An exhibit on youth drug use in Hartford will be displayed at the Hartford Animation Institute (HAI), located at the CRT Youth and Art Center, 1443 Main Street in Hartford, from June 9, through June 22, 2006. An opening reception will take place on Friday, June 16, 2006, from 5-8 pm. Community organizations, youth organizations, educators, health professionals, community activists, students, and others from all over Greater Hartford are invited to attend this event, which is free and open to the public. A collaboration between HAI and The Institute for Community Research (ICR), “Rollin’ and Dustin’: Pathways to Urban Life Styles” uses comic book characters to present research findings on over a dozen large panels. Focusing mainly on MDMA (Ecstasy) and Dust (PCP), the panels feature participant quotes, survey data, and research analysis from two ICR studies over the last 10 years. The traveling exhibit debuted at The Institute for Community Research in February 2006, and has since traveled to Vancouver where it was shown in the community sponsored by British Columbia People with AIDS, and at the Annual Conference of the Society For Applied Anthropology; at the Latino Expo at the Connecticut Convention Center in March; The Trinity College International Hip Hop Festival in Hartford in April; and at the annual conference sponsored by Community Partnerships for Health, a national organization, in Minneapolis in May.
After conducting nearly 10 years of research on youth drug use in Hartford, researchers at ICR joined with artists at HAI to present findings in a creative way that would interest the general public. “Animation is a very effective vehicle to communicate information to youth culture,” says HAI communications representative Geanetta Bennett. “Rollin’ and Dustin’” fuses research with art to strengthen the effectiveness of information dissemination, a central part of ICR’s mission. According to ICR Artistic Director Colleen Coleman, both institutes are excited about the partnership, and about opportunities to work together down the road. “We all have deep commitments to the City of Hartford and to young people,” she says. “This is the ideal collaboration to bring important information to the communities we serve.” Adds HAI Executive Director and nationally known animator Joe Young, “I’m excited for the partnership between ICR and HAI. It’s the beginning of a new relationship that will help ICR to get the very important research that they do to a population that might not otherwise have access to it.” At the reception on Friday, June 16, Young will present his new graphic novel, called Scruples: The Legend Begins. Copies will be available on display and for purchase. Young will sign his book and present details of the animation process he used to create the novel.
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The Hartford Animation Institute is a non-profit, education, training and employment program created specifically for the purpose of teaching the art and business of digital animation. The Institute for Community Research is an independent, nonprofit organization that conducts applied research and community enhancement programs to promote equal access to health, education, and cultural resources. “Rollin’ and Dustin’: Pathways to Urban Life Styles,” a dissemination project of ICR study Urban Life Styles: Club Drugs, Resource Inequities and Health Risks in Urban Youth, is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA #1 RO1 DA01 010).
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