WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 1 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:22.539 [regal horns music] 2 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:26.239 CORONA IS ABOUT 70% LATIN AMERICAN. 3 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:30.920 WHAT WE SAW WAS THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO WORK IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, GET OUTSIDE 4 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:35.210 OF THE DOORS OF THE MUSEUM, AND NOT JUST ABOUT BRINGING PEOPLE TO THE MUSEUM, BUT STARTING 5 00:00:35.210 --> 00:00:38.600 TO WORK OUTSIDE IN THAT COMMUNITY WITH THOSE NEW IMMIGRANTS. 6 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:42.649 SO NOT JUST OPEN UP ART POSSIBILITIES, BUT TO OPEN UP LIFE POSSIBILITIES. 7 00:00:42.649 --> 00:00:47.910 YOU KNOW, WE THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT TO DO SOME PUBLIC ART PROJECTS. 8 00:00:47.910 --> 00:00:52.500 SO WE APPLIED TO THE INSTITUTE FOR MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES AND GOT A GRANT FOR TWO 9 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:56.830 YEARS, AND THAT GRANT WAS CALLED "CORONA: CENTER OF EVERYWHERE." 10 00:00:56.830 --> 00:01:03.830 AND THAT WAS OUR FIRST REALLY IN-DEPTH EXPERIMENT WITH HOW WE COULD GET, YOU KNOW, SERIOUS ART 11 00:01:03.830 --> 00:01:07.759 PROJECTS INTERWOVEN INTO THOSE FESTIVALS. 12 00:01:07.759 --> 00:01:12.759 SO WE'D HAVE THESE STREET FAIRS WHERE WE WOULD HAVE LOCAL PERFORMERS, DANCE GROUPS, MUSIC 13 00:01:12.759 --> 00:01:17.259 GROUPS, AND THAT WHOLE PROCESS OF FINDING ALL THIS LOCAL TALENT WAS GREAT FOR US AS 14 00:01:17.259 --> 00:01:18.259 WELL. 15 00:01:18.259 --> 00:01:23.420 THERE ARE QUITE A LOT OF ACCOMPLISHED MUSICIANS AND DANCERS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND A LOT 16 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:26.310 OF THEM ARE TEACHING OR STARTING SCHOOLS AS WELL HERE. 17 00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:30.890 SO IT'S REALLY A VIBRANT COMMUNITY, AND WHAT WE SAW WAS THAT THAT'S AN ASSET TO US AS A 18 00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:33.240 CULTURAL INSTITUTION. 19 00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:39.540 SHAUN LEONARDO IS AN ARTIST WHO HAS A PERSONA AS A LUCHA LIBRE WRESTLER, WHICH IS THIS MEXICAN 20 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:41.640 TRADITION OF WEARING THE MASK AND WRESTLING. 21 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:49.462 IT'S A SORT OF POP CULTURE-- LIKE PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING WE HAVE HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. 22 00:01:49.462 --> 00:01:56.570 THERE ACTUALLY WAS A SUMMERLONG CAMPAIGN INTRODUCING THIS CHARACTER TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY OF CORONA 23 00:01:56.570 --> 00:01:57.740 PLAZA. 24 00:01:57.740 --> 00:02:02.799 WE PUT A PROMO VIDEO IN STOREFRONTS AND WINDOWFRONTS. 25 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.920 I VISITED THE COMMUNITY, VISITED RESTAURANTS. 26 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:13.470 I EVEN VISITED SCHOOLS AND INTRODUCED EL "C" TO ABOUT 200 STUDENTS, SMALL KIDS. 27 00:02:13.470 --> 00:02:21.970 THE IDEA WAS THAT BY THE TIME THIS WRESTLING EVENT APPROACHED, THAT THE COMMUNITY WOULD 28 00:02:21.970 --> 00:02:25.420 ALREADY FEEL A SENSE OF CONNECTION TO THIS PERSON. 29 00:02:25.420 --> 00:02:29.569 WE ONLY PITCHED IT AS A WRESTLING EVENT. 30 00:02:29.569 --> 00:02:35.959 SO BY THE TIME I STEPPED UP INTO THAT RING, EVERYONE EXPECTED ANOTHER OPPONENT. 