THE INSTALLATION

A creative team of artists worked in close collaboration with former La Yarda residents and their descendants to manifest this installation exhibited at the Lawrence Arts Center and the 8th & Delaware section of the Lawrence Loop in August of 2024. The installation used experiential tools to create an artistically rendered living space from the La Yarda apartments. From brick facades to a recreated garden and interior kitchen, tactile set pieces added physical dimension to the housing unit that until then has only been visible through photographs and paintings.

Design Architect Brenna Buchanan Young created floorpans and blue prints for this work. Artist Jeremy Rockwell built the structure in a life size scale.

Ceramics Artist-in-Residence Jonathan Christensen Caballero's ceramic sculptures were molded from the families hands, faces and feet. They provided isolated moments for participants to reflect on.

Mixed media artist Justin Favela created a wall length mural and tree using piñata inspired materials. The mural took inspiration from the impressionistic childhood memories of the residents.

To take the impact of this project outside of the Arts Center walls, photographic portraits of the living residents of La Yarda taken by photographer Ann Dean were displayed on the Lawrence Loop at 8th and Delaware. These large scale images highlighted the contributions of the Mexican American community in Lawrence and reached people outside of traditional gallery spaces.

Television screens mounted in window sills and table tops reveal fleeting moments and memories through the medium of experimental film created by Marlo Angell and Peter Jasso. Lighting by Ann Sitzman created ambience for both the interior and exterior environments.

Through these elements, attendees experienced the domestic atmosphere, emotional connections, cultural celebrations and environmental struggles that took place both within and outside the walls of La Yarda.