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The Binghamton El Charcón Arts Initiative
We cannot
do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This
enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way. — Oscar
Romero-Archbishop of El Salvador.
Mural
of Romero at El Salvador National University.
The Binghamton El Charcón Arts
Initiative arose from a discussion between artists and organizers from
the Binghamton- El Charcón sister city
project asking what they could do through the arts to improve the
situation for impoverished rural communities in El Salvador while gathering material for their
own artistic endeavors. As this idea developed we discovered that the
Salvadorans had as much to teach us as we did them. Although poor
Salvadoran communities are materially much less well off than their US sisters, they excel in working
together to achieve particular goals. Some rural communities have
recycling programs, health clinics, women's groups, youth groups, and
other socially beneficial programs created  through
hard work with shoestring budgets.
Mural
in Cinquera, a small, economically
disadvantaged town with an ambitious rainforest reclamation program.
We felt that some of these techniques of efficiently using resources
might be adapted to help the less fortunate in Binghamton.
One purpose of our visit to El Salvador in July 2005 was to explore with
the Salvadorans some strategies of creating connections through the arts
which would foster social, creative, and economic development which would
be beneficial to both the Salvadorans and their US sister cities. For the
purpose of doing this we attended an Encuentro,
a gathering of these communities to discuss key issues effecting their
economic and social development. 
Prior to the Encuentro, National University art students and other artists
created a mural using ideas submitted by members of the rural
communities. Shown on the left, the mural depicts in a bold linear style,
the role of clergy, children, education, and community work in regaining
dignity and peace after El Salvadorís
twelve year civil war.
Salvadoran mural work tends to be historical in nature, and is an
interesting mix of the Eurocentric and the broad stylized 2-dimensional
work of the native Central Americans. It is often marked by the brilliant
warm colors that the tropics are known for.
Designers
of solidarity mural hold up their plan.
The workshop we attended at the Encuentro was
on the role of art in improving the quality of life in the rural
communities. The workshop was run by Ricardo Sorto,
chairman of the national university art department. This author
facilitated one of the four working groups that were brainstorming ideas
on building community arts programs. Although most of the Salvadorans who
attended the workshop with us did not have more then a sixth grade
education, they had a much deeper understanding of these concepts than an
US citizen would normally have.
 The
Salvadorans talked about the quality of their crafts and how they would
like to improve them, they discussed the therapeutic benefits of art,
ranging from the needs of young children to express themselves to the
needs of the adults in the community to process their experiences of the
war. Many of the murals you see in El Salvador today are reflections of that
culture's experience with conflict. The mural to the right is an example
of this. The subject matter appears to reflect the changing role of women
in wartime.
The other subject Professor Sorto discussed
during the workshop was how art could contribute to the formation of
cultural identity. Many of the rural citizens of El Salvador became permanently displaced
refugees during the war. Today, having little left to remind them of
where they come from, they are learning to adopt healthy new
relationships to the places they now call home. Whole villages (such as
our Sister City El Charcón) have been
created of these displaced individuals. The arts provide a means for
identifying characteristics of their new communities which make them
unique.
Some ways of creating and utilizing unique community characteristics that
were given in the author's brainstorming group were the use of the
natural environment of a community to tribute to the creation of art,
such as the use of local clays to make pottery or local seeds and shells
to create jewelry. Another example was the creation of celebrations and
dramas around the community's history and the story of how it came into
being. Yet another example: the revival of native celebrations, such as
corn festivals, which serve to reflect the rhythms of the agricultural
year and the unique products which a community produces. 
At the end of the Encuentro workshop the
participants were encouraged to reflect on what they had learned and come
up with a practical method of applying their knowledge to their own
community. To that end the Binghamton-El Charcón
Sister cities project has created a series of initiatives that are
designed to achieve this goal.
Some of the most inadequate
housing in El Charcón.