31 00:02:35.959 --> 00:02:44.519 SO THAT ELEMENT OF SURPRISE, THAT HUMOR, THAT ELEMENT OF--OF REALLY INTRODUCING PERFORMANCE 32 00:02:44.519 --> 00:02:51.469 ART ACTIVITY AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT AND ANNOUNCING THIS ENTIRE EVENT THAT'S A LUCHA LIBRE WRESTLING 33 00:02:51.469 --> 00:02:58.049 SPECTACLE WAS VERY INTEGRAL TO THE IDEA. 34 00:02:58.049 --> 00:03:02.799 SO IT WASN'T UNTIL I QUITE LITERALLY STARTED GRAPPLING WITH NO ONE THAT THEY REALIZED, 35 00:03:02.799 --> 00:03:05.980 HEY, SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING ON HERE. 36 00:03:05.980 --> 00:03:11.019 [chuckles] [crowd cheering] 37 00:03:11.019 --> 00:03:17.090 HE GOT INTO THE RING, AND HE WRESTLED THE INVISIBLE MAN. 38 00:03:17.090 --> 00:03:21.799 SO I ALREADY SET MYSELF UP AS THIS CHAMPION OF THE COMMUNITY. 39 00:03:21.799 --> 00:03:26.059 AND THEY RECEIVED ME AS THAT. 40 00:03:26.059 --> 00:03:31.250 BUT AS THE MATCH PROCEEDS, IT GETS QUITE INTENSE. 41 00:03:31.250 --> 00:03:38.060 PEOPLE REALIZE THAT I'M QUITE LITERALLY DAMAGING MY OWN BODY. 42 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:44.870 IN MEXICAN WRESTLING, THE TRADITION IS THAT THE IDENTITY IS UNDERSTOOD ONLY BY THE DESIGN 43 00:03:44.870 --> 00:03:45.900 OF THE MASK. 44 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:46.900 [grunting] 45 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:48.400 [shouting in Spanish] 46 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.650 THEY WANT A HERO IN THEIR LIVES. 47 00:03:51.650 --> 00:03:53.629 THEY WANT VICTORY. 48 00:03:53.629 --> 00:03:59.049 AND ESSENTIALLY, I TEAR DOWN THAT PERSON THROUGHOUT THE MATCH. 49 00:03:59.049 --> 00:04:07.299 HE IS LEFT BARED TO COMPLETE EXPOSURE BECAUSE I DE-MASK MYSELF. 50 00:04:07.299 --> 00:04:08.299 [crowd jeering] 51 00:04:08.299 --> 00:04:16.329 THE WHOLE THING WAS MEANT TO BE LARGER THAN LIFE AND THEN TO HAVE HIM LOSE, AND HE WAS 52 00:04:16.329 --> 00:04:19.650 EL CONQUISTADOR VERSUS EL HOMBRE INVISIBLE. 53 00:04:19.650 --> 00:04:23.979 SO IT WAS THIS KIND OF THING ABOUT WHO'S INVISIBLE AND NOT VISIBLE, WHO'S THE CONQUEROR, OR, 54 00:04:23.979 --> 00:04:29.710 YOU KNOW, IT BROUGHT UP IMPERIAL EXPERIENCE AND SO FORTH AND THIS KIND OF LUCHA LIBRE 55 00:04:29.710 --> 00:04:32.229 PERFORMER AS THIS, YOU KNOW, INVINCIBLE ANTI-IMPERIALIST. 56 00:04:32.229 --> 00:04:34.080 [crowd cheering] 57 00:04:34.080 --> 00:04:42.220 THE STRUCTURE AROUND IT WAS THAT THERE WAS THIS DAYLONG COMMUNITY FESTIVAL THAT WENT 58 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:43.220 ON ALL AFTERNOON. 59 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:48.340 AND THERE WERE A SERIES OF TENTS ALL THROUGH CORONA PLAZA, AND YOU HAD HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS 60 00:04:48.340 --> 00:04:51.160 AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS GROUPS. 61 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:56.790 SO THERE WAS--THE KIND OF SOCIAL MET THE ARTISTIC. 62 00:04:56.790 --> 00:05:01.250 THE OPPOSITE OF THAT MAYBE WOULD BE MIKE ESTABROOK'S PROJECT, AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY 63 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:03.710 QUIET IN SOME SENSES. 64 00:05:03.710 --> 00:05:10.430 HIS PROJECT WAS TO CREATE A KIND OF MASCOT FOR CORONA, AND IT WAS CALLED LA CORONITA, 65 00:05:10.430 --> 00:05:16.120 WHICH, UNLIKE THIS BIG, OVER-THE-TOP FIGURE, WAS THIS LITTLE GIRL FIGURE WHO HAD A CROWN. 66 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:20.699 IT WAS KIND OF LIKE IF YOU READ CHILDREN'S BOOKS OR SOMETHING, LIKE, THE IMAGINATION 67 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:25.160 OF WHAT A HERO--YOU KNOW, A LITTLE GIRL WHO THINKS SHE'S THE HERO OR WHATEVER OF THE COMMUNITY. 