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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20221008
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20221218
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20220930T175349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230210T220923Z
UID:9404-1665187200-1671321599@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives
DESCRIPTION:9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives features work by the collective\, Dandelion Black Women Artists.\n  \nOPENING RECEPTION RSVP HERE\n  \nNine Black women artists engaged in collaborative efforts to create artworks that transcend and transform events in the year 2020. In their eyes\, art-making became a transgressive act through activism\, documentation and vision. Utilizing book-making\, craft-making and works on paper\, 9 Artists/9 Months/ 9 Perspectives presents a birth of vision under hardship felt worldwide\, collectively allowing us to reckon with our own perspectives\, reflections and welfare.\n  \nThis exhibition presents the conception\, gestation\, and birth of a collaborative artists’ books created by nine Black women artists of the collective\, Dandelion Black Women Artists. Their responses\, perspectives\, and reflections were inspired by the continuous struggle for health\, social\, and economic welfare of marginalized people during COVID-19\, the lack of response from the federal government\, and the political allyship of socio-political grassroots movements like Black Lives Matter. Craft-making became a transgressive act through artivism\, perspective\, and vision.\n\n  \n \n  \nTheir work embraces Black feminism as theorized by artist/art historians such as Freida High Wasikhongo Tsesfagiorgis\, in which art created by Black women artists depict the Black woman as: 1) subject rather than an object; 2) the exclusive or primary subject; 3) active rather than passive; 4) sensitive to the self-recorded realities of Black women; 5) imbued with the aesthetics of the African continuum—sustaining a personal vision that embraces Afrocentric tastes in color\, texture\, and rhythm. \n\n\nExhibiting artists include: \nAdjoa J. Burrowes\, Julee Dickerson-Thompson\, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter\, Michele Godwin\, Francine Haskins\, Pamela Harris Lawton\, Gloria Patton\, Gail Shaw-Clemons\, and Kamala Subramanian.\n\n\n9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives will be on view from October 8 – December 17\, 2022.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/9-artists-9-months-9-perspectives/
CATEGORIES:Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20221008T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20221008T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20220930T180604Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220930T182255Z
UID:9412-1665234000-1665241200@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Dandelion Black Women Artists Talk
DESCRIPTION:Members of the Dandelion Black Women Artists collective will join SSCAC Exhibitions Manager & Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara in conversation.\n  \nRSVP HERE\n  \nOur upcoming exhibition 9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives features work from the Dandelion Black Women Artists collective. These nine Black women artists engaged in collaborative efforts to create artworks that transcend and transform events in the year 2020. In their eyes\, art-making became a transgressive act through activism\, documentation and vision.\n  \nWe hope you’ll join us with coffee and cake\, for what will be an unforgettable and memorable intergenerational panel!\n\n  \n \nGloria Patton. I Hear You. Monotype. 14′ x 11′. 2022 \n  \nAll based in the DMV region\, otherwise known as the Beltway – SSCAC is proud to welcome this dynamic collective for a conversation moderated and facilitated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager & Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara\, who worked exclusively with the artists in organizing 9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives for it’s Chicago premiere at SSCAC.\n  \nExhibiting artists include: \nAdjoa J. Burrowes\, Julee Dickerson-Thompson\, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter\, Michele Godwin\, Francine Haskins\, Pamela Harris Lawton\, Gloria Patton\, Gail Shaw-Clemons\, and Kamala Subramanian.\n\n9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives will be on view from October 8 – December 17\, 2022.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/dandelion-black-women-artists-talk/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20221014T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20221014T200000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20221013T180009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221013T180158Z
UID:9456-1665770400-1665777600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Black Fine Art Month Salon Talk 'Who’s Got Next’
DESCRIPTION:We’re proud to partner with Pigment International\, Pigment International for a Salon Talk that explores Black Chicago Art History and legacies\, featuring our favorite TikTok historian ‘6figga_dilla’ !\n  \n\n  \n\nKnown on social media as ‘6figga_dilla’\, Shermann “Dilla” Thomas is a lifelong resident of Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood and his Tik Tok videos on Chicago history attract thousands. He will feature a debut video project\, tracing the long lineage and global impact of Chicago Black art history.\n  \nAn intimate conversation will take place with Ciera McKissick (curator); Jordan A. Porter-Woodruff (collector); zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal (SSCAC); Alicia Goodwin (jewelry designer and collector)\, and Indianapolis based historian Kaila Austin as it regards continuing Black art legacies!\n\n\n  \nThe conversation will be moderated by WTTW’s Angel Idowu.\n \n  \n  \nRefreshments and drinks will be provided to all attendees\, we hope to see you there!
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/black-fine-art-month-salon-talk-whos-got-next/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20221022T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20221022T133000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20221013T174904Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221013T175039Z
UID:9449-1666440000-1666445400@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:G to G Coaching Session: Tax Preparation for Artists and Freelancers
DESCRIPTION:SSCAC is thrilled to partner with ILA Creative Studio for their G-to-G Coaching Sessions\, in a 3-part series of artist development resource workshops that intend to help close the gap of limited\, sustainable business resources\, specific to the needs of Black artists. \n\n \n  \nYou were just paid 7K to create an illustration for a major brand…they sent you a W-9…why?\n\nOr picture this\, Nike hired you to do a spoken word voiceover in their upcoming commercial\, you were paid 5K and forgot to tell Uncle Sam. Yikes!\n\nBetter yet\, you composed a score for the latest Disney film and were paid 10K\, how much of that belongs to you?\n\nWe have some insights for you!\n\nDuring this 3-part series\, we will hold space for artists and freelancers to learn and grow in key areas of interest. So much of our time as practicing artists goes into actually creating our wonderful art\, but we MUST create time where we learn about the necessary business etiquette.\n\nEach session will be led by coaches and teaching artists who will provide insight on a specific topic\, with the intention of assisting Black artists to work toward achieving sustainability in their field.\nILA Creative Studio’s G-to-G Coaching Sessions are an opportunity for professional practicing artists (18+) to have space to learn and grow in their respective fields – led by a mentor or coach that provides specific insights on a specific topic. These sessions help to translate effective ways for Black artists to achieve sustainability in their fields.\n\nFirst up\, “Tax Preparation for Artists and Freelancers”\, led by Shana Isom! Where she’ll cover all things tax and financial management.\n  \n \nShana Isom has been working in the accounting industry since graduating from the University of Illinois in 2008. Shana’s professional experience and scholastic achievements influenced her to join Kerry Van Isom and Associates. Through her public accounting experience\, Shana has gained technical training on proper accounting standards and practices.\n\nShana tackles common tax situations as well as complex accounting scenarios for individuals\, businesses\, and service organizations. As a licensed CPA\, she provides audit services for non-profit organizations and consulting services on deficiencies in internal control management.\nShana specialization in financial management and tax debt resolution for businesses and individuals\, has solidified her as a trusted business consultant\, and continues to provide clients with consultations that ensure long-term proper business management.\n\nSnacks and sponsored tea will be provided by Joy & Magic Tea. Very limited spots are available. Stay tuned for remaining sessions!
