West End Hotel, circa 1915, from the Maine Historical Society
The Maine Historical Society and Art at Work’s Meeting Place project are joining forces in a series of nostalgic workshops focused on some of Portland’s old neighborhoods. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m going to pass along a City Hall description of what they’re looking for and when the workshops are being held — the first one, about the West End neighborhood, is tomorrow:
Do you have a story about the Portland neighborhood you grew up in, ponds you skated in, buildings that have long since vanished or the old businesses you used to visit? We’re collecting stories from four Portland neighborhoods, and we need your help. Did you grow up going to Tony’s Donuts? Or chatting with ‘Tiny’ who worked at Red’s, over near where Denny’s is now? Remember the gray stone walls of the Monroe Street County Jail by Fox and Anderson Streets? Please join us for a series of interactive, place-based storytelling workshops lead by Art at Work’s Meeting Place and the Maine Historical Society.
Meeting Place is a project aimed at increasing pride, awareness, participation, and diversity in neighborhood organizations through targeted arts workshops and neighborhood celebrations. Maine Historical Society will start the conversation with historical images and details from each neighborhood, and then participants will be invited to share their own memories. We’re looking for all kinds of stories about the Portland neighborhoods: the hilarious, the ridiculous, the mundane and more!
Gathered stories will be linked to neighborhood’s larger Gateway Arts Projects through photography, block carvings, and poetry, all of which will be displayed throughout the neighborhoods in Meeting Place’s Neighborhood Open House/Celebrations on two Saturday – September 22nd for Libbytown & West End & the 29th for Bayside & East Bayside.
Each workship will offer the chance for participants to share their knowledge of Portland in their own words. Please come to the neighborhood workshop that you either live(d) in, work in, or have memories from. And if you have any photographs that relate to your story, do bring it. We love the stories and the photographs.
- West End: Tuesday, July 24th, 2012, 6pm – 8:30pm
- Bayside: Wednesday, July 25th, 2012, 6pm – 8:30pm
- East Bayside: Tuesday, July 31st, 2012, 6pm – 8:30pm
- Libbytown: Wednesday, August 1st, 2012, 6pm – 8:30pm
All workshops will be held at the Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St.
*Free Parking Available behind MHS
*Maps and Historical Facts, Oddities and Photos from Each Neighborhood
*Food and Refreshments
*Please Bring Photographs to Share
To learn more about the Art at Work Meeting Place project visit: http://www.artatworkproject.
us/projects/project.php? category=14
