CHERYL POPE
Hoop Dreams was instigated by conversations I had with youth while working at the James Jordan Boys and Girls Club in Chicago. These conversations revealed to me the continued perspective that there was only one way to “get out” of their situation and that was to become an NBA basketball star. As a former basketball player myself, I also connected with the NBA as a way to rise above. My little girl dream was to become the first female basketball player in the NBA as a search for equality. When I listened to these young people, I felt the need to respond and to re-visit this stereotype that was revealed to me as still present. Through this collection I seek to visualize these statements in order to instigate questions of why this perspective is still present with the hope that through the conversations that emerge attention will rise that these issues are not resolved, that we need to pay attention and that we need to actively participate in broadening the vision, the dreaming, and the opportunities that are available to young people today.
The piece titled A Silent I, is a series of championship style banners with text collected from youth at Lindblom Math and Science Academy in Chicago. I asked the students to autonomously submit one truth and one lie about their self without designating which was which. I received 125 statements and due to funding selected 20 to be printed. These banners were then installed in the school gymnasium where I was able to meet the youth for the first time and discuss the work with them. The statements address issues of identity, relationships, sexual orientation, demeanor, and address issues that we deal with at any age. By locating them as championship statements, I am celebrating all that we deal with being ourselves and living with one another.
Hoop Dreams, 2010
Metal Chain, metal shackle, velvet pillow, basketball, paint
