Stephanie Lynn Rogers

Portfolio Category: Community-based

Sewing Circle Project

Sewing Circle is a treadle-powered sewing machine integrated into a circular folding table. This mobile project creates opportunities for participants to interact with each other and their own creativity.

Sewing Circle was commissioned by Springboard for the Arts’ ReadyGo Art project and is available for hire within Minnesota. Head on over to ReadyGoArt.org for pricing and specs, then contact me to talk about customizing this project for your gathering.

This project was partially inspired by Dominic Muren’s Production Cycle, combined with my own passion for community-based projects, sustainable transit, and the magic that happens when strangers sit down to make art together. I’ve made small quilts and flags with community members, done a pop-up clothing mending event, and I use Sewing Circle weekly in my own studio practice.

Dan Fick assisted with design and construction. Documentation photos by Bruce Silcox and Wing Young Huie.

September 21, 2017
Making Mov(i)es

Making Mov(i)es from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

Making Mov(i)es was a collaboration between The Advocate Center for Culture and Education, Cycles, and Stephanie Lynn Rogers. This project began as a series of workshops for teenagers at the Advocate Center on bicycle maintenance, led by Jacob Kenney of Cycles and Stephanie Lynn Rogers. During these workshops, it was clear that the youth had a lot of experience with both bike repair and biking, and that they used bikes to travel all over the city of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia has the highest bike commuting percentage of any big city in the country, due in part to the strong traditions of cycling for both transportation and recreation in neighborhoods like North Philadelphia. If you looked at images or read stories about bicycling in Philly though, you might get the impression that it’s mainly a white, middle class activity. We used GoPros and a DSLR to record the bike experiences of teenagers at the Advocate Center.

Shortly before we began this collaborative project, Neighborhood Bike Works (Philadelphia’s bike non-profit) consolidated their programming in West Philadelphia. Our hope is that by combining bike resources (Cycles) with a community organization that has a powerful social justice framework (the Advocate Center), needed tools and resources will continue to be available in North Philadelphia.

June 9, 2016
38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories

38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories is a collaborative project by Wing Young Huie and Stephanie Lynn Rogers based on a shared interest in zines and Rogers’ desire to build upon existing neighborhood infrastructure. Together, they worked with residents of the blocks immediately surrounding the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis to create a zine of hyper-local stories. This publication was then distributed through the robust system of Little Free Libraries in the four neighborhoods surrounding the intersection: Bancroft, Bryant, Central, and Powderhorn.

Huie and Rogers paired young residents with those who had lived on the block for more than 10 years, asking the young neighbors to interview their elders about the neighborhood. The interviews were recorded, edited, and printed. Common themes emerge through different perspectives. 38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories served as a pilot project for the creation of hyper-local media and distribution systems. Get in touch to inquire about bringing this project to your neighborhood.

May 9, 2016
Urban/Environment

Urban/Environment from Ben Hovland on Vimeo.

Urban/Environment explored urban ecology along Chicago Avenue, focusing on natural beauty in unexpected places, the fragility of life, and the tension between man-made structures and living organisms. Thirty-seven signs combining photographs and descriptive text were installed in public spaces for the summer of 2013. These signs mimicked the mannerisms of state park signage. Images focused on a micro view, encouraging a closer look at our surroundings.

The signs were installed along Chicago Avenue and immediate side streets – in front yards, businesses’ windows, community gardens, and public areas. Installation locations were chosen for their proximity to the places where the photographs were taken.

The text was developed in collaboration with Megan Buchanan and Jacob Richards, two biogeographers who live in the neighborhood. Richards and Buchanana ensured that the signs are as informative as they are lovely. Guided walks occurred in May, June, and July of 2013, as the public was invited to join in a hike along Chicago Avenue to learn more about our urban ecosystem.

This project is part of Arts on Chicago. The Arts on Chicago initiative is an arts-based community development project in Minneapolis, MN, led by Pillsbury House + Theatre, Upstream Arts, the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, and MCAD Professor Natasha Pestich with support from the Ward 8 Council Office of Elizabeth Glidden. Arts on Chicago is funded in part by Artplace, a collaboration of twelve of the nation’s leading foundations, eight government agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six financial institutions across the U.S.

Stephanie L. Rogers is a fiscal year 2013 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

December 31, 2015