Ghost Waters: Matrix explores Detroit’s hidden waterways

Imagine downtown Detroit as a fertile paradise, as it existed long before industry came. Ghost Waters is Matrix Theatre Company’s three-year education, arts and awareness project which explores the ponds, marshes and rivers now hidden beneath downtown. Ghost Waters can be found where now sits Cobo Hall, Comerica Park and the Michigan Central Depot. What was lost in these places will be brought back to life through artistic stories, communal education activities, field trips, student showcases, workshops, street art and theatre pageants, all centered on water: its history, its present, and its role in the destiny of Detroit and Southeast Michigan. 

Ghost Waters’ next public event is the Water Fest, on Saturday, May 15, 2010 from 11am to 3pm outdoors at Matrix Theatre Company. Matrix is located at 2730 Bagley in Detroit’s Mexicantown. Performances, music, puppet workshops, food, and fun family activities will all focus on water consciousness. 

A ghost water is any body of water that was buried in the name of human progress. Many of Detroit’s waterways were used as sewers and eventually buried, but hidden rivers still flow beneath the city. The project examines Detroit’s water history, its current water problems and their impact on the future. Ghost Waters aims to serve as a vehicle to foster a renewed sense of place in Detroit’s ecosystems. The importance of recycling, water-consciousness, sustainability, and the right of every human being to have access to clean, running water are some of the topics Ghost Waters will connect to, artistically and through community engagement. 

Ghost Waters will bring the cause of water consciousness to the U.S. Social Forum, held in Detroit June 22-26, with a Procession of the Species Parade, art activities for youth, and the Savoyard Creek’s River Resurgence Pageant - where all are invited to participate in creating puppets that depict the hidden Savoyard Creek, still located below Congress Street. 

Thanks in part to funds received from The Erb Family Foundation, The Kresge Community Arts Foundation, and The Skillman Foundation, Ghost Waters continues through summer 2012. 

At its start in early 2010, Matrix School of Theatre students began incorporating recycled puppets, environmental themes and education about the forgotten waters into their work, which was featured in a showcase on World Water Day, March 22. An April field trip to Humbug Marsh gave participants a hands-on look at what Detroit’s ecosystems used to look like. 

“We are at a pivot point with young people in terms of envisioning a new future for the city. And without some deeper knowledge about what the city is beneath its mantel of industrialism we cannot make an appropriate choice. People see outdoors not as nature, but as a negative - as dirty and bad. This was once a hyper-rich and productive ecosystem, and now there are 40 square-miles of vacant land in the city, but people still have trouble seeing a future,” said Dr. Shaun Nethercott, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Matrix. 

Ghost Waters is a project that requires the creativity and commitment of the community to succeed. Anyone seeking to get involved in field trips, parades, puppet building projects or events should contact Matrix Theatre Company’s Volunteer Coordinator Ken Srdjak at ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org or at 313-967-0999.

Matrix Theatre Company is a non-profit community-based theatre located in Southwest Detroit. Established in 1991, Matrix creates everything from scratch, from puppets of all sizes to over 90 original plays. Matrix Theatre Company uses the transformative power of theatre to change lives, build community and foster social justice. It creates opportunities for children, youth, adults and elders, especially those in isolated or challenged communities, to become creators, producers and audiences of original theatre. For further information or to follow Matrix on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger, go to matrixtheatre.org.

Learn from the past, Lead on into the future

Thirty-three years ago yesterday, on April 28, 1977, a hard earned victory was celebrated by the nearly 100 jubilant disabled activists who sat-in and took over the HEW federal building in San Francisco for almost a month. The event is still the longest sit-in of a federal building in America. These tenacious citizens and thousands of others with disabilities were demanding that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act be enforced immediately. Section 504, modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in federally funded programs. The Act had been passed in 1973, but 4 years later this section had not been implemented. The cry-out by the protesters was “ACCESSIBILITY NOW!”

Once enacted, colleges, universities, hospitals, federal courtrooms, airports, libraries, after school programs and others were required to be accessible for all people. Within a few years, we began to see ramps, bathrooms and entrances reachable for most people.

Many of us take these changes for granted, especially those of us called TBA’s: temporarily able body,” but the progress we have seen wasn’t always the case. Take for example the story of Justin Dart, who used a wheelchair as a result of polio. In 1951, while attending the University of Houston, he literally rolled his wheelchair to the bottom steps of the campus buildings waiting for students to accept his invitation to carry him up the steps to enter the buildings. A few years later, he was told that he could not earn a teaching degree because he used a wheelchair. He wasn’t alone - far from it. These barriers and deeply ingrained discriminations were ubiquitous for people with disabilities. Section 504 was critically important and began to open doors and minds. Though we have a long way to go, Section 504 was a huge leap forward, or perhaps I should say a huge ramp up in the right direction.

