CELEBRATING IMMIGRATION: SESSION #4 – MAY 1, 2015
RAPPORTEUR’S SUMMARY
“Please see us. Open your eyes to see who is moving here and reach out.”
It was May 1 – a sunny, if admittedly chilly, late afternoon in Maine’s emerging spring – and for a change, people attending the Celebrating Immigration series did not blow in the doors on a burst of wind. This evening, as fellow Portlanders strolled on Congress Street and into the Portland Public Library’s art galleries for the city’s First Friday Art Walk, a gathering in Rines Auditorium prepared to exchange ideas on Immigrants and the Creative Economy. There was to be a sense of personal fulfillment in the presentations at the fourth event of the series. New Mainers had, after all, been making art on their own initiative for years, following their gifts as artists the world over do. No application, no permission was needed. But the realities of economic survival still applied.
World Affairs Council of Maine’s Board Chair Tim Honey extended a welcome on behalf of the Council and series partner Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition (MIRC), and extended thanks to the series’ sponsors. Mr. Honey looked ahead to the issuance of a report and recommendations at the series’ final June event, which is to be a capstone celebration. And this evening, he asked again for those present to offer their voices, without which Celebrating Immigration would not thrive. He then introduced Jennifer Hutchins, Director of Creative Portland, who would moderate a multi-layered event whose emerging themes would include:
ü The importance of diversity as a pillar of the creative economy
ü The arts as connectors across cultures and languages, and as pathways into new communities
ü The importance of locating passion and using it to build community support for innovation in arts and creative new businesses
ü The importance of locating organizations that can help with language and business skills
ü The importance of networking and finding mentors, both people and organizations
ü The importance of shared space and collaborative work
ü The importance of the host community’s reaching out beyond its comfort zone to “see” and connect with New Mainers
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Ms. Hutchins – the ecosystem of diversity.
Among over 70 arts and cultural institutions in the City of Portland, Creative Portland is the only quasi-municipal organization designated by the city to grow the creative economy. The Creative Portland Corporation was formed in 2008 and since then has sought enrich creative enterprise and to leverage creative assets to grow Portland’s economy.
The creative economy – which experts consider to be one grounded in ideas, doing, and innovation – depends profoundly on diversity which, as in a garden, is critical to the sustainability of the entire ecosystem. In different words, diversity is considered a pillar of the creative economy.
While diversity can mean many things, Ms. Hutchins noted that this evening, Creative Portland is for the first time addressing ethnic diversity – and the people not born here who have decided to make Maine their home.
Why not address ethnic diversity until now? Ms. Hutchins does not underestimate the hard work that is involved in tackling the issue in the creative economy and understood she could not do it alone – so when the World Affairs Council of Maine approached her about collaborating on Celebrating Immigration, Ms. Hutchins saw an opportunity to begin the work. She emphasized that this effort is only the beginning, and hopes for a simple outcome: to emerge from the conversation with a little more understanding of the ethnic and arts communities and the potential between them for enlarging opportunity – that is, enlarging the human ecosystem in a community that cares and supports.
At a practical level, Creative Portland has been working on attracting people to Maine, but once here, they need to survive and engage in what is present in the state. Creative Portland’s goal is to offer them a prosperous community, one that values and supports what makes Portland a great place to live, not just to visit.
Many other cities are also doing excellent work on the benefits of ethnic diversity, and the arts can often serve as a hook, a connection between newcomers and institutions, a means of overcoming barriers to welcoming and sustaining a flourishing, diverse populace.
Ms. Hutchins outlined the elements of this fourth series event:
· Highlights of artists who call Maine home
· A discussion of barriers and opportunities immigrants and others face in the creative economy
· Places to go for help in the creative economy
· A visualization of the creative energy individuals can bring to Portland
Ms. Hutchins introduced Oscar Mokeme, founder and director of the Museum of African Culture.
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Oscar Mokeme – a slide show sampling of diverse Portland area artists.
With his colleague Art Aleshire, Mr. Mokeme founded the Museum of African Culture in Portland in 1998. It is the only institution in in northern New England devoted exclusively to sub-Saharan African arts and culture, and curates art that is up to 2000 years old.
Mr. Mokeme gently narrated a slide show introducing various diverse and New Mainer artists:
· Mr. Mokeme himself was pictured conducting a traditional ceremony in Portsmouth, New Hampshire – one that re-consecrated an African burial ground discovered under city streets.
· Ali Shakir Alasadi is an artist and painter who immigrated to Maine in January of 2015. His carved wood blocks were pictured.
· Marie Solie, Congolese, is a film maker and musician. Pure Silence is one of her recent films.
· Venus Labell, also Congolese and Ms. Solie’s twin sister, is a musician and actress.
· Kazeem Lawal, perhaps the best-dressed man in Portland, is a creative entrepreneur.
· Edwige Charlot is an artist whose mission is to inspire students.
· Alfinodah Farrai is a Congolese dancer.
· Ouda Baxer, a Bowdoin graduate with roots in Zimbabwe, is a photographer and artist.
· Ebenezer Akapo, from Ghana, studied at MECA and is a jewelry designer.
· Sabin Badjyinama is an artist who connects the aesthetic of her country of birth to the myriad sea shells of Maine.
· Adele Ngoy is a fashion designer whose mission is to enable other New Mainer fashion designers.
· Yegor Malinovskii is a Ukrainian photographer.
· Alzenira Quezada – or “Lady Zen” – is a lyric fusion poet from Brazil.
