1.Describe your community. You may be a part of many communities: church, school, family, neighborhood, youth groups, town or social activities. Describe the community that you seem the closest to.
The community I am closest to is my family. I have a very close knit family that loves each other and will do anything for each other. My parents are enjoying their retirement by spoiling grandchildren and traveling. My older sister, Venesa, is a Doctor at KU and she has become the rock of the family. She makes sure everyone is doing okay and gets us all together at least twice a month to enjoy our family and keep up-to date on each others lives. My little sister, Julie, is a teacher and mother to two incredible children. Zach is finishing his Doctorate in Chemical engineering and Alex is a 15 year old girl hell bent on making her mother’s life miserable! Ah, I remember those days well and am so glad they are done! My little brother Jason and his wife Rachel are both teachers and coaches and are raising three fun-loving, ferociously active little boys. My aunts and uncles are all an integral part of the family especially my Aunt Cindy. She is the aunt the three of us girls have always and will always go to for advice, love and just companionship. Of course, there are my own children, Bethany and Karissa, my granddaughter, Kassey and my husband, Scott who are all my personal rocks. We love and laugh and fight at times but we will always be there for each other no matter what.
2.What are the shared experiences and events in your community?
We have been through a lot as a family. We lost my little brother, Donny to suicide almost 25 years ago and most recently we lost our 2 remaining grandparents last year. We have shared the joy in births and additions to our family and the sadness of divorce, loss and grave illnesses but we have stood by each other through it all. Our biggest and most fun event is our annual family 4th of July. Every year since I was a baby, the entire Ingold-Dennis clan gets together at my Grandpa and Grandma Dennis’ house for a day and night of food, fireworks (lots of fireworks!) and fun. Before my Grandpa Dennis passed away last year, my sister Venesa bought his house and completely restored it and that is where we continue to hold our 4th celebrations every year. Venesa also bought a lake house in the Ozarks where we can each go down by ourselves or, as we mostly do, as a big family. At the lake house, there is no television, internet or very good cell reception but there are 2 jet skis, massive amounts of fishing gear and a huge dock where we hang out and play and talk and just be a family.
3.What common goals do you and the people in the community share?
One common goal is support of each other and to love one another unconditionally. We also have our memories, both old and the new ones we make everyday that we hold dear and pass down our children and grandchildren. I would say our biggest common goal is to teach our children about the importance of family and staying connected and to keep the people we have lost or will lose alive in their hearts.
4.What stories in your community need to be told?
Until the day my brother committed suicide, I used think my family was perfect and I was very shocked to discover that I was wearing blinders. Yes my family loves each other very much but did we tell or show each other that every day? Did we lean on each other and draw strength from our family? I’m sad to say no but it was true. At first, we were all lost in our own grief and tried dealing with it on our own but my dad pulled us all together both spiritually and physically. Before the funeral, he had us all get together and tell each other our favorite memory of Donny. Through tears and laughter, we not only honored and cherished our brother but we came together in our grief and leaned on each other for support. That single, horrific event bound our family tight to each other and our family dynamic changed after that day. We realized our family was not perfect. We each have flaws and problems but we now lean on each other and face our individual and family problems together. There are so many stories to tell but the one above was the most important life lesson for us all.
5. How might individual, group, and community stories be told through art work?
I think stories our can be told through photography and the written word. We, as a family, have thousands of pictures that spark laughter and tears and conversations. If we put them together with our written stories, we can pass them down for generations to come.
6.Is there a sign, symbol, ritual or story from these questions that could act as a central metaphor?
I think a garden that has been lovingly tended and sometimes repaired would be the perfect metaphor for our family. I am visualizing a grand, strong oak tree whose arms are extended protectively over all the other plants giving them protection from storms and shelter in times of need.
7.Are there opportunities for you to support and expand upon local craft traditions?
A few years ago, my father started research on our family tree. There are many colorful stories and people in our past but I would like to put together a memory book of sorts starting with my grandparents and have all of us contribute pictures and stories.
8.Discuss the idea that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What aspects of the community environment do some members of the group find beautiful that others do not? Can those who find something ugly see it in another way?
As laughable as it may seem, the ugly in our family is each other’s spouses. The ugly part is not in the sense of physical appearance so much as it is personality. To sum it all up, Venesa’s husband is a loud, abrasive, obnoxious, lazy person. We all find him annoying and wish he would stop leaching off of our sister and get a job. Julie’s soon to be ex-husband was a know-it-all, verbally abusive piece of you-know-what and we are glad to see him go! Jason’s wife, while sweet and funny, is very lazy and takes advantage of Jason’s loving, sweet nature by putting most of the household and child-rearing burden on his shoulders. My husband is a very strong, authoritarian ex-marine. While none of us particularly like each other’s spouses, we accept them in the family because each of us loves our spouses. We may not see the redeeming value in each other’s spouses but as long as they are part of our family, we will treat them as such.
9.Who could you partner with for this project?
I plan on starting the project and then partnering with my entire family. I want to have each person tell their memories in their own ways. Then, we can build off of those stories by adding new ones and have us all write about and add pictures to those stories from our own perspectives.
10.Where could this event take place or displayed at?
I would display this project not only online so everyone can add to it as often as they like but once it starts taking shape, I would bring a copy of it to all of our family events so we could add to it on the spot as we make new memories.
11.Who would you like to reach in this project? Who would you like to see this project or be educated about your community?
I want this project to reach every member of my family. I think if everyone sees it and contributes to it, it will help each us see things, including our spouses, in a different light. I am hoping it will bring us closer together and help each other understand why we do the things we do or make the choices some of the other of us might not agree with and have a legacy to hand down to our children and their children and so on.
deonasherrill 