Section 504 also provides K-12 students with disabilities, who do not qualify for special education services under IDEA, the supports and services they need to learn and progress.

The activists who sat-in 33 years ago today demanding justice and the immediate implementation of Section 504 paved the way for the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act 13 years later. I am reminded of a famous photo of Justin and Yoshiko Dart and disabled activists gathered at a rally in front of a federal building. Behind the group is a large banner, blowing in the wind, holding the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Think about the victories that disability rights activists are winning right now, and the ones they will win tomorrow. Lead on!

The creation of the Justin Dart puppet is being documented through this blog by Janice Fialka. Check back through June as she documents the birth of this giant puppet. If you want to come and help with the project, call Ken Srdjak at 313-967-0999.

Ghost Waters first field trip: Humbug Marsh! April 24 – Join Us!

Springtime has arrived in beautiful Southeast Michigan, and it’s time for the Ghost Waters field trips to start rolling! As you know, Ghost Waters is our new three-year-long project which will awaken water consciousness, eco-awareness and eco-education in the people of Detroit and involve the community in arts and nature projects which focus on Detroit’s water usage and environment preservation efforts.

Our first field trip for Ghost Waters will be to Humbug Marsh, located along the Detroit River, just off the intersection of West Jefferson and Vreeland out in Riverview. Humbug Marsh is a 410-acre marsh and upland habitat (which includes Humbug Island, just off the shoreline in the Detroit River), and is currently the only remaining natural coastline along the Detroit River in the United States. 

This exciting field trip will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2010, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. If you’re interested in joining us for this great experience, please RSVP to Ken Srdjak at 313-967-0999 or ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org. Everyone is welcome, but space is limited!

At the end of 2004, the marshland was sold and put under the protection of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, which makes the marsh a protected habitat, preserved and maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then, extensive protection efforts have been put into place to keep Humbug Marsh and Humbug Island natural and flourishing. 

Humbug Marsh is also the site of an important and well-loved ghost water - Monguagon Creek. The creek was mainlined into Detroit’s underground water pipe system. However, in December 2009, the city announced that Monguagon Creek had been daylighted and returned to its state as an open-air creek. Daylighting Monguagon Creek will allow the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge to reclaim and recreate six acres of wetlands. The renewed wetlands are believed to help with storm runoff too! The larger land area will help absorb more excess rain water, which will then filter more water toxins before it runs off into the Detroit River. Daylighting the creek is key to the Ghost Waters project; by daylighting this and other ghost waters, we can get back to a more natural setting and develop a deeper relationship with water and all life forms around us.

We hope to work with you, the community members, and learn collaboratively about water use and commercialization, and how daylighting the ghost waters of Detroit brings us closer to a green world and to one another.

In order to learn together, our trip to Humbug Marsh will include educational experiences: we’ll be learning about the marsh, creek and forest habitats in the nature preserve which interact with one another and bring together a beautiful community of animals and insects, from frogs to birds to fish! We’ll also be making flag fish and puppets, playing games and telling stories. 

We also hope to film some video and take some photos to add to the Internet-based metro Detroit greenmap, as well as discuss the future of Ghost Waters and ways we can continue to bring to life Detroit’s green future! 

We hope to see you there! Happy Spring!

Ken Srdjak, Matrix's volunteerator and puppetista, can be contacted at 313-967-0999 or ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org.

Leaders aren't ever born that way

Let me reassure you that my lack of postings to this blog about Justin Dart has absolutely no relationship to what is happening in the small room in the Roberto Clemente Recreation Center where the giant puppet is being created.

I am totally dazzled by what the Matrix artists, Carl and Megan, and the many volunteers have sculpted over the past few weeks. Take a quick glance below to see the evolution in photos.

Like anything of real consequence, persistence is paying off - and having such talented artists helps a lot! Equally exciting to me are the conversations I’ve heard with the young people who come to help. Recently I spoke briefly with a group of high school students from Detroit who volunteer to work on the puppet, they are part of a national nonprofit organization called buildOn. 

Last Saturday, after painting the hands of the puppet, and doing highly intricate shaping of the facial cheek bones, we took a break to talk about Justin Dart and disability issues. Hands were washed and the teens created a circle around Carl as he worked on the clay face.

