This article was written for the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture blog, www.namac.org/conference/gulgun-kayim-minneapolis-arts-culture-creative-economy-namac-2012-leading-creatively and published on September 19th, 2012. Thank you Ms. Kayim for sharing her wisdom and NAMAC for permission to repost this interview.
Q & A with Gulgun Kayim:
Gülgün Kayim has always been acutely aware of place. War erupted four days after her birth on the island of Cypress and her hometown is now located in the demilitarized zone. Her family fled as refugees to England. The deeply resonating theme of mapping spectral places has motivated her to create site-specific performance art. She focuses on telling the stories of a physical location as it intersections with memory and emotion.
Gülgün is currently working on a piece for the Cypress Demilitarized Zone to promote community healing and build peace by providing a narrative of people who lost the war. She has been drawn to dealing with traumatized communities, including the coordination of a five-year anniversary event for the 35W Bridge Collapse.
Gülgün began her position as the Director of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy with the City of Minneapolis in July 2011. She coordinates arts and creative economy activities within the complexities of a governmental organization; works with Minneapolis Arts Commission; and, develops arts, culture and creative industry policies around economic development and programs for the city. In October 2012 her department will be releasing a Creative Vitality Index.
Gülgün has an extensive background and professional experience in performance, public art and art installation, producing and creating large-scale public art works and theatrical performances in dance and theater. She has been awarded a number of prestigious honors. She also enjoys hanging out with her growing family, running, gardening, and canine companionship.
Define “creative place-making." Why is creative place-making of relevance to the media arts community?
I think of creative place-making as place specific. It is arts driven, cross-sector, urban development based on the idea that arts activities when engaged with the neighborhoods are attractors for other activities.
Creative place-making is of relevance to anyone in the arts community only in so far as that community is interested in engaging with the world around them. Arts organizations and artists can choose to work in their own communities without intersecting with the greater world. But when they go beyond the confines of the studio or the stage, they can have broader and more profound impacts.
How does your artistic background assist you while working within government public-policy development?
Space is subjective; the same physical location co-exists with different meanings based upon the experiences of each person. My job is to get the conversation going and discuss how to partner to value-add to the project. It is important to find allies, have specific goals, and talk with people. It is a complicated process, don’t get discouraged, and just keep trying. The end goal is to show how arts influence every part of the community. Artists are change makers in society.
What can an individual person do to help one's community’s economy benefit from the arts, beyond being a consumer?
People can support the arts economically by sending their kids to art classes and insisting that their school provides arts education. They can also volunteer, vote arts supporters into office, donate (to an artist or arts organization), get informed about the debates in the arts disciplines they care about and participate on a citizen board, advocacy group committee or commission.
Arts are vital!
© 2012 Ima B. Musing
Showing posts with label 35W Bridge Collapse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 35W Bridge Collapse. Show all posts
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
RESPONDING TO THE BRIDGE
This is Part III of the topic, please read “The Evening the Bridge Fell” and “After the Bridge Fell,” discussing the 35W Bridge Collapse of August 1, 2007.
Most people are smart enough to run away from an emergency, but there are some of us who run toward it. Not to stupidly gawk or intrusively film it for YouTube but we are compelled to help. There are different types of Emergency or Disaster Responders. Professionals are paid (fire, law enforcement, ambulance) and volunteers are trained (Red Cross, Salvation Army, CERT, and other VOAD groups www.mnvoad.org).
A thousand or so people responded after the 35W bridge collapsed until the site was taken over by the Minnesota State Patrol for the reconstruction process. The most vulnerable rescuers are the spontaneous people who decide to help at the spur of the moment. Many are able to help immediately after the disaster occurs. However, sometimes they do the wrong thing, get in the way of the responders or get hurt themselves. Since they don’t have training or post-event support they are also more susceptible to PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). I always worry about the spontaneous helpers.
