It’s almost impossible to imagine a community with any power at all if we can’t first come together and create a narrative we want to share. “The Gatherings: Our neighborhood, our stories” is a series of events with art activities, performances and food to be held in community gardens throughout the Rondo neighborhood. Rondo is one geography, many communities, many narratives, but the same result – a fragmented community made up of mostly people of color, mostly low income and mostly carrying some type of historic trauma. This doesn’t necessarily make the community weak, but the division does. In what feels like a fragmented community, we want to build a strong community of people with different cultural identities and backgrounds and across generations that live in this neighborhood, with a shared a narrative of assets, problems and solutions.

About the artists:

Kathy Mouacheupao, former Executive Director for the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT) and Program Officer for Creative Placemaking with TC LISC, is passionate about collaborating with other artists to make art with a community impact. Tish Jones is a poet, organizer, educator and Executive Director of TruArtSpeaks. Soozin Hirschmugl is a puppeteer and visual artist. She created “sParkit” – a pop up park trailer with amenities to active public spaces. Schoua Na Yang aka Sonic rain is an independent music artist who strives that focuses on identity challenges, love, and everyday life experiences. Thao Vang is a visual artist specializing in character design, aerosol art and 3D animation.