#bornhereproject

BORN: NETHERLANDS TO SWITZERLAND

I was born in a really small town called Limmen in the Netherlands. Everyone knows everybody. It’s adorable. Then, when I was 10, my mom got a job in Switzerland so I lived in Switzerland from age10 to18. Even though I was officially born in Holland, Switzerland is what shaped me. And I was at an international school so in many ways I feel like I’ve been influenced from all different kinds of people from all over the world. I’d like to think that it has made me open minded and they all helped me to broaden my horizon. I’m so super grateful that this is my story because I can’t imagine living any other life!

BORN: PHILADELPHIA

I was born in Philadelphia. I’ve always been a Philadelphian.

    Philadelphia, in many ways, has its own special attraction. It’s unique in that, because of its proximity, it’s always compared to New York City. It’s a more blue-collar town, more rough and tumble; in some ways admired and, on the other hand, intimidated by New York.

    Even though I’ve lived in New York for 35 years, I feel like a transplant and that’s what makes my ties to Philadelphia so great. Philadelphia is where I belong. It’s where my heart is, it’s where my family is. I still root for my home teams, whether it’s the professional sports teams or the local college teams.

   Philadelphia is in me, will always be in me as the place I was born, the place that is home.

BORN: SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

I was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. At that time it was Leningrad, but I say Saint Petersburg.

    I think of myself as an island being because Saint Petersburg is all islands. I’ve always lived on islands. Now I live in New York City, all islands. I cross the East River every day. I lived in New Zealand for a year, and that’s about as island as you get. When I was living in Paris I crossed the Seine every day. And now my parents and I co-bought a home in Florida on Bay Harbor Islands. So it seems that one way or another, my destiny always brings me to islands, to water.

    I love water, I love swimming. It causes a rebirth in me, both spiritually and physically, every time I enter the water.

   I always like being a bit on my own, not quite a part of, not part of a continent, a bit apart. I like being with myself. In a subconscious way, being born in Saint Petersburg, being an islander, has formed the independent woman I am.

BORN: HAWAIʻI

I’m always proud of where I’m from and how far my ancestors came to produce me. It’s a long line. I’m proud of how many ethnicities I’m made up of—Kanaka Maoli, Native Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, English, Irish, Scottish and Dutch.

    I identify as a native Hawaiian artist. I have a lot of respect for what my ancestors went through. As I get older, I keep thinking about how they did things, how they got along before we were colonized. They really didn’t have a word for trash. They used everything. Everything had a purpose. Everyone had a relationship with the land; the land had a relationship with the people. There was a huge symbiotic respect and relationship.

    I think about that a lot now that I’m in New York. The most extreme opposite of Hawaii. It affects me a lot.

   I make sculpture out of trash. My studio space is in Union Square, so there is a devastating amount of trash. When I look out my window on garbage day, I see the entire landscape changes with garbage bags lined up. I think: What would my ancestors do? I have to think of a way to use it. I use trash for a finer purpose, to create art, to make people think.

JUST PUBLISHED: BORN HERE PROJECT ARTIST'S BOOKZINE

BORN: WASHINGTON DC

I used to come to the Lincoln Monument when I was a kid. I don’t think I particularly cared for Abe Lincoln at the time, although I do now. But I used to sit on the monument’s steps here, staring off down the Mall toward the Capitol, and there was something in the place that embodied Lincoln’s story and the early days of the city and the early days of the country.

   Thinking about all that made me feel I was in the middle of something that might one day matter. And that everything that ever happened to me might one day matter because I was a character in that very big story. I suppose that’s what happens when you grow up in Washington. You feel like an insider in the national story in a bizarre sort of way—even the gossip of Washington is the gossip of America and that’s what I grew up with at home. People talked about domestic and foreign policy as if they were things that mattered in our lives, which is pretty bizarre, thinking about it these days. At any rate, it’s a place I remember as being important to me and it certainly helped define me and shaped the things I would pursue later in life—writing, journalism, storytelling. I am very much a product of my hometown.

BORN: SAINT CLAIR, MICHIGAN

I was born in Saint Clair. It’s a super small town—very rural, conservative and not very diverse. So, I think it pushed me in the other direction. I’m thankful for that really quiet upbringing because now I kind of crave the chaos and diversity in life!.

BORN: FEMALE TO MALE TRANSGENDER

I was born in Frederick, OK, but I was mostly raised in Wisconsin. Christmas 2010 I came out as female to male transgender and that’s when I’d really say I was born, when I was able to live my life as me. Yeah, I came out as James and then moved kind of nomadically. I moved from Wisconsin to live with some family in Texas. And then I moved to Seattle. In Seattle I became a part of the trans community and really became a self-advocate for who I am.

   I kind of look back, hindsight 20/20 kind of thing, I was always into the more masculine things. Growing up I had cars , and I got in trouble running around shirtless. I was told, “you should put a shirt on, girls wear shirts.” You know, stuff like that.

   And then I came out as possibly being queer. I was talking to a friend on the phone and my guardian, who was raising me at the time, overheard the conversation and she said that I needed to be out of the house before I publicly came out of the closet or, as she said, “whatever you people do.” So I was like, OK. I started packing my stuff that day.

   It’ll be five years this Christmas. And I’m happy.