Justin always wanted the world to know that he was not born a leader of human rights - he was not given a clearly marked path of doing good. On the contrary, he wanted folks to understand that during his youth, many people did not like him, and he did not like himself. In fact he often referred to himself as a “spoiled kid.”

The volunteer teens in the room were surprised at my descriptions of this famous person, especially when I told them that Justin had gone to seven high schools and never graduated from any one of them. Justin also struggled with addiction and other challenges. A few of the teens shifted in their chairs. I can only guess that their image of a “hero” was being slightly disputed. Maybe they were considering that you don’t have to be perfect, just committed and willing to learn and reflect along the way. I explained how Justin searched for his truth and was highly changed after reading Gandhi’s book, My Experiments with Truth and reading the work of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as whole book of the Bible, in particular all what Jesus Christ had said.

When Justin’s wife, Yoshiko gave her full support to have a giant puppet of Justin Dart built, it was with the strict understanding that this project would be an opportunity for others, especially youth to learn about Justin's "whole life's journey" and to inspire them to discover and feel their own potential. Mr. Dart wanted every single person to feel and become empowered and unite with others who love justice to create a world where everyone’s civil and human rights were realized.

I think Justin would have enjoyed being with the young people from buildON on that Saturday afternoon. I could imagine him talking with them, lifting his gentle, yet firm voice to challenge them to stay involved. I can hear him asking each one of them questions about their lives and their dreams. I think he might have said something like, "I like that name of your group: buildOn. I think that is exactly what you have to do with your lives: build on to your dreams, keep building with others." 

And of course he would have added, "Lead On! You have the power."

The creation of the Justin Dart puppet is being documented through this blog by Janice Fialka. Check back through June as she documents the birth of this giant puppet. If you want to come and help with the project, call Ken Srdjak at 313-967-0999.

Spring semester starts today! It is not too late to sign up.

Spring semester classes run April 6 - May 15, 2010. Students will be continuing to engage in the Ghost Waters theme. It is not too late to sign up for classes. Call 313-967-0999 and as for Andrea. Check out our offerings below:

AGES 5-7

Performance 
Class: “Dance of The Water Cycle”
Instructor: Aisha Walker
Cost: $30*
Days/Times: Saturdays 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location: Matrix Theatre Company
Our youngest actors will be preparing a dance performance for Matrix’s WaterFest on May 15. WaterFest will see all School of Theatre participants joining together to present a new play, and Now PLAYing students will expose young children to kinesthetic (movement) memory as they take part in this all-agency play.

Puppetry 
Class: “Water Banners”
Instructor: Megan Harris
Cost: $45*
Days/Times: Saturdays 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Matrix Theatre Company
Young puppeteers will be creating banners and backdrops for the WaterFest play on May 15th. Students will have an opportunity to build on beginning construction skills, and their visual creations will bed featured on stage during WaterFest.

*Students who take both Dance of the Water Cycle and Water Banners classes are eligible for a reduced fee of $60.

AGES 8-11

Performance 
Class: “People and the Water”
Instructor: Aisha Walker
Cost: FRE (Thanks to a generous grant from the Youth Development Commission)
Days/Times: Tuesdays/Thursdays 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Location: Roberto Clemente Rec Center
Students in this class will be preparing an integral section of the play to be performed at May 15th’s WaterFest. Focus will be on stage presentation and scenework.

Puppetry
Class: “Water Animals”
Instructor: Megan Harris
Cost: $45
Days/Times: Saturdays 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location: Matrix Theatre Company
Students will construct water animal puppets and learn to perform them in preparation for the May 15 WaterFest play.

AGES 11-14 

Mask-Making 
Class: “Water Sprite Masks”
Instructor: Jennifer Boyak
Cost: $45
Days/Times: Wednesdays 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Location: Matrix Theatre Company
Students will learn basic and intermediate skills in mask construction as they create masks for a Water Sprite dance to be performed at Matrix’s WaterFest.

Performance 
Class: “News From Waterville”
Instructor: Andrea Scobie
Cost: $60
Days/Times: Tuesdays/Thursdays 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Location: Matrix Theatre Company
Students in this class will be focusing on mastering acting skills for an encore performance of “News From Waterville,” which will be part of the all-agency play at WaterFest.

AGES 14-18

Performance, Mask-Making and Tech 
Class: “WaterFest Crew”
Instructor: Laura Perez
Cost: FREE (Thanks to a generous grant from the Skillman Foundation)
Days/Times: Fridays 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Location: Matrix Theatre Company
Teens will be doing some of everything as they form teams that will be integral to the production of the WaterFest play. They will learn performance, mask-making, and technical theatre skills, which will all be put to use in their role as actors and crew during WaterFest on May 15.

