Showing posts with label experimental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experimental. Show all posts

Studio 300 Interview - Renee Baker- From the Archives

Reposted: Join Fountaindale Public Library Studio 300's Justin Clash

149 views  Dec 26, 2019
Join Fountaindale Public Library Studio 300's Justin Clash as he sits down with music industry professional and local resident Renee Baker for an in-depth conversation about her professional experiences in the music industry. This interview follows a series of programs held in 2019 at Fountaindale Public Library's Studio 300 as part of their annual music business month.

Renee is a composer and violinist and the founding director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project. She's earned critical acclaim for her symphonies, chamber ensembles, ballets, operas, and innovative film scores.
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"Soundscape Tapestry" Spirit Lake A Composition By Reggie Nicholson

"Art is Business" #DCASEgrants 

The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) announces the Neighborhood Access Program. This program aims to support the cultural vitality of every Chicago neighborhood via grant programs and partnerships designed to be responsive to the complex needs of individual communities. This program offers direct grants for community-based arts and culture activities.

AIR 2022 Reggie Nicholson @ Phantom Gallery Chicago

We’re excited to announce Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape "Sound Scape Tapestry," The funds will create a dynamic platform for large-scale installations, moving image works, and sound performances. 


What is a Soundscape? Close your eyes and listen to the space you are in.

What is the meaning of soundscape in music?

Definitions for soundscape sound·scape. A soundscape composition - an electroacoustic musical composition creating a sound portrait of a sound environment. A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology.


"Spirit Lake" Research capturing the soundscape of Lake Michigan's 51th Street walking path.

Sound, when understood as an environment, is a soundscape: a powerful tool that helps humans relate to their surroundings. They can be consciously designed by an individual or group of individuals' circumstances or the by-product of historical, political, and cultural events.


"Spirit Lake" June 2022, a work in progress
Acrylic on Black Foam Broad, Wetting Agent, 36" X 40"


"Spirit Lake" November 2022, a work in progress
Acrylic on Black Foam Broad, Wetting Agent, 36" X 40"

 This project is funded in part by #DCASEgrants.



Describing the artistic vision of her work: 
At this plateau in her life, she started reflecting on how her work affects lives. In 2005 she started her series on vibration sounds that teach the body at all levels how to have a new experience. Bringing us into focus with the opportunities to choose new ways to live out our lives in each unique moment, they mirror to us things that we have forgotten about ourselves, reminding us just how powerful we are in changing our reality. 

Vibration Sound Narratives was a four-year exploration of various jazz musicians, improvisational jazz, creative music, electric music, and alternative sound. I created abstract sketches responding to their sound streams and what I felt or saw during these performances. Vibration Sound Narratives are a comprehensive system of patterns or vibrations that teach our bodies at all levels how to have a new experience. They activate a practice similar to Vibra Keys associated with sound, shape, and image in the context of emotional response and unlock visual-spatial intelligence in the artists among us who think in pictures.

What inspires her most is the feeling that she has a social responsibility as an artist to record history and to thrust awareness about life, the earth, and life in the passing to the viewer to cast another perspective upon to view the world.

These explorations affect her personally because she is focused on examining what transpires from the artist to the canvas. She uses the canvas to stage experiences and to create an observational view for others as spectators at the event. She uses the same approach she uses in the professional world with 
colleagues in conceptualizing an installation or group exhibition or planning for a mural project she employs in the classroom while working with teachers and their students. This dialog helps her to reflect the same continuity in her professional works.


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

Born in Chicago, his drum concept fitted perfectly the needs of many extraordinary Chicago musicians. Nicholson first gained a reputation as a drummer and percussionist in his hometown of Chicago. A Southside native, he graduated from Cornell Elementary, where he played drums for the “Area A Band” of exceptional music students, and Hirsch High School as a concert band percussionist. He then used a 4-year music scholarship to Chicago State University’s percussion program.  During his early days before moving to NYC, Nicholson worked around Chicago with many great musicians and performed regularly at the famous Southside organ club, The Other Place. An active Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) member since 1979, Nicholson has absorbed the organization's musical influences to compose and improvise original music.

RESEARCH REFERENCES:
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is home to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, a public resource named for the founding director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.


The Sound of Life: What Is a Soundscape?
May 4, 2017 | Marinna Guzy | Comments
This is the first article in a two-part series.

