CHANGING THE NARRATIVE: RESEARCH-BASED COMICS ON HOMELESSNESS & HOUSING INSTABILITY
With initial funding from the Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative in 2021, this collaborative project seeks to reframe how we talk, teach, and think about homelessness and housing instability in Portland and the surrounding region by providing accessible, beautiful, engaging research-based stories translated into comic form. These wide-ranging stories build empathy and increase understanding of the roots of homelessness and poverty. Through empathy we increase awareness, manifest dialogue, and move toward both policy and social interaction based in respect and dignity.
In February 2022, our team (faculty lead and undergraduate student team) with our community partners: Street Roots and the Independent Publishing Resource Center, released the first 10 stories from our project in the form of a book, featuring the work of 10 established and emerging artists who created comics based on interviews with 10 Portland State University students with lived experience of homelessness. The artists, the students, and the research team are largely from communities that are disproportionately represented among people experiencing homelessness and housing instability: Black, Indigenous, AAPI, and People of Color; Disabled; LGBTQAI; and Veterans.
The first 4,000 copies sold out in 10 days of distribution by Street Roots vendors, which led to a second printing of 2,000 copies (which also sold out in days). More than $20,000 in proceeds went to the Street Roots vendors, individuals experiencing homelessness or poverty. More than 20 news articles featured the comic book project. Three public exhibits showcased the artwork, which was viewed by several hundreds of people. At least 10 college courses have used the comics including classes at University of Massachusetts, University of Portland, Pacific Northwest College of Art, and Portland State University.
Epilogue: An Arts-Based Impact Assessment of Changing the Narrative (2023-2024)
Throughout 2023 and Spring 2024 our team is working on a project called Epilogue. We received funding from the Community-Engaged Research Academy (CERA) at Portland State to assess the impact of the project on the artists, research participants, and research team who made the first ten comics possible. We have also received support from the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation to support our research, which involves interviews and a creative reflection process leading to a public exhibition in May 2024. Our team is raising money for that exhibition, which will include the first 10 comics in large-scale, and the original works of 17 of the people who participated in phase one and who are now participating in Epilogue. These new works include comics, textiles, paintings, ceramics, and installations. If you would like to support this project, please make a donation if you are able. Any amount helps. Thank you for your support.
Phase 2: Changing the Narrative (2024)
Beginning in 2024, the research team hopes to begin phase 2 of this project: another round of research with 10 new artists, 10 more PSU students with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability, and a new team of research assistants, leading to new comics to add to the collection.