Artist Lindsey Peck Scherloum with United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh

Lindsey Peck Scherloum worked with United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh (USB) as part of Shiftworks’ Artist Residencies in the Public Realm with Immigrant and Refugee Communities from 2017-2019. USB’s goals were to develop avenues of expressing their culture and connecting with their neighbors in a way not solely dependent upon their ability to speak English. USB sought to build bridges and foster greater understanding of their experiences as refugees, the hardships they faced, and their common dreams and hopes.

After a year of engaging with the Somali Bantu community, Scherloum expanded the reach of the project to engage residents of Northview Heights, the public housing complex where many members of the Somali Bantu community lived alongside long-time African American residents and Central African refugees. Scherloum hosted workshops with members of these combined communities that were designed to develop their interviewing, documentation, and recording skills. These workshop participants, consisting of Northview Heights residents, were then paid for their time as they collected stories from friends and neighbors. Often, the participants documented both cultural traditions and contemporary expressions alike. These practices helped to foster communication and build connections between neighbors and residents.

Scherloum collected the stories, photographs, and videos gathered by her workshop participants and presented them as a multimedia project and website titled The Color of Strength: a story of migration in Pittsburgh. This collaborative creative endeavor between Scherloum and the residents of Northview Heights explored multiple stories of migration that were at once unique and connected. This project provided an avenue for collaboration and dialogue between multiple communities residing at Northview Heights, including Somali Bantu refugees, Central African refugees, and generational African American residents.

Learn more about Lindsey Peck Scherloum on her website.

Watch videos of residents telling their family stories of migration on the Color of Strength website.

Lindsey Peck Scherloum is a North Braddock based artist who works in sculpture, photography, and performance to provoke and document narratives about the material and spatial work as a means to connect her audience across identity. She works with incarcerated writers in the Words Without Walls program, and has collaborated with youth in places such as Braddock, PA and Mfangano, Kenya to tell stories in installation and audio programs. She holds a BA in art and anthropology from New York University, and an MFA in creative writing from Chatham University.

United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh (USB) is a new nonprofit organization that serves Pittsburgh’s growing Somali Bantu community. Their vision is to see a unified, deeply connected, self-sufficient Somali Bantu community in the Pittsburgh region that is fully adapted and integrated into American society, while maintaining its unique cultural heritage and identity.

Housing Authority, City of Pittsburgh; Patricia Documet from University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health; Reggie Smith from Pittsburgh Police Substation at Northview Heights; Urban League Family Support Center; Kate Hansen; and Andy Esper.

Image credits

Gallery, top:
(1,2) Artist working with interpreter, photo courtesy Heather Mull; (3) Artist working with interview subject, photo courtesy Heather Mull; (4) Community members weave palm fronds, photo courtesy artist; (5,6) Field trip with community members, photo by Shiftworks; (7,8) Artist and community members at studio visit with artist Tereneh Idia, photo by Shiftworks; (9) Artist and community members at weekly sewing group, photo courtesy Rachel Merideth; (10) Artist conducting interviews, photo courtesy Rachel Merideth.

Artist Headshot:
Artist Lindsey Peck Scherloum, photo courtesy artist