Kent State University's "May 4 Voices" allows art interaction

You can add your thoughts and memories to the May 4 Voices Sculptural Installation at the Downtown Art Gallery, 141 E. Main St. in Kent.

The May 4 Voices Sculptural Installation opened on April 28 and will remain in downtown Kent until May 29.

The gallery is welcoming adults and children to write their feelings along with colorful rubbings of daffodils to be posted on one of the walls of the gallery.

These words will join other texts from oral histories of the events, which are emblazoned in various sizes and shadows on the opposite wall.

Anderson Turner, the director of Kent State University Art School's six galleries, worked with three graduate students on the graphic representations of the words and daffodils.

"We're trying to take the history from the last 40 years and re-frame it for the next 40 years," Turner said. "This is a unique chance to understand history and our country at that time."

The artists will photograph the visitors' artwork each day and add it to a special CorkShare website.

David Hassler, the director of the Wick Poetry Center, edited the text from a large compendium of oral history that has been compiled since the mid-1990s by Sandy Halem, president of the Kent Historical Society.

For the second part of the three-part May 4 Voices Project, Hassler adapted the text into a "May 4 Voices" play that will be performed on May 2 at the E. Turner Stump Theatre at the Music and Speech Center, 1325 Theatre Drive.

The third part is a Story Quilt project, which will include more public input, as all are invited to contribute words and images on the squares of the quilt on May 1 from noon to 2 p.m. and on May 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission to all May 4 Voices events is free.

The quilt and daffodils are based around four symbolic colors: blue (peace), yellow (hope, happiness, the sacred), white (purity) and green (growth, renewal, strength).

"We tried to exhibit our work with the symbolism of elements in fours: four colors, May 4 and the four students who died that day," said graduate student Emily Sullivan.

She and fellow artist Lesley Sickle both grew up in Kent, surrounded by the stories and legacy of the tragedy.

"You hear the story from so many angles that there's a sense of normalcy about it," Sullivan said. "We hear stories of school shootings around the country, but it's part of the history of our hometown. It's part of the culture."

The third artist, Sean Scully, has a different perspective coming from Lubbock, Texas, which he calls "the most conservative part of America.

"As an artist, I feel like I'm in the minority as far as liberal and conservative is concerned," he said, "but you start to get a more full understanding when you come to this area and hear the stories.

"You read James Michener's book ('Kent State: What Happened and Why,' 1971) and you get one story. You talk to the guy down the street and you get another story," Scully added.

This fall, the sculptural installation will be on display at Case Western Reserve University. It will then be available to travel to other universities and museums.

"How it plays here in Kent is different than how it will play even in Cleveland," Turner said. "The best way to learn about art is to see it, and you can touch history a little bit here in Kent. This tragedy may not be the mantle we want, but it's the mantle we have."