Passing Words: Joseph Sciorra

"You look different in person," the soul said. "It's nice to see how accurate or way off the art is/was." Peter laughed, a little self-conscious. "People bring stuff down to earth in weird ways," the soul continued (looking around and marveling). "My favorite you was a really worn cement dude in someone's yard in Queens; full half-bathtub alcove with a pot of yellow mums, a chipped canning jar candle, and a box of Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge brownie mix. So much care went into something so weird." "Just the mix? I mean ... a box of dry mix?" Peter asked, completing check-in and shaking the soul's hand to welcome it. "When you're praying for miracles, you leave some room for them to happen," the soul explained, grinning. The soul walked in, chatty and amazed, pointing; Peter thought about that brownie mix for a long time, moved and befuddled.

In memory of Joseph Sciorra, who built his career as an ethnographer capturing faith and art in action. Sciorra considered yard altars, street memorials (including grief graffiti), and random shrines to be historically relevant and significant to their communities, capturing and cataloguing their existence on film and in books. His field recordings and papers now form the Joseph Sciorra Collection at the Library of Congress's American Folklife Center. Sciorra served as the Director for Academic and Cultural Programs at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute until his death this month at the age of 71.