Ghost Waters project begins with World Water Day

Monday March 22, 2010, marked World Water Day, and an exceptional event put on by Matrix Theatre Company with support from the People’s Water Board and Detroit Evolution. Matrix and their allies brought World Water Day to life for the community of Southwest Detroit. The event served not only as the showcase for the Matrix School of Theatre's winter semester, but also the kickoff event of Ghost Waters, Matrix Theatre’s new three-year project about water consciousness and the hidden and buried rivers of Detroit.

The event was held at St. Anne’s Parish Hall, and brought together a diverse gathering of Southwest Detroit to rejoice in community building and the valuable resource that is our water.

Ghost Waters, which began in January 2010, is an eco-awareness and eco-education community arts program which will include field trips to various sites throughout the Detroit area, involvement in different social justice and community events, puppet-building and showcasing and street theatre performances. 

The event began with a showing of posters from the water awareness poster contest and an exceptionally delicious dinner provided Detroit Evolution's Corktown Community Kitchen, who help bring local, healthy food to the city of Detroit, Avalon Bread and the Matrix staff. The opening libations ceremony was performed by Charity Hicks of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, and set the uplifting and hopeful mood for the remainder of the evening. We had fantastic, beautiful performances from the Living on Stage and Playwriting Is… classes, as well as an excellent presentation and performance of the students’ new puppets, created for the Ghost Waters’ Water Stories performance. A water dance was then followed by a showcasing of the recycled puppets.

We also had a number of theatre performances, all focusing on water awareness and eco-education - a great beginning for Ghost Waters! Performances included Lesson Learned, The Water Cycle, and News from Waterville. In addition to these, Jen Boyak showcased the Spirit of the Water Masks, with performances of The Moon’s Power and Friends at the Beach written by Rosario De La Cruz-Martin.

Overall, the event was a fantastic success with amazing local food, beautiful art, exceptional performances. and a great hope for the state of water use and awareness in Detroit.

You can become involved with Ghost Waters by contacting Ken Srdjak at 313-967-0999 or ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org. Come and be a part of the workshops, field trips and fetivals.

See more pictures of the event here.

This post was written by Jenn Vanaman, who is a student intern from University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Sculpting the visionary in all of us

I arrived on a quiet Tuesday afternoon to work on the puppet with my friend and colleague, Elizabeth, a professor at Schoolcraft College. No kids today, there was only the artist, Megan, leaning over the left hand of the giant clay puppet, immersed in its palm. She intently swished, slashed and smoothed the clay with her small sculpting tool. I was in awe of how confidently she removed chunks of clay around the thumb. “It looks like a real hand, Megan. How do you do that?” I pondered as I stared at the unfinished right hand awaiting me and Elizabeth on the other table.

I missed the kids’ energy and chattering. And yet it’s lovely to have an uninterrupted conversation with Elizabeth and Megan. We covered many topics, especially the need for children and adults to rediscovery their imagination, to just have the opportunity to dig into the clay without restrictions!

We asked for Megan’s guidance as we tried to sculpt the clay hand to resemble a real hand like the left one she’s completed.

With self-assurance, Megan instructed us to use our own hand as a model. She told us to hold up our right hand in front of the clay one and really see the twists, creases and open spaces. She reminded us not to rush. Then Megan told us to transfer what we see in our hand to what needs to be done to the puppet hand. I squinted, hoping to focus better.

She pointed to the space between the puppet’s thumb and pointer finger, “See, there is too much clay here. You’ve got to swipe away globs of clay around the thumb. Open it up.” We both gasped as she chunked out a huge piece of clay. She was right, all of a sudden a defined thumb appears. Slowly, with her encouragement, we timidly cut out a tiny bit of clay, and then more and more. And a more precise hand suddenly appears.

Later, while cleaning up, we comment that Megan has done with us what all great leaders do: she encouraged us to take risks and to envision a new possibility. That’s what visionary leaders, like Justin Dart, do - envision a new possibility. I thought of his famous greeting, “Lead On!” came from his deep understanding and sense that everyone can be an artist. Everyone deserves a sense of their own empowerment to create. Justin Dart wanted a new world that worked for all, and he was wasn’t afraid to dig his hands and heart into the clay to create it.

The creation of the Justin Dart puppet is being documented through this blog by Janice Fialka. Check back through June as she documents the birth of this giant puppet. If you want to come and help with the project, call Ken Srdjak at 313-967-0999.