Multimedia art project pays tribute to vanished Topeka neighborhood
LAWRENCE — The results of nearly three years’ worth of work can be seen this week when a multimedia art and oral history project that spawned a documentary film, “Reclaiming Home: Remembering the Topeka Bottoms,” debuts in the capital city.
It’s F. Maria Velasco's attempt to recapture the essence of a neighborhood, mostly occupied by Hispanic immigrants and members of the African American community, that was destroyed in the 1950s and ‘60s to make way for Interstate 70 and other forms of urban renewal.
With financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and others, the University of Kansas professor of visual art spearheaded the multimedia project and partnered with Matt Jacobson, professor of film & media studies at KU; public historian Valerie Mendoza; and Neill Esquibel-Kennedy, archivist and visiting assistant professor of American studies at KU, to collect the stories of former Bottoms residents and their descendants.
Velasco has created more than two dozen tabletop models of homes, which she said are “small enough to evoke childhood memories of the lost neighborhood.” Each one represents a different person’s story. In addition, for each of the 39 storytellers, the artist created a portrait and a postcard that includes a QR code leading to a video of that person’s story. Visitors can take one of the cards home with them.
The exhibition will also include a large wall display of the cards and artwork based on an old Sanborn fire insurance map, which Velasco said is “the only map that exists of the neighborhood ... the only thing the residents have where they can still find their home, rekindle memories of those days and everything that was prior to the demolition.”
The small house models are made of wood and have hand-silkscreen maps on their roofs and excerpts of quotes from former residents on their sides. Velasco involved doctoral and master's students from the KU Department of Visual Art and freshmen from the Emerging Scholars Program to help with everything from 3D modeling to manual fabrication to designing catalog layouts.
Especially given all the work involved, Velasco said, she hopes “Reclaiming Home” can be shown multiple times, “Not only in the area but across the nation, because urban renewal was a controversial trend in the U.S. and globally.” She will pursue such opportunities once the premiere exhibition ends.
“This is a tremendous work,” Velasco said. “And remember, it's not just me. I formed a team in the beginning with two historians who know the community really well and the local history of the place ... And then, when I realized the tremendous impact the work would have, I invited Matt Jacobson to film the stories and create a documentary. ... This is very cool. It has so many parts to it. This project hopes to offer some measure of relief to the communities displaced by urban renewal and, at the same time, to celebrate a local neighborhood that was a true model of global diversity and solidarity.”
Art exhibition, documentary premieres set
“Reclaiming Home: Remembering the Topeka Bottoms” premieres April 4-5 at two locations in Topeka.
Artwork created by Velasco will be on display at Arts Connect, 909 N. Kansas Ave., from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 4, with an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. The exhibition continues through May 31.
The documentary film of the same title premieres at 2:30 p.m. April 5 at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, 1515 SE Monroe St. Project contributors will be recognized at 2:30 p.m., followed by the film at 3 p.m., with a question-and-answer session with the filmmaker and archivist to follow.