When the world hands you a shutdown…

GHC responds to COVID with outreach that connects

Listening, learning, and responding is at the core of our work at Glass House Collective. Having moved in this way within Glass Farm for over seven years we were in a ready position to pivot some of our work in support of our neighbors during the COVID 19 shutdown. 

“As an artist whose work reflects the time, working with an organization that does the same is synergy,” said Glass House Collective’s Creative Strategist, Erika Roberts. Erika has been at the center of our response to COVID and is at the heart of all our engagement work since joining our team in 2019.  Erika said she knows how important it is for us to keep the community connected with other organizations for resources as COVID continues to change our world.

Using our proven engagement strategy of artist-driven and resident-led projects, we maximized ideas and opportunities and created new streams of collaboration. 

Along with our team’s weekly “huddle” via zoom, we also initiated a bi-weekly zoom meet up with East Chattanooga nonprofits and partners. This has been an incredible space that may not have existed with such regularity and vulnerability if not for the pandemic.  Each time we gather around our screens to connect during these lunchtime “Eat n Meets”, we are able to hear from other organizations and what they are doing and needing to serve the community. It has been an incredible space for collaborating and helping spread the word for resources like free WiFi in our pocket park, and other important info sources. 

If you are interested in partnering up with us in East Chattanooga and want to join in our next Zoom Eat n Meet please email us and we’ll send you a link! info@glasshousecollective.org .

The Eat n Meet became the perfect platform to fine-tune some ideas that were proposed to the community from our partners at CDOT and Pop Up Project. Thanks to everyone’s care and attention, The Rolling Surprise went through a few changes, but it did eventually roll through Glass Farm and that was amazing!

“Understanding community needs in an always changing environment can be difficult but because we formed relationships with residents and stakeholders, calling and checking in on them led to most of our creative solutions,” said Teal Thibaud, Glass House Collective’s co-founder and executive director.

Erika, who is also a poet and creator of Velvet Poetry Productions, nourished us with a new written series that was a direct response to the shutdown. For 11 weeks we were proud to publish Erika’s Blog Takeover + Reflection, to the Collectively Speaking blog and pull inspiration from the words of this strong black creative leader each week.  

“As a Black woman with a voice, I naturally want to be heard. In a world that doesn’t consistently listen to the voices of Black or Brown people, it is refreshing to be heard. The blog takeover and the extension of that into an upcoming new written series “Heard + Amplified” show that intentionality,” Erika said. 

Check out the links to some of the other projects we’ve kept busy with the last 6 months. 

• Art Anywhere Kit Fundraiser for Hardy Elementary School!
• The free downloadable How-To Guide we produced to share our social media fundraising strategy for the Art Anywhere Kit.
• Through Glass documentary suite and Pandemic Portraits project
• A very special Through Glass Meet The Team virtual event hosted by Glass Farm resident, Audrey McClure. 
• In the storm, we stand in solidarity with our community and issued our Where We Stand statement of support. 

Through it all, we are learning so much but we know this: it is amazing what we can create together even at a distance for the greater good when aligned with passionate neighbors and partners. The pandemic has taught us all that it is more important than ever to meet people where they are in this new normal, and work collectively with compassion to hear, allow, and act!

Through Glass: Meet The Team

Residents surprise film creators with a special award

This could be the ICYMI (in case you missed it) moment of the summer. Did you tune in to the live Through Glass: Meet The Team Q&A featuring a conversation with the artists who created the Through Glass and Rhythm of Life pandemic documentary projects?

In late July, Glass Farm resident, Audrey McClure, facilitated a live discussion with the 4 artists who collaborated on a unique and powerful socially distant creative endeavor with the residents of Glass Farm. That project, which premiered to the neighbors in early July, now has its own website, throughglass.org, and, has just received its first award which was recently featured on News Ch 9.

In spite of that little award-winning spoiler alert, the entire conversation is a really fun listen. Whether you’re an artist, community member, activist, or just someone looking for ways to safely reconnect with your own community,  the 50-minute discussion between the collaborators is as uplifting as the art they created together. 

Listen in as these talented multidisciplinary Chattanooga artists talk about working together for the first time, and remotely. Sound designer, Summer Dregs, shares how he was able to hear the rhythms in the backgrounds of the interviews to create a soundtrack from the found sounds in Glass Farm. Erika recalls her process of writing to Reed’s Pandemic Portrait images but then leaving space for the true rhythms of words and beats to merge when she recorded her voice track for Rhythm Of Life. Videographer Davy Granbery and director Reed Schick talk about what it meant coming into the neighborhood as strangers during a pandemic but able to ask neighbors to openly share their thoughts, hopes, and fears at the moment.

