Building the soundtrack. Reading the Steelton interviews for a second time. This part of the process is so exciting to me because I get to hear the stories of multiple generations of steelworkers and Steeltonians come to life and be part of history. A record of industry, union organizing and families which is a story that is repeated countless times throughout the history of the United States.
Listen to an excerpt here on Life and Death at the Steel Mill.
I am currently editing my interviews from Steelton for the soundtrack that will play from inside the Cocoon at the procession and lighting in August. Here’s a short excerpt from one of those interviews, with a steelworker, about issues of health and safety, life and death, at the mill.
Cocoon Steelton: The Migrations of Many occurs on the evening of Thursday, August 31st, in Steelton, PA. The Lights of Origin Procession begins at 7 PM at the bottom of the Locust Street Staircase. The Illumination of the Cocoon follows the end of the march, in a lot on Front Street, across from the steel mill.
These photos capture the brainstorming and placement of lights once the procession has reached the Cocoon. These lights represent the migrations of people and their stories within the community at their new established home in Steelton. The procession and the lights embody both celebration and mourning. Celebrating the safety and comfort in finding a new home as well as mourning a home that no longer exists.
Join us. See the Illumination of the Cocoon. Hear the stories of Steelton and the Mill. See the large scale photo portraits of local people. Walk in the lighted procession. Join us.
Cocoon Steelton: The Migrations of Many 2019-2023
On top of my drawing: Card from the Ellis Island archives. People walking down the Steelton hill to the steel mill carrying lights.
The drawing above was the beginning in 2019, an idea at the start of the Steelton artwork that is now coming to fruition over several years of interviewing people in Steelton and the steel mill.
From the late 1800’s on people migrated to Steelton to work in the steel mill. They came from Europe and the American South.
“St. Rocco, Croatia”
“The mountain ridges between Charlotte and Charlottesville”
I wanted to find a way to show this migration visually in my artwork during the procession. These places go as far back as people know or can remember. To illuminate an individual’s place(s) lived is showing history, and in a group it becomes the town and mill’s existence.
EVENT DATE
Cocoon Steelton : The Migrations of Many procession and illumination in Steelton, PA is August 31 at sunset honoring upcoming Labor Day.
Find details about this event here
../ more to come
