Is Bushwick safe? Where do people in the neighborhood feel safest? What would the area need to be safer? And does everyone agree? 10th graders in Aisha Haynes’ English Language Arts class at the Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering worked with CUP teaching artist Jonathan Bogarín to find out the many perspectives on safety in Bushwick.
Students got out of the classroom and conducted interviews with manicurists, church employees, barbers, small business owners, bakers, florists, and organizers. They acted out local stakeholders’ opinions, tableux vivant-style, and used their photographs to create neighborhood dioramas.
Together with graphic designer Nikki Chung, the crew produced a series of posters that juxtapose different neighborhood views of safety. The posters can be used as a model for visualizing competing stakeholder perspectives.
Check out the posters here.