In July 2024 and 2025, CPW invited seniors and teens, aka legends and legends-in-the-making, to participate in free programs with brilliant photographer, storyteller, Guggenheim Fellow, and CPW exhibitor Brenda Ann Kenneally. Brenda is one of America’s leading documentary storytellers, an artist whose decades-long Upstate Girls series is one of the most fully realized projects to trace the roots of intergenerational trauma to wealth and class inequity.
During the monthlong 2025 workshop, Kenneally led local youth to consider the prompt of “our hearts’ desire” as they shared personal photos and ephemera and recorded oral histories together in a lively, collaborative environment. The results were unique multimedia scrapbooks that became the basis for the CPW Community Gallery exhibition Photographs, Scotch Tape, and Our Hearts’ Desire, on view through September 4, 2025. The exhibition showcases the rich collection of stories created and highlights the power of community partnership, showcasing how collaboration can directly uplift and support local residents.
In the 2024 four-week program, teens and seniors created individual projects—books or scrapbooks—using photographs, writing prompts, and personal ephemera to explore their personal histories and unique life journeys. They learned storytelling techniques to allow them to process complex emotions and capture the essence of their experiences in a way that heals, empowers, and inspires. The goal was for each participant to create a book about their lives. Final projects were be exhibited at CPW’s Community Gallery, highlighting the participants’ life stories for the Kingston community.
