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Reviews of the World Première of More Rail at Oakland's Elihu M. Harris State Building. |
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...all I could think of was all the Black men being used and abused
Woody Johns |
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Very Nice! My dad, who was an Engineer on the steamers,
would have enjoyed
Sheila Lamb ... loved the TV show about building community. My great grandfather laid rail in Colorado to feed his family while homesteading Camille Peterson |
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Very Interesting... D. Bruce Shelton (Amtrak Conductor assigned to Caltrain) |
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Oakland Tribune/Feburary 18, 2007 by Anna Lee Allen MICHAEL COPELAND Sydnor, the artist behind the current exhibit at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery in downtown Oakland's Elihu M. Harris State Building is a man of many talents, with a background in theater, set design, sound production, dance, jazz, poetry and arts administration. But this time he's talking railroads. Sydnor's one-man show explores Oakland's railroad history from the perspective of workers, particularly African-American porters, cooks, waiters and linemen. Sydnor has created an eclectic exhibit of artifacts, collectibles, digital video interviews and his own artwork - canvas graphics of signage and internationally recognized transit symbols - in homage to the enduring lore of train travel. The exhibit, "MORE RAIL: Montage of Rail Experiences Restoring an Intimate Legacy," incorporates such diverse items as a passenger recliner seat (invented by a woman by the name of Sarah Goode), a steamer trunk - used by the porters to store their "kits," a serving tray, with the cutlery and bud glass vase, used in the dining car - as well as various hats, caps, luggage tickets and other ephemera. Sydnor wants visitors who come to the gallery, to contact him with their stories of rail travel, or of working for Southern Pacific and other railroad companies. "I am taking oral histories down, so we do not lose the memories," he explains... Sydnor says he became inspired by Oakland's rail heritage in 1991 when he assisted a public art interdisciplinary project titled "Binding Ties: The 16th Street Station." "I worked with visual artist Stephanie Anne Johnson to create giant images of train workers that were projected upon the front facade of the landmark station," says Sydnor. The "sound and light" show incorporated music and narratives that told the story of the 1912-era intermodal terminal (designed by SP architect Jarvis Hunt). At designated times, there would be a broadcast on a local radio station and folks would come, park in the lot in front of the hulking station, and tune in to listen on car radios as they watched the images flash across the front of the building, Sydnor further explains. "Through helping Stephanie Anne Johnson with her piece, I came to appreciate how central a role Oakland has played with respect to rail transportation in this country, and also how closely the experiences of so many African Americans are tied to trains and train travel." He believes the anecdotes and reminiscences captured in the oral histories will enliven the official written record. "The components are part biography, part conversation, part historical fact, and part of everyday living - in the tradition of the African griot storytelling." The artist has also been taking part in community meetings that seek to establish a new use for the vacant SP station. "It is my feeling that the building must become a destination, not just a monument," he said. "If we incorporated working streetcars (as there used to be there), it could attract tourists, businesses and increase safety in that area," the artist believes. "We feel the vitality that characterized Oakland was lost when the interurban rails were ripped out and cemented over. We need to bring back light-rail services, in the way that San Francisco has done, with its Third Street Line," Sydnor adds. |
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