"Community-Committee", of "Correctional Officers" and "Cultural Creatives"

"Art is Business" Press Release Shonna McDaniel's, Executive Director, sojomuseum@gmail.com,  [916-320-9573], William McDaniel's Board President NAYC & Andre Morris Foundation.

Awarded California Arts Council JUMP StArts

National Academic Youth Corps Inc. DBA Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum Awarded California Arts Council JUMP StArts Grant State funds support. With support from the California Arts Council, the National Academic Youth Corps, DBA, the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, and Andre Morris Foundation, collectively as a "Community-Committee, of Correctional officers and Cultural Creatives," will use the arts as a Catalyst for BIPOC youth to transitioning successfully through the justice system.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Arts Council has announced a grant award of $45,000 to National Academic Youth Corps Inc. DBA Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum as part of its JUMP StArts program in its first round of funding for 2022.

Our parent organization, National Academic Youth Corps Inc, has been actively involved with youth and young adults in the South Sacramento area since 1996 when it developed numerous creative arts programs and programs on literacy. Its purpose was to enable youth from culturally diverse backgrounds to stretch their minds and imaginations and provide a safe environment that stimulates creativity, promotes healthy lifestyles, and develops social skills.

Our joint goals are addressing system-engaged/affected youth who have been racially profiled, arrested, or on probation; and serving court-appointed education. Our project design is to help them navigate and transition to court-appointed anger management education and how to appear in their case review.

National Academic Youth Corps Inc. DBA Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council, with grant awards for its Cycle A programming totaling more than $31 million across more than 1,100 grants supporting nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout the state. The dollar amount is the most significant annual investment in the California Arts Council's 46-year history. 

"We are elated today to be able to say that, with this first round of funds, we are placing a historic amount of money into the very worthy hands of California's arts and cultural workforce—and with more yet to come," said California Arts Council Chair Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez. 

"We have long since understood the value of our artists in this state. We are incredibly grateful to our Governor and our Legislature for their support and share a like-minded vision for a California where all people flourish with access to and participation in the arts."

Organizations were awarded grants across seven different program areas within Cycle A. They focused on the CAC's efforts to address geographic equity, enable autonomy and sustainability for smaller organizations, and grow the strength of local arts agencies and their partnerships.

To view a complete listing of all California Arts Council grantees by county, visit this link. For a complete listing of grantees by the organization, go to this link.

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National Academic Youth Corps DBA Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (SOJO) offers programs and services that educate youth, families, and the community about diversity, inclusion, and history by engaging them in hands-on art-making, cultural opportunities, and educational experiences. Our mission is to open minds and change lives by exploring and celebrating African American history, experiences, and culture through art, wellness education, and outreach.

The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. Through grants, initiatives, and services, it supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide. The California Arts Council envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

Members of the California Arts Council include Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez, Chair; Consuelo Montoya, Vice Chair; Gerald Clarke, Vicki Estrada, Jodie Evans, Ellen Gavin, Alex Israel, Phil Mercado, and Roxanne Messina Captor. 

Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

The California Arts Council is committed to increasing the accessibility of its online content. For language and accessibility assistance, visit https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance.

Museum Grants to Support African American History and Culture

"Art is Business" Contact: Shonna McDaniel's, sojomuseum@gmail.com, [916-320-9573] 

 

$3.9 Million in Museum Grants to Support African American History and Culture Federal Investments Generate Over $3 Million in Matching Funds Washington, DC—The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced  awards totaling $3,970,069 in Museum Grants for African American History and Culture  (AAHC). The 33 grantees will match these awards with an additional $3,686,498 in non-federal funds. A total of 46 organizations requested grants totaling $5,919,809.

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture support activities that build 

the capacity of African American museums and support the growth and development of 

museum professionals at African American museums.

"It has never been more important for us, the IMLS, the museum world, and all-American

citizens to understand the extraordinary richness of our culture and heritage," said IMLS 

Director Crosby Kemper. "The grants we make with this announcement in the field of 

African American History and Culture are a profound and persuasive indication of that 

and we are proud to support these great programs across the country."

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Institute of Museum and Library Services has announced a 

the grant award of $48,702 to Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum to build 

organizational capacity to support an expanded the Resource and Media Center by 

providing professional development training for museum staff, artists, facilitators, and 

volunteers. Professional development programs will focus on areas of digital 

technology, collections stewardship, and evaluation.

Our parent organization, National Academic Youth Corps Inc, has been actively involved 

with youth and young adults in the South Sacramento area since 1996, when it 

developed numerous creative arts programs, programs on literacy, its purpose was to 

enable youth from culturally diverse backgrounds to stretch their minds and 

imaginations and provide a safe environment that stimulates creativity and promotes 

healthy lifestyles, and develops social skills. 

Saba and  Urban Sunshine, learning installation and assisting curators.

The program goal/project category that the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (SOJO)  and associated objective address Goal #1 Campion Lifelong Learning and Advance Shared Knowledge. FY 2022, the museum will focus on the training and professional development of its newly-formed museum staff, docents, and volunteers. The activities include a six-month professional development plan with courses on museum stewardship, bringing experts from the field of library and museum services to conduct workshops on archiving collections, public speaking, presentation, and how to design and implement an effective evaluation tool.

