Red State/Blue State: Creating Community Conversations
Co-sponsored by the Chattanooga State Community College Theatre Department, the residency served as a template for a series of Red State/Blue State Dialogues we planned to develop for the lead-up to the 2020 election. Those Dialogues were canceled by Covid-19, but the work we began in Tennessee still resonates – and is all the more relevant given our post-election, still-divided country. Below are a few responses from Chattanooga participants of what was most significant to them in the work we created together.
That there is a way for humans, regardless of their unique differences, inequalities, and everything-in-between, to find a way to communicate in a sensitive manner that gives voice to all parties involved… I feel lighter after having this experience. Better somehow. More connected in the way humans are connected. —Johanna, student
I gained insight into the power of gathering strangers together and inspiring them to find the connections that make them a community. —Page, drug and alcohol rehab counselor
What I take away from the residency is that WSI’s approach makes people feel welcome, includes people where they are, and allows them to work on many levels: emotional, personal, collective. It’s interactive, non-linear, experiential learning at its best. WSI welcomes and includes everyone who comes, no matter what age, gender-identification, race, or background…this is something I want to incorporate in my own work. —Eleanor, community organizer, consultant