WEBVTT 00:02.000 --> 00:04.534 On any given night there are more than 1500 homeless men, 00:06.534 --> 00:08.367 women, and children in Hillsborough County. 00:09.534 --> 00:11.200 That's according to the latest count 00:11.200 --> 00:14.133 by the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative. 00:14.133 --> 00:16.667 To put a face to a few of these names, 00:16.667 --> 00:20.267 the University of Tampa's Scarfone Hartley Gallery 00:20.267 --> 00:22.834 recently hosted and exhibition called Fissures and Cracks. 00:25.400 --> 00:25.901 (upbeat music) 00:31.434 --> 00:33.801 - We are exceedingly excited to host a wonderful show, 00:37.601 --> 00:39.868 Fissures and Cracks which is visual works of 00:39.868 --> 00:41.734 and by the homeless of Tampa Bay. 00:41.734 --> 00:43.701 And we have a combination of artists involved. 00:45.267 --> 00:46.467 We have Tim Kennedy, 00:46.467 --> 00:48.534 who is a professor of communication here 00:48.534 --> 00:51.200 and he created the photography series. 00:51.200 --> 00:53.834 And then we also have two artists who have worked with 00:53.834 --> 00:57.000 The Portico and The Tampa Museum of Art through art space. 00:57.000 --> 00:58.968 The Portico is actually a division 00:58.968 --> 01:01.400 of the United Methodists Church in Hyde Park. 01:01.400 --> 01:01.934 (slow music) 01:03.767 --> 01:05.934 - One of the programs that we have at our church 01:05.934 --> 01:09.100 that we're really well known for is our Open Arms Ministry. 01:09.100 --> 01:11.133 It began as a feeding ministry for homeless 01:11.133 --> 01:13.334 and low income individuals and families 01:13.334 --> 01:14.934 and it's grown to serve over 200 people 01:16.400 --> 01:19.300 every Sunday morning on the Hyde Park campus. 01:19.300 --> 01:21.634 And I began to observed that we had people 01:21.634 --> 01:23.033 right there every Sunday morning 01:23.033 --> 01:25.100 who have natural artistic talents and abilities. 01:26.234 --> 01:27.801 And one of my very favorites is Larry. 01:28.434 --> 01:28.968 (slow music) 01:32.033 --> 01:34.467 - It was just a gift when I was a little kid. 01:34.467 --> 01:34.968 I drew mostly, 01:36.868 --> 01:38.234 from kindergarten and high school 01:39.267 --> 01:40.234 and then in college also. 01:42.000 --> 01:43.767 - He can tell you more about his story, 01:43.767 --> 01:45.834 uh, though I feel like Larry speaks most clearly 01:47.100 --> 01:47.701 through his art. 01:48.901 --> 01:52.000 And so, we were approached by some folks 01:52.000 --> 01:55.234 with the University of Tampa and the Tampa Museum of Art 01:55.234 --> 01:57.767 to develop a partnership where we could offer art classes 01:59.133 --> 02:00.868 for folks that were from our group. 02:00.868 --> 02:02.834 And so we started hosting the classes downtown 02:04.367 --> 02:05.767 at our Portico campus. 02:05.767 --> 02:08.000 So, once a week we have art classes 02:08.000 --> 02:09.501 for some folks who don't have homes 02:10.801 --> 02:11.834 but they have artistic talent 02:11.834 --> 02:13.501 and they have a story to tell. 02:13.501 --> 02:14.033 (slow music) 02:19.200 --> 02:22.334 - I worked many years with the homeless population 02:22.334 --> 02:24.667 and I worked in many, many homeless shelters 02:24.667 --> 02:25.667 and many, many places. 02:25.667 --> 02:26.767 And there's a regimen, 02:26.767 --> 02:27.767 I mean you need to come in, 02:27.767 --> 02:29.200 you usually have to have an I.D, 02:29.200 --> 02:30.868 which you don't usually have. 02:30.868 --> 02:34.067 Um, you have to be able to kind of fit into a mold 02:34.067 --> 02:35.968 you're outta the shelter from nine to five, 02:35.968 --> 02:37.901 you have to follow all these regimens too. 02:37.901 --> 02:38.801 You know, you have to be working, 02:38.801 --> 02:39.767 going to school, 02:39.767 --> 02:40.734 you have to be all these things 02:40.734 --> 02:42.334 and it happens very fast. 02:42.334 --> 02:45.033 Here we don't require any of those things. 02:45.033 --> 02:47.267 We're not there as case managers or social workers 02:49.000 --> 02:51.100 to make sure all those things are in place. 02:51.100 --> 02:52.767 What we are there for is just providing 02:52.767 --> 02:53.734 an hour rest, to come in, 02:55.234 --> 02:56.767 you know, make some art, 02:56.767 --> 02:58.100 talk, connect with other people 02:58.834 --> 03:00.334 about your artwork. 03:00.334 --> 03:02.534 So that's why I think people keep coming (laugh). 03:02.534 --> 03:04.167 Cause they feel like they can just come 03:04.167 --> 03:05.834 and just, ah, let me take a deep breath. 