Marinna Guzy is a sound artist, writer, and photographer focused on the intersection of art and social justice, especially in relation to culture and the environment. She currently serves as the supervising sound editor and sound designer at Raconteur Sound.



WE GOT A GRANT! 2022 Neighborhood Access Program

"Art is Business"  #DCASEgrants



We're happy to announce our selection as a Neighborhood Access Program grant recipient from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events! 


The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) announces the Neighborhood Access Program. This program aims to support the cultural vitality of every Chicago neighborhood via grant programs and partnerships designed to be responsive to the complex needs of individual communities. This program offers direct grants for community-based arts and culture activities.

Tactical Urbanism in The Horizontal Landscape "Soundscape Tapestry" exposes pedestrians to the experience of what is viewed inside the gallery creating a dynamic platform for large-scale installations, moving image works, and sound performances. This collaborative effort has put two artists, a composer/percussionist, and a visual/installation artist, in a space to create a new body of work that will draw on the inspiration gained from the environment of the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour 2022, Pedestrians viewing Experimental Films 

This funding will support Bronzeville's cultural vitality through collaboration with soundscape artist and composer Reggie Nicholson. The Phantom Gallery Chicago will build a sound and visual installation while expanding its body of work. The piece will be made by recording sound in the neighborhood (the "horizontal landscape" sounds) and then woven together with a new composition by Nicholson. The music tapestry will play alongside experimental film projections curated by visual artist Alpha Bruton. The piece will be presented at the Bronzeville Artists Lofts commercial space and at the corner of 47th and Vincennes. "a series of free public art installations." #DCASEgrants

Tactical Urbanism in The Horizontal Landscape "Soundscape Tapestry" exposes pedestrians to the experience of what is viewed inside the gallery creating a dynamic platform for large-scale installations, moving image works, and sound performances. This collaborative effort has put two artists, a composer/percussionist, and a visual/installation artist, in a space to create a new body of work that will draw on the inspiration gained from the environment of the Bronzeville neighborhood.

2022 AIR Composer and percussionist Reggie Nicholson Soundscape Tapestry

47th and Vincennes Empty Lot, September 16th, 2022  Tactical Urbanism In the Horizontal Landscape



We’re excited to announce Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape "Sound Scape Tapestry," and the use of funds will be to Create a dynamic platform for large-scale installations, moving image works, and sound performances. This project was funded by the Neighborhood Access Program from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. #DCASEgrants.

Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape Experimental Film Series

"Art is Business"



Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape, Reggie Nicholson's Concepts 03/23 BlogTalkRadio Interview

Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape, Reggie Nicholson's Concepts 03/23 by Phantom Gallery Chicago Network | Visual Arts

Reggie Nicholson-Drummer, Percussionist, Composer

 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. 

Tactical Urbanism, in the Horizontal Landscape, 'Soundscape Tapestry.' 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.


Two thousand twenty-two project plans are to host and collaborate with composer Reggie Nicholson and develop platforms for exploration and creating new works. They are using tactical urbanism and contributing to the horizontal landscape to expose pedestrians and tourists to the experience of what is viewed inside the gallery. Will create a dynamic platform for large-scale installations and moving image works and sound performances, which did not have a dedicated space at the Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tours in prior years. Music and performances from collaborating artists accompany all the projections. 





Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape, Reggie Nicholson's Concepts by Phantom Gallery Chicago Network | Visual Arts

Tactical Urbanism in the Horizontal Landscape, Reggie Nicholson's Concepts 03/23 by Phantom Gallery Chicago Network | Visual Arts

Reggie Nicholson-Drummer, Percussionist, Composer The instantly recognizable style and sound of Reggie Nicholson has 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. 

Tactical Urbanism, in the Horizontal Landscape, 'Soundscape Tapestry.' 
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. In addition, they are introducing a new sector of experimental film projections in the public space, curated by Alpha Bruton, ambitious new video projections of current artworks created during the residency project. 

Will create a dynamic platform for large-scale installations and moving image works and sound performances, which did not have a dedicated space at the Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tours in prior years. Music and performances from collaborating artists accompany all the projections.



Sweet Fruit Falling A SPATIAL ORATORIO FROM THE OPERA BALDWIN CHRONICLES: LONE ALCHEMY


Thanks to the artist in resident Renee Baker for having the vision to bring the project to Bronzeville and record in the Loft Gallery of the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network.  The artwork installed is the sculpture installations of  Renee Baker, "Because we are Nature," featuring her junk drawer series. Visual art is the collection of the gallery.