We began by working with the
youth of El Charcón. First we asked them
what they wanted- whether they would rather work on a Mural, or learn a
craft where they could make money for their youth group. They
overwhelmingly wanted to learn the craft. This author selected
macramé because of its low start up costs, ease of being learned
and relationship to fishing and boat skills (El Charcón
is by the sea). El Charcón also has
shells, and many trees with distinctive nuts and seeds which can be
incorporated into their macramé to give it the flavor of their
region.  We
donated materials worth just over $100 to get them started. We also
purchased some instruction books which could be used to supplement the
workshop we offered. In the course of a four hour workshop, the students
learned the fundamentals of macramé. They also learned how to
identify natural objects to include in their work and to use the power
drill and lacquer to turn them into beads.
Three months later, in spite of a hurricane and several mudslides which
rendered 5 families in El Charcón
homeless, 50 well executed bracelets and necklaces arrived in America. Using the instruction books these
enterprising young people had far surpassed the techniques they learned
in the workshop. As of January 2006 we have sold enough to make $137 for
El Charcón's youth group. Their youth
group has committed to use the money made to further their craft skills,
fund other projects, pay for transportation to
craft workshops given by other villages and to train others in turn. At
this point they have already taught craft workshops to youth in other
communities and we are looking forward to hearing about their future
endeavors. We understand that this will never be one of the main means of
El Charcónís economic success,
but we do feel that it will be helpful to teach the youth of the village
values around cooperation and effort. The skills they learn are also
worthwhile and they can benefit their youth group with the money they
earn.
Because of high unemployment rates and the fact that high school has to
be paid for and most of the young people can’t afford it, boredom
can be a problem for the youth as well and occasionally can lead to drugs
and crime.
This leads us to the future of the arts initiative. To a lesser degree,
the greater Binghamton area has many of the same problems
as its sister city in El Salvador.
The
youth group's first bracelets. Since then, their creations they have
become more intricate.
Unemployment rates are high, especially among its minority population and
its young people are leaving the area for the sake of economic and
cultural opportunities.
To do something to combat this in our own city the arts initiative has
signed of with the Columbus Park Revitalization project to do a mural
designed and conceived by members of All Peoples United, (a group
dedicated to improving the economic conditions of underprivileged young
adults) and the students of Columbus Alternative School. As with the
mural at the Encuentro, the theme of the mural
will be local history, (which is rich in the anti-slavery movement) and a
positive vision of the future for the surrounding community. Hopefully
this mural will be the beginning of many as there are many spaces in need
of color and interest in the greater Binghamton area that could use murals of
substance.
The other plan for the future is to bring a Salvadoran artist from the National University here to Binghamton to give lectures about Salvadoran
art and social movements so we can have an opportunity to view this in
the context of giving purpose to our own artistic endeavors in the
Greater Binghamton area.
In addition to bringing a Salvadoran artist to the Greater Binghamton
area, the Binghamton - El Charcón
Arts Initiative is organizing a Summer 2006 Arts Delegation to bring
local artists to El Salvador. This two-week trip will offer
workshops in two or three rural communities. Depending on the
participants' interests and talents, the delegation might offer programs
in theater, mural art, writing, photography, dance, guitar, or any craft
that can be easily taught and that might provide young people with both a
new skill and a source of income.
Members of the Arts Delegation will discover a vibrant culture in which
the arts are an integral part. Salvadoran popular theater has become an
entertaining and effective way to examine complex social and political
issues. As demonstrated above, Salvadoran mural painting is an
established form of public art. Writing is an effective tool for helping
people of all ages and backgrounds process powerful emotions and personal
experiences. Music, particularly guitar, is central to the culture.
Crafts can provide income and with it, hope.
Delegation members will gain as much as they give. Whatever their
particular artistic interest, they will return with a wealth of material
for their own work. Beyond that, they will come home having seen how
Salvadoran society uses the power of the arts in helping people deal with
serious social and economic issues that effect their daily lives. The
hope is that delegation participants will come back with new ideas for
exploring art as a means for dealing with the issues that confront our
own society.
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