68 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:28.840 AND CORONITA IS, LIKE, A DIMINUTIVE OF CORONA. 69 00:05:28.840 --> 00:05:34.730 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO JUST INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY DIRECTLY IN THE PROCESS AND 70 00:05:34.730 --> 00:05:42.260 ACTUALLY HAVE THEM USE THEIR MEMORIES AND THEIR IDEAS OF WHAT THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD MEANS 71 00:05:42.260 --> 00:05:45.590 TO THEM AS A PART OF THE PIECE. 72 00:05:45.590 --> 00:05:50.410 ONE OF THE STORIES I USED CONCERNED THE LAKE IN CORONA PARK. 73 00:05:50.410 --> 00:05:53.630 SOMEONE WROTE THAT THAT WAS THEIR FAVORITE PLACE BECAUSE IT REMINDED THEM OF THEIR HOME 74 00:05:53.630 --> 00:06:00.090 IN ECUADOR, AND THEY REMEMBERED BEING ON BOATS IN THE LAKE WITH THEIR BROTHER AND JUST, YOU 75 00:06:00.090 --> 00:06:02.220 KNOW, KIND OF BOATING AROUND. 76 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:07.390 SO I MADE AN ANIMATION BASED ON THAT AND INSTALLED TWO FIGURES OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE 77 00:06:07.390 --> 00:06:08.520 IN A BOAT. 78 00:06:08.520 --> 00:06:12.930 WE ACTUALLY WORKED WITH THE BOATHOUSE OVER THERE, WHICH WAS THIS KIND OF NEAT, ALTERNATIVE, 79 00:06:12.930 --> 00:06:17.351 FUNKY BOATHOUSE PLACE THAT-- THEY WERE MORE THAN HAPPY TO WORK WITH US, AND YEAH, THEY 80 00:06:17.351 --> 00:06:20.030 LENT US A BOAT AND HELPED US ANCHOR IT. 81 00:06:20.030 --> 00:06:25.130 AND IT WAS OUT THERE FOR TWO MONTHS WITH TWO OF MY LITTLE CUTOUT CHARACTERS. 82 00:06:25.130 --> 00:06:29.320 A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY REALLY SAID THAT ART WASN'T SOMETHING THAT IT NEEDED. 83 00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:32.920 THEY HAD A PRECONCEIVED NOTION OF WHAT ART WAS. 84 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:38.510 AND THEY THOUGHT ART WOULD JUST--WAS JUST-- WE'RE GONNA BRING A PAINTING AND INSTALL IT 85 00:06:38.510 --> 00:06:43.730 IN YOUR BUSINESS, OR WE'RE GONNA HAVE-- WE'RE GONNA MAKE SOME KIND OF ABSTRACT STRUCTURE 86 00:06:43.730 --> 00:06:46.060 AND STICK IT IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. 87 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:50.220 BUT IN REALITY, I THINK, ONCE THEY GOT TO WORK WITH US MORE, THEY REALLY SAW THAT THE 88 00:06:50.220 --> 00:06:56.300 ART THAT WE WERE REFERRING TO WAS SOMETHING DEEPER THAN THAT. 89 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:59.690 IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT CREATED AS AN AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 90 00:06:59.690 --> 00:07:01.940 THAT'S IN NONE OF THE GRANT APPLICATION. 91 00:07:01.940 --> 00:07:03.730 WE ALMOST NEVER TALK ABOUT IT. 92 00:07:03.730 --> 00:07:09.180 BUT IT WAS AMAZING IN TERMS OF THE WAY THAT OUR AUDIENCES HAVE CONTINUED TO GROW. 93 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:15.750 A LOT OF OUR PROGRAMMING IS DONE RIGHT NOW THROUGH SUGGESTIONS FROM COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, 94 00:07:15.750 --> 00:07:22.961 SO AT LEAST 1/3 OF ALL OF OUR PUBLIC PROGRAMMING, WHETHER THEY BE EVENTS, FESTIVALS, AND SO 95 00:07:22.961 --> 00:07:23.961 FORTH. 