MacArthur Foundation’s Post

Check out this article featuring my work on Exception to the Rule with The Front Porch Arts Collective! https://lnkd.in/eMq7y72N

Re/GeNeraTioN An Afro-Futuristic exhibition invites us to reimagine time, birth, life, and death. The work is an intersection with black cultural, spiritual and political practices and experiences. The exhibit reconceptualizes reproduction by aligning black hair as a vehicle to transport knowledge, history, and life narratives. The Re/GeneraTioN evolution carries ancestors’ adversities, epiphanies, and jubilation across visible and invisible terrains. These pathways hold memory yet invite and demand forward progression. How do our bodies move through time, dimensions, and spaces? What propels our spirits and keeps us moving as we coexist with the horrific and dehumanizing abuses of systematic oppressions? How do we navigate movement with memory borne from vexed realities while pressing into the now and having control of our futures? Black hair is magical. On the surface it’s dead but deep within our bodies each strain holds a connection to stories, mysteries, codes, self-concept, discovery, and songs of survival. Black hair has found its way to rituals and rites of passages. If wooly coils could speak, what would they say? Simply put, black hair has its own center and centeredness.

Being with the right people, at the right place is the game changer! In a social experiment conducted by Washington Post.. Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell, dressed in casual clothes, stood near a wall at DC railway station for 45 mins. Few Passer-bys stopped there for few mins, few spared him a dollar and few gave few quarters. In total Joshua collect about $30+ in about 45 mins. Just days before this experiment, Joshua had performed at Boston’s Symphony Hall, where even the cheapest seats were over $100 and all seats were sold out. The Joshua Bell experiment shows that context and the right audience are crucial for recognition. It makes us rethink how we see value and talent in everyday life and highlights the importance of showcasing skills in the right setting. Whether in arts, business, profession, or personal life, being with the right people and place is key to getting recognition. Thoughts?

"In peacebuilding, the performing arts serve as embodied metaphors on multiple levels. Not only do they metaphorically speak into our inner lives creating spaces of imagination, but they also move us into experiencing and interacting with one another." Read more in this piece, "The Art of Peacebuilding in a Divided World" from Fuller Studio: https://buff.ly/4acUySy

🎭❤️💬 A bit more detail about my upcoming #MDEE24 session.

Meet the founders of Asian Persuasion vzw!

In this substack article, my premise is that The Arts Explore All Of Our Emotions. I invite you to read!

In a digital society where so many divisions and hierarchies persist, the responsibility to speak up is ours, too. My review of Prachyo's 'Daay Amadero', based on the post-WW2 film Judgment at Nuremberg, for The Telegraph, Calcutta. #theatre #stage #drama #literaturereview #equalityforall #diversityandinclusion #performanceart https://lnkd.in/gJaYb7Rq

"The true power of the arts is the ability to make the invisible visible. It's an immensely powerful thing." Award-winning actor and author Paterson Joseph mentioned this during yesterday's The City Club of Cleveland "Diversifying the Media Production Industry" panel discussion. Paradoxically, we're in an era where the greatest access to information and knowledge is being coupled with a movement attempting to sensor -- and in some cases outright erase -- history and said access. Yesterday's discussion was a powerful display of why the arts continue to be a direct line to culture and history and why they are more vital today than ever before. The importance of elevating and participating in the arts is not only a guaranteed way to experience diverse cultures and backgrounds, but also the quickest and purest way to leverage and celebrate our differences. For example, being in the crowd of an Indigenous performance by Kenneth Shirley (panelist - Indigenous Enterprise, LLC) will circumvent barriers that reading a book may offer and instead directly allow you to experience the culture. There's nothing (and no one) in between you and experiencing Indigenous culture. This was the lightbulb moment for me yesterday while listening to these panelists (Patterson, Kenneth, and Gabriela Muñoz). Yes, the threats against our diverse history and knowledge are real, but the arts afford everyone an avenue to have first-hand diverse experiences devoid of barriers. If you're in the crowd, nothing is coming between you and your cultural experience. BorderLight Theatre Festival's 2024 Festival is live in Cleveland now through July 27. Their mission: to present innovative theatre that inspires, builds cross-cultural understanding, and celebrates the diversity of the human experience. If you're in the Cleveland area, now is the time to participate and celebrate our differences and the human experience. Check out their website for a complete schedule and for more information: https://lnkd.in/gX-jpuVB (Great to meet you, Rachel Costanzo! Keep up the great work!) #Culture #Diversity #Arts #Cleveland

Storytelling is such an essential tool in career success. Whether you’re networking, interviewing for a job, building your personal brand or promoting your business/non-profit, you are sharing a story. People connect with stories and engage more when they relate. It really is a skill that everyone should learn early and fine tune throughout their life. So glad to see young, talented people getting out there and setting themselves up for success. These are our future leaders.