And of course, the moment when Audrey really shares how she feels about the entire project is a moment we will never forget. We agree, Miss Audrey, what has been created represents the heart of the community!

“This is something that we can keep for a lifetime, from this time of ‘what were you doing during the pandemic,’ Audrey told the artists and audience. She was excited that this new neighborhood time capsule lives online and is something that everyone anywhere can experience, see Glass Farm, and show their kids and grandkids for years to come. 

Go deeper:
Through Glass project info
Interview with Director, Reed Schick
Meet The Artists
Through Glass website

“Interview with ‘Through Glass’ director and photographer, Reed Schick”

Through Glass director and photographer, Reed Schick shared some of his thoughts about working in the Glass Farm neighborhood during the making of the Pandemic Portraits project and the creation of the Through Glass videos, in collaboration with Glass House Collective. 

What is your vision for the Through Glass film and Pandemic Portraits projects? The vision is to show people as people wherever they are amongst Covid-19. Covid-19 has affected everyone and everything differently all around the world. The project is about slowing down and taking time to actually try and see people where they are at and listen to their story in the Glass Farm neighborhood in East Chattanooga. 

What makes this project stand out/ special?
Everyone is in a different situation amongst Covid-19, yet all of us are under similar circumstances. Covid-19 has effected everyone and to be able to capture/listen to how it is affecting people of a specific community is really beautiful. I was encouraged by the joy many people shared in being with family, still having work, and finding ways to help out their neighbors. I also related to the feelings of anxiety, the uncertainty of every day, and the stress of unemployment. Everyone is going through something right now and for us to be able to tell our stories and be seen or heard has weight.

Why is that important during this time?
It is important to remember, document, and be able to reflect on whatever is going on right now. What is happening right now is a moment in history. We will never be in the same place and everything is/will be changed because of Covid-19. I picked up my camera and started photographing the past few weeks more than I ever have because I believe that everyone should be seen where they are at right now. Whether suffering, getting by, changing routine, or however Covid-19 has affected us, we are all humans and have the ability to listen to and help our neighbors.

Who is telling the story in this film?
Everyone’s experience is different and the residents of Glass Farm are the driving voice. It is their story to be told. Some people are really struggling right now while others are blessed. Some people are sad or anxious while others have joy. All of those voices are important and one does not take away from the other. Together they are the voice of the Glass Farm. The voice of a neighborhood in Chattanooga.

What was the energy like on that Thursday night in May when you did the first pandemic portrait round?
Every home was different, so the energy was constantly changing. Residents seemed really excited about the project and their stories carried the momentum. We visited 12 homes on Thursday night, each around 15 minutes, making photographs and listening to the stories from residents of Glass Farm about their feelings towards Covid-19. 

Who was this project created for? 
The neighborhood comes first. These photographs and videos are going to provide a collective voice and story of what living in 2020 in Glass Farm looks like. Secondly, the city of Chattanooga. Glass Farm is historically an area in Chattanooga (along with most of East Chattanooga) who’s voice and story have been unheard by the rest of the city. I want people who are new to the area, have never interacted with anyone from East Chattanooga, who want to know their neighbors better, to be able to see this project and learn about someone new. Thirdly, anyone and everyone:) Glass Farm is a working-class neighborhood in the Southeast of the United States. Historically (and currently) the voice of the Black community has been suppressed and silenced in the South (as well as the United States in general). I think that a story as simple as someone talking on their front porch, explaining how they are feeling amongst a global pandemic, is relatable to anyone in the world right now. How powerful would it be to give the residents of Glass Farm a global platform and for someone to be able to relate to someone different than them from wherever they are? Fourthly, potential donors. I want anyone who sees this video to see and hear the people and also be able to contribute or learn more about Glass House Collective. Glass House Collective has been in the community for many years and cares more about the residents in a way that is beneficial to them. If people could learn more and want to support Glass House Collective, then more projects such as this one are possible.

I hope that people want to learn more and feel a human connection from the photographs and video. I hope that people get excited about “meeting” someone new and that inspires them to get to know their neighbors. I hope that if someone in Chattanooga sees the video that they become curious about Glass Farms and try to learn more about the history of Chattanooga. Overall I want there to be encouraging and hopeful feelings from viewers which causes them to feel positively of Glass House Collective. It is about people telling their stories and feeling respected. If we can do that well, then people will appreciate and love the brand.

How will you know if this project was a success?
Success looks like honesty. Telling stories honestly and treating people with dignity. I want everyone who participated to feel seen, heard, and respected when they see their photographs or the video. I want them to be able to see themselves and their stories in light of Covid-19 as something important and historical.

Plan to host a Watch Party for the virtual premiere of Through Glass on Thursday, July 2 at 7:30pm. 

Read more about the Through Glass project here.