to this community. It was chosen by somebody else, Judge Augustus Woodward, as the name he wanted for this community. I want the students to know this story not to take anything away from Demetrios, but I want them to be the definers of this community.
Lee Van Roth: Well, Nick, thank you so much for joining us and for this work that you're doing to connect Ypsi's really broad and colorful history with its next generation in a very creative and interesting way as well!
Nick Azzaro: Thank you so much! Thank you!
Lee Van Roth: For more on today's conversation and a link to the full article, visit our website at WEMU.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Lee Van Roth, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM, Ypsilanti.
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