The Navy Divers were an impressive professional group. They were requested because the Mississippi River has a fast current, the water was not clear, and debris was dangerous (cement, cars, construction equipment, and steel rebar). They brought in talented divers, amazing crew of support people, and awesome equipment for the task of retrieving cars and occupants. A dive site was set up on the end of the lock & dam and an operations center was stationed in the Red Cross building. It was odd to have military people in the Red Cross office since it is a neutral organization. A family member of mine was stationed on an aircraft carrier during 2007 so I was sought out by Navy personnel because I understand the military perspective. They certainly like Monster Drink!
The donors were wonderful and kindness flowed in from around the world. Donors provided funds to procure needed supplies that are unique to each disaster. Individuals, groups, companies and foundations provided funds to assist responding organizations help the people affected by the disaster. What touched my heart was a family with two little kids (around the age of 7 and 5). The children wanted to donate their piggy bank money. It was very sweet. Their parents knew the value of getting the children involved in philanthropy at a young age. In-kind donations are nice but create a logistical challenge. The stuff has to be checked to make certain that the items are useable and exactly what is needed, sorted, stored and distributed appropriately. It’s much better to donate money unless specific items are requested.
Irritated by the elected and appointed officials whose visits impeded the work of responders. Every time an official visited the disaster site they would come to the Incident Command Center, Navy Divers Operation Center, and the Red Cross Emergency Operations Center. It was good that they went to the site but we had to stop our activities when they dropped by the operation centers. Operations Center is where the activities are coordinated. President George W. Bush came over and we were full stop for several hours because the Secret Service had so many layers of security. Safety of the visitor is necessary but it was at the expense of the victim’s families and survivors. Dignitaries need to be aware of the ripple effect of their visit. They should stay at the disaster site and not mess with the responders or operation centers.
Appalled by the behavior of some of the media. They were ruthlessly seeking stories from people in pain and shock. The national media were the worst behaved. There are many terrific journalists but the bad apples were rotten. I remain lividly angry with the numerous people who did not calculate the bridge’s structural integrity correctly or report concerns. In my opinion, they are all directly to blame for this avoidable tragedy. Their arrogance cost lives, severely injured people physically and emotionally, and cost the community a lot more than money. More than money is needed to heal the wounds. The new 35W bridge is beautiful and strong but at a horrific cost.
I was not prepared to experience PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) myself. As a trained volunteer responder, I was in a situation where I learned a lot of confidential information and it was stressful. I could talk about it with some of my fellow volunteers but no one else because the information was too sensitive. My cats, Momo and Zozo, comforted me at home but they aren’t much for conversation. After the disaster I dealt with PTSD intensely for almost two years and slowly the symptoms reduced. I did have a flair-up watching a Harry Potter film which opened with a footbridge being attacked and people falling into the Thames River. I knew it was all computer graphics but I had a panic attack. I nearly left the movie. Thankfully, I rarely have nightmares or symptoms anymore. Actually, writing this blog has been helpful.
I look forward to visiting the new 35W Remembrance Garden. On the first anniversary I attended the Memorial Service and sat next to a survivor. Her car had bounced into the river and she suffered some injuries. She recognized me and we chatted for a while before the service began. Mid-way through the memorial service an eagle began circling the ceremony. I pointed it out to her and the people nearby; soon almost everyone was watching the eagle circle. She whispered to me that as she was dragging herself onto the bridge deck an eagle buzzed a few feet above her head. She said that several eagles immediately started zooming over the area. Her words sent a tingle down my spine. My part-Native American grandfather taught me that eagles sometimes come to help escort a human's soul to the next experience. I began to cry because the eagle overhead held a huge spiritual meaning to me. The service was loud with lots of people so there would be no reason for an eagle to investigate since they don’t really like human activity. The eagle was there for the thirteen souls who moved on and all the souls affected by this disaster.
On eagles wings…
© 2011
Most people are smart enough to run away from an emergency, but there are some of us who run toward it. Not to stupidly gawk or intrusively film it for YouTube but we are compelled to help. There are different types of Emergency or Disaster Responders. Professionals are paid (fire, law enforcement, ambulance) and volunteers are trained (Red Cross, Salvation Army, CERT, and other VOAD groups www.mnvoad.org).