· Mei Selvage is an artist and tech designer of Asian heritage whose show is currently at 3fish gallery.
· Atiy Haji is a basketmaker.
· Reza Jalali is an author and playwright, a long-time U.S. resident and author of The Poets and the Assassin and Moon Watchers, a children’s book for which he received a note from First Lady Michelle Obama.
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Who can help? (Community Dialogue)
Ms. Hutchins invited three people onto the stage – each of whom had figured out how to start creative businesses, and who would engage in an interactive conversation about their experience and about who and what could help others:
· Jonah Fertig, co-founder of the Local Sprouts Cooperative. Jonah grew up in Maine.
· Adele Ngoy, born in Congo, and living in Maine for fifteen years. She studied fashion design in Congo and want to teach others how to become fashion designers.
· Jake Ryan, born in Maine, works on community. He created the Open Bench Project, a space in which people can explore how to make a business out of “making stuff.”
The moderator for this portion of the evening was Edwige Charlot, educator, artist and entrepreneur. Coming to MECA as a student, she has now spent ten years in Maine and is a strong advocate for the arts in Portland.
Ms. Charlot: How did you get started?
Ms. Ngoy: It was hard with no English, but she went to school, got a job in her field, and then started her own business.
Mr. Ryan: He began by daydreaming, fell in love with an idea, spent about two years “thinking about doing it” and told people so. He put himself in the position of having to be accountable, so he had to move forward with his idea.
Mr. Fertig: He began creating community space in 2002. He wants an economy that works well for all, and the current one does not. He envisioned workers owning their own cooperative, working together and owning businesses in cases where they usually wouldn’t. In 2007, he founded the Local Sprouts food cooperative, providing organic, local food. He attended community events, went to schools, built community support, and opened the Local Sprouts café in 2010. Over 200 people helped renovate the café, volunteering painting, building, and art.
Ms. Charlot: The fire within is clear in you. Where else did your resources come from?
Mr. Ryan: Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and SCORE were resources for free counseling. He worked with any mentor he could find.
Ms. Ngoy: CEI helped her create a business plan. She also relied on friends.
Mr. Fertig: SBDC also helped, but he had to educate the business development community with respect to his first workers’ cooperative. The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the Cooperative Development Institute helped him with that education. He received some funding from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), the Cooperative Fund of New England, the community and personal loans. Sweat equity kept costs down.
Ms. Charlot: Please identify a barrier that became an opportunity for you.
Mr. Ryan: Money. In itself, it is not a solution, but not having it accelerates both problems and solutions to them. Put differently, frugality forces innovation and good fits.
Ms. Ngoy: She had good skills, but did not know how to sell herself, scale up, move to current technology. Now, however, she is good at it.
Mr. Fertig: He had no business background, but operated on creativity and passion. He learned from the ground up and can now share to help cooperative businesses.
Ms. Charlot: Tell us about your space – where do you work and how did you get there?
Mr. Fertig: He has worked in and been evicted from various spaces in Portland, especially since gentrification has raised rents. A shared space helps. There are supportive landlords out there, but as real estate becomes more expensive, it becomes more important for the entire community to address the issue.
Ms. Ngoy: She had space on Brighton Avenue. Four years later it closed. She then worked from home and now works well in a shared space, a Gathering of Stitches.
Mr. Ryan: He worked out of his home for a long time. The Open Bench Project he created secured space to let work happen. Mr. Ryan knew a man who was buying up beat up buildings and liked Mr. Ryan’s story. Mr. Ryan brought people and tools to what would become the Open Bench – and once he had keys, tools and power, he started selling memberships. He was basically squatting in the building, renovating, and helping the developer at the same time. This saved the building from demolition. Keep asking. Be tenacious.
Ms. Charlot: Networking seems important.
Mr. Ryan: Yes, networking is an important part of the story. He was too poor to do things twice so he had to do them right. To do that, he reality-checked with people – meaning that he had to make sure he was doing what people really wanted.
Ms. Ngoy: Networking was important to her because she did not know how to sell herself. She began with her customers.
Mr. Fertig: Networking and collaboration lead to a strong, creative community. It takes years to develop collaborative spaces.
Question from the audience: You seem to start with vision and creativity. What if the customer base is not ready? How do you balance your vision with the market?
Mr. Fertig: Do your marketing research, but be willing to challenge the market. Once you have community support, ask your supporters to take an unconventional step.
Ms. Ngoy: She adapted her designs to the needs of the community – and in Maine, that meant the weather! She now makes fleece jackets in her own style.
Mr. Ryan: He makes the distinction between art and craft. Art he makes for himself, regardless of the market. He makes his craft by using his creative skills to solve others’ problems, to function in business, to bend fully to the market.
Ms. Charlot: Please use our panelists as resources. They are people like you. Don’t worry if you “belong.” You do.
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Resources – where to go for help in the creative economy
Ms. Hutchins returned to say that one of the goals of this event is to get people who are also resources into the room. Rather than offer a list, Ms. Hutchins suggested involvement and consultation with 2 Degrees Portland (http://www.liveworkportland.org/connect-visit/2-degrees-portland), “a network of people who want to sustain and grow the city's economy by welcoming creators, innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers to the area — a sort of 21st century welcome wagon.” The title of the organization is a play on the phrase “six degrees of separation” – 2 Degrees Portland believes that people are separated by fewer degrees than six. Through 2 Degrees Portland, people can sign up as connectors/ees, then progress to meeting face to face.
Ms. Hutchins introduced some of the human and organizational resources represented in the room: