Creating Multi-Age Community with Art, Storytelling, and Empathetic Civic Dialogue
The InterGeneration Lab is an age diverse storytelling program inspired by Carolyn Shadid Lewis’ documentary. Carolyn brings The Lab to MassArt as the 2024/2025 artist-in-resident. The project is in partnership with the Office of Justice, Equity, and Transformation (JET) and the Art Education Department. The fall semester began with a screening, workshop, and panel discussion with film participants. The Lab continued with an interactive learning environment at the Arnheim Gallery from October 28th to November 8th, 2024
A letter from Carolyn Shadid Lewis
“Where are the colors of our land?”
Art Ed student, Moushegh Monteiro wrote these words in English on one of five giant blackboards in MassArt’s Arnheim Gallery. The blackboard he chose to write was labeled “IDENTITY.” On the blackboard labeled “BELONGING” he wrote the translation of the text in Armenian, an ancient language his late Armenian grandparents taught him as a child.
Որտե՞ղ են մեր երկրի գույները:
Moushegh and I animated the writing. The process was meaningful for me. As a Lebanese American, I deeply grieve the loss of Arabic in my family. Moushegh’s grandparents gave him an extraordinary gift by passing on their ancient language.
For the past few weeks, I have been blessed to be in community with students like Moushegh, sharing my experience and learning from them. As part of my residency with MassArt, the Art Education Department gave me the use of their Arnheim Gallery for The InterGeneration Lab. I created a participatory environment reminiscent of a Montessori classroom. The space invited viewers to play and create collaboratively across age.
Among the activities was a collective pixilation animation—stop motion animation with the human body. The animation began at the MassArt screening of InterGeneration on October 10th and continued through the exhibition. Participants danced and morphed into each other. The animation joyfully illustrates our interconnection. It will continue to build as The InterGeneration Lab moves to other contexts.
The giant blackboards were surfaces to explore the five constructs for transformative social-emotional learning as put forth by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Through playful drawings and words participants contemplated identity, belonging, agency, curiosity, and collaborative problem solving. We asked—how can these constructs help us to become our full selves as we empathetically connect with others who are different from us? How can they help us to connect across generational divides as we co-create a future together?
The space became a poignant place to gather during a difficult time. On Nov. 7th, a group of elders met with a class. The gathering was comforting and energizing to all involved. We connected in small groups, sharing memories of the elders who came up for us in a meditation and writing activity. The older adults visiting also shared memories of their early education, which included a school in the Bahamas and a two-room schoolhouse in New England. The evening ended with visitor, Carol Devlin showing the students segments of what will be her vibrantly colored quilt.
The week leading up to the election was filled with anxiety for the college and the nation. On election night, I used my energy to prepare a lentil soup to share with the community—one inspired by my Lebanese ancestry. I filled it with thyme from my garden and spices from my grandparent’s homeland. The day after the election brought confusion and disappointment for many of the students. I was blessed to have the opportunity to share my soup with them. I served it with sourdough bread and yogurt—two living foods with bacteria that predates us and is a connecting source of life for every human.
During this difficult season in our country where intergenerational bonds are increasingly frayed, where loneliness is on the rise, and where empathy seems in short supply, The InterGeneration Lab, like the film in 2020, was a solace during a challenging time. It reinforced for me the possibility of storytelling, artmaking, and intergenerational connection to build community and to cross divides.
The InterGeneration Lab will continue at MassArt in the Spring. Stay tuned for more ways to participate and to view the film on PBS in 2025.
Sincerely,
Carolyn
October 10th Opening Event + Panel Discussion
The residency kicked off with a screening of Carolyn’s documentary, InterGeneration followed by a panel and animation workshop. The panel was a joyful reunion of many of the participants in the film.