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/g-to-g-coaching-session-tax-preparation-for-artists-and-freelancers/
CATEGORIES:Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sscartcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Fall-G2G-06.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20221120T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20221120T143000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20221111T220034Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221111T220131Z
UID:9478-1668947400-1668954600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:REWIND & PLAY | SSCAC x Black Harvest Film Festival
DESCRIPTION:SSCAC and Black Harvest Film Festival\, in partnership with the Gene Siskel Film Center invite you to a complimentary afternoon screening of REWIND & PLAY! \n  \n \n  \n \nImage courtesy of REWIND & PLAY. 2022\, Alain Gomis\, USA\, 65 mins\n  \n\n\nIn 1969\, famed jazz pianist Thelonious Monk performed at the 3\,000-seat Salle Pleyel concert hall in Paris. Before the concert\, he recorded an episode of the French television show “Jazz Portrait\,” hosted by pianist Henri Renaud.\n  \nIn this daring work of non-fiction filmmaking\, director Alain Gomis examines not the interview\, but the raw archival footage – the moments not seen by the television audience – where it becomes painfully clear that the host and producer are only interested in the musician if he plays voiceless and silently\, without speaking about his experiences as a Black artist during a time of social and political unrest. Despite the oppression\, Monk plays on – his music\, now in the context of REWIND & PLAY\, all the more exceptional.\n  \nREWIND & PLAY will be preceded by SHUT UP AND PAINT.\n  \n \n\n\nImage courtesy of SHUT UP AND PAINT. 2022\, Alex Mallis\, Titus Kaphar\, USA\, 21 mins\n\n\n  \n  \nIn SHUT UP AND PAINT\, contemporary painter Titus Kaphar uses film as a medium to explore\, challenge\, and examine the ways in which the art market seeks to silence his activism.\n\n\n  \nThe 28th Black Harvest Film Festival – Chicago’s annual showcase for films that celebrate\, explore\, and share the Black\, African American and African Diaspora experience – will be held November 4 through 20 in person and November 21 through 27 online! Festival passes and tickets for our full lineup of feature films\, short film programs\, and special events are now on sale!\n  \nComplimentary popcorn from Chicago-based and Black owned popcorn company Herby Pop will be available for attendees.\n  \nRSVP is required\, and limited tickets are available\, so we hope to see you there!
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/rewind-play-sscac-x-black-harvest-film-festival/
LOCATION:Gene Siskel Film Center\, 164 N State St\, Chicago\, IL\, 60601\, United States
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20221210T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20221210T160000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20221201T234354Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221201T234626Z
UID:9487-1670673600-1670688000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:3831 Holiday Pop-Up!
DESCRIPTION:Join us to get a head start on holiday shopping at our first 3831 Holiday Pop-Up\, with some of the city’s most talented Black creatives!\n  \n \nImage courtesy: Limba Gal Jewelry. \n  \nCome through to support some of Chicago’s most gifted and talented Black creatives as we move into the Holiday season!\n  \n3831 Holiday Pop-Up is a mini pop-up market hosted in our historic Burroughs gallery\, that will feature vendors working across a variety of businesses from jewelry to candles\, books\, and more!\n  \n \n  \nCheck out our incredible list of vendors:\n  \nReformed School\nELUKE by Etiti Ayeni\nLimba Gal Jewelry\nLiterary Black Girl\nRed Elephant Candle Company\nGraceful Cakes\nwith more to be announced !\n  \nThis event is free and for all-ages\, so we encourage you to bring your family!\n  \n \n  \n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/3831-holiday-pop-up/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230107T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230107T133000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20221110T220521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230107T215558Z
UID:9468-1673092800-1673098200@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:G to G Coaching Session: How To Balance Creative Work & Multiple Projects
DESCRIPTION:The second development resource workshop in our series artist development partnership with ILA Creative Studio!\n  \n \n  \nSSCAC is thrilled to partner with ILA Creative Studio for their G-to-G Coaching Sessions in a 3-part series of artist development resource workshops that intend to help close the gap of limited\, sustainable business resources\, specific to the needs of Black artists.\n  \nILA Creative Studio’s G-to-G Coaching Sessions are an opportunity for professional practicing artists (18+) to have space to learn and grow in their respective fields – led by a mentor or coach that provides specific insights on a specific topic. These sessions help to translate effective ways for Black artists to achieve sustainability in their fields.\n  \nSo much of our time as practicing artists goes into actually creating our wonderful art\, but we MUST create time where we learn about the necessary business etiquette. Each session will be led by coaches and teaching artists who will provide insight on a specific topic\, with the intention of assisting Black artists to work toward achieving sustainability in their field.\n  \n\n\nSecond up\, “How To Balance Creative Work & Multiple Projects”\, led by Adia Sykes and Tiffany Johnson! Where they’ll cover all things project management\, artist development strategies\, and self-care advocacy within the arts.\n\n\n  \n \n\n\nAdia Sykes is an arts organizer and curator based in Chicago. Her practice seeks to center philosophies of improvisation\, intuition\, and care\, engaging them as tools through which meaningful relationships between artists and viewers can be cultivated\, while leaving space for the vernacular to mingle with constructs of history and theory.\n  \nAs an administrator advocating for racial equity and sustainable ecosystems for creative practitioners\, she has held roles with organizations like the Chicago Artists Coalition\, where she started their SPARK Grant— a joint effort with the Joyce Foundation providing unrestricted grants to artists of color\, not formally trained artists\, and artists with disabilities. At present\, Adia is Co-Director of Programs at Threewalls which is an arts organization that fosters contemporary art practices that respond to lived experiences\, encouraging connections beyond art. She is also a Lead Organizer of the Chicago Art Census\, a city-wide research project that collects\, maps\, and visualizes data that illuminates the lived experiences and working conditions of art workers in Chicago.\n  \nHer curatorial projects include Locating Memory (Chicago Mayor’s Office\, 2018)\, Project Radio London (Centro Arte Opificio Siri in Terni\, Italy\, 2018)\, and The Petty Biennial.2 (Chicago\, 2019-2020). She has also realized projects with the Art Institute of Chicago\, Sullivan Galleries\, Woman Made Gallery\, ACRE\, Material Exhibitions\, Roman Susan Gallery\, and Comfort Station. She also currently serves as Board Chair for Chicago Dancemakers Forum.\n  \nAdia earned a Masters in Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Chicago.\n  \n\n\n\n \nA Southsider\, born and bred\, Tiffany M Johnson is interested in spaces (and a world) where Black people can exhale. A queer Black woman\, she is a researcher\, survivor advocate\, and cultural worker passionate about community building through imaginative\, underground\, and cooperative practices.\nTiffany attended SOAS\, University of London\, for her Master’s in Migration and Diasporas Studies. Currently pursuing a DIY Ph.D.\, her research focuses on otherworld-making community practices through ancestral technologies\, creative expressions\, and ecological relations.\n  \nShe is ACRE Residency’s Programs Director\, which supports emerging artists develop\, discuss and present their artistic practices. Under this role\, she also manages the Chicago Art Census – a comprehensive\, cross-discipline data collection effort created by and with the art workers of Chicago. In addition\, as the Consultant Curator with the Chicago Park District\, Arts & Culture Unit (ACU)\, she co-designed and led the development of the public curatorial residency program\, Anchor Residency.\n  \nShe is a member of the Cooperation for Liberation\, an open study and working group focused on cooperative histories in Black communities and is co-stewarding the development of the survivor support mutual aid group\, Project Nebula.\n  \n  \n\n\n\nSnacks and sponsored coffee will be provided by Sip & Savor!\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/g-to-g-coaching-session-how-to-balance-creative-work-multiple-projects/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230116T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230116T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230107T230025Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230107T230341Z
UID:9522-1673874000-1673881200@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:MLK DAY: VISION BOARDS FOR NEW FUTURES
DESCRIPTION:Honoring the future MLK dreamed of\, while also bringing in our own visions for the futures we want to create!\n  \n \n  \nJoin us for an afternoon of vision boarding\, as we honor the radical dreaming of Martin Luther King Jr.\n  \nMLk believed in the dreams of revolution\, and creating a society based on equality and justice. As we honor the radical future MLK dreamed of\, we invite you to visualize your own visions for the futures we want to create.\n  \n“..We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair\, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights\, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil\, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterday’s into bright tomorrows. Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long\, but it bends toward justice.”\n  \n– MLK\, “Where Do We Go From Here?\,” delivered at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention\, Atlanta\, Georgia\, August 16\, 1967.\n\n  \n“Without new visions\, we don’t know what to build\, only what to knock down. We not only end up confused\, rudderless\, and cynical\, but we forget that making a revolution is not a series of clever maneuvers and tactics\, but a process that can and must transform us.”\n  \n– Robin D.G. Kelley\, Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination\n  \n  \n \nImage Courtesy: Associated Press.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \nWhat is a vision board?\nA visual representation of your goals or a collective goal! These poster-sized visuals typically contain all kinds of images\, colors\, and text that represent something you’re trying to accomplish. There are really no rules when it comes to vision boards\, since it’s about creating something that will inspire you to realize your dreams and goals on a daily basis.\n\nSome vision boards focus on a singular idea\, while others look at the bigger picture of what you might want the future to look like.\n\nWhat does an equitable future look like? What do you dream of for yourself\, and for your community? What does freedom look like and feel like?\nThese are just a few questions that we’re considering\, and hope you’ll join us in visualizing new futures together!\n\nWe’ll provide the materials\, but encourage you to bring any old magazines\, newspapers\, or paper materials you have lying around your home!
