Community Collaborations
Artistic collaborations with community and social service organizations is a fundamental function of the applied arts. In the past Mock Turtle’s partnerships have included projects involving public libraries, environmental organizations and historical societies. The application of puppetry to public performances and education events is particularly effective for youth and family oriented projects.
My Name Is Jeremiah
Mock Turtle’s most extensive community collaboration involved the year-long production of our play, My Name Is Jeremiah. In creating this piece, our company was joined by a two prominent local non-profit organizations that shared concerns for the history of the Lehigh-Delaware canal system in Eastern Pennsylvania. Our play on a child’s life on the nineteenth century canal, was developed as both a theater piece and a video production.
Working With Community Organizations
Compared to artistic collaborations with other theater companies, community collaborations can be much more challenging to manage. That is, community organizations generally have to be coached in the use of the arts. But, community collaborations in the arts can also lead to a much richer level of public involvement. Our recent Finding H.D. project, for example, engaged more that ten academic and community organizations in its making and yielded ten related public events on the life of the poet, Hilda Doolittle.
Goals and Outcomes
Of all the uses of the applied arts, community collaborations, using the arts to serve local social and civic ends, is arguably the most important. The ability of the arts to make local issues important and to celebrate civic themes and achievements is clear. Such programs are basic to the development of an active and healthy local culture.
