Join Lanesboro Arts resident artist Rini Yun Keagy for a farewell artist talk on Sunday, April 8th at 11:00 a.m. in the Commonweal Theatre Events Hall about her work-in-progress film “North/Central” and her residency project inviting the Lanesboro community to shape and inform her work through intentional outreach and personal interviews, especially with people engaged in dairy farming, cattle ranching and auctioneering. The film explores her father’s experiences as a Guatemalan-American farmer and cow herder who raises and sells cattle in rural Costilla County in southern Colorado, while raising the question of what it means to be an ethnic or cultural minority in agrarian and small-town America. Provide feedback or learn first hand about the stories and perspectives revealed during four weeks of community engagement. This event, happening in conjunction with Commonweal’s “Stars & Pearls” 30th Anniversary weekend, is free and open to the public.
For Rini — who spent much of her childhood on farms and in rural areas — “North/Central” is a personal ongoing project centered on the impacts of migration and how place can be imbued with intense beauty, as well as personal and collective traumas. Through audio interviews, and by focusing her lens on myriad details of inanimate objects, landscapes and animals on her father’s farm, Rini presents one specific account of the multiplicity of experiences among contemporary Americans who work the land to supply our food. “It’s not easy for me to share my personal story, but I believe that the act of addressing tough questions in mutual dialogue promotes change in communities,” Rini states. “Also, what can I, as an artist of color, learn from my visit with the Lanesboro community? What type of kinship do we share despite our differences?”