Welcome to the Origin Stories Project.
We are passionate about storytelling and the power of origin stories to inspire self-expression, create connection, and drive transformation and healing.
The Origin Stories Project joins the creative instruments of storytelling and art in a collaborative social experience. Participants and audiences are equally engaged — to share and hear moving stories of struggle, reflection, and growth, and to create and view highly personalized artwork that has profound and lasting impacts on how they regard and value themselves and others.
We witness a host of meaningful outcomes — self-discovery and awareness, mutual empathy and understanding, hope and belonging. Through art, we come to better understand and appreciate our individual stories and can recognize the commonalities we all share as part of the human experience.
The project starts with a storyteller providing a brief, focused example of an identity-informing experience. An artist will then give the story visual expression using a transparent box as a base for their interpretation.
What is your Origin Story?
What shaped your personal and cultural sense of identity? What is the story behind how you or your ancestors arrived here? What wisdom do you carry from the generations that preceded you? What have you overcome on your way to finding the identity that roots you to the world?
We are concentrating on stories from four categories:
Experiences of Arrival – coming to America
Experiences of Legacy – voices of our ancestors
Experiences of Revelation – LBGTQ+ stories
Experiences of Adversity – abuse, poverty, addiction
Each of these categories carries in them potential to expand over time. Experiences of Arrival could grow to encompass welcoming new family members, new community members, finding oneself in a new place and community. Experiences of Revelation could grow to include spiritual or religious awakening, secrets discovered, insights gained. Experiences of Adversity will likely grow to include other stories of discovery, transformation, and renewal. All the stories contain within them the seeds of recognition, understanding and compassion.
Our ultimate vision of the project is to install 100 Art Boxes + audio stories in public spaces for all to experience, interactively. An online site will house the stories and Art Boxes for wider reach. An Origin Stories Project curriculum will be developed for schools and public institutions.
Guidelines for Storytellers and Artists
You may record and create your story and Art Box or collaborate with another to be the storyteller or artist.
Audio stories should be no longer than 3 minutes. We suggest you record on a voice memo app. Please identify yourself, where you live and tell your story.
Here’s an example: “I’m Stanley Johnston from San Francisco, California and my story is…”
Artists will receive a small, medium or large transparent 5-sided box. Please feel free to create your artwork up to 20” x 20” x 22”.
Please contact elaine@saffroncommunities.com for more information on timing and delivery.
If you’d like to take part in The Origin Stories Project, click the button below!
“Looking into the box of photographs”
STORYTELLER & ARTIST: John g Martin
CATEGORY: Experiences of Revelation
ORIGIN STORY
To have been given parents that loved and supported me in every facet of my life is a revelation not many can share or express.
At a very young age they observed me as a highly creative individual of which they necessarily did not understand -- but accepted me as being “unique”.
They offered me every opportunity to artistically express my vision -- never saying a discouraging word.
My Origin Story Box expresses my early 40+ years of creative expression through a collection of numerous photographs of my professional life as Interior Designer / Artist / Out-of-the-Box Thinker.
We forget where we came from...
We forget those who were the ones who accepted and encouraged us...
We forget to remember...
The process to create this box offered me a very personal time to revisit my photo memories -- the revelation of my talent -- the revelation of being accepted as “unique”.