Today we’d like to introduce you to Teresa Gunn.
Hi Teresa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
“Ms. Gunn is a tough woman who cuts through niceties and demands real contact.”
Washington Post.”
When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a singer in a rock n roll band. In 1978, I attended a Patti Smith concert which changed my life. Patti made her own rules, which gave me permission to do the same. I started my own band, the Teresa Gunn Group. I had never written a song, did not read music, nor play an instrument. I began performing in punk clubs in Washington, DC, and Baltimore. By the end of the decade, I had recorded three original albums, toured extensively, and gotten some recognition through press, radio, and television. I won some awards, got a little respect as a singer-songwriter and performance artist. I also picked up a pretty good drug and alcohol habit. Then I quit performing, moved back to my hometown of San Diego, and began a very long journey to recovery.
I began to examine my need to be an artist. I grew up in a strict military family from generational poverty and moved a lot. The schools I attended did not have art classes, so I found no joy in education. I began to realize that at the core of my work as an artist was the need to fit in, to feel close to people, and have them feel close to me. I wrote a raw, autobiographical one-woman show called Trailer Park Queen. The project flowed easily from childhood memories, which are personal and often shameful. A painful childhood became my greatest creative asset.
The training is informal. The style-thematic storytelling, spoken word, songs, stream of consciousness, and crude humor: The music has been described as “garbage can desert music.’ The project has evolved into seven episodic shows and a music CD. It is performed in clubs, theaters, and on college campuses. The work continues to be shown and purchased across the US and internationally. In 1998, I founded Musicians for Education and its signature program, Street of Dreams, a nonprofit arts education and college bridge program that provides educational, creative, and emotional support for teenage mothers. The project uses the creative process as a healing mechanism.
Trailer Park Queen evolved from childhood wounds. I believe creative blocks contribute to the disease of addiction. I have taken my life story, my core being as an artist, and molded it into a bigger purpose-art that can be used to achieve social change, the prevention of generational poverty, alcoholism, drug addiction, and mass incarceration.
“Trailer Park Queen” is a performance accompanied by an optional college workshop designed for high school and college students, artists, educators, and professionals in criminal and social justice fields. The performance/workshop demonstrates the power of a 12-step model when used within a performance art curriculum. Trailer Park Queen, Musicians for Education, and Street of Dreams collaborate with the Alcohol and Other Drug Studies (A.O.D.S.) department at San Diego City College and Lindsay Community High School for Teen Mommies.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Street of Dreams needs help!
We need one college professor and 20 college students who are passionate about social justice reform to participate in the Teach the Teacher Project.
After 28 years of success, Street of Dreams is launching the Teach the Teacher Project to help college student groups adopt its arts and culture teaching method. This project includes workshops on autobiographical storytelling, spoken word, songwriting, and stream-of-consciousness writing, supported by a How-to Guide and performances by teaching artist Teresa Gunn, professors, and students. The aim is to empower teen mothers and foster positive role models through an informal yet impactful approach. Street of Dreams is designed to be easily replicated by artists and non-artists alike.
For info on how to be involved in this project, contact Teresa Gunn at mackngunn@aol.com and 618-384-1165.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
THE ROLE OF LUCK
Musicians for Education began nearly 30 years ago as a passion project with an established artistic team, including producer Josquin des Pres, photographer and filmmaker Jeff Wiant, musicians Joey Harris and Michael Draper, singer Betty Anderson, and graphic designer Lisa Wiant. All collaborated without funding. The initiative expanded through partnerships with educator Dawn Miller at Lindsay School for teen mothers and college professor Wendy Wiehl, San Diego City College, Alcohol and Other Drug Studies, integrating creative writing and performance workshops to support young people affected by generational addiction. The students are the inspiration and force behind the program’s mighty impact and hope for the future. If I had to summarize the role of luck, I would say I am fortunate to be an idealist, optimist, dreamer, and artist, and I have many friends who travel the same path. I guess you could call that luck.
What makes you happy?
Happiness is a learned art for me. I am not a naturally happy person. I have a morning routine that includes meditation and exercise. Still, it takes some effort to get my mind going in the right direction. There is something about teaching, performing, songwriting, story, and public speaking that ignites the happiness spark in me, especially teaching, when I see my students come alive and begin to understand that their own life experience is their greatest gift, that they are artists of their own lives, I feel happy. When I connect with an audience, that makes me feel happy. Happiness is work for me.
Pricing:
- Donations accepted
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.streetofdreams.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/streetofdreamsmusic/
- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/StreetOfDreamsSD
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StreetOfDreamsSD