SWEET FRUIT FALLING, A SPATIAL ORATORIO FROM THE OPERA BALDWIN CHRONICLES: LONE ALCHEMY

This moment in the life of James Baldwin represents temporality, impermanence, the futility of dreams, and reckoning with the finality of inequality of life in the USA for Black Americans. Baldwin realizes that never will people of color achieve equity or equality in his lifetime..the boxes for blacks and whites have been set..with civil rights almost non-existent.

CAST

RENEE BAKER

Composer
 

DEE ALEXANDER

Performer
 

COCO ELTSSES

Percussion
 

LUV MOSLEY

Saxophone

Artistic Team

Concept/Director
Concept/Commissioning/Music Direction
Concept/Editor
Chicago Fringe Opera is dedicated to presenting innovative vocal works emphasizing new and contemporary styles, engaging with the Chicago community through intimate and immersive performance experiences, and fostering and empowering local artists. Chicago Fringe Opera is at the forefront of producing dynamic contemporary vocal works in the city of Chicago.

A City of Works – an oblique reference to former Mayor Richard J. Daley's moniker for Chicago – combines the power of music and design in a series of site-specific digital experiences. Evoking the ethereal nature of theatre itself, audiences embark on individual journeys to landmarks throughout our city, unlocking audio and video content and joining a collective experience to watch performances through individual personal devices.

Arriving at specific locations, audiences scan a QR code on their smartphone to access a music video of a given newly commissioned work, the piece having been filmed at that locale, creating a fleeting yet shared theatrical experience. Thus, the project eliminates the need to gather groups of people while leaving content both free of charge and accessible at any time to audiences.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
Supported by The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation & The CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

Ear Taxi Festival in Chicago, Renée Baker New Music USA

"Art is Business"  

PODCASTS AND DISCUSSIONS | SOUND LIVES

Renée Baker: Nothing’s Gonna Stop You From Creating

As part of this month’s Ear Taxi Festival in Chicago, Renée Baker will lead a string quintet from her, Renée Baker will lead a string quintet from her Chicago Modern Orchestra Project in a performance of her composition Eternal Units of Beauty for one of the Spotlight Concerts at Chicago’s Phantom Gallery on September 26. Learn more about Ear Taxi’s Spotlight Concerts here. 

She will also participate in Ear Taxi’s panel discussion “What are the components of a thriving ecosystem for new music?” moderated by New Music USA’s CEO Vanessa Reed on September 29 at the DePaul Art Museum. More info about that panel can be found here in Chicago Modern Orchestra Project.



New Music USA · Renée Baker: Nothing’s Gonna Stop You From Creating
Frank J. Oteri in conversation with Renée Baker
August 30, 2021—10:30pm CDT via Zoom
Via a Zoom Conference Call between New York and Illinois
Additional voiceovers by Brigid Pierce; audio editing by Anthony Nieves
Spending an hour over Zoom chatting with Renée Baker about her more than two thousand musical compositions and perhaps almost as many paintings was inspirational as well as motivational.

Bronzeville Art District August 20th Art Walk Hybrid Experience

"Art is Business"







Josephine "La" Baker : Vision of Beauty





In a world where African American female imagery, in cinema and life,  is often not celebrated, the victorious and love-filled life of Josephine Baker reminds us that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

Join us on the third Friday of the month this summer, July - September 17th, 2021, for a free screening during the Bronzeville Art District Art Tour,  SSFF Satellite Experimental Film Festival, presented by Wabi House Media, an art film by Renee Baker.

The art partners create an interdisciplinary/ multi-disciplinary Hybrid experience featuring a virtual online tour and in-person experiences at each gallery. In addition, an alley activation at 436 E. 47th Street will connect guests to the Great Migration Garden, becoming a social distance zone to gather.  Our neighbors can bring lawn chairs at dusk and enjoy a popup drive in an experimental film festival with projections on a three-foot wall facing the 47th street intersection. 





Tactical Urbanism- Satellite Experimental Film Festival- Art Films of Renee Baker AIR

"Art is Business"

Webster states that experimental art film marries contemporary artistry, innovation, designing and engineering of imaginative procedures, exchanges while concentrating on aesthetic articulation, innovation, social communication, and sometimes, just pure fun.