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/mlk-day-vision-boards-for-new-futures/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230120T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230120T200000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230107T225331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T200105Z
UID:9511-1674234000-1674244800@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:The Promised Land: Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:Eleven artists with ties to North and South of the Mason-Dixon Line respond to just how much Black life has always been in transit. \n  \n \n  \nThe Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history. It has transformed cities like Chicago\, Detroit\, New York and Pittsburgh between 1916 and 1970. Chicago received more than 500\,000 Black Southern Americans during this time.\n  \nTo Southern Blacks\, Chicago was considered the “Promised Land”. Stories of big city life — jobs with good wages\, homes with running water\, and basic freedoms denied to Blacks in the South — made the Northern city a prime destination for Blacks coming from below the Mason-Dixon line. As the most documented migration in US history\, photographers like Gordon Parks\, Florestine Perrault Collins\, Moneta Sleet Jr.\, Roy DeCarava\, and Coreen Simpson created imagery that demonstrated Black life in movement.\n\nToday\, contemporary artists and image makers respond to the many migrations of African Diaspora peoples and the influences of these movements in their work.\n  \n \nDerrick Woods-Morrow. Non-traditional Acts of Divination: Impression. Photograph. 18 in. x 24 in. 2019.\n  \nFeatured Artists:\n  \nLawrence Agyei\nAnwulika Anigbo\nRose Blouin\nBillie Carter-Rankin\nJen Everett\nMandela Hudson\nShabez Jamal\nSulyiman Stokes\nDarryl Terrell\nLoren Toney\nDerrick Woods-Morrow\n  \n \nDarryl DeAngelo Terrell. 279º W 42º21’39” N 83º2’20″W Detroit\, MI. Archival inkjet print. 24 in. x 36 in. 2021\n  \n  \nJoin us for an opening reception as we celebrate a diverse breath of photo and image works from some of the most promising artists exploring the possibilities and realities of Black life in image-making and photography.\n\nImage courtesy (above). Sulyiman Stokes. Untitled (Momma #2). Photograph. 11 in. x 14 in. 2021
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/the-promised-land-opening-reception/
CATEGORIES:Events,Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230211T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230211T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230201T173846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230201T175629Z
UID:9532-1676120400-1676127600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Black Adornment & The Found Object
DESCRIPTION:Join SSCAC Archives and Collections Manager LaMar Gayles Jr. for an afternoon exploring mixed media art\, our collections\, and adornment objects from his personal collection. \n  \n  \n \n  \n\n\n\n\nIn this participatory program\, join SSCAC Collections and Archives Manager LaMar Gayles in exploring examples of adornment and mixed media objects from the archives of the South Side Community Art Center and his personal collection.\n  \nThis will be a unique opportunity for attendees to explore objects with connections to the history of the Center\, how these objects have been made\, how these works have aged over time\, and thinking through the sociocultural materiality of these objects. Participants will have an opportunity to hold and interact with objects\, be introduced  to art material behaviors as well as preventive conservation practices that can better preserve these works for the future.\n  \nThis program will be small and intimate with an attendance cap at 25 participants total\, please RSVP in advance.\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/black-adornment-the-found-object/
CATEGORIES:Events
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230218T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230218T160000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230215T225511Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230215T225811Z
UID:9552-1676719800-1676736000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Black Family Portraits with Seed Lynn
DESCRIPTION:Join us with photographer Seed Lynn for a free family portrait session!\n  \n \n  \nFor this Black History Month\, we’re thrilled to partner with photographer Seen Lynn to offer free family portraits to our community!\n  \nThe Black family portrait\, throughout history to the present\, has always been an accessible\, but vivid practice of self-representation that offers a more genuine and realistic portrayal of Black identity and dignity. Whether being made candidly within the family\, or posing for a staged portrait\, Black family portraits continue to reveal the inherent beauty\, resilience\, diversity\, and style of our people and culture.\n  \nLearn more about our guest photographer below:\n  \n \n\n\n\n\nWriter\, imagist\, and artist\, Seed Lynn\, submits memory work as a liberatory practice. Whether sensually\, technically\, or artfully applied\, Lynn meets the lens as a travelin’ state where listening and witnessing make voice timeless. And true.\nThis light invades his work\, finds and frames subjects honestly\, and creates brave space where stories find students. Lynn’s own studies concern how we remember ourselves\, how that memory is imaged\, and how remembrance itself\, in the face of oppression\, is a cathartic and radical act of protest.\n\nWe hope you’ll join us for what will be a memorable moment for you and your family!\n\n\n\nNOTE:\nWe are prioritizing families who do NOT have studio family portraits\, so we ask that you only reserve a space for you and your family if this applies to you.  Portraits will be organized through 15-minute time blocks\, with limited availability\, so RSVP is required!\n\nif for any reason you cannot make your timed reservation\, please notify us right away so that we may open a slot to another family.\n\n*notices can be made to SSCAC Programs Manager: zakkiyyah@sscartcenter.org
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/black-family-portraits-with-seed-lynn/
CATEGORIES:Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230225T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230225T130000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230221T194421Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230221T200402Z
UID:9561-1677326400-1677330000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Artwork Documentation Workshop with Colleen Keihm
DESCRIPTION:Learn how to successfully document your artwork!\n  \nIn conjunction with our current photo exhibition\, ‘The Promised Land’\, in partnership with LATITUDE\, we’re thrilled to offer a free photo-documentation workshop for artists!\n  \nIf you’re interested in learning more about documenting your artwork in an exhibition\, for web use\, or for your portfolio we’ll be working with photographer and LATITUDE Executive Director Collen Keihm! She will cover camera basics\, what materials to have on hand\, and how to set up a basic digital workflow to successfully document your artwork.\n  \n  \n \n\n\nPhoto credit: Loren Toney.\n\n\n  \nColleen Keihm is the Executive Director at Latitude\, a Chicago digital lab with high-end printing and scanning equipment that operates an artist in residence program and organizes arts programming. She received her MFA at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BS in Photography at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Her work has been exhibited in Chicago at FLXST Contemporary\, Flatland\, Roman Susan\, Filter Photo\, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid. She has been an artist in residence at Hatch Projects at the Chicago Artist Coalition\, Institut fur alles Mogliche in Berlin\, Germany\, and Studio 3325 in Chicago.\n  \nHer work is a part of the photography collection at the Art Institute of Chicago\, the Museum of Contemporary Photography\, and she is a proud member of the Midwest Photographers Project. In addition to her role at Latitude\, she is an educator in the Photography Department at University of Illinois at Chicago.\n  \n \n  \n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/artwork-documentation-workshop-with-colleen-keihm/
CATEGORIES:Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230311T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230311T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230222T230834Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230222T230858Z
UID:9570-1678539600-1678546800@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:A Promised Land On The Horizon: Artist Talk
