California Story Fund
Our Stories
Glendale Human Relations Coalition
Glendale
Project Director: Alina Mnatsakanian
In May 2000, Raul Aguirre, a 17-year-old student at Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, was killed in a fight near campus. Three Armenian youths were charged in his murder. The school had been grappling with tensions between Latino and Armenian-American students for several years, but according to the police, this was the first time a student had been killed. "We've had a reluctance to recognize that this is an issue," Glendale Sgt. Rick Young said.
This combination installation art and story project involved Glendale community youth, beginning initially with 20 to 30 students from Herbert Hoover High School, in a series workshops. The students shared their experiences about immigration, identity and growing up in Glendale, and then wrote the stories down and digitally recorded them.
The students then helped create nine to 12 small-scale houses with sound systems for transmitting the formed the basis of an exhibit. Herbert Hoover High School students, their families and members of the community attended the exhibit and participated in discussions of the installation.