University of MInnesota Partners with Southwest

University Works With Southwest in "The Rubber Room" Tonight
In some states, teachers accused of misconduct are sent to "rubber rooms" to await reassignment.

By Sheila Regan Email the author 7:52am

Southwest High School becomes the site of a 24-hour site-specific performance installation tonight created in collaboration with twelve students of the University of Minnesota and Skewed Visions, a company based in the Twin Cities.

The project is based on rubber rooms, or “temporary reassignment centers” utilized some states. The performance will begin May 6 at 7 p.m. and will end May 7 at 7 p.m.

Audience members are welcome to come and go whenever they please during that time period. The performance will also be streamed over the internet.

Q & A with Skewed Visions’ Gulgun Kayim, lead artist for the installation.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: So what exactly is this performance that’s happening at Southwest?

Gulgun Kayim: It’s a project that comes out of the U of M. There are two pieces to it. There’s the topic itself—Rubber rooms. In states around the country—New York is one of them and California. There are rules around teachers—if a teacher behaves badly, they get a slip from principal, and they go to a reassignment center. There’s no process where the teacher can even find out why they’ve been assigned. They have to sit and wait until being reviewed. They can’t even investigate what the issue even is.

In Minnesota we have a process, but there’s a debate about the cost of that process. In states around the country- teachers are paid to sit in rubber rooms. They’re not teaching, they’re simply sitting there.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Who is involved in this project?

Kayim: I teach a class at U of M dealing with site specific performance. We work with tying content of work to a place where the content makes sense. We asked Southwest High School if they were interested in working with us.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: What kind of research have you done?

Kayim: There is an interesting This American Life radio documentary that has interviews that we drew from, and there is a movie called the Rubber Room. We haven’t seen the movie—we’re trying to get a copy, but we’ve seen the trailer. There are also rubber room teachers themselves that we’ve contacted with. We’ve been interviewing them and there are a number of articles available.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: How do you create a performance based on this material?

Kayim: We’ve been working with some of the Southwest High School students and members of the Southwest community—including teachers and people training to be teachers—we’re trying to look at the whole thing. What will be happening May 6th and 7th is a 24-hour performance about waiting. We’re trying to bring the issue up and have a community conversation. Southwest has a very active Community Education program. The principal will be there, and a union rep, and the U of M students will be involved in the performance, as well as two Southwest students.

In addition, a group of Southwest students will be doing a reading of the plays written by the U of M students in another room.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: What is your hope for this workshop performance?

Kayim: I hope that it will lead to relationship with Southwest High School, so eventually we can fully mount the performance. We want to integrate this issue into the department at Southwest High. The students are learning an incredible amount.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: How did you choose Southwest?

Kayim: There’s no linear reason. A friend of mine who works at Minneapolis Public Schools immediately thought of Southwest because of Chris Fisher, the Drama teacher. They have been completely welcoming. William Smith, the principal, has been incredibly supportive. They wanted to find a way to work with us. They really opened up their school to us and are eager to continue that relationship.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Is there any kind of set?

Kayim: We make it into a rubber room. We empty all the desks. When you do site specific performance, you adapt to what you need, you rely on the real space itself. We’re adding theatrical lightning, and a capacity to control the lights as well as professional speakers. There are chairs around the space so that the room becomes a fishbowl people can come and go into. The whole thing is live streamed. Tweeted and facebooked by the students. There will be a separate computer set aside so that students who are in it can come up to it at any time and give impressions of their experience.

There will be a live stream of The Rubber Room online at the project's blogsite.
Southwest High School is located at 3414 W 47th Street in Minneapolis. Entry for the performance is through Door #3 of Southwest High school. The main performance will be in Room 114, but other events take place throughout the first floor.

For more information and other Southwest News visit:
http://southwestminneapolis.patch.com