SMAD grad makes ‘burg documentary

Nicole Martorana tackles city growth in senior honors thesis

By Laura Becker, contributing writer
Posted on September 24, 2007

JMU graduate Nicole Martorana (’07) has lived in Harrisonburg since she was two years old. She loves the “Friendly City,” especially downtown. Yet it wasn’t until she came back from a semester-long study abroad trip that she realized how fast Harrisonburg is growing. She was shocked to see the number of new developments and the constant construction, and decided to create a documentary dedicated to the growth of the city.

Last Thursday, over 150 people filled the seats of Court Square Theater to watch Martorana’s documentary, “Changing Landscapes: Growth and Development in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County” and discuss the topics addressed in the film. The thirty-minute documentary was a collection of interviews Martorana had conducted with members of the community.

Martorana’s film was part of her honors thesis, which included a 30-page written paper, as well as her documentary. As a SMAD major concentrating in digital video with a writing and rhetoric minor, she wanted to incorporate both fields of study into her thesis. After a year of research and two months of filming and editing, she was excited to share her work with the community.

“I was very adamant about blending both of my programs,” Martorana said. “I felt that they were both important to the project and to my educational experience.”

Martorana was pleased by the amount of community interest that resulted from her documentary.

“I printed out 100 programs and they were gone—quickly,” she said. “It was exactly what I was hoping for. I was flattered that there were so many people there to support me and to support the issue [of growth], more importantly.”

Martorana introduced her film by expressing to the audience her desire to give the community a voice and to help people learn about other people’s opinions.

The film spoke to everyone in the audience, from JMU students and alumni to farmers and families who feel a deep sense of connection to the city.

In one of Martorana’s interviews, President Linwood Rose said, “I have often joked that in my 32 years at JMU I never remember a year without a crane.”

After the film, a panel was held, consisting of Bob Sullivan, a long-time resident of Harrisonburg and the city’s unofficial historian, JMU alumnus John White, Eddie Bumbaugh, who works with the Downtown Renaissance and Richard Baugh, the city’s planning commissioner.

During the question-and-answer discussion after the documentary, many audience members expressed their feeling that Harrisonburg’s growth needs to slow down. The discussion got heated when one member demanded that the panel tell him one thing he could do to keep the city from becoming overgrown.

The main argument was whether or not city officials should shut the door on population growth.

“One thing I’ve learned throughout this project [is] there are a lot of advantages to growth and to what’s brought into the area,” Martorana said. “We have so much diversity in the population and that’s a huge part of our character. To say ‘no growth’ is unrealistic, but the important thing is to figure out how the area can grow while retaining its nature. We need to grow in smart ways.”

Martorana’s thesis advisor, Dr. Traci Pipkins, thought the Court Square event was a success.

“This is something that matters,” Pipkins said. “She had a lot of obstacles, [but] she wanted it to happen.”

Martorana plans on talking to WVPT about showing her documentary on PBS, and is also working on getting it shown at Grafton-Stovall Theatre. She is currently searching for a job, but would love the opportunity to create more documentaries on the area.

“[I] learned a lot about Harrisonburg history and how much people love the area,” Martonara said.