Performing this Friday, July 3: We're introducing our Arts Advisory Council with a series of virtual summits! The Arts Advisory Council at Experimental Station is a newly formed voluntary group of Chicago artists and creatives with a commitment to sharing their art forms and practices. Each volunteer has proudly hosted or curated an exhibit, event, or performance at Experimental Station. Each recognizes this collaboration as having served as a key component in bringing their ideas and programs to fruition, from concept to reality.
Current volunteer members include:
Anayansi Ricketts, Photographer/Poet
Angel Bat Dawid Composer, Improviser, Clarinetist, Pianist and Vocalist
Elysia Banks, Dancer/Artistic Director of Banks Performance Projects
Jared Brown, Interdisciplinary artist, and DJ
Jovan Landry, 1/3 Filmmaker | 1/3 Photographer | 1/3 Emcee
Julian Otis, Tenor vocalist, and performance artist
Michelle E.L. Merritt, Arts administrator, advocate and creative
Wisdom Baty, Artist, mother, curator
Click Here to Join Us on Zoom on Friday, July 3, 2020, at 4 PM Central Time (US/Canada)
Password: 951655
Meeting ID: 964 0005 6651
Order of Appearance for this Friday's Summit:
Julian T. Otis: "Wisdom Abounds" / Medium: Storytelling & Sonic Fusion (Audio) / Lilla Dell (Wilson) Howard was born in 1935 in Jamestown, New York. She is my Great Aunt and the wisest woman in my family. While doing genealogical research we talked about key moments in my family history that connect the dots and fill in the gaps on certain traditions and long-held truths about relationships amongst our clan. Wisdom abounds. My family story is embodied in her oral telling and I hear her wisdom as a myth. What elements transcend time, what elements evoke sonic responses and re-imaginations.
Jovan Landry: Multidisciplinary Who? / Medium: Roundtable Discussion (Audio) / Exploring what it means to be interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary as an artist. Throughout my career, I've been pressured to "choose" one over the other or to focus and master one discipline before moving onto another. I will hold this discussion with 7 other POC multi-interdisciplinary artists around the country with disciplines in music, dance, martial arts, teaching, photography, writing, astrology, and more; as we talk about how they blend their practices, their struggles, how they've been supported, how they navigated art spaces.
Anayansi Ricketts: "Realities" / Medium: Storytelling (Live Streamed) / My song in this strange land comes from stories I have written. Whether they be poetic musings or children's tales, I am drawn to the possibilities of structuring the absurd, making up words, and romping through the cosmos. In stories there is freedom. I like stories. They are human creations that impart knowledge, culture, and self- actualization. Stories make space for; imaginings, truths, tall tales, exploration, innovation, and conversation. A gathering of facts often fictionalized to capture the listener's spirit. Places have their tales, people have their favorite lines and passages. Formats vary and subject matter can leave one questioning. Stories broadening “realities” and the ebb and flow of what might be. Let's begin with the beginning and a record of humanity.
The Arts Advisory Council celebrates the importance of Experimental Station as a place to exchange knowledge and know-how. Whether attending, producing, launching, or curating an arts event or program, Experimental Station provides space and place to share independent artistic and creative expressions. We are excited to serve as arts advocates and cultural stewards of this instrumental resource on Chicago’s South Side.
The Arts Advisory Council will primarily function to promote and produce quality arts programming at Experimental Station. The Council will engage Woodlawn residents and the community of Black artists and creatives throughout Chicago in producing quality exhibits, performances, and arts programming.
The ultimate goal of the Arts Advisory Council is to continue to cultivate and sustain space for artists and community members to access and share in creative and artistic experiences at Experimental Station.
Learn more about each artist within the council at experimentalstation.org.