Cocooned in a colorful tunnel, surrounded by soothing blue LEDs and sparkling metallic shapes, more than 60 students studying social justice at Shorecrest High School participated in a thought-provoking discussion Friday afternoon, during a community event presented by installation artist and educator Ya Levy La’ford in partnership with the Florida Holocaust Museum.
Second in a series of three, the program brought students together with educators, artists, politicians and other community members to share powerful stories inside the 85-foot-long tunnel adjacent to Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill in St. Petersburg — dubbed the Sunnel by La’ford, who created a permanent art installation in the space during September’s SHINE Mural Festival.
“In addition to activating the space, I think it’s really important that you activate the mind,” La’ford said. “There’s nothing more enlightening than the experience of learning.”
Free and open to the public, the Sunnel series is a public gathering focused on arts engagement through discussion and storytelling, reflecting triumphs of spirit, ingenuity and progression in the face of struggle.
Students began their day with a 10 a.m. tour of the Holocaust Museum, coming to the Sunnel at 1 p.m. for conversations with panelists, including District 8 City Council Member Amy Foster, artist and philanthropist Beth Morean, and Holocaust survivor Jerry Rawicki.
Their questions touched on challenges facing St. Petersburg, cultural philanthropy, the Holocaust, faith, and the process of making art.
“You need to be creative as a human being for your own mental and emotional health,” said Morean, who brought several pieces of glass and clay art for students to examine. “Keep something creative going in your life, don’t make it all about work.”
Foster agreed. “The arts are what held this city together during the economic downtown,” she added, going on to cite homelessness and affordable housing as two challenges currently facing St. Petersburg.
Her advice to students: “Do what you love, and don’t be afraid to open up to new experiences. Be open to new challenges and take risks.”
Rawicki, who lived through the Holocaust at age 13 to 17, said he became more spiritual following the war. He encouraged young people to combat hatred in all forms.
“As we speak, there are holocausts happening all over the world,” Rawicki said. “People are dying from bullets, hunger, diseases. People in some corners of the world don’t even know art, they are just trying to survive. This is something we must erase.”
Brian Sotolongo, an 18-year-old Shorecrest senior, talked to Rawicki about what it felt like to learn World War II had ended.
“I feel very grateful for everything Rawicki shared,” said Sotolongo, who plans to attend USF Tampa to study mechanical engineering and later join the Navy. “I read he’d been helped by a young man, and wanted to hear his story. This [type of conversation] is something everyone should participate in at least once.”
La’ford said she will continue working with different school groups, hoping to take young audiences out of their everyday experience and “kind of shake their perspective.”
“Though we walk many different paths, the most important path we can walk is together, and recognize the importance of working together,” she said.
Courtney Walker, Shorecrest media specialist and librarian, eagerly signed on to help connect students to La’ford’s event. Guests from Keep St. Pete Lit and Arts Conservatory for Teens added to the dialogue with writing prompts and live performance.
“In today’s age, learning and media can also be people and places,” Walker said. “We have such a thriving, interesting city — it can be like its own textbook for us, and we can learn from it.”
The next Sunnel storytelling event is planned for January 2016. Visit Ya Levy La’ford online at https://www.facebook.com/yalaford for updates.