03:08.133 --> 03:09.701 - What our therapy has been able to do 03:10.734 --> 03:12.100 over its development, 03:12.100 --> 03:13.701 is start to crack into peoples visions, 03:14.868 --> 03:16.567 to see more about how they are 03:16.567 --> 03:18.868 and help them find ways of sharing things 03:18.868 --> 03:20.534 they may not be able to share so easily. 03:22.100 --> 03:22.934 Traumatic experiences, 03:24.400 --> 03:27.467 processes of how they ended up where they are, 03:27.467 --> 03:29.000 but also just part of your human soul 03:30.701 --> 03:32.567 can come out in the visual in a better way. 03:33.701 --> 03:35.267 - The homeless are important to me 03:35.267 --> 03:38.133 because it was part of my life when I was younger. 03:38.133 --> 03:40.033 Um, being homeless myself for a short while 03:41.167 --> 03:42.100 uh, when I was a child. 03:43.200 --> 03:43.868 And um, 03:45.234 --> 03:46.667 I always enjoyed art, 03:46.667 --> 03:48.934 but was never allowed to do it when I was a child. 03:50.300 --> 03:50.968 And um, 03:52.701 --> 03:54.968 it just was part of what interested me, you know? 03:57.133 --> 03:58.634 It was two things that came together, 03:59.734 --> 04:00.567 art and the homeless. 04:02.200 --> 04:04.334 The animals are most meaningful I think 04:04.334 --> 04:04.868 because um, 04:07.234 --> 04:08.667 when I was being abused as a child 04:09.701 --> 04:11.067 we had a dog that also got abused 04:12.434 --> 04:13.601 and it just upsets me so much 04:16.033 --> 04:17.767 when I see an animal that's being abused. 04:18.767 --> 04:19.701 And when I read my bio, 04:22.767 --> 04:24.634 um, I got a little bit emotional about that. 04:27.300 --> 04:28.467 - Fissures and Cracks, 04:28.467 --> 04:30.734 I actually helped them come up with that. 04:30.734 --> 04:31.367 To me it reflected 04:34.734 --> 04:36.167 some phrasing that I had heard 04:36.167 --> 04:38.567 over the long discourse with regards to homelessness. 04:40.267 --> 04:43.434 That people fall through the cracks of society. 04:43.434 --> 04:46.167 And then I looked at the photography that you see 04:46.167 --> 04:47.133 that Tim Kennedy did 04:47.133 --> 04:48.601 and I just sat there 04:48.601 --> 04:50.267 and I'm like, look at the wrinkles on these peoples faces, 04:50.267 --> 04:52.300 look at the depth that is just on the surface. 04:55.133 --> 04:58.234 I can't imagine how this couldn't be more like 04:58.234 --> 05:00.567 a fissure, a way to dive into these peoples minds 05:02.601 --> 05:05.601 and a way to dive into who they are, their personalities, 05:05.601 --> 05:07.767 so that we can find out how better to serve them. 05:09.434 --> 05:11.033 - I don't think people understand 05:11.033 --> 05:13.133 that you can all be homeless within a few months. 05:15.334 --> 05:17.934 When my husband lost his job, and rent one time 05:17.934 --> 05:19.067 it reminded me very much so, 05:20.267 --> 05:21.834 that we were only a few paychecks away 05:22.734 --> 05:24.434 from being that. 05:24.434 --> 05:26.434 They're not what they call, bums on the corner. 05:28.334 --> 05:29.267 They are genuine people 05:31.167 --> 05:33.334 who would, most of them would like a job 05:33.334 --> 05:35.300 and would like to get back on their feet. 05:35.300 --> 05:37.033 And I think people need to remember that. 05:40.200 --> 05:41.701 - I love that he uses art to speak, 05:43.901 --> 05:45.033 when maybe words would limit 05:46.367 --> 05:48.067 what he would have to say to us. 05:48.067 --> 05:49.567 I actually have a little story for ya, 05:49.567 --> 05:50.667 if you'd like it. 05:50.667 --> 05:52.701 So last year before hurricane Irma, 05:52.701 --> 05:54.467 you may recall that everybody here, 05:54.467 --> 05:56.400 we thought it was coming to get us. 05:56.400 --> 05:59.167 and so, um, I actually drive a convertible 05:59.167 --> 06:00.734 and I was driving up Florida Avenue 06:00.734 --> 06:03.267 looking for homeless folks that I might know 06:03.267 --> 06:04.834 who might not have a safe place to go. 06:05.634 --> 06:06.734 And I found Larry, 06:06.734 --> 06:07.901 sitting on Florida Ave 06:07.901 --> 06:08.567 with his suitcases. 06:09.767 --> 06:11.400 We piled the suitcases in the car 06:11.400 --> 06:13.300 and we looked for public shelter. 06:13.300 --> 06:14.767 But one of the things Larry asked me 06:15.801 --> 06:16.767 was would I keep his art. 06:18.367 --> 06:20.133 Because he didn't want to take it with him 06:20.133 --> 06:23.400 into a public shelter and risk anything happening to it. 06:23.400 --> 06:25.434 So, I took it home and kept it safely for him. 06:26.734 --> 06:28.300 Larry loves his art and it's his baby. 06:36.000 --> 06:36.534 (slow music) 06:40.901 --> 06:42.400 - [Dalia] To learn more visit 06:42.400 --> 06:44.100 ut.edu and search for "fissures & cracks"