FILE / LIFE
Each person at Pennhurst had a File. Each person at Pennhurst had a Life.
Over nearly eight decades, more than 10,000 people lived at the Pennhurst State School and Hospital.
Their lives contain its history.
Who are they?
What do their stories have to say to us today?
María participated as a media artist, and co-created seven short films in this community-based storytelling project, which received a 2020 Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Grant. Led by Lisa Sonneborn of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, seven archivists (all people with disabilities and/or family members) share stories from the archives that made them listen, feel, imagine, and remember. In doing so, they ask the question: Can a file ever contain a life?
January - April, 2024: Helix Gallery at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
July 2023: File/Life was on view at the Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
April 2023: File/Life premiered at Arch Street Meeting House, Philadelphia, PA.
2024 Kimmel Family Accessible Experience Award
2024 Large Institution Award: Honorable Mention, National Council on Public History
2024 Honorable Mention, Disability Public History Association
