​Small Town, Big Stories (August 2021 – May 2022)
Created by the Center for Emerging Media Design and Development (EMDD) at Ball State University 
Result of a yearlong Master’s project designed as a tool to continually create and collect stories from our Maui community
Inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau: #1166: I hoʻokāhi ka umauma, hoʻokāhi ke aloha (All abreast together, one in love. All united in harmony and love) 

How it Works: Find a Small Town, Big Stories card in Wailuku Town (available while supplies last) and follow the breadcrumbs!
  • The Small Town Big Stories experience begins with a postcard depicting a ST*BA mural chosen by the EMDD cohort. 7,000 cards were distributed throughout Wailuku Town on Friday, April 29, 2022 for community consumption.
  • Each of seven card designs feature a value identified by EMDD, inspired by the artwork and associated artist statement: legacy, belonging, diversity, tradition, protection, hope, and kuleana.
  • The cards offer different story cues and QR codes that lead to additional, digital-prompted storytelling experiences. Participants may respond to these storytelling prompts in any of three ways: submitting a voice recorded story, writing a response, or sharing a photo/ video where the experience leads them. 
  • Story prompts are divided into three distinct categories: talk, go, and create. Talk experiences present the user with a series of questions to ask a loved one. Go experiences prompt the user to visit a local Wailuku landmark to hear a story related to that place. Create experiences lead to the cumulative collection of community-generated stories to help prompt additional submissions.​
  • That's it! ST*BA is currently undergoing training with the EMDD content management system team to determine the best way to present resulting submissions. Future ST*BA applicants may be able to select entries from this story bank to interpret as a work of visual, performing or experiential public art. 
​Because Wailuku community members were invited to participate in this project directly by the EMDD students, we asked the cohort to create this quick intro message to let folks know who they are, what they do and why they do it! Then, we shared it through our media outlets. Click below to enjoy. (Left: process photos reflecting the project's lo-fi, mid-fi and hi-fi prototyping throughout the cohort's course of study)
About: Over the course of the 2021-2022 school year, this graduate student consortium of transmedia storytellers and experience designers worked with ST*BA and dozens of Wailuku champions to create a public mechanism for a Maui oral histories collection and catalyst for creating connection through storytelling. Inspired by our StoryCorps DIY and Talk Story programming – which pairs intergenerational participants for audio-recorded conversations that capture an “authentic moment of connection” and provides the foundation for future works of public art – these students have invented a wildly unique and playful means of generating, capturing and perpetuating the stories that sustain us as a community.
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Students: ​Penelope Baggs, Ashleigh Goodrich, Erin Salyers, Frank E Sanabria II, Michaela Tangeman, Raquel Pratas, Lisa Kemp, and Lindsey Overstreet

Links:
  • Project documentary
  • Unedited interview with Frank E Sanabria II, grad student of The Center for Emerging Media Design and Development (EMDD) at Ball State University
  • "Small Town, Big Stories: By Ball State University's Center for Emerging Media Design and Development" (Blog Post)
  • ‘Small Town, Big Stories’ celebrates community figures (The Maui News)
  • ST*BA Unveils Small Town, Big Stories (Press Release)
  • Small Town, Big Stories promo on KAOI FM's Maui Non Profit Directors Association Radio Show 3/30/22 (Listen)
  • ST*BA presents Oscar-nominated Richard O’Connor and Ball State University at ʻĪao Theater (Maui Now)
  • ​Press Release: ST*BA Presents Artist Richard O'Connor and Ball State University at ʻĪao Theater
  • ST*BA Storytelling Project

PROJECT TRACKING:

  • May 23: Project documentary released: eNews
  • April 20, 2022: Podcast & Vodcast with select cohort representatives 
  • April 1, 2022: Soft release/ presentation of Small Town, Big Stories at ʻĪao Theater (4:00 PM | FREE)
  • Mar 25, 2022: Press Release: ST*BA Presents Artist Richard O'Connor and Ball State University at ʻĪao Theater
  • March 1, 2022: Hi-fidelity prototype presentation (virtual meeting with full cohort + ST*BA Team)
  • January 25, 2022: Meeting @ PONO Center
  • December 13, 2021: Mid-fidelity prototype presentation (virtual meeting with full cohort)
  • September 22, 2021: Empathy Research and Design Thinking meeting (Penelope, Ashleigh, Kelly)
  • August 27, 2021: Official partnership launch meeting
  • April 27, 2021: Project Partnership Working Agreement mtg: ST*BA/ Art Corps' Kelly McHugh-White + Ball State University, Center for Emerging Media Design and Development (EMDD) Faculty Advisor Kevin Moloney, Ph.D. + Transmedia Journalism Master's Thesis liaison Penelope Baggs
  • April 22, 2021: Initial talk story between EMDD + ST*BA/ Maui Public Art Corps (Art Corps)
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