Filmmaker and composer Renee Baker see the outgrowth of experimental media as part of her overall art practice trajectory. This arena traverses music, film, and visual art as fluidly as water in streams. Combining the honoring of boundaries to bring every listener to an experience must change and challenge everything you thought you knew about filmmaking and the scores accompanying them. 

These films and scores are not just placed markers...they embody the whole of a tiny world of expression born from the experiential pool of man.
Kind of like seeing inside your own mind.

Renee' Baker


Conceptual Sculpture: Renee Baker


Renee Baker - THE GREAT BLACK MUSIC PROJECT

Renee' Baker- violinist/violist, composer, leader, painter, poet

Ms. Baker is the founder/leader of FAQ (Faith Action Quorum), Mantra Blue Free Orchestra, Red Chai, Wrinkled Linen, Connoisseur Musica String Ensemble (classical), Poemusici (spoken word group), Blanche (experimental orchestra), and the Renee Baker Trio. In addition, she has created eclectic chamber festivals for Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Norris Cultural Arts Center, and Classical Symphony Hall. Ms. Baker has composed over 200 compositions ranging from string quartets to much larger ensembles as a composer.

Renee Baker's official entrée into the creative music arena came through an invitation to join Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Strings. As a proud new member of the venerable AACM, her musical affiliations have to include Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Orchestra, David Boykin Expanse, Orbert Davis w/Strings Attached, Doug Carn, Karl Siegfried's Galaxy String Quartet, Great Black Music Ensemble (AACM), Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and Chicago Jazz Orchestra.

Ms. Baker has appeared at many venues, including Woodland Patterns (WI), Kerrytown Concert House (Mi), Velvet Lounge ( Chicago), Elastic Arts Foundation, Myopic Improv Music Series, Adler Planetarium, Hyde Park Arts Center, MAC (College of DuPage), Hungry Brain, Empty Bottle, Hideout, Heaven Gallery, Jazz Showcase, Green Mill, Columbia College, Gallery 37, Millennium Park, Chicago Cultural Center, Scottish, Spareroom, Cheney Mansion, and the South Shore Cultural Center. Ms. Baker was also instrumental in the Feb 2008 opening of the new Arts /Music space Brown Rice which presents cutting-edge, creative music performances and experimental artists of vast disciplines, looking to develop and hone their specialties.

Her creative/ music influences include Kurt Schwitters, Nicole Mitchell, Terry Riley, David Boykin, Orbert Davis, Josh Abrams, Anthony Braxton, May Sarton, Anne Truitt, Steve Reich, Jackson Pollock, Tony Conrad, Mark Rothko, Coleridge- Taylor Perkinson, and Dr. Paul Freeman.

Ms. Baker is a published poet and a painter/conceptual artist of found objects with pieces in private collections through the US.

 "Art is Business" Re-posted by Alpha Bruton by Renee Baker:

Good morning- to each of you that are true friends, I share this tidbit of information. When you ain't about nothing, nothing bothers you much...When you are about the mission given to you by the 
Creator, watch out!!! I thank each of you for your support all the way around.
 
Renee Baker
 .. that's all. Karma, God, the Creator, etc., will take care of the nasty ones...you know them well. I also want each of you to not be affected by any negativity from me
.. I'm 

AN OPTIMIST ALWAYS AND WON’T WEIGH MYSELF OR YOU DOWN WITH THE NONSENSE ANYMORE
..We can all get caught up in the swirl, and that's what they want..to be able to separate, confuse, divide and conquer. It's a big lovely world out there, and we each have to claim our piece in it.

This country is full of the bitter ones..let them eat each other
..... I'm MOVING FORWARD/WHATEVER THAT MEANS/I'VE GOT A LIFE THAT IS DESTINED TO CREATE PEACE HARMONY AND LOVE...
About keeping strong...Scripture first (whatever your Holy book is), then all these hints can be helpful.
 
Negative self-talk and negative energy can affect you in many ways and cause you additional stress. Because of this, developing more positive self-talk is a critical way to reduce stress in your life. You can help yourself maintain a positive frame of mind—which will help with positive self-talk—by surrounding yourself with positive energy in your life. You can get that by adding the following elements to your life:

Uplifting Music: Listening to music with a soothing melody and an uplifting message can be great for developing positive self-talk. Have you ever had a song 'stuck in your head' for a few hours or days, the lyrics repeating themselves in your mind? If those lyrics were positive and inspirational, that would be a good thing. It's a much better mental soundtrack to have than a running stream of complaints, criticisms, self-limiting thoughts, or even songs that had more depressing or sad lyrics. (When times get tough, I often think of Wilson Phillips' classic, "Hold On," but there are dozens of good ones out there.)