A thousand or so people responded after the 35W bridge collapsed until the site was taken over by the Minnesota State Patrol for the reconstruction process. The most vulnerable rescuers are the spontaneous people who decide to help at the spur of the moment. Many are able to help immediately after the disaster occurs. However, sometimes they do the wrong thing, get in the way of the responders or get hurt themselves. Since they don’t have training or post-event support they are also more susceptible to PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). I always worry about the spontaneous helpers.
The Navy Divers were an impressive professional group. They were requested because the Mississippi River has a fast current, the water was not clear, and debris was dangerous (cement, cars, construction equipment, and steel rebar). They brought in talented divers, amazing crew of support people, and awesome equipment for the task of retrieving cars and occupants. A dive site was set up on the end of the lock & dam and an operations center was stationed in the Red Cross building. It was odd to have military people in the Red Cross office since it is a neutral organization. A family member of mine was stationed on an aircraft carrier during 2007 so I was sought out by Navy personnel because I understand the military perspective. They certainly like Monster Drink!
The donors were wonderful and kindness flowed in from around the world. Donors provided funds to procure needed supplies that are unique to each disaster. Individuals, groups, companies and foundations provided funds to assist responding organizations help the people affected by the disaster. What touched my heart was a family with two little kids (around the age of 7 and 5). The children wanted to donate their piggy bank money. It was very sweet. Their parents knew the value of getting the children involved in philanthropy at a young age. In-kind donations are nice but create a logistical challenge. The stuff has to be checked to make certain that the items are useable and exactly what is needed, sorted, stored and distributed appropriately. It’s much better to donate money unless specific items are requested.
Irritated by the elected and appointed officials whose visits impeded the work of responders. Every time an official visited the disaster site they would come to the Incident Command Center, Navy Divers Operation Center, and the Red Cross Emergency Operations Center. It was good that they went to the site but we had to stop our activities when they dropped by the operation centers. Operations Center is where the activities are coordinated. President George W. Bush came over and we were full stop for several hours because the Secret Service had so many layers of security. Safety of the visitor is necessary but it was at the expense of the victim’s families and survivors. Dignitaries need to be aware of the ripple effect of their visit. They should stay at the disaster site and not mess with the responders or operation centers.
Appalled by the behavior of some of the media. They were ruthlessly seeking stories from people in pain and shock. The national media were the worst behaved. There are many terrific journalists but the bad apples were rotten. I remain lividly angry with the numerous people who did not calculate the bridge’s structural integrity correctly or report concerns. In my opinion, they are all directly to blame for this avoidable tragedy. Their arrogance cost lives, severely injured people physically and emotionally, and cost the community a lot more than money. More than money is needed to heal the wounds. The new 35W bridge is beautiful and strong but at a horrific cost.
I was not prepared to experience PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) myself. As a trained volunteer responder, I was in a situation where I learned a lot of confidential information and it was stressful. I could talk about it with some of my fellow volunteers but no one else because the information was too sensitive. My cats, Momo and Zozo, comforted me at home but they aren’t much for conversation. After the disaster I dealt with PTSD intensely for almost two years and slowly the symptoms reduced. I did have a flair-up watching a Harry Potter film which opened with a footbridge being attacked and people falling into the Thames River. I knew it was all computer graphics but I had a panic attack. I nearly left the movie. Thankfully, I rarely have nightmares or symptoms anymore. Actually, writing this blog has been helpful.
I look forward to visiting the new 35W Remembrance Garden. On the first anniversary I attended the Memorial Service and sat next to a survivor. Her car had bounced into the river and she suffered some injuries. She recognized me and we chatted for a while before the service began. Mid-way through the memorial service an eagle began circling the ceremony. I pointed it out to her and the people nearby; soon almost everyone was watching the eagle circle. She whispered to me that as she was dragging herself onto the bridge deck an eagle buzzed a few feet above her head. She said that several eagles immediately started zooming over the area. Her words sent a tingle down my spine. My part-Native American grandfather taught me that eagles sometimes come to help escort a human's soul to the next experience. I began to cry because the eagle overhead held a huge spiritual meaning to me. The service was loud with lots of people so there would be no reason for an eagle to investigate since they don’t really like human activity. The eagle was there for the thirteen souls who moved on and all the souls affected by this disaster.
