Yeeee HAWWW, the Tag Project is going to TENNESSEE!!

Yessirreee! I used to teach at Appalachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee from 1980-1985, it was my first job out of grad school, and it was also my first time living in the South. It was very interesting, you might say. I met lots of amazing folks though, and despite some strange unpleasantries (a guy called me a "gook" in front of Tootsie's Lounge in Nashville, and one lady in a grocery store asked if "...I had married one of their boys while they were overseas in 'nam".) I still have connections and fond memories of Tennessee.

One of my former students from San Diego State University, Kimberly Winkle, now teaches at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville and invited me out to speak to her Art Appreciation class specifically about The Tag Project, and how art can speak of personal history and/or address inequities of any kind, whether it be based on race, politics, gender, sexual preferences, etc. It will be interesting to see how and whether information on the Japanese American Internment was taught in Tennessee. Most of the students from Tennessee Tech are local.

I look forward to seeing many of the volunteers from Tennessee who have helped me so much: DiAnne Patrick, Michael J. Floyd, Mary Sue Kern, Kim Winkle, to name a few!!!

For more information about this event, contact me at thetagproject@gmail.com. The actual Tag Project event will take place in Cookeville, TN on October 5th, 2010.

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Update: We finished ALL of Rohwer and Topaz in Tennessee!!! here are some pics taken at the event!