Inspirational Books: Books on strength, personal power, enlightenment, or self-help can be good resources to help you change your outlook and the things you say to yourself. Rather than triggering habitual, self-defeating thoughts, you can find yourself thinking of new can-do concepts when times get tough. (For shifting your paradigm, I love Gary Zukav's "The Heart of the Soul" or Sarah Ban Breathnach's classic "Simple Abundance.")

Positive People: One of the most important ways you can get (and keep) positive energy in your life is with the company you keep. Do your friends uplift you or bring you down? Are they critical or complementary? Perfect friendships provide support when you're down, fun when you're up, wisdom when you're lost, and positive regard. Good friends can inspire you to reach greater heights and see your strengths even when you don't always. Pay attention to how your friends make you feel, and if they're less than supportive, start putting your energy and time toward people who are better suited to be your friend. (For more on social support and friendships, see the Relationship Section.)

Practice Affirmations: Positive affirmations can subtly but pervasively change your self-talk from negative to positive. See this article for some creative ways to begin working positive affirmations into your life.

LOVE Y'ALL- Renee'

Virtual Open Studio, Phantom Gallery Chicago

"Art is Business"  December 18, 2020


2020 Bronzeville Art District Virtual Gallery Tours


Forecasting what the future holds, and how we adapt to new ways of presenting art engagement, and audience development while practicing social distancing.  Alpha Bruton, Founder of the Phantom Gallery Chicago, is moving to mark out a new and exciting program for the future of Phantom Gallery.

The Phantom Gallery will look at how the city influences art, and artists transform the city by contributing to civic dialogue and quality of life. These installations will produce "Creative Conversations" presenting artists speaking about their art.

2020 Program virtual gallery openings will focus on Examining the State of Our Environment- and having conversations with artists in their studios. 

The aim of the Phantom is to examine changes in current curatorial production and to develop innovative displays in relation to virtual spaces. "Curatorial Practice" explores the impact of the urban environment on the artist and their work, and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of a city. The place where art is imagined and made, whether in a physical or virtual space, affects the idea, the process, and the final product. 

Artist in Resident – Renee Baker

Renee Baker visual artist/media and film is a resident artist/curator, who has invested in the Phantom Gallery Chicago Loft as an AIR to stage her experimental film screenings, and as an ancillary gallery to showcase and exhibit her sculpture and paintings. Renee is an internationally renowned artist best known for her work in the classical music industry. She is a resident artist working in found objects, sculpture, and the experimental film just to list a few of her multidisciplinary work.






       "Home Molasses" artist Renee Baker, an installation by curator Alan Emerson Hicks


LOIS STONE ARTS

Artist Statement
My artwork explores the subject of transformation and change in the human condition. What I want to discover are the ways these changes are inspired and the awareness that is revealed. I use color, shape form, and texture to inform my audience. Through my work, I attempt to evoke a feeling, response, or even a question from the view on what they feel in hopes to transform something in them.  I use spontaneous mark-making movement and rhythmic patterns. My work is most often done on paper, but some work is done on wood canvas and synthetic paper and is often used together in collage pieces.

Lois Stone



"Lotus  Revised 3 Kunst", 19" x 26"         Lois Stone Art, Oil on Paper, 2020 


    
    Lotus Series 1 Revised by Lois Stone


Phil M. Cotton

Although the images and subjects of my artwork are diverse; the influences and subject matter originate from the 1950’s era, abstract expressionist movement, and architectural/ designs of the Mid Century Modern/ Bauhaus periods. My contemporary artwork consists of organic and architectural visual images that respond to my observations of historical moments in time and the present state of our ever-changing complex society.