On eagles wings…
© 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
AFTER THE BRIDGE FELL
This is Part II of the topic, please read “The Evening the Bridge Fell,” since it recounts the night of August 1, 2007.
The Interstate 35W bridge was literally a block east of the American Red Cross, Minneapolis Area Chapter’s office. I have been a Red Cross Disaster volunteer for over ten years (www.redcrossmn.org). A trained volunteer never self-deploys, aka don’t just show up on the scene. If you aren’t needed, you just get in the way. Plus, the office was in the disaster response zone (generally a block or two surrounding a disaster site) so I could not just drive over. After I got in touch with my friends, I tried contacting the Red Cross but the phone lines were jammed due to too many calls. I wanted to help but I knew enough to remain at home.
Eventually, I spoke with Disaster Services personnel and was scheduled to assist. My first shift was a couple days after the bridge fell. I was stalled at the perimeter because First Lady Laura Bush was visiting and security was tight. After she and her entourage departed, I made my way to the Red Cross office. The set up was quite unusual for a disaster. The first floor of the Red Cross building had been converted into a feeding center for responders and the Red Cross Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was operating out of the building. During a “typical” disaster, the EOC and feeding centers are not on Red Cross property. It causes logistical challenges and interferes with the work of the regular staff (volunteers and employees) that doesn’t focus on disaster. Prepare yourself, others and pets for disaster today www.redcross.org and www.ready.gov have details.
The parking lot of the next-door building was transformed into the Incident Command Center. The Minneapolis Police were in charge but worked in cooperation with the MN Department of Transportation, MN State Patrol, Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, and other city, county and state officials. Federal level response teams from the Transportation Safety Administration, Pollution Control Agency, FBI, Homeland Security, and other agencies were present. Hundreds of professional people involved. If you’d like to learn more about the Incident Command System, you can take free on-line courses at www.training.fema.gov/IS for independent study classes.
Thankfully, my boss at the time let me use vacation time. I had to go into the office every other day to respond to correspondence, email and voicemail but it was a slow couple weeks and nothing dire was occurring. She did question my loyalty; did I care more about work or the disaster? What a question. Of course work was number one but if I could fit in responding to a disaster it would boost my morale. Lots of people take time off to tend to sick spouses or kids, I have neither, so I help at disasters. I shouldn’t be discriminated against because I don’t have a hubby or children.
Due to confidentiality I shall not discuss the people I helped directly. It would be rude and mean to write about their challenges. The nature of disaster is harsh. Once the shock begins to ebb the fear-anger sets in and every person reacts differently. Some people turn their pain inward and others outward. I’ve seen people get sick or else laugh. It is like the grief process, you have to work through the stages and everybody goes at a different rate. I was glad that I could help the survivors and the families of the victims during the first weeks after the tragedy.
I did get close to the bridge and it was unsettling to see the huge steel girders twisted like paper clips. Three dimensions with smell and sound (the structure would rumble a bit as it settled) cannot compare with a pale two-dimensional image from television. The bridge deck fell more than 100 feet (five stories). It must have been utterly terrifying to experience or watch it occur. I continue to be unnerved viewing the videotape. It is amazing that more people did not die or get worse injuries. Wikipedia provides a good overview of this awful event.
Disasters are local but each one reaches around the world.
© 2011
The Interstate 35W bridge was literally a block east of the American Red Cross, Minneapolis Area Chapter’s office. I have been a Red Cross Disaster volunteer for over ten years (www.redcrossmn.org). A trained volunteer never self-deploys, aka don’t just show up on the scene. If you aren’t needed, you just get in the way. Plus, the office was in the disaster response zone (generally a block or two surrounding a disaster site) so I could not just drive over. After I got in touch with my friends, I tried contacting the Red Cross but the phone lines were jammed due to too many calls. I wanted to help but I knew enough to remain at home.
