The purpose of the Reynoldstown Wheelbarrow Festival is to use art and artistic expressions to empower residents with support and recognition in their quest to grow and maintain the neighborhood they call home. The festival is also a leadership development tool for community residents to organize the festival and head the needed committees and leadership positions. All the proceeds from the festival go to neighborhood revitalization and public safety.
The Origin of WBST by Young Hughley, RRC
The Reynoldstown Wheelbarrow Festival was started in 1996. It was inspired by Atlanta Architect, Joseph Amisano, with the support of John Harris a board member of Reynoldstown Revitalization Corporation, now known as Resources for Residents and Communities (RRC). John was a professional theatrical technical producer as well as instructor. The covered basketball court behind the Lang/Carson Community Center was catalyst for the concept. On one of Joe’s visits to the community, while walking the corridors, he spied the basketball court through a hallway window and exclaimed that it would make a great spot to have a theater. Joe Amisano’s vision was that of the Stratford Shakespeare festival in Ontario, Canada that revitalized a community and created a local economy. John Harris was in the office for another matter, and Young introduced the two. Joe had the vision; John affirmed it and Young challenged them. If they made the environment happen, he would do his part to make the activity happen. Young Hughley, CEO of RRC, had a theatrical background in production and management. He strongly believed that the arts could be used as a community development tool, and thus embraced the idea.
Joe recruited Bill Carpenter, Design Build Instructor at Southern Poly Tech in Alpharetta. Bill was looking for a project that his class could engage in for a term. Professor Carpenter brought his design build students to work with community residents. They were informed of the revitalization initiatives being driven by RRC and supported by the Reynoldstown Civic Improvement League (RCIL). This resulted in a five year collaboration between Southern Poly Tech and the community on community building projects.
Sometime during this process the festival got its name. Joe Amisano, John and Young were discussing what to call it. For Joe it was obvious. the community was being revitalized. What tool is the most useful for performing many tasks? The Wheelbarrow. Thus the Reynoldstown Wheelbarrow Summer Theater Festival. The original logo, that there have been many derivatives of, was designed by Meridith Anton, a graphic artist who lived in Candler Park. Young can’t remember how he met her but they became fast friends, and she contributed in-kind graphic services to the festival for a number of years.
RRC was a holistic developer, therefore the Design Build project approach had to be holistic. The students interviewed community residents and explored neighborhood history. They presented displays and mark ups to community representatives as well as faculty advisors. Resources to build the initial design were raised by the students and through in-kind services. The ultimate design became a wall of doors that resembled a quilting pattern lining the east side of the basketball court. The creation resembled something that artist Louise Nevelson would have created. The wall of doors was symbolic of the rich quilting history of the community. The goal was to create an entertainment venue that would reflect the integrity of the Reynoldstown community and provide a safe place for people to gather, as well as design an environment that appealed to the broader community.
The students installed the wall, and that very night the wall was torn down. Sadly, basketball players and other residents did not view it as a symbol of the community. The wall and the stage were blocking hoop time activity and impeding on a play area. The students repeated the process the next day, and the same thing happened. On the third day Normando Ismay took a door and painted a mural on it. He invited kids hanging out to paint on the doors. Adults hanging out were invited to paint on the doors. The theater ended up with this hodgepodge of doors no longer in the uniform color of the poly tech students but representing individuals murals by community residents. Thus, the doors provided them with a sense of ownership, hence the vandalism stopped. This is not the only story of the arts vs. the basketball court, but over time the two learned to tolerate the other.
The first festival took place in the summer of 1996. John Harris served as Technical Director, Normando Ismay as Artistic Director and Young Hughley as Producer. The festival took place near the last of June over a three day period; Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with themes for each day. A gospel program was presented the first evening. Community church choirs and other gospel groups were invited to minister. The second evening was called Cultural Gumbo. The purpose was to bring a culturally diverse type of programming to the community to promote cultural exposure, inclusivity and tolerance. Saturday, the final day, was a full day of activities. It was promoted as Family Day and started around 11 am with a Health Fair, then went into an afternoon stage with story tellers, acrobatics, dancers and community talent. In the baseball field pony rides, games, and fun activities were provided for the young people. That night the festival ended with a Blues event. A Parade and a Silent Auction were events that were added over the next 3 - 5 years. These two components were developed by Portia Osby and Pam Mayo, respectively.
There were many corporate sponsors who assisted RRC in developing the logistical structure of the Festival. Specifically the Federal Reserve Bank of Georgia adopted the festival in its 2 and 3rd year and provided printing support until as a corporation they started outsourcing their print work.
The original goals of the festival were to:
* Celebrate the community and the revitalization work of RRC
* Create an employment/income generation opportunity for community residents, through vending or actually being engaged in the set-up and running of the festival, although temporary
* Provide fun volunteer opportunities for RRC’s partners and Reynoldstown residents
* Bring new and long term community residents together
* Provide residents in a non-traditional educational format exposure to the arts and to the technical component s of theater
* Serve as a fundraising tool for RRC. Resources generated were used to continue programs and services.
There was a mutual understanding that the festival was an activity of RRC in collaboration with RCIL. RCIL initially was allowed the only vending rights for Gospel night in order to raise funds. That morphed into a combination of vending and the silent auction which became the vehicles for RCIL to raise funds for its own purposes
The festival was driven by the staff of RRC. They would spend the last two months of spring pulling together all the components of the festival with community and corporate volunteers. The cost of the festival was underwritten by partners of RRC, such as the Enterprise Foundation and The Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership. These funders allowed community building dollars to be directed toward festival activities. Other resources were provided through corporate sponsorship, in-kind-donations and volunteerism. In order to kick off the initial fundraising effort, Mamie Hughley, one of the Reynoldstown quilters, member of both RRC and RCIL, donated a hand made quilt as a raffle item. She continued to make that donation up to 2007. The 2008 the quilt was made and donated by her daughter, Antoinette Bailey.
In 2008 the Board of Directors of RRC decided that because of the organization’s expansion plans, the desire to work in other communities and neighborhoods, and the WBST festival being branded to the Reynoldstown community that the festival should be passed on to RCIL. Discussions were held with RCIL, and it was decided that this transition would be a gradual process, with RRC staff continuing to provide some support, tools, information and resources during the transition. The hope is that the festival will continue to be an event of celebration and bringing residents together while raising funds for the civic engagement efforts of the league.
Reynoldstown, Atlanta, GA
September 10, 2011
11am - 11pm