        "Fetish Sacrifice" Found Object Sculpture, Phil Cotton, Private Collection Alpha Bruton 


"Dinosaur" Phil Cotton  Mixed Media, 2017 

LJA BeanSoup The Social Move Larissa Akinremi Johnson



Larissa Akinremi Johnson:


The Social Move is an initiative founded by Larissa J-Akinremi. She has been a tutor and mentor for over 30 years and is the product of the “ It takes a village to raise a child”.
Artist Statement

The daughter of creative visionary’s activist Bobbie Johnson and Zaid A. Maalikulmulk, 80s club kid and social curator Larissa Johnson-Akinremi (b. Baltimore, MD, 1969) began her career as a jewelry designer in the early 1990s after college and years later as a freelance make-up artist and fashion stylist. In 2000 she became the host, promoter, and nightlife social curator for Deep House Page; Chicago’s premier source for music entertainment and dance culture. Now her focus is on photography and curation. 

She is inspired by nature, people, social interaction, music, and dance culture. She enjoys the surreal, and spiritual realm and some of her work encompass those forms. Larissa’s process includes photography of human form, a play on light, and body movement, which also includes spoken word, animation, video, and performance art. In her spare time and upon request she is also a DJ. Johnson’s first solo exhibition People, Places, and Things took place in 2015 at Tangible Things. Her work was most recently featured at Beats and Treats, a solo exhibition at Chicago’s Bronzeville Room 43.

Bronzeville Art District Virtual Trolley Tour - Creative Conversation Presenting Artists Speaking About their Art Practice

"Art is Business"
JOIN US ON AUGUST 21, 2020 AT 7PM FOR A VIRTUAL CONVERSATION












Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour 2019, "Experimentalism"


Mother Bessie Turner's Tea Set Collection, gifted to Alpha M. Bruton 1998

Evanston Art Center Announces Inaugural Curatorial Fellowship 2020-2021

"Art is Business" https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/curatorial-fellow


JOIN US FOR AN INTRODUCTORY 


Adero Knott- Co-Curator and facilitator

Knott (she/her) is an emerging curator who debuted at MCA Chicago, curating "Disability and Perspective", one of four exhibitions belonging to the Commons Artist Project of Norman Teague + Fo Wilson's blkHaUS studios. Adero is a Prosthetics Designer and Founder of AK Prosthetics, Corp., an AdaptiveTech startup on a mission to make customized prosthetics and adaptive wearables accessible and inclusive. Adero has been featured in Forbes, Chicago Sun-Times, and American Inno for her innovative work in the community of Chicago. Adero is also an ADA 25 Advancing Leadership Fellow of 2020.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2020
Evanston Art Center
Curatorial Fellowship

EXHIBITION DATES: July 10 – September 5, 2021
CONTACT: Cara Feeney, Director of Exhibitions
Email: cfeeney@evanstonartcenter.org

EVANSTON ART CENTER ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL CURATORIAL FELLOWSHIP CO-CURATORS: ALPHA M. BRUTON AND ADERO KNOTT

The Evanston Art Center (EAC), an artistic hub on the North Shore for over ninety years, believes that some communities are all too rarely represented in the curatorial world. To address this situation, the EAC has developed a recurrent, project-based position for a curator of color with ties to the Evanston community to develop an exhibition of their choosing. It is the EAC’s intent that such an exhibit will both build new ties to historically underrepresented groups as well as introduce Evanston and the greater Chicago area to new curatorial and artistic perspectives.

In this, the inaugural year of the program, the EAC is excited to announce the appointment of co-curators Alpha M. Bruton and Adero Knott as this year’s Curatorial Fellows. Their final exhibition will be on display in the Evanston Art Center’s First Floor Gallery from July 10, 2021– September 5, 2021.

Bruton and Knott’s artistic vision entails an intergenerational curatorial practice that seeks to provide a model for emerging and established curators to innovate in curating inclusive experience, gain practical curating experience and critically reflect on how their curatorial style will imprint on the Evanston community and the world. In four exhibitions, each running two weeks, exhibiting artists will examine the state of their environment in society through themes of Racism, Spirituality, Documentation and Art as Wellness.

Throughout the exhibition, Bruton and Knott will invite artists, curators, and the Evanston Art Center community to participate in a series of public dialogues facilitated by Knott and the exhibiting artists. These dialogues will explore ways artists examine their environment through themes of Racism, Spirituality, Documentation, and Art as Wellness, as well as the intersection of art and social justice – how do identity and intersectionality affect our lived experiences, as seen in the practice of an artist?