DESCRIPTION:‘The Promised Land’ exhibiting artists join SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara in conversation. \n  \nOur current exhibition ‘The Promised Land’\, features eleven contemporary photo and image artists working across a diverse range of visual methods\, that re-imagine stories of city life and the Great Migration through the decolonization of the lens\, Southern rooted influences\, movement\, family archives and portraiture.\nThe Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history. It has transformed cities like Chicago\, Detroit\, New York and Pittsburgh between 1916 and 1970. Chicago received more than 500\,000 Black Southern Americans during this time. To Southern Blacks\, Chicago was considered the “Promised Land”. Stories of big city life — jobs with good wages\, homes with running water\, and basic freedoms denied to Blacks in the South — made the Northern city a prime destination for Blacks coming from below the Mason-Dixon line. As the most documented migration in US history\, photographers like Gordon Parks\, Florestine Perrault Collins\, Moneta Sleet Jr.\, Roy DeCarava\, and Coreen Simpson created imagery that demonstrated Black life in movement. With familial ties to North and South of the Mason-Dixon Line\, this stellar group of contemporary artists respond to the many migrations of African Diaspora peoples and the influences of these movements in their work.\n  \nThis exhibition was organized and curated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager Lola Ayisha Ogbara\, and features the following artists: Lawrence Ageyi\, Anwulika Anigbo\, Rose Blouin\, Billie Carter-Rankin\, Jen Everett\, Mandela Hudson\, Shabez Jamal\, Sulyiman Stokes\, Darryl DeAngelo Terrell\, Loren Toney\, and Derrick Woods-Morrow.\n  \nComplimentary coffee and cake will be provided during the program.\n  \n \n  \n\n\nLearn more about the artists joining us:\n  \n \n  \nLoren Toney is a published fine art and portrait photographer based in Chicago\, Illinois. Finding her artistic footing in authentic emotion her portraiture is used in a wide array of spaces. From live music to behind the scenes photography she’s attuned to capturing the present moment. She was raised in the south suburbs of Chicago and received a BA from Columbia College Chicago as a Cinematography major and Photography minor. Her work focuses on the complexities of interpersonal relationships and identity\, particularly the experiences of black men and women. She has been featured in “The Art Of Blackness\,” exhibition in 2019 as well as Columbia College’s Library for an installation entitled “The Americans Now”. She was an Artist in Residence for Latitude Chicago in April 2018.\n\n\n  \nHer clients have included Rolling Stone\, New York Times\, Pitchfork\, Goldenvoice.\n  \nhttps://lorentoney.com/ \n  \n\n  \nSulyiman Stokes is a self-taught interdisciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago whose sole focus is telling Black folks’ stories. Though music and photography are his primary areas of exploration\, he regularly immerses himself in whatever medium is available to him to maximize expression.\nCapturing and keeping a record of the ways Black folk struggle toward liberation by way of his work is his contribution to the very same pursuit.\n\nStokes’s photographs are Black-centric. Through them\, he captures the ways in which Black people express their diverse talents and rich culture in everyday life.\nStokes captures the essence of his subjects through the use of soul-stirring and expressive images.\n  \n– Dierdre Robinson\, South Side Weekly.\n  \nhttps://sulyiman.com/\n  \n \n  \nRose Blouin has created documentary and fine art photography since 1980. Blouin’s work has been exhibited in a number of museums and galleries including Woman Made Gallery\, Nicole Gallery\, The South Side Community Art Center\, Artemesia Gallery\, The North Suburban Fine Arts Center\, Evanston Arts Center\, and the State of Illinois Art Gallery. Her work has received awards in juried exhibitions including Tall Grass Arts “From Earth” exhibition\, Black Creativity (Museum of Science and Industry)\, University of Chicago Logan Center for the Arts “Chicago Jazz: A Photographer’s View\,” DuSable Museum Annual Art Fair\, and the Milwaukee Inner City Art Fair. Her photographs have been published on the covers of South Side Stories (City Stoop Press)\, Columbia Poetry Review (Columbia College Chicago)\, and Killing Memory\, Seeking Ancestors by Haki Madhubuti (Lotus Press). Photos of Gwendolyn Brooks are included in Say That the River Turns: The Impact of Gwendolyn Brooks (Third World Press\, 1991) and Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating The Writing Of Gwendolyn Brooks (Curbside Splendor\, 2017.) \nBlouin has had solo shows at the South Side Community Art Center and at the Ferguson Gallery of Concordia University featuring photographs from South Africa. \n\nMost recently\, Blouin mounted a solo exhibition of photographs from Havana at The New Studio in Evanston (2016). She is also a founding member of Sapphire & Crystals\, a collective of African-American women artists.\n  \nhttps://roseblouinphotography.com/documentary-portfolio\n  \n  \n \n  \nAnwulika Anigbo (b. Nigeria 1987) is a Chicago-based artist tracing the historical and somatic roots of everyday life as it is practiced within blackness through imagery and processes. Her work chronicles and investigates self-determination\, presence\, knowledge production\, and memory. Anigbo uses deep embodiment to make meaning at the intersections of life by rooting her practice in creation as a continuous process of personal and domestic liberation.\n  \nAnwulika’s work has been exhibited at The Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (South Korea)\, Chicago Artist Coalition (Chicago)\, EXPO Chicago with FOR FREEDOMS (Chicago) and the Chicago Athletic Association (Chicago). She was recently a 2022-23 Fellow with the Economic Security Project\, the December 2022 and January 2023 Artist in Residence at Chicago Athletic Association\, a 2021-22 Artist in Residence at the Chicago Artist Coalition\, and a 2022 3Arts Ignite Fund Awardee. Her work is included in the collection at Ryan Lee Gallery\, 21c Museum and private collections. Anwulika is also the founder of The Love Ethic Project which channels creative resources towards the production of a love ethic through direct discourse and action.\n  \n At any given moment we stand at the intersection of histories\, embodying and accessing more than what we have personally experienced. How far back and forward can individual and collective memory take the process of self-determination. My work uses familiar personal moments and cultural references to access somatic memory and histories of self-determination layered onto our most rudimentary and interior moments. If you know you know\, if not discourse is still welcome. \n-Anwulika Anigbo\n  \nhttps://anwulikaanigbo.com/\n\n  \n \n  \nBillie Carter-Rankin (b.1995) is a visual artist from Milwaukee\, Wisconsin. She experiments with photography\, darkroom processing\, and archived images to explore loss within personal and collective memory. Her work primarily focuses on the absence of information\, and the potential that is created as a result of that absence.\n  \nCarter-Rankin has been featured internationally in exhibitions such as the Setouchi Triennial 2019 in Japan\, along with a number of publications such as TIME Magazine\, The New York Times\, The New Yorker\, and Oxford American.She graduated with a MFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020\, and her BA in Media\, Journalism\, and Film from Howard University in 2018.\n  \nhttps://www.billiecarterrankin.com/\n\n  \n \nMandela Hudson is a multidisciplinary artist and designer who lives and works in Chicago\, IL. His curiosity and enthusiasm for multiple forms of visual communication assist in the creation of projects in disciplines such as photography\, woodworking\, filmmaking\, and book design. A commitment and the overall aim to build greater bonds and healthier relationships within respective art communities has helped in the growth of his practice.\n  \n In 2018\, Mandela founded Projection Publishing\, a platform that focuses on collaborative contemporary experiences in the visual arts. Projection works to promote and distribute printed matter from an array of creatives working in a multitude of mediums. \n  \n\n*Above image: Rose Blouin.WP People 84. Archival inkjet photograph. 19 in. x 26 in. 1987
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/a-promised-land-on-the-horizon-artist-talk/
CATEGORIES:Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sscartcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screen-Shot-2022-11-16-at-3.14.53-PM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230407T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230407T200000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230329T204612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230329T204816Z
