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On February 22nd I interviewed Jeff Frazier and Rebecca White, a couple who lives in Deutschtown. Their words are “ditirambos” (“dithyrambics”) and “fly.” Rebecca observed of the project: “Its so cool. And you meet people and then you kind of– like I met this woman Sharon at the opening event and I couldn’t remember her…

I had the opportunity to speak with Gwen Moorer on February 22nd. Gwen, who is on the City of Asylum board, as well as the Y board on the North Side, had some powerful insights about the relationship between public art and cultivating quality of life, that sense that a neighborhood is fulfilling. Of her…

On February 22nd I interviewed Timothy Johnson, who has recently moved to the North Side, though he is a native Pittsburgher. His word is “Book,” a term that speaks to his wife’s book-writing project, and his own Christian faith. Having the word, he recounted, has given him a chance to talk to people about his…

Lynn Kosegi, who I interviewed March 7th, has a cool story of growing up, moving away from, and then returning to the North Side, a homecoming that was facilitated by the River of Words project, one which, in her view, allows the “non artistic” of the neighborhood to fully participate in its cultural life. Moreover,…

On March 7th I conducted a phone interview with Sarah Sims Erwin, while she was in the process of moving. Sarah and her husband are completing a gut renovation of a 160 year old duplex in Deutschtown. The process has been replete with difficulties, obstacles that make their word “persistence” a kind of “mantra” or…

On March 22nd I interviewed Elaine Stone who co-runs a family owned business, “Smart Solution Technologies” in the buildings of a former flashlight manufacturer. Her three words are “Ginger,” “Zombies,” and the phrase, “Put yourself in others’ shoes.” The first word, for her, reflects a family joke. The second, her family’s intense relationships to zombie…

I got to meet with the lovely crew of Terri and Jorg Wiezoreck, and their two kids, Mateus and Ana who provided silent and not-so-silent commentary throughout our interview. Their house boasts the word “Be Good,” a phrase, Jorg reflected, that serves as a subtle reminder that one should strive to be good “inside and…

CB: OK so I am here with Randi Marshak as part of the River of Words Oral History Project. The date is March 22, 2015. So thanks for your time and being here, I know that the weekends are precious. RM: No problem. CB: So, I wanted to start with some demographic information, I am…

As I work on revising the dissertation into a manuscript, I am beginning with the chapter on Chicago’s Meeting of Styles festival. This chapter, to me, feels the most intimate, because I spent the most time in this city and got to know the graffiti writer community fairly well, but also is the most difficult…

I write this post a week or so late, as is appropriate, since it feels Spring semester that Time runs several miles ahead of me, in every instance. In my Rhetoric and Culture course, which is focused on public art, we have discussed visual methodologies, spatial segregation and control, site specificity, monuments and official discourse,…