Eventually, I spoke with Disaster Services personnel and was scheduled to assist. My first shift was a couple days after the bridge fell. I was stalled at the perimeter because First Lady Laura Bush was visiting and security was tight. After she and her entourage departed, I made my way to the Red Cross office. The set up was quite unusual for a disaster. The first floor of the Red Cross building had been converted into a feeding center for responders and the Red Cross Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was operating out of the building. During a “typical” disaster, the EOC and feeding centers are not on Red Cross property. It causes logistical challenges and interferes with the work of the regular staff (volunteers and employees) that doesn’t focus on disaster. Prepare yourself, others and pets for disaster today www.redcross.org and www.ready.gov have details.
The parking lot of the next-door building was transformed into the Incident Command Center. The Minneapolis Police were in charge but worked in cooperation with the MN Department of Transportation, MN State Patrol, Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, and other city, county and state officials. Federal level response teams from the Transportation Safety Administration, Pollution Control Agency, FBI, Homeland Security, and other agencies were present. Hundreds of professional people involved. If you’d like to learn more about the Incident Command System, you can take free on-line courses at www.training.fema.gov/IS for independent study classes.
Thankfully, my boss at the time let me use vacation time. I had to go into the office every other day to respond to correspondence, email and voicemail but it was a slow couple weeks and nothing dire was occurring. She did question my loyalty; did I care more about work or the disaster? What a question. Of course work was number one but if I could fit in responding to a disaster it would boost my morale. Lots of people take time off to tend to sick spouses or kids, I have neither, so I help at disasters. I shouldn’t be discriminated against because I don’t have a hubby or children.
Due to confidentiality I shall not discuss the people I helped directly. It would be rude and mean to write about their challenges. The nature of disaster is harsh. Once the shock begins to ebb the fear-anger sets in and every person reacts differently. Some people turn their pain inward and others outward. I’ve seen people get sick or else laugh. It is like the grief process, you have to work through the stages and everybody goes at a different rate. I was glad that I could help the survivors and the families of the victims during the first weeks after the tragedy.
I did get close to the bridge and it was unsettling to see the huge steel girders twisted like paper clips. Three dimensions with smell and sound (the structure would rumble a bit as it settled) cannot compare with a pale two-dimensional image from television. The bridge deck fell more than 100 feet (five stories). It must have been utterly terrifying to experience or watch it occur. I continue to be unnerved viewing the videotape. It is amazing that more people did not die or get worse injuries. Wikipedia provides a good overview of this awful event.
Disasters are local but each one reaches around the world.
© 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
THE EVENING THE BRIDGE FELL
The first day of August 2007 was a beautiful summer Wednesday in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I had just turned off the television news to read the Star Tribune newspaper at about 6pm. The phone rang, I answered and heard, “Praise the Lord you are home,” it was my parents. What? My dad said that a bridge had fallen into the river and that I should turn on the tv. I obliged and nearly swooned. The conversation ended because I had to make contact with my friends. After numerous frantic calls, I eased my soul that they were all accounted for and fine. I connected with Allie as she walked into her home. She was going to drive over the 35W bridge that night but due to the slow traffic she took another bridge. That decision may have saved her life. Lots of people called or emailed me to make certain that I was okay.
The 35W interstate bridge had spanned the Mississippi River for many years. I knew this bridge. A good friend of mine parked his car under the structure while we attended college at the University of Minnesota during the 1980s. I remember one journey to his car when we gasped as a chunk of cement smashed the hood of another student’s auto. There were some spots under the deck where no one parked because the cement was always crumbling. During the early 2000s, I worked in a building near the bridge for a couple years and spent many hours gazing at its landscape. Like many others, I traveled across it hundreds of times.
