We’re Keeping the Creativity Flowing This Summer with Ambitious Multi-Media Video Projects Spotlighting Artists with I/DD

At PHAME, summer is the season where creativity takes to new heights.

In recent summers, we’ve hit some pretty great milestones. In the summer of 2015, we staged our first original work—Up the Fall—written by local playwright Debbie Lamedman with a score by Portland-based singer-songwriter Laura Gibson. Summer 2017 saw the creation of In a Single Breath, a living performance collage of memories and moments written and directed by Matthew B. Zrebski in collaboration with PHAME staff and student artists. And last summer—2019—we shared our biggest production yet: The Poet’s Shadow—an original rock opera produced in collaboration with Portland Opera and designed, written, and performed by artists with disabilities.

This summer, PHAME is keeping the creativity flowing with ambitious multi-media video projects. Students in our online project-based classes will work on different elements of the videos, and those elements will be woven together into three finished videos to be shared with the PHAME community at the end of the summer.

The first project—dubbed the PHAME Mega Choir—will be a virtual choir made up of singers with and without disabilities. Led by PHAME’s Director of Arts & Education, Matthew Gailey, singers in the choir will rehearse throughout the summer, and the final video will present one song edited together from 40+ individual videos.

The second project will combine dance with percussion and will be led by PHAME’s Director of Community Engagement, Rob Smith, and PHAME Teaching Artist Michael Galen. PHAME student dancers and drummers will begin the project simultaneously, sharing their original compositions back and forth and reacting to each other’s creations. The project will culminate in a video presenting the dancers performing in their respective homes to the beat of the drummers’ music.

The final project in the series will be an animated story with music. Alexis Hamilton from Portland Opera will guide students through the process of creating a poetic story, while PHAME’s Director of Arts & Education, Matthew Gailey, and PHAME Teaching Artist David Chachere will collaborate with students to create an original music composition. PHAME Teaching Artist Stephanie Scelza will work with students to create simple line drawn animations to illustrate the story. All three elements of the project will be in development at the same time, requiring collaboration, communication, and creativity.

All three video projects will serve to spotlight the rigor, dedication, and talent of PHAME artists. People with developmental disabilities continue to be left out of the mainstream arts, and the Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating the isolation already experienced by so many. PHAME hopes these videos will serve as a reminder that diversity enriches our community, and that all voices deserve to be heard.

All of PHAME’s summer programming will occur online. Registration for project-based classes is now open, and Summer Term will begin Monday, June 15. View our Summer Term web page for more information.

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Performers in Up the Fall, 2015.

Students rehearsing for In a Single Breath, 2017.

Performers in The Poet’s Shadow, 2019.

Performers in The Poet’s Shadow, 2019.