Artist(s): Ali Rufrano-Ruffner, members from the Norris Homes Community
3D model, 5’ x 1’, wood, resin, wire, glue, felt, LED lights, fabric, paper, paint, plastic, foam, cork, rubber
As part of a community arts collaboration led by residents of the Norris Homes community, I was lucky enough to get to listen to residents’ multigenerational stories full of all of the riches that North Philadelphia could ever offer. These are the places that residents talked about as being inspirational, valuable, vital to their community - Norris Homes Projects, The High Rise, The Playground, Norris Community Center, The Basketball Court, Uptown Theater, Mr. Webb’s Record Store. I built this model / memoryscape to bring together all of the places that people loved and then ultimately physically lost due to violent and complex realities of gentrification within this neighborhood. This was my gift to the Norris community - a small part in a much larger collaboration that is working to collect, archive, rebuild, survive, and celebrate all that happened and will continue to happen for this community. It will be housed in the Blockson Collection (Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection) at Temple University. There are so many stories that were built at Norris, so many lives shaped and memories made. “We One, The Love And Life of Norris Homes” is a collaborative documentary made by Norris residents over generations sharing some of these stories.