It was shocking but not a surprise that the bridge fell. The month before it plunged into the river I had driven across the bridge and nearly threw up. I had a horrible feeling and I decided not to drive on it again. I would hop off 35W and drive over the 10th Avenue Bridge (which is a few blocks to the east) and then get back onto 35W, just to avoid the bridge. I have learned to listen to my intuition. I told my friends to avoid the bridge but they scoffed at me.
An acquaintance of mine, Daniel, was a few cars away from being on the bridge that night. Traffic was slowed to a crawl when suddenly it stopped and dust rose up in front of his car. He rolled down his window when someone came running by screaming that they needed to get out of there. He thought it was a major accident. He managed to turn his car around and depart via an entrance ramp. That is when he saw that the bridge was gone. He entered a state of fugue and drove home. He moved out of his shock a few hours later and realized that he was nearly a victim. Daniel didn’t talk about this incident until last year. He knew that I spent many days at the site but he never discussed his experience. If he had left work a few minutes earlier, he may have joined the list of victims or survivors.
Thirteen people died that night, dozens were seriously injured, multitudes were harmed in a minor way and a few people didn’t get physically hurt at all (for a total of almost 150). Many have suffered from the psychological impact of the awful event. They were the people directly affected by the failure of the bridge structure. So many near misses, such as a busload of kids that could have plunged into the river or a paddleboat loaded with passengers that could have been under the bridge. It could have been so much worse but it’s a disaster for the people who died and survived. Every disaster has ripple effects to the family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and other people that the victim/survivor knows. Responders (professional, volunteer and spontaneous) are deeply affected by what they encounter, too. Even people with no direct connection to the victims or survivors can feel empathy and compassion.
Remember them all. www.minneapolisfoundation.org/35WremembranceGarden will be opening soon about a half mile upstream of the site.
©2011
The 35W interstate bridge had spanned the Mississippi River for many years. I knew this bridge. A good friend of mine parked his car under the structure while we attended college at the University of Minnesota during the 1980s. I remember one journey to his car when we gasped as a chunk of cement smashed the hood of another student’s auto. There were some spots under the deck where no one parked because the cement was always crumbling. During the early 2000s, I worked in a building near the bridge for a couple years and spent many hours gazing at its landscape. Like many others, I traveled across it hundreds of times.
It was shocking but not a surprise that the bridge fell. The month before it plunged into the river I had driven across the bridge and nearly threw up. I had a horrible feeling and I decided not to drive on it again. I would hop off 35W and drive over the 10th Avenue Bridge (which is a few blocks to the east) and then get back onto 35W, just to avoid the bridge. I have learned to listen to my intuition. I told my friends to avoid the bridge but they scoffed at me.
An acquaintance of mine, Daniel, was a few cars away from being on the bridge that night. Traffic was slowed to a crawl when suddenly it stopped and dust rose up in front of his car. He rolled down his window when someone came running by screaming that they needed to get out of there. He thought it was a major accident. He managed to turn his car around and depart via an entrance ramp. That is when he saw that the bridge was gone. He entered a state of fugue and drove home. He moved out of his shock a few hours later and realized that he was nearly a victim. Daniel didn’t talk about this incident until last year. He knew that I spent many days at the site but he never discussed his experience. If he had left work a few minutes earlier, he may have joined the list of victims or survivors.
Thirteen people died that night, dozens were seriously injured, multitudes were harmed in a minor way and a few people didn’t get physically hurt at all (for a total of almost 150). Many have suffered from the psychological impact of the awful event. They were the people directly affected by the failure of the bridge structure. So many near misses, such as a busload of kids that could have plunged into the river or a paddleboat loaded with passengers that could have been under the bridge. It could have been so much worse but it’s a disaster for the people who died and survived. Every disaster has ripple effects to the family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and other people that the victim/survivor knows. Responders (professional, volunteer and spontaneous) are deeply affected by what they encounter, too. Even people with no direct connection to the victims or survivors can feel empathy and compassion.
Remember them all. www.minneapolisfoundation.org/35WremembranceGarden will be opening soon about a half mile upstream of the site.
©2011
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