BY KENDRA HENSON

City Water Tunnel Number Three is the largest engi-
neering project in the Western hemisphere. A work that’s
been in progress since 1970, the tunnel will be an adjunct
to the first two water tunnels already in existence in New
York City.

Despite the almost unimaginable size of this construc-
tion project, it’s probably gone unnoticed and unknown by
the ordinary, run—of-the-mill civilian.

That’s where Marty Pottenger comes in.

The 48-year-old “jack-of-all-trades” actor, storyteller,
tradeswoman, artist, and lesbian will be in Vermont_in
April, partially to give the keynote address at the Northern
New England Tradeswomen Conference. But she also
plans to reveal all — including tidbits about the connections
about storytellers, sandhogs, and water — in her one-
woman show “Making City Water Tunnel #3.”

Pottenger’s focus in this performance art piece is less on
the tunnel itself than on civil engineering in its most liter-
al sense. Having interviewed many people working on dif-
ferent aspects of the project, she‘ uses the photos, sweat,
and tears — but mostly the stories — of the men and women
working on the tunnel to construct a true sense of signifi-
cance, connection, and community.

The artist comes by her interest in the trades honestly;
she grew up in a community of tradesmen and spent her
time observing the nature of those who surrounded her.
“There was something different about these men that I
liked and connected with,” she said. “They carried them-
selves differently with a sense of pride and accomplish-
ment. They didn’t seem as worried as the middle class
men.”

Some of her fondest memories are of times spent with
her dad, building things together. “Construction work
brings out the best in people,” she said. “People light up in
a particular way when they talk about working with their
hands and using their sweat.” ,

That’s not to say Pottenger was always encouraged to
break traditional gender roles. Kindergarten wasn’t exact-
ly a cakewalk. “I remember playing with the trucks and
cars in school and some of my classmates started laughing
at me because they thought girls shouldn’t play with
trucks,” she recalls. “My feelings were hurt so bad that I
could only think to hit them with the truck!”

Still, after waitressing for several years as a teenager,
Pottenger decided to go into the trades herself, and worked
in the Masons Union in Florida in 1972. She was one of the
first women to go into a union. But just settling for the job
didn’t occur to her.

“I actually ended up leaving that position because of dis-
putes over wages,” she said. “I wasn’t being paid enough,
so I quit and went back to waitressing.”

When she turned 35, Pottenger decided to do a “spot
check” on her life to see whethershe was exploring all the
directions she wanted. She became involved in political
organizing, and talked herself into conquering a fear of per-
fonning.

“I was scared to perform, but I knew I loved it. I began
focusing on issues that were of importance to me such as
racism, gender, equal rights.”

That’s when Pottenger got to act on another childhood
realization: the power of stories and performance to open
people up. I

“I remember one time putting a wastepaper basket.on
my head and dancing one day when my mom was feeling
low, and how that made her laugh,” she said. “It changed
her whole mood. All I had to do was be a silly kid, and it

March 2000 I Out in the Mountains I27

TRAI )l\ G
STORIES

would have this amazingly positive effect on people.”
“Stories are as unique as we are,” said Pottenger. “They
have a power to communicate and connect across differ-
ences. Stories also have a healing power as the telling of
stories and listening to stories are very deeply human.”

Pottenger performs “Making City Water Tunnel #3” at
the Flynn Theatre on Saturday, April 8, at 8pm.

She speaks at the Northern New England Tradeswomen
Conference in Montpelier, April 7'9. (Conference info:
(800) 639-1472 or (802) 476-4040.) She will be appearing
on VPR’s Switchboard on Tuesday, April 4, along with rep-
resentatives from tradeswomen organizations. V