Shout-Out: Fort Wayne (Harvester Neighborhood)

Since Late Fall 2023, I serve as the project manager for Shout-Out: Fort Wayne, a pilot project through the City of Fort Wayne that celebrates two historic neighborhoods through temporary art installations.

For Harvester, I produced and wrote a 13-minute documentary about the neighborhood...a neighborhood that lost its identity decades ago when the factories, prevalent in the area, were either shuttered or moved. The story we told is about what happens when an identity, lost and forgotten, has to be recovered. John Burkett served as director and editor.

I worked heavily with the Harvester Neighborhood Association.

Filmmaker John Burkett

I asked community illustrators and photographers to contribute to the film. Not only did I want the community to see themselves in the film…I wanted them to be in control of the narrative. The following is an art sample from my collaboration with Adams Elementary School (from the neighborhood) and still images taken by community photographers, using direction that’s referenced in the photography guide below.

I also helped the Harv. Neighborhood Association reboot their movie night, held every Saturday, by soliciting vendors for one of the screenings that was marketed, for the first time, through a mailer campaign. Pixar/Disney imagery was used through a licensing agreement.

The project (both Harvester and East Central) was summarized with the first leg of a traveling exhibit, to be displayed at the downtown Allen County Public Library (second floor) from Oct. 2024 to Dec. 2024.