Education Workshop: Oral History
Jul 11, 2016
Oral history workshop with Whitney Education staff, June 2016. Photograph by Liza Zapol
Oral historian Liza Zapol led a workshop for Whitney Education staff and interns on June 27, exploring the history of the Whitney’s home in the Meatpacking District. Using the sixth floor terrace as both a stage and an observation deck, Zapol narrated the history of the building site and the surrounding neighborhood, recalling the Algonquin trail that is now Gansevoort Street, the nineteenth-century U.S. Army Fort, and the meatpacking industry that proliferated during the 1930s.
Staff and interns perform a collaborative series of movements inspired by local history, June 2016. Photograph by Liza Zapol
Zapol guided the team through a series of physical and artistic gestures, in which they interpreted this rich history. Participants created images mapping out memories of the area, and performed a sequence of movements inspired by the stories that Zapol told.
Participants create a visual representation of the Meatpacking District’s history, June 2016. Photograph by Liza Zapol
The nature of this workshop is indicative of Whitney Education’s commitment to engaging with the Museum’s immediate neighborhood and community. When the Museum first began planning its move downtown, Kathryn Potts, Helena Rubinstein Chair of Education, tasked Zapol with researching the history of the area, in order to fully understand the Whitney’s place within its genealogy. Reflecting on the workshop, Public Programs Intern Lindsey Stoll noted that “by recognizing the Meatpacking District’s unique past, the Whitney is helping visitors form meaningful connections to not only art and the Museum, but also the city that surrounds it.”
By Olivia Horn, Interpretation Intern