My Monterey Jazz Club: Educational Arts Project with Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology
"The enterprise of making beautiful things.” These words from Bill Strickland, CEO of Manchester Bidwell, perfectly encapsulates the research, programming, and organizing I’ve achieved over my first two months of summer through the Yale Presidential Public Service Fellowship and internship with Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology 'ConnCAT'. Staying in New Haven this summer nurtured my skills of grasping the history and long-standing culture of a city–and interpreting that in harmony with substantial knowledge of the data, research, and narratives of our communities today–in order to build blueprints for a better future.Â
For the “My Monterey Jazz Club Project,” local youth learned about the history of New Haven, including efforts of economic revitalization and municipal politics, to feel a sense of urgency: they were pushed to use their vision to call for investment in their neighborhood. “My Monterey” involved the Monterey Jazz Club, the liveliest jazz hotspot during the Jazz Renaissance of New Haven, having hosted stars like Ella Fitszgerald, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane.
"In six weeks, they turned a cohort of 80 students into budding artists, musicians, and vocalists. Wang took students to the former Monterey Café, inviting them to reimagine it at a time when the building’s future still hangs in limbo."
"That was also true for 10-year-old Cassidy Streeter, a rising sixth grader at Elm City College Preparatory Academy. In addition to learning about the music of the Harlem Renaissance, she said that she loved getting to make all of her artwork “from scratch” under Powell and Wang’s guidance. "
I taught an enrichment period educating youth about their neighborhoods to instill a sense of agency and pride, while also taking a field trip to the actual jazz club site. With these educational opportunities, the youth created blueprints utilizing their visions of development for this site.Â
I taught an enrichment period educating youth about their neighborhoods to instill a sense of agency and pride, while also taking a field trip to the actual jazz club site. With these educational opportunities, youth created a blueprint utilizing their visions of development for this site. Along with the artistic skills required to complete the blueprint, I coached the youth on public speaking skills so they could become vibrant community advocates. We worked on gaining confidence in public speaking, clearly articulating a pitch, and strongly advocating one’s stance.
Very importantly, this project was extended to prominent community figures including the Mayor of New Haven, Justin Elicker, Dixwell Alderwoman Jeanette Morrison, Livable City Initiative board members, heads from the Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism, and local artists through a showcase where the youth presented their blueprints and communicated their visions. Ultimately, this project called for local leaders to expand their scope of revitalization in the neighborhoods of Dixwell and Newhallville that respects its longstanding history and culture—all while listening to its future: this project placed a great power in the youth of local New Haven by instilling pride within their identities and equipping them with skills later in life to become creative and vocal advocates.
