As part of the Documentary Art Project, Hannah Wells offers her artistic interpretation of a recording by Hazel Delehey, Genevieve Roby, and Will Foote.
 
Back story: At a middle school in the Ukraine, Genevieve Roby sees a group bullying her friend Anja. Genevieve takes a stand and intervenes, but she is one against many.
 
I was in middle school
Friend from India
Named Anja
She was made fun of
For how much hair she had on her arms
Coming from one girl to another
Continue Reading



Learning that a long-time friend is gay and has decided to move away, Malcolm Brooks wrestles with losing contact but wanting what’s best for his friend.
 
You finally told me your secret
You told no one for years
You tell me that soon you’ll be moving
There’s nobody like you here
 
You tell me you can’t keep pretending
And fighting the grain of the world
You have to be true to your body
And do the things you feel
 
They told you, you had to change
Now everything is changing around you
My wish for you
Is that you never have to be something you’re not
Don’t ever get lost
Continue Reading


From the Identities project
 
Québec, Canada: Sharon MacLeod receives a phone call that her son Alexander is in critical condition at the hospital. He may not live through the night.
 
Something has happened to Alexander
Had barely turned 15
Got a phone call from a woman I’d never met
 
I wish that he
Could have grown to become a man
And I could be
Just another mom
Continue Reading


Hasting Brook, Maine: As a young boy, Don Mitchell witnessed a fire raging through his Maine village. But then, in the ashes, beautiful raspberries began to grow.
 
Film Design and Artwork: Clio Berta
Story Source: Interview with Don Mitchell by his son Roger Mitchell
 
This work is part of the Documentary Art Project.
 
The fire came, the fire came, the fire came down
 
Well, she started at Hasting Brook
Hasting Brook by the big falls
Between Jackson Sluice and Adam’s Ridge
She took out strip of land
And the trees, she took ‘em all
Continue Reading


Before you knew them, someone you love had suffered beneath the hands of others. A father feels so much tenderness for his adopted daughter. He doesn’t always know how to help her, but he finds joy as she discovers her own unique gifts that she uses to overcome her past.
 
Anonymous – story source
Khalid Taylor, Alex Wilder, Malcolm Brooks – teaching artists

She showed up on our doorstep
Way out in the country
My little baby, baby in the rain
 
Innocent and broken,
The child of a broken woman
My little baby, baby in the rain
Continue Reading


Someone you’ve known for a long time may have another side to them. Forgiveness may not be easy.
 
Teaching Artist: Hazel Delehey
Story Source: Anonymous
 
He was being accused
All the things were true
He’d been stealing the money
From the charity
For a very long time
I’m not good at forgiveness
Got to live with it, got to deal with it
Keep going
With an arm’s length of love
Continue Reading

Oberlin, Ohio: Daniella Hope sings of personal challenges but finds strength in friends she calls “Day Ones.”
 
Co-written by Daniella Hope and Alex Wilder
Story Source: Daniella Hope
 
Vocal: Daniella Hope
Piano: André Jamal
 
It’s hard to have faith in some things I can’t see
but I saw, no I felt, then I saw, and I believed…
 
A constant battle of feeling am I good enough
When I feel consumed by darkness
Negative thoughts consumed by feeling unworthy
I just want to give up
When I can’t remember my light
I know my day ones will guide me into my light
With their love shining all over me
Continue Reading