Cambridge, MA, July 7, 2022 -- Meet the Cambridge voices behind the Jukebox community story sharing project at "Jukebox First 25: A Release Party Celebrating the First 25 Stories" at the Main Library (449 Broadway) on Tuesday July 12, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Jukebox is a participatory public art project created by socially-engaged multimedia artist Elisa H. Hamilton, from a commission from the Cambridge Arts Council. Jukebox is coming to the Cambridge Foundry when it opens this fall.

Jukebox is dedicated to creating a center point for gathering, listening, and sharing our stories. To celebrate the release of the first 25 stories, meet the story sharers and their families, all of whom have connections to Cambridge. These first 25 stories will be released on the Jukebox website. The Foundry is an adaptive reuse of an historic industrial building, transforming it into a self-sustaining center for creativity and collaboration. When it opens in Fall 2022, folks will be invited to play the stories on the jukebox itself.

Old jukeboxes were coin-operated music-players that existed in ordinary spaces such as diners and laundromats. They made music accessible to ordinary people from all walks of life and invited folks to gather around to listen and enjoy something special together. This project reimagines the idea of a jukebox as a machine that plays stories rather than music. Ultimately, there will be 100 recorded stories on the jukebox—an audio archive of authentic community voices housed in a unique, artistically restored, vintage jukebox, created to celebrate the equally unique, rich perspectives, backgrounds, and stories of folks in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After the project is completed, Hamilton will donate the audio archive of the 100 stories of Cambridge community members to the Library’s Archives and Special Collections to be preserved and made available to the public in perpetuity. Please visit our website to Learn more about the program and to sign up to participate.

Listen to the first three stories now at www.FoundryJukebox.org

About the Cambridge Public Library:
At the Cambridge Public Library, we welcome all, inspire minds and empower community. We support a Cambridge where everyone has equitable opportunities to learn, people live their best lives, and democracy thrives. Visit our website to learn more.