Greater Lowell Community Foundation Grants Lift Up Cambodian Voices
by Kathy Register
LOWELL, Mass. – The Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) is promoting inter-generational communication and showcasing the shared experience of Lowell’s Cambodian community through the foundation’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Grants awarded to local nonprofits.
Two arts organizations — The Cambodian American Literary Arts Association (CALAA), and Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) – received grants in 2021 and 2022 to support literary and theater workshops, and community dialogues. All events were designed to lift Cambodian voices and showcase Khmer artists to the wider community.
“For the past three years, GLCF has focused on racial equity and inclusion in our grantmaking,” said GLCF President and CEO Jay Linnehan. “These grants collectively work toward creating a better quality of life for all residents, and support local nonprofits providing essential programs and services.”
Thanks to its 2021 GLCF grant, the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association was able to host a series of six workshops and one community dialogue. “CALAA was born from wanting to highlight Cambodian writers — both emerging and established writers,” explained Sanary Phen, a past CALAA president and local writer.
All six workshops were led by local artists and writers and covered such topics as “What Does Being Khmer Mean to You?” and “Peeling Back the Layers of Our Identity.”
The community dialogue, titled “Racism, Anti-Blackness and Colorism in the Khmer Community,” featured a panel of community leaders. All the gatherings were designed to engage participants in envisioning what an inclusive community might look like to them.
MRT’s 2022 GLCF grant supported a week-long workshop of the first full production of Cambodian American playwright/actor Kalean Ung’s “Letters From Home.” The autobiographical one-woman play, starring Ung, was staged last January and February at MRT.
“Our grant was connected to amplifying Khmer writers and voices, and centered around ‘Letters From Home,’ ” explained Courtney Sale, MRT’s Nancy L. Donahue Executive Artistic Director. “It allowed us to do thoughtful and robust community engagement around the show, so audiences had ways to better connect with the play.”
In addition to hosting an April 2022 gathering where the playwright spoke with community leaders, MRT brought the play’s creative team (Ung, director Marina McClure, lighting and set designers, etc.) to Lowell to plan the production. And after “Letters From Home” opened in early 2023, three Talk-Back Sessions were held following the shows. These gatherings allowed the multi-generational audiences to communicate directly with Ung (and each other) about what they had just seen on stage.
MRT also engaged with Lowell High School students in November 2022. Ung and Khmer teaching artist Princess Moon led a week-long workshop with students in LHS English teacher Kendra Bauer’s “Race in Literature” class.
“Because the play is an autobiographical piece, first Kalean and Princess shared content about the play,” explained Sale. “Then the students explored how they might write their own stories and wrote letters to themselves. Those letters were displayed in the theater lobby during the run of the play.”
According to Sale, all these interactions with the local community provided multiple “touch points” and deepened the experience for “Letters From Home” audiences.
“It’s our hope, for example, that when those students saw the play, they thought, ‘Hey, I saw who wrote this play in my class. And there’s my letter in the lobby,’ ” said Sale. “We want them to realize they can have ownership, and that it’s their theater too.”
CALAA also wanted to connect more deeply with the local community through its grant-supported gatherings, said Phen.
“In addition to supporting Cambodian writers, CALAA is building an archive of the Khmer experience,” she explained. “A lot of deep inter-generational discussions happened in our workshops and the community dialogue.”
Members of her parents’ generation endured the trauma of fleeing for their lives when the brutal Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in the mid-1970s, according to Phen. Many Cambodian refugees lost loved ones and lived for years in camps in Thailand. By the time they were able to come to the U.S. – many settling in Lowell — they had lost just about everything, she said.
“A lot of younger people told us they had never heard these harrowing stories of their parents escaping Cambodia and living in the camps,” Phen said. “I think it’s painful for our parents to bring up these old traumas. They don’t want to relive it, so they never talk about it with their children.
“But if we don’t document our parents’ stories, that piece of our history will be gone forever,” she said. “It’s really important that we are building a bridge that connects these generations.”
“The Foundation has made a multi-year commitment to addressing racial equity and inclusion in Greater Lowell,” said Jennifer Aradhya, GLCF’s Vice President of Marketing, Programs & Strategy. “By investing in creating a space where members of our community are heard, seen, considered and valued, everyone will ultimately benefit.”
For further information about the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, visit: www.glcfoundation.org
About Greater Lowell Community Foundation
Established in 1997, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) is a philanthropic organization comprised of more than 500 funds dedicated to improving the quality of life in 21 neighboring cities and towns. With financial assets of almost $60 million, GLCF annually awards grants and scholarships to hundreds of worthy nonprofits and students. It is powered by the winning combination of donor-directed giving, personal attention from Foundation staff, and an in-depth understanding of local needs. The generosity of our donors has enabled the Community Foundation to award more than $35 million to the Greater Lowell community.
###
Photo 1: Local writer Sanary Phen, a past president of the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association, led one of six recent CALAA workshops made possible by a grant from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation.
Photo 2: In addition to hosting an April 2022 gathering where the playwright spoke with community leaders, MRT also brought the play’s creative team (Kalean Ung, director with Marina McClure, lighting and set designer) to Lowell to plan the production “Letters From Home.”
