THE INSTALLATION
A creative team of artists have worked in close collaboration with former La Yarda residents and their descendants to manifest this project. The installation uses 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 add physical dimension to the housing unit that until now 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 provide isolated moments for participants to reflect on.
Mixed media artist Justin Favela has created a wall length mural and tree using piñata inspired materials. The mural take inspiration from the impressionistic childhood memories of the residents and the tree will be created through a hands on collaborative process with the community.
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 will be displayed on the Lawrence Loop at 8th and Delaware. These large scale images will highlight the contributions of the Mexican American community in Lawrence and reach 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.
Through these elements, attendees will experience the domestic atmosphere, emotional connections, cultural celebrations and environmental struggles that took place both within and outside the walls of La Yarda.