Project Director: Shonna Reshell McDaniels 

Grant Administrator: Daphne Burgess-Bowens

Authorizing Official: Alpha M. Bruton

Reggie Nicholson Artist in Resident 2022 - "Soundscape Tapestry"

The Phantom Gallery Chicago is proud to announce a collaboration with composer and musician Reggie Nicholson as resident artists for the 2022 program year.  

"Mettle" (2018) features his second solo recording for percussion. 

The instantly recognizable style and sound of Reggie Nicholson have elevated him to one of the most distinctive, inventive, and inspirational drummer/percussionists of his generation, a formidable technician but one who uses his considerable skills constructively and with infinite taste.

Born in Chicago, his drum concept perfectly fitted the needs of many extraordinary Chicago musicians. An active member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1979, Nicholson has absorbed the musical influences of each AACM member learning the skills to compose and improvise original music.

Nicholson has performed and recorded with a wide variety of jazz and new music luminaries such as Henry Threadgill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Amina Claudine Myers, Leroy Jenkins, Anthony Braxton, Sam Newsome, Myra Melford, Wilber Morris, Elektra Kurtis, Billy Bang, Butch Morris, James Spaulding, Yuko Fujiyama, Oliver Lake, Fay Victor, Roy Campbell, just to name a few. In addition, Reggie has toured throughout Europe and Japan.

As a composer, he was nominated twice for the Cal Arts Composition Award in 1993/1994. His compositions were performed throughout NYC, including concerts for Roulette, Interpretations, Vision Festival, and the AACM.  

Nicholson's recordings, which have highlighted his compositions, are "Unnecessary Noise Allowed (1997)," which features his quintet, The Reggie Nicholson Concept. "Percussion Peace" (2005) is a solo recording experimenting with electronics and percussion instruments. In 2007,  the premiere of "Timbre Suite" (Tone Colors) was recorded for a percussion ensemble." Surreal Feel" (2008) shows the maturity and growth of his composing skills with music for brass instruments and percussion. "Mettle" (2018) features his second solo recording for percussion. His latest recording, "No Preservatives Added" (2020), features new compositions for the percussion ensemble.

Currently, Nicholson is continuing to explore the aesthetics of his musical ideas.

Reggie Nicholson, Composer/Percussionist 

 Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape

 "Soundscape Tapestry." 

He will work directly with the lead artist and chief curator, Alpha Bruton. In addition, Phantom Gallery Chicago will provide technical and administrative support for creating new work and exploring new ideas with a two-month sound and video exhibition at the end of the project.

Phantom Gallery Chicago's mission is to promote the betterment of the visual arts community through the arts and to promote cultural activities in exhibits, workshops, and artists-in-residence projects. This collaborative project will utilize sound and visual art in a public installation. Soundscape Tapestry will echo the African American music experience unique to the sounds of Chicago. As a visual artist, Alpha Bruton will experiment with abstractions, vibrational sound narratives, and vibrational sound narrations in response to the experimental sound of composer/percussionists Reggie Nicholson in an eight-week series of concentrated studio time to develop platforms for exploration and creation of new works.

Elastic Arts and AMP- CHI Presents: Intersections, Chicago Jazz Fest Afterfest AACM

Phantom Gallery Chicago realizes artists need to keep creating and inventing at their best and that they need time to reflect and work seriously or just for fun. The journey to becoming a skilled and accomplished artist is lifelong. When you invest in your talent, you can reinvigorate your passion for making art. But, an essential part of the process is building into your schedule a time for renewal, new experiences, and a different perspective. Self-directed artist residency, "artist vacations," is not taken to get away from their work but to find ways to inspire their work with new vitality and energy.

The goal is to give artists a space to imagine new work methods. The AIR is followed by a two-month exhibition created, fully documented, and a full-color exhibition catalog. Collaborating artists are encouraged to share their ideas and complete a visual diary of drawings, collages, videos, or photography. This visual journal will reflect the on-site experience, employing themes, contemporary narratives, and personal or historical regarding the course or discourse of their work.

Elastic Arts and AMP- CHI Presents: Intersections, Chicago Jazz Fest Afterfest AACM

While artist residencies have traditionally provided opportunities for artists to work in solitude, many residency programs today are designed specifically around artists engaging the local community. Increasingly, organizations still primarily offering retreat-style residencies are expanding into community-engaged work and looking for best practices from peers.

This collaboration is curated by the chief curator of the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network and is an ambitious new sector using tactical urbanism and contributing to the horizontal landscape. With the intent of exposing pedestrians and tourists to the experience of what is viewed inside the gallery—creating a dynamic platform for large-scale installations, moving image works, and sound performances, which has had a dedicated space at the Bronzeville Artist Lofts since 2014 years. 

Past presenting film and media artists: "The Kaleidoscope Effect"  by Tali Farchi and Royce Deans (2011), "Vacation Spot" curated by Janelle Vaughn Dowell (2014); Collective Voices "CV Film Festival" curated by Ife Olatunji; (2015-2016). "Wabi House Media" Presents "Pop-Up Movie Theater," "Tactical Urbanism," "Experimental Screenings," and RACE Films" curated by Renee Baker (2017- 2021). "Ceremonial Teas," the Social Move initiative, was curated by Larissa J. Akeremi (2020).

All the projections are accompanied by original soundscapes juxtaposed with the urban sounds of Bronzeville @ 47th Street and various intersections of the community. 

 - September 16th, 2022, 8pm - 10pm