96 00:07:23.961 --> 00:07:30.370 THOSE--A LOT OF THEM COME TO US RIGHT NOW FROM PEOPLE WHO ENGAGE WITH US FIRST AT OFF-SITE, 97 00:07:30.370 --> 00:07:36.030 AT CORONA PLAZA, OR, YOU KNOW, THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE DEVELOPED OR THROUGH PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS. 98 00:07:36.030 --> 00:07:41.630 AND SO THAT, TO ME, IS IMPORTANT THAT WHAT HAS RESULTED IN GENERAL IS A SENSE THAT THE 99 00:07:41.630 --> 00:07:43.910 MUSEUM IS OPEN. 100 00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:45.090 WE'RE NOT A COMMUNITY CENTER. 101 00:07:45.090 --> 00:07:48.310 WE REALLY AREN'T, AND WE DON'T WANT IT TO LOOK LIKE A COMMUNITY CENTER. 102 00:07:48.310 --> 00:07:51.400 WE'RE IN A MUSEUM, A FORMAL MUSEUM. 103 00:07:51.400 --> 00:07:57.580 THE IDEA IS TO OPEN THE DOORS TO THAT KIND OF FORMAL SPACE TO THE COMMUNITY, BUT NOT 104 00:07:57.580 --> 00:07:58.639 TO BE A COMMUNITY CENTER FIRST. 105 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:02.300 I THINK IT'S MORE INTERESTING TO BE SORT OF BOTH AT THE SAME TIME. 106 00:08:02.300 --> 00:08:05.639 THE BIGGEST THING THAT MUSEUMS CAN TAKE FROM PROJECTS AND THINGS IS THAT YOU HAVE TO OPEN 107 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:07.930 YOUR DOORS TO THE COMMUNITY. 108 00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:09.320 YOU HAVE TO BE ACCESSIBLE. 109 00:08:09.320 --> 00:08:16.310 YOU HAVE TO REALLY MAKE-- HAVE THE COMMUNITY UNDERSTAND WHAT ART IS AND ALSO LEARN WHAT 110 00:08:16.310 --> 00:08:21.020 ART IS FOR THEM AND ALSO INCORPORATE THAT IN YOUR OWN MUSEUM. 111 00:08:21.020 --> 00:08:26.230 WHAT WE LEARNED WHEN WE TALKED TO THE ARTISTS THAT PARTICIPATED IN "CORONA PLAZA: CENTER 112 00:08:26.230 --> 00:08:31.480 OF EVERYWHERE" IS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE FELT THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE LONGER RESIDENCIES 113 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:38.050 SO THAT THEY COULD BUILD THEIR PROJECTS MORE ORGANICALLY BASED ON THEIR RESEARCH AND THEIR 114 00:08:38.050 --> 00:08:39.839 TIME SPENT. 115 00:08:39.839 --> 00:08:44.180 WE HAVE--A PARTNER ON THIS IS CREATIVE TIME, ANOTHER PUBLIC ART ORGANIZATION IN NEW YORK, 116 00:08:44.180 --> 00:08:46.900 AND TOGETHER, WE HAVE SPONSORED TANIA BRUGUERA. 117 00:08:46.900 --> 00:08:51.870 AND SHE HAS ACTUALLY MOVED TO CORONA, AND SHE'S SPENDING 24/7 IN CORONA, HAS SET UP 118 00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:57.240 SHOP ON ROOSEVELT AVENUE IN A STOREFRONT, AND SHE'S GONNA DO A YEARLONG PROJECT ABOUT 119 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:00.259 IMMIGRATION IN THE COMMUNITY, AND IT'S GRADUALLY TAKING SHAPE. 120 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:08.079 PART OF THE PROJECT IS TO TRY TO LOOK AT THE WAY IN WHICH WE REPRESENT THE IMMIGRANTS. 121 00:09:08.079 --> 00:09:15.270 AND PART OF THAT ALSO HAS TO DO WITH THE WAY IN WHICH PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, DEMONSTRATE FOR 122 00:09:15.270 --> 00:09:16.270 THEIR RIGHTS. 123 00:09:16.270 --> 00:09:18.459 AND I THINK ONE SPECIFIC ASPECT IS SLOGANS. 124 00:09:18.459 --> 00:09:21.459 SO I'M TRYING TO SET UP A SLOGAN WORKSHOP. 125 00:09:21.459 --> 00:09:25.110 FOR ME, WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS WHAT WE TAKE FROM IT. 126 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:31.970 YOU KNOW, THESE PROJECTS HAVE A CERTAIN LIFE SPAN, AND SOMETIMES THE ARTIST'S, YOU KNOW, 127 00:09:31.970 --> 00:09:35.930 ENGAGEMENT IN THAT ENDS AT A PARTICULAR TIME, AND THAT'S FINE, BUT AS AN INSTITUTION THAT'S 128 00:09:35.930 --> 00:09:42.060 INVESTED IN SEEING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS OR THOSE IDEAS BE BUILT ON, SO THAT, FOR ME, 129 00:09:42.060 --> 00:09:43.060 IS SUCCESS. 130 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:43.140 [train rumbling]