Performance on the History of Bridgeport Housing

On Thursday, March 5, come to the Housatonic Museum of Art to enjoy a special performance in the galleries by artist Lachell Workman as she engages with the history of housing in Bridgeport, CT. The free event takes place at 5:30pm.

The event is presented in connection with the current exhibition, “The Hypogean Tip” which explores both Bridgeport’s and our larger nation’s past. The show features sculptures rendered in various materials, including large-scale casts in broken glass from the porch of the home of Mary Freeman (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and works cast in coal and marble dust that invoke P.T. Barnum’s specter as well as his adverse impact on the historic Bridgeport community, Little Liberia.

Spanning from the work of the Freeman Sisters during the mid-1800’s up through today, Workman will incorporate the history of public housing in Bridgeport. Utilizing two automatic slide projectors the artist will perform a series of choreographed movements that respond to the projected images of the following housing projects, many of which have since been demolished: Father Panik Village, The Greene Houses, Marina Village, and P.T. Barnum Apartments.

Following the performed movements, she will transition to being seated on a scaffold and will invite 4 selected guests to recall memories of living in these selected housing projects. These narratives will fill the space and allow members of the audience to share a collective memory in which bodies and communities navigate the spatial dynamics of abandoned structures in close proximity to underserved residential spaces.

“I see this as a direct reflection of the absence of memorials and monuments within inner-city spaces that affirm agency among members of the community over their inhabited landscape,” said Workman. “The performance will give residents of Bridgeport a public space to enact broad connections to the landscape of Bridgeport through memory and the larger historical pathology of lived spaces.”

The exhibit will be on view through Saturday, March 21, 2020. The Housatonic Museum of Art is located in Lafayette Hall on the HCC campus at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in Bridgeport, CT. The galleries are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday evening until 7 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. To learn more visit https://museum.housatonic.edu/ or call 203-332-5052.