UID:9635-1680886800-1680897600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:"where the light corrupts your face..." | Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:Artists Andres L. Hernandez\, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Roland Knowlden consider the many definitions of space\, site\, and home.\n  \n \n  \nSpatial griots Andres L. Hernandez\, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Roland Knowlden invite you to consider how socio-economic and geographic oppressions impact the way we see (or don’t see) our environments. Hernandez uncovers embedded histories and systems of power within built and speculative landscapes to imagine these spaces otherwise. Social justice artist Lewis Johnson advocates for urban communities by documenting the disparities among Chicago residents who live on opposite ends of the same streets across the city’s racial and economic divides. Knowlden critically deconstructs the elements of our urban fabric and its architectural histories to reassemble them as cartographic abstractions and imagined landscapes.\n\nGwendolyn Brooks\, a brilliant author\, poet\, and life-long resident of the historic neighborhood of Bronzeville\, becomes the Mecca of these stories as this exhibition interrogates dilapidation\, buried histories\, and what it could mean to be Black in space. Architecture is an ever-present form of storytelling. The architectural historiographies of Black space have often been written by poets who have elegantly told our stories of spatiality. Brooks gave us a voice we didn’t know we needed while underlining the importance of Black interiority. Like Brooks\, June Jordan has used poetry to advocate for Black lives. Jordan was an architect\, through a feminist practice that centers how we think about cartographies. Jordan invited us to challenge and redefine prevailing socio-spatial constructs towards dignified spaces for all communities. This is one of many reasons why she is an additional pinnacle of reference for an exhibition which poetically grapples with the many definitions of space\, site\, and home.\n  \n \nAndres L. Hernandez is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary practitioner. Initially trained as an architect\, he has previously worked within architectural offices\, community organizations\, public schools\, museums\, and other institutional contexts.\n  \nHernandez’ projects include commissions for the University of Arizona School of Art; 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale; and Pulitzer Arts Foundation and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. With Dark Adaptive\, he co-developed performances for The Drawing Center; MoMA; Sharjah Biennial; and Performa. Hernandez held artist residencies with MCA Chicago; University of Arizona; Chicago DCASE; and University of Chicago. He participated on design teams for the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial\, and the Museum of the Obama Presidential Center. His awards include the Efroymson Family Fund Contemporary Arts Fellowship\, and the 3Arts Award in Visual Arts.\nHernandez is currently an Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.\n  \n“My work draws forward the latent potential of words\, spaces\, sounds\, and movement to elicit liberatory ways of being. I explore the embedded attitudes\, histories\, policies\, and systems of power within and beyond our world(s) as a method of imagining and existing otherwise. I site my practice at the intersection of the social and the spatial. I consider the symbiotic\, yet\, fraught relationships between built and natural environments and their inhabitants\, and speculate alternative pasts\, presents\, and futures for all. My work takes many forms\, including collaborative and socially-engaged works\, as well as independent\, studio-based practices. Drawing\, installation\, and writing are my preferred media\, alongside sound and performance”.\n  \nhttps://andreslhernandez.com/\n  \n  \n \n\n\nTonika Johnson is a photographer\, social justice artist and life-long resident of Chicago’s Southside Englewood neighborhood. Her art explores urban segregation and celebrates the nuanced richness of the Black community\, countering media depictions of Chicago’s violence. Tonika’s work reveals injustices and inequalities\, past and present\, evidenced in the built environment and enshrined in real estate and land use practices\, including historic preservation. Her Folded Map Project™ brings residents who live at similar addresses but miles apart on Chicago’s racially segregated South and North sides together in conversation about the city’s racial and economic divides. The Folded Map Project™ questions how everyone is socially impacted by racial and institutional conditions segregating the city and challenges viewers to contribute to a solution.\n  \nTonika was selected as the National Public Housing Museum’s 2021 Artist as Instigator to expand her investigation through “Inequity for Sale\,” a project highlighting the living history and legacy of greater Englewood homes sold through Land Sale Contracts in the 1950s and 1960s\, which led to the unscrupulous loss of people’s homes and equity preventing the generational transfer and building of Black wealth. Tonika’s artistic contributions have gained citywide recognition in the last seven years\, including being named a 2017 Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine\, being exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art\, the Rootwork Gallery in Pilsen\, the Chicago Cultural Center\, the Harold Washington Library Center and at Loyola University’s Museum of Art. She is a 2019 Field Foundation “Leader for a New Chicago” and a Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Cultural Advisory Council member. In 2022\, Landmark Illinois’ named her one of their Influencers for her “Inequity For Sale.”\n  \nTonika is the co-founder of the Englewood Arts Collective and Resident Association of Greater Englewood\, and she now serves as the Creative Executive Officer of the Folded Map Project™ nonprofit organization.\n  \nhttps://www.tonijphotography.com/\n  \n\n \nRoland Knowlden is a Liberian American interdisciplinary artist and architectural designer from New Jersey\, currently based in Chicago\, IL. Knowlden’s architectural background has cultivated his ongoing interest in constructed landscapes\, city planning\, and the cultural and social implications of racialized spatial mapping. Working across painting and drawing\, Knowlden’s approach to abstract and experimental mapping articulates a visual language which makes visible the tensions wrought by erasure\, displacement\, and palimpsest.\n  \nInterrogating notions of origin\, belonging\, boundaries\, and power\, Knowlden’s critical cartography aims to not only reproduce existing environmental experiences and affects\, but to propose new spatial realities. With each new configuration and composition\, Knowlden furthers his practice of imagining otherwise.\n  \nhttps://rolandknowlden.com/
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/where-the-light-corrupts-your-face-opening-reception/
CATEGORIES:Events,Exhibitions
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sscartcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_6527-1-scaled-e1680122640199.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230506T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230506T160000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230427T175015Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230427T175835Z
UID:9644-1683381600-1683388800@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:BLACK SPACE: Architectural Historiographies & Spatial Landscapes
DESCRIPTION:Artists Andres L. Hernandez\, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Roland Knowlden discuss the intersections of space\, architecture\, and Blackness with SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara. \n  \n \n  \nArtists and spacial griots Andres L. Hernandez\, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Roland Knowlden invite you to consider how socio-economic and geographic oppressions impact the way we see (or don’t see) our environments\, in a conversation with SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara.\n  \nHernandez uncovers embedded histories and systems of power within built and speculative landscapes to imagine these spaces otherwise. Social justice artist Lewis Johnson advocates for urban communities by documenting the disparities among Chicago residents who live on opposite ends of the same streets across the city’s racial and economic divides. Knowlden critically deconstructs the elements of our urban fabric and its architectural histories to reassemble them as cartographic abstractions and imagined landscapes. Gwendolyn Brooks\, a brilliant author\, poet\, and life-long resident of the historic neighborhood of Bronzeville\, becomes the Mecca of these stories as this exhibition interrogates dilapidation\, buried histories\, and what it could mean to be Black in space.\n  \nThemes in the exhibition reference and/or explore the following: Urban planning\, socio-economics\, equity\, Mecca Flats\, Psycho-geography: The impact that our physical space has on us\, segregation\, Gwendolyn Brooks\, June Jordan\, Chicago architecture\, poetics of black spaces/environments\, artists David Hammons and Jack Whitten.\n  \nThis exhibition was organized and curated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager Lola Ayisha Ogbara.\n  \n*Complimentary coffee and cake will be provided during the program.\n  \n\n \n\n\nAndres L. Hernandez. Benign Neglect. Installation view. 2014. Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts\, University of Chicago\, Chicago\, IL.\n\n  \n \n\n\n\nTonika Lewis Johnson is a photographer\, social justice artist and life-long resident of Chicago’s South Side Englewood neighborhood. Her art explores urban segregation and celebrates the nuanced richness of the Black community\, countering media depictions of Chicago’s violence. Tonika’s work reveals injustices and inequalities\, past and present\, evidenced in the built environment and enshrined in real estate and land use practices\, including historic preservation. Her Folded Map Project™ brings residents who live at similar addresses but miles apart on Chicago’s racially segregated South and North sides together in conversation about the city’s racial and economic divides. The Folded Map Project™ questions how everyone is socially impacted by racial and institutional conditions segregating the city and challenges viewers to contribute to a solution.\n  \nTonika was selected as the National Public Housing Museum’s 2021 Artist as Instigator to expand her investigation through “Inequity for Sale\,” a project highlighting the living history and legacy of greater Englewood homes sold through Land Sale Contracts in the 1950s and 1960s\, which led to the unscrupulous loss of people’s homes and equity preventing the generational transfer and building of Black wealth. Tonika’s artistic contributions have gained citywide recognition in the last seven years\, including being named a 2017 Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine\, being exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art\, the Rootwork Gallery in Pilsen\, the Chicago Cultural Center\, the Harold Washington Library Center and at Loyola University’s Museum of Art. She is a 2019 Field Foundation “Leader for a New Chicago” and a Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Cultural Advisory Council member. In 2022\, Landmark Illinois’ named her one of their Influencers for her “Inequity For Sale.”\n  \nTonika is the co-founder of the Englewood Arts Collective and Resident Association of Greater Englewood\, and she now serves as the Creative Executive Officer of the Folded Map Project™ nonprofit organization.\n  \nhttps://www.tonijphotography.com/\n\n\n  \n\n\n\nAndres L. Hernandez is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary practitioner. Initially trained as an architect\, he has previously worked within architectural offices\, community organizations\, public schools\, museums\, and other institutional contexts.\n  \nHernandez’ projects include commissions for the University of Arizona School of Art; 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale; and Pulitzer Arts Foundation and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. With Dark Adaptive\, he co-developed performances for The Drawing Center; MoMA; Sharjah Biennial; and Performa. Hernandez held artist residencies with MCA Chicago; University of Arizona; Chicago DCASE; and University of Chicago. He participated on design teams for the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial\, and the Museum of the Obama Presidential Center. His awards include the Efroymson Family Fund Contemporary Arts Fellowship\, and the 3Arts Award in Visual Arts.\nHernandez is currently an Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.\n  \n“My work draws forward the latent potential of words\, spaces\, sounds\, and movement to elicit liberatory ways of being. I explore the embedded attitudes\, histories\, policies\, and systems of power within and beyond our world(s) as a method of imagining and existing otherwise. I site my practice at the intersection of the social and the spatial. I consider the symbiotic\, yet\, fraught relationships between built and natural environments and their inhabitants\, and speculate alternative pasts\, presents\, and futures for all. My work takes many forms\, including collaborative and socially-engaged works\, as well as independent\, studio-based practices. Drawing\, installation\, and writing are my preferred media\, alongside sound and performance”.\n  \nhttps://andreslhernandez.com/\n\n  \n \n\n\n\n\n\nRoland Knowlden is a Liberian American interdisciplinary artist and architectural designer from New Jersey\, currently based in Chicago\, IL. Knowlden’s architectural background has cultivated his ongoing interest in constructed landscapes\, city planning\, and the cultural and social implications of racialized spatial mapping. Working across painting and drawing\, Knowlden’s approach to abstract and experimental mapping articulates a visual language which makes visible the tensions wrought by erasure\, displacement\, and palimpsest.\n  \nInterrogating notions of origin\, belonging\, boundaries\, and power\, Knowlden’s critical cartography aims to not only reproduce existing environmental experiences and affects\, but to propose new spatial realities. With each new configuration and composition\, Knowlden furthers his practice of imagining otherwise.\n  \nhttps://rolandknowlden.com/
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/black-space-architectural-historiographies-spatial-landscapes/
CATEGORIES:Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sscartcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-25-at-3.23.00-PM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230513T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230513T160000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230505T201441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230505T203800Z
UID:9653-1683982800-1683993600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Mapping Black Archives: A Collage Workshop with Alexandra Antoine
DESCRIPTION:An invitation to explore Black archives through collage using maps\, magazines\, ephemera\, and images of Black women to make a “marker”.\n  \n \n\n\nThe South Side Community Art Center\, in collaboration with Mural Arts presents Mapping Black Archives\, a collage workshop hosted by Alexandra Antoine\, with Andrea Yarbrough. This is an invitation to explore Black archives through collage using maps\, magazines\, ephemera\, and photos of black women as source material. The final works will be markers\, honoring Black women cultural workers. Each marker is reserved space in Yarbrough’s forthcoming installation\, Collective Steps\, an homage to the scores of Black women committed to sustaining the South Side Community Arts Center.\n  \nAll materials will be supplied\, however participants are welcome to bring personal ephemera to be included. This event is open to all ages\, and is intended as a moment of connection so partners (mother/daughter\, sisters\, friends\, etc.) are encouraged to attend together.\n  \nPlease keep the following in mind ahead of your attendance:\n\nYou are encouraged to bring your own images/ephemera/materials (no paint)\n\nImages/materials for participants to use will be available\n\nPartners encouraged (mother/daughter\, sisters\, friend\, etc.)\n  \n  \n  \n \n  \n  \n\n\nAlexandra Antoine is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural apprentice based in Chicago\, IL.\n  \nHer work acknowledges the influences of her Haitian culture and interest in portraiture\, food\, farming and traditional artistic practices of the African diaspora. She received her BFA in Fine Arts and Arts Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.\n  \n“My works are pathways for the stories\, memories and traditional practices of my ancestors and elders. I reflect on memories of communal experiences with my loved ones\, the oral histories shared within these spaces\, the native language of my people and its use in sustaining my connection to land and spirit…”\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAndrea Yarbrough\, SSCAC’s 2nd Artist Catalyst Awardee\, is a multi-disciplinary maker\, curator\, and educator based on the South Side of Chicago nurturing sites of care through a blend of urban agriculture\, civic engagement\, and art praxis. Her praxis is embodied through the collaborative placekeeping initiative in ℅: Black women (in care of Black women)\, bringing together writers\, curators\, farmers\, mamas\, dancers\, organizers\, teachers\, cultural producers\, youth\, and visual artists\, to collectively exhume the (in)visibility of care for Black women.\n\nAndrea’s process transforms quotidian materials\, slated for waste streams\, into designed and utilitarian objects that serve as community resources\, and incorporates the impact of solidarity and circular economies at the material\, individual\, and communal scales. By constructing functionally designed objects\, cultivating land\, archiving and documenting histories of Black women\, and curating exhibitions and public programs\, her socially-engaged practice exemplifies how communities can reclaim and reconstruct their surroundings while navigating agency and ownership over underutilized space.\n  \n“As an Artist Catalyst recipient\, my learning and collaborative work will further explore Black women’s histories connected to artistic practices\, movements\, and art objects in service to our grander communities. I am committed to cultivating a world in which art engenders new forms of care and truly impacts our social and political sensibilities. I believe that the Artist Catalyst Program will aid me on my path as I seek to expand the histories and engagement of art within the city of Chicago and beyond as an educator\, curator\, and artist. My urgency to work with others to re-imagine social praxis art with art and cultural institutions has reached a critical point\, and now is the time to merge my work and worldview with this passion. I firmly believe that my time as an Artist Catalyst recipient will generate new schemes of reparations and reconciliation\, centering Black women in urban environments\, and produce enduring engagements\, rewriting the narratives of our future.”\n\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/mapping-black-archives-a-collage-workshop-with-alexandra-antoine/
CATEGORIES:Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230616T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230616T210000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230615T202000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230616T203940Z
UID:9822-1686938400-1686949200@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:BRONZEVILLE TROLLEY TOUR NIGHT!
DESCRIPTION:Please join us  for the 3rd Friday of the month for the Bronzeville Art District (BAD) Trolley Tour 2023!\n\nBronzeville Art District is Celebrating 17 years\, Every 3rd Friday between June and September take a ride on the Double-Decker Bus for fine art and entertainment in Bronzeville!\n\nRide the Double-Decker bus that will take you to the 5 participating art galleries and art institutions in Bronzeville. Featuring some of the best fine art and entertainment in the city of Chicago. Free and Fun for the entire family! Please share with your art friends and family.\n\n2023 Summer Tour Schedule and participating Bronzeville locations:\n\nJune 16\, July 21\, August 18\, September 15\, 6 pm to 9pm\n\nYou can visit any of the galleries\, art institutions or studios and experience the amazing art and entertainment!\n\nBlanc Gallery\nBronzeville Artist Lofts\nGallery Guichard\nFaie Afrikan Art\nSouth Side Community Art Center\n\n\n\n\n\nSponsored by:\n  \nUniversity of Illinois Cancer Center\nGift of Hope\nBlue Cross Blue Shield\nCIBC Bank\nBuilding Community Foundation\nBronzeville Art District
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/bronzeville-trolly-tour-night/
CATEGORIES:Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sscartcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_9269-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230617T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230617T160000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230615T212947Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230616T203907Z
UID:9832-1687003200-1687017600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:3831 JUNETEENTH!
DESCRIPTION:SSCAC is thrilled to host artists Eric Von Haynes and Angela Davis Fegan for an on site letterpress print activation\, artist Andrea Yarbrough for a viewing of her PACE Mural Arts outdoor installation commission\, and John Pendelton of Planks and Pistils!\n\n\n  \n \n\n\nParticipants at our Juneteenth program will be able to print letterpress broadsides with Eric Von Haynes and Angela Davis Fegan\, using a showcard table top press and moveable wood type. Join us to pull a print of your very own to take home in celebration of the intersecting struggles for Black and Queer liberation in honor of Pride month and Juneteenth.\n  \nA slogan will be written and specially designed by artist Angela Davis Fegan in advance and will include a blank space for attendees to add what liberation looks like for them! We will have an array of brightly colored papers to choose from and will hang prints to dry along the front fence of our building to activate the space and entice potential participants.\n  \nArtist Andrea Yarbrough’s forthcoming installation\, Collective Steps is an homage to the scores of Black women committed to sustaining the South Side Community Arts Center. Centered on mapping the stories of understudied Black women\, Yarbrough’s approach has been focused on Fern Gayden\, who was a leader\, writer\, and organizer. A founding member of the South Side Writers Group in the 1930s\, Fern Gayden’s long and diverse career included leadership roles in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the South Side Community Art Center.\n\n  \n  \n \nAndrea Yarbrough\, SSCAC’s 2nd Artist Catalyst Awardee\, is a multi-disciplinary maker\, curator\, and educator based on the South Side of Chicago nurturing sites of care through a blend of urban agriculture\, civic engagement\, and art praxis. Her praxis is embodied through the collaborative placekeeping initiative in ℅: Black women (in care of Black women)\, bringing together writers\, curators\, farmers\, mamas\, dancers\, organizers\, teachers\, cultural producers\, youth\, and visual artists\, to collectively exhume the (in)visibility of care for Black women. Andrea’s process transforms quotidian materials\, slated for waste streams\, into designed and utilitarian objects that serve as community resources\, and incorporates the impact of solidarity and circular economies at the material\, individual\, and communal scales. By constructing functionally designed objects\, cultivating land\, archiving and documenting histories of Black women\, and curating exhibitions and public programs\, her socially-engaged practice exemplifies how communities can reclaim and reconstruct their surroundings while navigating agency and ownership over underutilized space.\n  \nAndrea’s commission is supported by the Public Art & Civic Engagement Capacity Building Initiative\, granted to the South Side Community Art Center from Mural Arts Institute\, a program of Mural Arts Philadelphia.\n  \n  \n \nAngela Davis Fegan (she/they) is a native of Chicago’s South Side. She received her BFA in Fine Arts from New York’s Parsons School of Design and her MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Angela has mounted shows at Galerie F\, Chicago Artists’ Coalition\, the DePaul Art Museum\, The Center for Book Arts (NY)\, the University of Chicago’s Arts Incubator and Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality\, the Hyde Park Art Center\, SAIC’s Sullivan Galleries\, Columbia’s Glass Curtain Gallery\, SPACES (OH) and Revolve (AVL).\n  \nShe has held residencies at the Chicago Artists’ Coalition\, F4F\, Connecticut College\, the Hambidge Center (GA)\, Revolve (NC)\, and Project Row House (TX). Her work has been selected for book covers including The Truth About Dolls by Jamila Woods\, Secondhand by Maya Marshall\, and All Blue So Late by Laura Swearingen-Steadwell. Her lavender menace poster project has been written up by The Offing (LA Review of Books)\, Hyperallergic\, Chicago Magazine\, the RedEye\, Go Magazine\, Pop Sugar\, the Chicago Reader\, and Newcity.\n  \n\n  \n\n\nEric Von Haynes (he/him) is a multifaceted creative who merges traditional and modern printing methods and aesthetics in his work. While design and printmaking are Eric’s passions\, he is energized by collaborations and the ideas and challenges that come from working within the community.\n  \nIn 2007\, he established Flatlands Press\, a platform that produces art objects and printed ephemera such as artist books and periodicals\, providing artists worldwide with opportunities to exchange ideas and spark conversations. Eric is currently serving as the President of the Chicago Printers Guild\, an Artist in Residence at the Chicago Art Department\, and a Co-founder and core organizer with the Love Fridge Network\, a mutual aid group that promotes food sovereignty and community care.\n\n  \n\n \nJohn Pendleton\, founder of Planks and Pistils. Planks & Pistils exists to design high quality floral art that evokes a social and emotional connection to Black freedom\, creativity\, self-care and growth.\n  \nOriginally from Grove Hill\, Alabama\, John’s love for woodworking and flowers began with his parents. “Planks” honoring his woodworker father who he shadowed in the wood shop and “Pistils” (female reproductive organ of the flower) honoring his mother whose orange rose bush he watered.\n  \nAn overachiever and lover of excellence all throughout childhood\, he didn’t consider artistic expression as a vital part of his life until after he got married and began arranging flowers for his wife. What started as a hobby has become a honed skill which has led him to be the the founder and creative director of Planks & Pistils design studio. John’s floral design work has been in Munaluchi Bridal Magazine and he was included in “125 Florists To Be Celebrated in 2022” by Florists’ Review Magazine.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/3831-juneteenth/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230707T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230707T200000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230706T202751Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230706T202915Z
