Method Guide: Storytelling

ACTIVATING ANALYZING INFORMING MAKING MAPPING STORYTELLING

METHOD GUIDE

WHAT IS STORYTELLING? Storytelling provides a historical context to the work we do from the perspective of those who we intend to serve. They document the people, places and things that make a community, and give an opportunity to amplify and celebrate the voices that are less often heard. This work is an effort to strengthen awareness of our city, celebrate the diverse places that give it character and texture, and create platforms for active dialogue about its history and future.

STORYTELLING ELEVATES VOICES ILLEGAL DUMP LEGAL FIGHT

Out of Deepwood tells the story of a middleclass African American neighborhood’s fight to close an illegal dump operating adjacent to their neighborhood.

SHORT FILMS SHARING STORIES

Neighborhood Stories short form films share 3-5 minute stories of neighborhoods from community leader and citizens.

EXHIBITS ART HISTORIC PLAYS

Activating Vacancy created site specific plays and artistic exhibits that told stories about the Tenth Street Historic District’s history, people, and places.

HOUSING CHOICE PARTNERS CDCB

Choice Empowers shares the story of RGV residents before and after receiving a house built in partnership with CDCB + [bc].

DESIGN PHYSICAL MODEL BUILD

A physical model of the Cottages at Hickory Crossing tells the story of the design and intentions of the project, building awareness in a way that many can understand.

ACTIVATING

STORYTELLING PRINCIPLES • Elevates the voices of community members not typically represented or presented as experts on the city

• Finds unique ways to share and preserve histories of people and places • Strengthens the identities of neighborhoods and communities

Many storytelling efforts rely on building relationships with community leaders and neighborhood residents. These stories that come from these relationships are strengthened through research and documentation. Storytelling celebrates community identity, history, culture and it finds ways to communicate complex projects or issues. The outcomes of each storytelling process reveals and preserves the unique aspects of our cities.

Recording short form neighborhood stories

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HOW IS STORYTELLING DONE? CHOICE EMPOWERS Choice Empowers shares the outcomes of the partnership between Community Development Corporation of Brownsville and [bc] on sustainABLEhouse. By sharing the voices of residents we witness how choice gives a sense of pride, builds equity, promotes stability. Storytelling helps us evaluate and share the impacts of the design and construction process.

SHORT FILM • Shares the sustainABLEhouse process • Explains how choice is incorporated into the housing development process • Explore the challenges of families living in the Rio Grande Valley and how we can ensure that families of limited resources are given options

Residents in front of their new sustainABLEhouse

STORY CORNERS Story Corners told the story of the 10th Street Historic District through a three part performance enacted on the vacant lots, streets, and street corners of the neighborhood. The three acts were created using oral and written histories of neighbors and performed through traditional theater, spoken word, and dance to exemplify the messages and voices of each story. The three acts told stories of the past, present, and future of the neighborhood.

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE • Theater, spoken word, dance, & music • In situ performance makes the stories come alive and activates the neighborhood • Opportunities to learn through artistic production and community connection

Story Corners opening circle

NEIGHBORHOOD TOURS Neighborhood Tours give communities members the opportunity to share stories in the locations where they occurred. Walking a neighborhood listening to residents discuss the importance of place and histories unseen today is a powerful experience.

PLACE BASED • Positions neighborhood voices as local experts • Engages visitors in the physicality of place • Requires participation from many voices, facilitates question asking and learning 10th Street neighborhood tour

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La Bajada Neighborhood Stories event

NEIGHBORHOOD STORIES EVENTS

THE NEIGHBORHOOD STORIES PROCESS

The Neighborhood Stories process combined neighborhood research, oral histories, relationship building, mapping, and the creation of a neighborhood specific event to celebrate the history of five neighborhood in Dallas. The processes were unique because they told stories through multiple lens; mapping of physical neighborhood change, a film highlighting the stories of current and former residents, and an event where one-onone sharing could occur between neighbors and visitors.

The event is strengthened through an exhibition of the research, a communal meal, and neighborhood specific events and activities. The entire process elevates the voices of neighborhoods often misrepresented in the narrative of our cities. The products of the exhibit and the films continue to be by the neighborhoods to tell their stories and advocate for their communities. The neighborhoods of La Bajada, Dolphin Heights, Wynnwood, 10th Street Historic District, and Mt. Auburn all participated in this series of Neighborhood Stories.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

physical & social history research of 6 neighborhoods began through building relationships with neighborhood residents and advocates

ORAL INTERVIEWS & MAPPING

over 100 oral interviews amplified neighborhood voices and recorded local perspectives mapping captured physical changes, the evolution of the neighborhoods & their urban context

RESEARCH TOOLS & RESOURCES

using archives materials such as maps, books, newspapers, family records, & gov. archives the oral histories were analyized and expanded

SHARE DOCUMENTS

through community events personal records & scanned photos were added to the research

MAKING THE STORY

comprehensive films, books, & exhibits that tell the story of social, economic, political & physical development of the neighborhoods were produced

CELEBRATE THROUGH STORYTELLING

the products were shared through events that brought neighbors together in their communies they have been a springboard for larger conversations about the neighborhoods & a record of everyday stories La Bajada neighborhood stories interview

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WHY IS STORYTELLING IMPORTANT? Storytelling elevates the voices of community members and neighborhoods not typically represented or presented as experts on the city. It is vital to sharing the impact of the work that we do as an organization and to connect diverse communities, it helps people better understand why we do the work that we do.

As you have seen there are a diverse range of ways that stories can be communicated; buildings and landscapes can tell stories through their form, physical models can communicate a process and intention, and the spoken word in all of its forms from songs to intimate conversations can share memories and reveal hidden narratives. If storytelling was not a part of all of our projects we would not be as successful as they have been.

WHY SHOULD YOU TELL STORIES? Recognizing and elevating the voices of your neighborhood or the communities you work with can increase the effectiveness of many projects. Storytelling is accessible to almost all people and can be used to create connections and if done right build trust.

If you can tell the story of a community in a way that represents them, as they want to be represented, it is likely that you will be successful in completing a range of projects with them. From a child’s drawing to an elders oral history, every story is valuable to collect and share.

WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES? Storytelling presents a wide variety of voices as experts, moving beyond professionals designers or historians representing a project or neighborhood. We have begun bringing residents to professional conferences or presenting their voices through film to share the impact of our work. This process supplements our project evaluation and helps us to better communicate the less tangible aspects of our work. Storytelling also preserves the stories of the places that we work and can help solidify neighborhood identity and strengthen cohesion in a community.

Wynnewood North Neighborhood Stories event

Neighborhood residents from the Out of Deepwood film

The buildingcommunityWORKSHOP is a Texas based nonprofit community design center seeking to improve the livability and viability of communities through the practice of thoughtful design and making. We enrich the lives of citizens by bringing design thinking to areas of our cities where resources are most scarce.

To do so, [bc] recognizes that it must first understand the social, economic, and environmental issues facing a community before beginning work.

Thank you to all of our partners and the funders of the projects detailed in this guide. Most importantly, to all of our neighborhood partners, community members, and volunteers who make this work possible, we could not have done any of it without you.

ACTIVATING ANALYZING INFORMING MAKING MAPPING STORYTELLING

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