{"id":5172,"date":"2014-12-08T01:17:05","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T06:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/?p=5172"},"modified":"2020-06-05T21:30:26","modified_gmt":"2020-06-06T01:30:26","slug":"journey-art-program-rfs-collaborating-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/journey-art-program-rfs-collaborating-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"My Journey Yours | Refugee Family Services commissions song for arts integrated social services"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>\u201cMY JOURNEY YOURS\u201d (MJY) is an art program designed by <strong>REFUGEE FAMILY SERVICES<\/strong> (RFS of Clarkston, GA) and artists <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fastandfrench.org\/bios.htm\">Gwylene Gallimard &amp; Jean-Marie Mauclet<\/a> with Rebekah Stone. It started in the fall of 2002.<br \/>\nThe title MY JOURNEY YOURS (MJY), suggests that we all are on a journey, and that the concept of \u201cjourney\u201d includes infinite manifestations \u2014 the trip from country of origin, current journeys of language acquisition, the journey of awareness and acceptance for long-term Clarkston residents who watch their neighborhoods and schools change in astounding ways, the journeys of artists trying to make the arts relevant to today\u2019s world, the journey of this project. It strongly conveys that we each have something the world needs. Art as conveyor.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/jemagwga.com\/my-journey-yours\/\">Click here to read more!&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Elise&#8217;s song <a href=\"http:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/product\/my-journey-yours\/\">MY JOURNEY YOURS<\/a>, featured in the video below, was commissioned for this 3-year project, integrating the arts into the social services of Refugee Family Services.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/46767794\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/46767794\">My Journey Yours<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/jemagwga\">Gwylene Gallimard<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><i><span lang=\"DE\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-5186 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/MJY-590x417-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"My Journey Yours - Elise Witt\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/MJY-590x417-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/MJY-590x417-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>My Journey Yours<\/span><\/i><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;was originally commissioned by a multi-disciplinary arts project of the same name with Refugee Family Services in Clarkston, Georgia. RFS serves more than 2500 refugees each year from countries including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burma, Burundi, Iraq, Iran, Kurdistan, Somalia, Sudan, and Vietnam. Programs help refugee women and children regain self-sufficiency through education and economic opportunity. The project&nbsp;<i>My Journey Yours<\/i>&nbsp;served to incorporate arts into the social service work of the agency.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><i><span lang=\"DE\">My Journey Yours<\/span><\/i><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;musically represents the refugees\u2019 harrowing journey from their homelands, through the seemingly unending days, months, and years of surviving in refugee camps, to the challenge of creating a new life as Americans in Clarkston, Georgia.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">For the first section of the piece, the RFS staff members \u2013 themselves refugees and <a href=\"http:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5197 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011-298x300.jpg\" alt=\"My Journey Yours - Elise Witt\" width=\"298\" height=\"300\"><\/a>immmigrants \u2013 translated the phrase&nbsp;<i>\u201cmy journey, yours\u201d<\/i>&nbsp;into their native language, and each woman sang me a song she remembered from childhood. I gathered lullabies, children\u2019s songs, and musical games from each of the countries represented. With each language, I took a musical phrase from their song and put the words&nbsp;<i>\u201cmy journey yours\u201d<\/i>&nbsp;in their language over that musical phrase. Then I stacked these musical phrases on top of each other into a multi-lingual, multi-cultural vocal collage. Improvisation over the collage is encouraged and recommended.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">Connecting this section to the next are musical phrases in Vietnamese and Somali, calling out the anguish of leaving home, and the intense difficulty of the journey. Many of these people have spent up to 25 years in refugee camps.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">The last section of the piece represents the new home, shared by refugees from many lands. It uses a 6\/8 Bosnian chord progression, with the words&nbsp;<i>\u201cmy journey yours\u201d<\/i>&nbsp;sung in English. Once this section is established, I recommend vocal improvisation over it, allowing individual voices to speak\/sing while the group holds the foundation. Allow this part time to develop and flourish. The piece is especially effective when coupled with dance and body percussion.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"DE\"><span lang=\"DE\">The first incarnation of the piece&nbsp; \u201cMy Journey Yours\u201d was recorded in June 2004 at Sound and Fury Studio in Pine Lake GA, with my voice on all the vocal parts and a variety of percussion instruments. The recording was used in the exhibition&nbsp; \u201cMy Journey Yours\u201d at the Youth Arts Connection in Atlanta, celebrating the culmination of the first segment of the visual arts projects at Refugee Family Services in Clarkston GA. The CD played continuously while visitors viewed art projects of painting, sculpture, sewing, and multi-media works created during the 3 year project at Refugee Family Services with artists from many cultures and disciplines.<\/span><\/span>As I was writing the piece, I workshopped it with members of the Bobby McFerrin \u201cSpontaneous Invention\u201d workshop at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY (June 2004), with members of my workshop \u201cMulti-Lingual Songs\u201d at the People\u2019s Music Network Gathering in Woodstock NY (June 2004), and at my \u201cHarmony: An Unorthodox Approach\u201d class at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College in Asheville North Carolina (July 2004).\u201dMy Journey Yours\u201d was the centerpiece of a collaborative performance and residency with the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aysc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde<\/a>&nbsp;directed by Paige Mathis and &nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.movinginthespirit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moving in the Spirit<\/a>&nbsp;(Coming Up Taller Award of the President\u2019s Committee for the Arts and Humanities). It has been performed by many choral groups including Not What You Think (Washington DC), Womansong (Asheville NC), Brattleboro Women\u2019s Chorus (Brattleboro VT), Artemis Singers (Chicago IL), Sound Circle (Boulder CO), Singing A_Z (Washington DC), Echoes of Peace Choir (Duluth MN), and Just Voices (Atlanta GA).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>And on Thanksgiving 2013, \u201cMy Journey Yours\u201d was featured on&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org\/classical\/holidays\/display\/web\/2013\/11\/11\/thanksgiving-with-cantus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u2019s Thanksgiving program<\/a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cantussings.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cantus<\/a>, one of the premiere men\u2019s vocal ensembles.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMY JOURNEY YOURS\u201d (MJY) is an art program designed by REFUGEE FAMILY SERVICES (RFS of Clarkston, GA) and artists Gwylene Gallimard &amp; Jean-Marie Mauclet with Rebekah Stone. It started in &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/journey-art-program-rfs-collaborating-artists\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about  My Journey Yours | Refugee Family Services commissions song for arts integrated social services<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,413,177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-blog","category-ewcs-feature","category-features-for-home-page","entry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",298,300,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"large":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"square-entry-image":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",397,400,false],"vertical-entry-image":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",400,403,false],"horizontal-entry-image":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",546,550,false],"mailpoet_newsletter_max":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011-500x500.jpg",500,500,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011.jpg",596,600,false],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A_0011-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jessica Lily","author_link":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/author\/jessica\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\u201cMY JOURNEY YOURS\u201d (MJY) is an art program designed by REFUGEE FAMILY SERVICES (RFS of Clarkston, GA) and artists Gwylene Gallimard &amp; Jean-Marie Mauclet with Rebekah Stone. It started in ... Read More about My Journey Yours | Refugee Family Services commissions song for arts integrated social services","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}