“IMatter” Rolls Into City Hall

The faces look out into the center of the space, begging the viewer to come closer. Some pairs of eyes sparkle and tilt upward; others stare penetratingly, as if they are desperate to get a message out before they blink. Ten mouths, chins, sets of shoulders come into focus. They speak without moving, with large statements printed in bold beneath all of them.

Tuesday afternoon, the latest chapter of the IMatter Project came to New Haven's City Hall as 10 of the project’s signature banners were installed and fêted in the building's first-floor atrium. It follows installations in the Ninth Square, downtown New Haven, Goffe Street Armory, Dixwell Avenue firehouse and defunct C-Town building. 

The project, which has received support from the city’s Youth Services Department, is the brainchild of Guilford-based photographer Rob Goldman, who also has IMatter outposts in Long Island and New Jersey (read more about those here). Since September of last year, he has been working with the mayor's office to install those banners around the city, each picturing a New Haven youth with a big, declarative statement in bold below.

“The idea that they can be celebrated for who they are, that idea is a miracle,” said Goldman at the reception. “And for me to be part of that is as big a miracle. So I just, I thank you for your courage, for putting yourself out there, for being models and being able to say ‘I matter.’”

Each comes from an hour-long session that he spends with each young person, during which he takes several photographs and works with the person to craft a statement that sits beneath their image. Statements, which he said are “like advertising, but not selling anything” have so far included “I Give A Voice To The Silent,” “I Speak Up For What I Know Is Right,” “Your Validation Does Not Define Me” among others.

“I am so proud of the work we are doing here in City Hall to lift up the voices of our young people,” said Mayor Toni Harp at the reception. “So often, our young people don’t believe that they have a voice, don’t believe that they matter. And yet those of us who are older know that their belief in themselves, what they want to do with their lives, is what will create the future for our town and for our community.”

Around the atrium Tuesday, some of the subjects stood beside their banners, pulled family and friends over for a peek, or caught up with Goldman months after doing a photo session with him. Isaiah Bussey, whose photograph hangs on the Dixwell Avenue firehouse, said that he feels incredibly proud to have his face looking out over the neighborhood, just blocks from where he lives. His mom, Nina Silva, said that it has adds to his reputation as “Mr. Dixwell.”

“It’s so inspiring for us and for them,” Silva said. “It’s a real self-esteem builder.”

Standing by a sepia-toned banner with the message "I Can Shape The Future With My Voice," Common Ground High School Senior Yaniel Alejandro Ramos (pictured above) fielded questions on the project. After hearing about the project on social media, he said he reached out to Goldman to see if he could snag a spot in the photo lineup. He recalled heading into the studio on the day of the appointment and being greeted with fanfare just for being himself.

“I was super glad and super grateful to work with people like Rob and like Bo [Sandine], who have been a path of support since the start, and have really helped me to get to where I’m at right now,” he said. “Especially with this project, I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish something like this and make change in my own little way.”

After taking the photo in November, he hadn’t seen a copy until it showed up at City Hall. After this year, he said he hopes to pursue nursing at Southern Connecticut State University or a college in Florida.

“It’s super new—the feeling, I can’t describe it,” he added. “In my eyes, it’s huge.”

Makayla Dawkins added that she sees the project as a chance to give New Haven students a platform and a voice outside of their schools. A recent graduate of James Hillhouse High School, Dawkins has spent the past years serving as a student representative on the city’s Board of Education, while also advocating for better education in Hartford. In the fall, she is attending the University of Connecticut at Storrs with plans to study social work.

She first heard about IMatter from Jeroy Smith, then a dream director with The Future Project at her school. Smith encouraged her to get involved in September of last year; her photo was taken by October. She recalled feeling immediately comfortable with Goldman and Project Assistant Bo Sandine, who worked with her to generate the sentence “There Isn’t Anything I Can’t Overcome.” In April, the banner went up on Dixwell.

“It makes me feel pretty good,” she said. “It makes me feel important to the community, that I’m valued. I passed by the firehouse every day when I used to to the high school, and it really made me feel like I mattered to the community. Newhallville is the community I grew up in—so I really felt like I was a part of it, as a person with so many different backgrounds.”

Her excitement echoed across the atrium all afternoon, as the space filled with the smell of pizza and sound of laughter. As Harp and Goldman ceded the mic to two spoken word poets, attendees milled around the space to look at the banners, which picture a mix of high school students and recent graduates. Alder Kim Edwards, whose late son Benjamin Brown is pictured at the far side of the atrium, said that she was moved by IMatter as both a mom and a lifelong New Havener.

“I love the project, period,” she said while waiting to pose for a photo. “I thought it was a special project not only because Ben was on it, but because of all the youth. Like, they get to see it and think, ‘that’s me up there.’ They are the youth within our city. And that’s very powerful.”

As a parent in the throes of loss, she added that the banner of her son continues to give her strength even after his death. Two years ago, Brown was diagnosed with a brain tumor after what he and the family thought were sinus headaches. Edwards recalled the steps of her son’s illness, from surgery and radiation treatment to his death in late March of this year. She said she still drives by the Goffe Street Armory sometimes “just to see my baby,” and look into those eyes as they watch over the neighborhood.

“I blow my horn and I say hi,” she said. “He’s still here.”

“Ben is like, the strongest kid I know,” said his aunt Dana Edwards, slipping between past and present tense as she spoke. “It’s been a long two years. Watching him transition to what he had to go through … it was really, really hard.”

With the banner, she added, “it’s like Ben is living. I have days where I miss him and I drive by.”

In addition to current locations across the city, Goldman is working with the anti-blight Liveable City Initiative (LCI) to prepare three glowing, nine-foot IMatter pillars that will stand at the intersections of Dixwell Avenue, Shelton Avenue, and Munson Avenue in September. June also marks the opening of Goldman’s New Haven studio at 123 Court St. and the official launch of “IMatter Voices,” an ongoing audio collaboration with New Haven station 94.3 WYBC.

To use IMatter Voices, viewers can listen to stories on the project’s website or on their phone, by scanning a QR code that opens the story. Recorded stories also play daily on the station, where station breaks or advertisements might otherwise go.

“What’s really fantastic is not only getting to know these young people, but getting to hear their words, their stories,” said WYBC host Juan Castillo, who has been speaking on-air to some of the students and recent graduates who have been photographed. “It’s how they see our world and how they see our future. They inspire us.”