Arizona Humanities CARE Relief Grant Awarded to Dunbar Pavilion & AZHT
Andre Newman
Funding for this Arizona Humanities grant has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.)
The Dunbar Coalition and Arizona Heritage Tours has experienced a loss of regular income on account of no longer being able to host previously scheduled public events during this ongoing health crisis. We requested $10,000 from AZ Humanities to begin a project in collaboration with the UA Center for Digital Humanities to produce immersive, experiential content in which historically costumed presenters will perform and discuss the role of early African explorers; and their relationships with both Spanish conquistadors and Indigenous peoples of the Southwest. With technical and material support from the UA Center for Digital Humanities, actors will perform a series of well rehearsed historical vignettes in virtual reality. Venues for these living history presentations will include the Historic Dunbar Pavilion and Esteban Park. We will share the project in various forms on our Website and YouTube channels. All of our content will be made available to UA College of Humanities students; TUSD teachers; local youth serving organizations; and the general public.
Through tours, lectures, multimedia presentations and immersive virtual reality experiences our project will assist the general public to better understand this period of history and the participants involved, while helping revitalize a now decaying area of the city, Esteban Park. Highlighting the importance of Esteban Park and the Dunbar Pavilion/African American Cultural Center to the cultural and historical fabric of Tucson has long been a goal of numerous community stakeholders. This goal is far from achieved, exacerbated by the lack of young people involved in the activities of these groups in larger numbers.
The addition of new technologies including but not limited to immersive virtual reality will attract a new audience to the activities of these institutions; while attracting a younger population base that will provide leadership for the future. Activities for these new participants in the presentation of this and other historical narratives include community outreach, costume development, visual arts, video production, historical research, and immersive virtual reality technology. These activities will also provide curriculum of historical periods of little note not now provided in Tucson public schools. The attention provided to these historical places will also provide for the preservation of Tucson’s history for future generations. Beyond the emphasis on historic places, these efforts will also address other areas of interest of The Arts Foundation including, “...to affect systemic change that fosters an accessible, diverse, inclusive and equitable local arts community."