How Do I Get Home? How Much Does It Cost?

How Do I Get Home? How Much Does It Cost? This is the title of the hand-made book produced in 1999 by what was to become the community collabARTive. In 13 years, many transitions have been made, many different answers to these questions observed and documented. This production is our collective dream come to light on a stage. It represents the big picture of ‘community art’ i.e. this is how we connect with YOU so that the US and THEM becomes the WE. It includes so many individual stories of disappointment and denial, discovery and renewal, gifts gotten and given. Some of us can say we are professional artists. Some of us got caught up in a new process that was interesting, overwhelming, challenging, and, ultimately, rewarding. You, the audience, are collaborators in ways that none of us fully understand. You can tell us what you think or feel or appreciate about this evening, this production, this process. We can reach back and tell you who we are and where we have been, what we have learned. A meaningful transaction occurs when human beings are present for each other, interact authentically, ask question and listen for answers. Homelessness, destabilization, displacement are costly and occur in many different forms and in places we least expect. Human resilience allows us to work together to find a new way home. In the words of past poet laureate, W. S. Merwin… "If we did not believe in homecoming, we could not bear the day."