This program serves as an extension of the Evanston Art Center’s nonprofit mission to foster the appreciation and expression of the arts among diverse audiences. It also fulfills its vision to be widely recognized as a dynamic art education and exhibition center that encourages freedom of artistic expression and enriches cultural life. The EAC strives to be a hub of artistic endeavors, a passionate advocate for the arts, and a valuable partner for arts initiatives in the Evanston community.

The Curatorial Fellowship exhibition will be exhibited in the first-floor gallery of the Evanston Art Center. 

Learn more about the Curatorial Fellowship: https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/curatorial-fellow

About the Evanston Art Center 
The Evanston Art Center (EAC) provides inspiring art education, exhibitions, and expression for all. The EAC is a non-profit that has supported the arts for more than 90 years. 

For more information, please visit us online at www.evanstonartcenter.org or contact Cara Feeney, Director of Exhibitions, at cfeeney@evanstonartcenter.org. 

Visit the Evanston Art Center on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EvanstonArtCenter;  follow us on Instagram: @EvanstonArtCenter.

Evanston Art Center
1717 Central Street
Evanston, IL 60201





Caryl Henry, Artist with a Purpose

"Art is Business"
 Caryl Henry, Artist with a Purpose

For more than 40 years her work has harnessed the power of creative collaboration with multi-generational, multicultural, and interfaith communities. Together, we conceive, design, and implement public art projects in diverse public settings.

She works with media that are both traditional and experimental, often incorporating recycled or found objects, and natural plant materials. In the studio, this work has spanned painting, mixed media printmaking, paper making, textiles, installations, and sculpture. A strong long-term focus in my artwork is on ancestry, culture, environment, and nature. This art has exhibited throughout the US and internationally in small museums, in galleries and online.

When she workings in the community, she endeavors to combine elements of her skill set that include, visual artist, teaching artist, curator, researcher, lecturer, writer, and social activist.



Connecting communities with our natural world. Inspiring creative and collaborative environmental action.


“EXPERIMENTALISM” Process artist LaDiPo Famodu Astro Afro Studio

"Art is Business" Bio Short  Ladipo Famodu is a researcher, artist, and futurist, and creator of Astro Afro Studio.


LaDiPo standing in front of the mural by Statik on 47th Street, 600 blocks on the side of a Bronzeville barbara Shop

Astro Afro Studio is a design practice that addresses the present and future threats to social equality and environmental sustainability by weaponizing art, design, and technology in a creative, subversive manner. Based in Chicago, the city is used as a classroom and laboratory, providing an opportunity to observe, explore, and collaborate.





Interview on BlogTalkRadio Creative Conversation:
The specific question I want to press is what are some ways we define "Experimental-ism", while we examine the state of our environment?
LaDiPo has thought critically about experimentalism in his art practice and what that means. 
LaDiPo was asked the question, EXPERIMENTALISM is largely centered on the human experience. Universal education was the key to teaching people how to abandon their habits and think creatively. 
His response: 
Experimentalism to me represents the process of learning by doing - a pedagogy I apply to both my scientific work and artistic practice. As a materials researcher, I am eager to find the potential in products deemed as waste to other industries and incorporate them into the concrete. As an artist, I’ve discovered my own personal style in creating abstract-yet-human-like wire figures. Through exaggerated gestures, these figures greet each other and activate every object they encounter. 





WIRE! Figure It Out"  by LaDiPo



Bio Long Ladipo Famodu 

As a researcher, he studies the future of concrete as a building material at a Chicago-based concrete company. His role is to analyze industrial byproducts for fitness as an alternative to cement which is the binder in concrete. His background in chemistry has equipped him to quickly learn new testing procedures and reference existing literature regarding sustainable material research.

As an artist, his work is a commentary on a neighborhood in flux. He currently resides in Bronzeville, once known as the Black Metropolis. After a period of disinvestment, a wave of new construction is underway with massive single-family houses seeming to pop up overnight. Using collage, he constructs architectural imagery that references the rich history and speculative future of the Black Metropolis.

As a futurist, his mantra is to Never Stop Learning. Outside of work, you may find him at book signings, artists talks, and public lectures covering topics from sustainable construction to algorithmic bias. He is inspired by those who bring together ideas from different fields of study to reframe big problems in today’s society. 

Phantom Gallery CHI

"Radical Optimism: Celebrating 100 Years of Oscar Brown, Jr.

"Art is Business"  https://www.oscarbrownjr.org/ Reposted: Dorian, Africa, and Maggie Brown and Blanc are mounting a tribute to Os...