Over a seven-month period, artist Zarouhie Abdalian worked with the Coleman Center for the Arts in Sumter County, Alabama, making five trips to West Alabama with her creative collaborator Joseph Rosenzweig.
Beginning in November 2017, Abdalian and Rosenzweig explored Sumter County from Gainesville in the far northern corner to Cuba in the western edge of the county. They spent time with Yawah Awolowo at Mahalah Farms in Kinterbish; visited the studios of former Coleman Center artist-in-residence Garland Farwell; lunched with artists and longtime Coleman Center supporters Linda, Charlie, and Jessie Muñoz; and toured Prystup Packaging Products in Livingston,Waste Management’s Hazardous Waste Facility in Emelle, and the University of Western Alabama’s archeological site at Fort Tombecbe.
The artists also ventured beyond the county to Auburn University’s Rural Studio in Newbern and to The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa where Abdalian gave an artist’s talk to Prof. Jane Cassidy’s art class. While in Tuscaloosa, Abdalian and Coleman Center director Jackie Clay met with Dr. Pamela Payne Foster who is Deputy Director of Institute for Rural Health Research at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa as well as co-founder of the community radio station 94.5 WUMO LP FM, Montgomery, Alabama.
Back in York, Abdalian assisted Coleman Center Curator of Education Boo Gilder at Open Studio, an inquiry-based children’s art class, and Abdalian and Rosenzweig spent time familiarizing themselves with Sumter County’s history through conversations with residents and through primary documents available in local libraries and the archives at the Hightower Memorial Library and the Sumter County Probate Office in Livingston.
As collaborators Abdalian and Rosenzweig make sound installations and curate concerts, which sometimes occur in public space. The artists’ experiences and conversations in and around Sumter County led them to be interested in creating a platform for public speech that, were there interest, might take the eventual form of community run radio station. In order to connect with potential collaborators and envision what this might look like alongside Sumter County residents, the artists proposed a gathering of people in an informal setting where public speech and song would be foregrounded; to this end, they worked with the Coleman Center to plan a festival they titled Ashé! The Power of the Voice.