UID:9849-1688749200-1688760000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Black Light Cinema Project and Homecoming: Black Craft & Design in Chicago
DESCRIPTION:Join us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our summer exhibitions!\n  \n \n  \nIn a world rich with diverse cultures and histories\, the concept of belonging and homeplace holds profound significance. Within the tapestry of human experiences\, one thread stands out with resilience\, creativity\, and an indomitable spirit – the Black cinematic experience. SSCAC is debuting the ‘Black Light Cinema Project’ to explore the intricate interconnectedness of Black life through new media and film. This inaugural iteration explores themes of belonging\, homeplace\, and identity\, while celebrating the vibrancy of our urban landscapes\, partnered alongside our 2nd floor Cortor gallery exhibition ‘Homecoming: Black Craft & Design in Chicago’.\nAt its core\, ‘Black Light Cinema Project’ seeks to dismantle conventional notions of homeplace and embrace a more nuanced understanding through the exhibiting of the underrepresented medium of film in art space. We invite visitors to venture beyond the physical spaces we call home\, encouraging them to delve into the emotional\, spiritual\, and ancestral landscapes that define our sense of belonging. Through ongoing screenings of film shorts\, we offer a multifaceted exploration of the Black experience\, revealing the complex interplay of history\, memory\, and identity.\n  \nFeatured Artists: Jada Amina \, zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal\, Cameron Granger \, Paige Taul\, and cai thomas\n  \nThis exhibition is curated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara.\n  \n \nCameron Granger. Heavy as Heaven. 2022\, 11 mins\, 3-channel\, Sound\, Digital file. \n\n  \n‘Homecoming: Black Craft & Design’ in Chicago utilizes the varying practices of several Black craft artists in Chicago working in the mid to late 20th century and pairs their work with historical archival materials from the socio-political movements in the city during the Black Arts Movement\, of the 60’s and 70’s.\nChicago is internationally known as a diverse cultural landscape that is rooted in segregation and discrimination\, but this exhibition aims to explore how studio craft artists are using their practices and connections to spaces like the South Side Community Art Center to explore these themes. This exhibition seeks to present the complex multivalent histories of Black artists with varying connections to the South Side Community Art Center during its early years in the mid-twentieth century. These artists all in some way play with the performative presentations of body and self through creating ambiguous figures or forms. These artists have explored complex themes of Black cultural representation\, concepts around object functionality and performativity\, issues in presentation of self through objects\, and methods of socio-cultural identity making through creative expression.\nThe exhibition will present the biographical backgrounds of the artists included while exploring how they technically executed their works (both professionally and personally)\, as well as reflecting on the conceptual subjects that fueled their practices.\n  \nFeatured Artists: Elizabeth Catlett\, Irene Clark\, Bobbe Cotton\, Jeremiah Drake\, Espi Eph\, Clinton Foreman\, Eselean Henderson\, William McBride\, Geraldine McCullough\, El Roi Parker\, Marva Jolly Pitchford\, Allen Stringfellow\, Teresa Staats\, and Bill Walker.\n  \nThis exhibition is curated by SSCAC Archives and Collections Manager LaMar Gayles Jr.\n  \n  \n \nWilliam McBride. Balancers. Oil on canvas. 1945
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/black-light-cinema-project-and-homecoming-black-craft-design-in-chicago/
CATEGORIES:Events,Exhibitions
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230708T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230708T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033823
CREATED:20230706T204039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230706T204148Z
UID:9857-1688824800-1688828400@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:The New School: QTPOC Pathways
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a panel discussion navigating the shift in the representation of Black gay/queer/trans/non-binary identities in Chicago from the 1980s to today.\n  \n \n\n  \nIn the 80s\, the heat of bodies could be felt throughout downtown Chicago from the clubs to the streets. Passersby called out to each other and occasionally locked eyes holding a knowing sultry gaze. Black men of all ages\, fluid in their sexual preferences\, crowded the South Loop bars and warehouse raves. As the photographer Patric McCoy moved through the streets and crowded venues\, he candidly captured Black men the way they wished to be seen in their spectrum of identities\, countering mass media narratives. These photographs\, now on view at Wrightwood 659 in Patric McCoy: Take My Picture\, document an essential view of an underground culture that has since grown and transformed over the past 40 years.\n\nModerated by Patric McCoy\, “The New School: QTPOC Pathways” features contemporary voices from the arts community\, including Jared Brown\, an interdisciplinary artist who uses fragments of Black subcultures to investigate the history and the digital space; LaMar Gayles\, an archaeologist and curator with a special focus on the work of artist Berry Horton and the Black queer arts communities in Chicago; and Najee-Zaid Searcy\, an educator and artist who employs strategies of collaboration and organizing to create safe QTPOC spaces.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERS\n  \n \nNajee-Zaid Searcy (any pronouns with respect) is an interdisciplinary artist rooted in Chicago\, IL\, originally home to the Council of Three Fires. Najee-Zaid designs\, sustains\, and transitions spaces for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC beings through performance art\, facilitation\, respite\, and music. Najee-Zaid is a co-founder of the Queering the Parks Initiative (Chicago Park District) and the Otherhood Collective. They debuted their EP and performance artwork both titled “Immersion” at the Elastic Arts Foundation in 2022 and will further showcase their project through the 2023/2024 season.\n\nLearn more at najeezaidsearcy.com\n  \n  \n \nLaMar R. Gayles Jr. (a native son of the South Side of Chicago) is an archaeologist\, independent curator\, material culture scholar\, and technical art historian. He is currently enrolled in the PhD program in Art Conservation and Preservation Studies at the University of Delaware. Gayles is a 2021 graduate from the University of Illinois Chicago’s Museum and Exhibition Studies (MUSE) masters program and a 2019 BA (Cum Laude) graduate from St. Olaf College with a triple major in Art History\, Ethnic Studies\, and Ethno-Aesthetics & Archaeological Materiality. He has researched and curated exhibitions on Black American material culture and its historical progressions from the seventeenth century to the twenty-first century.\n\nOne of Gayles’s most recent exhibitions was the 2021 exhibition Divine Legacies in Black Jewelry at the National Museum of Ornamental Metals. Gayles’s most recent curatorial project was the 2022 Terra Foundation of American Art funded co-curated exhibition Emergence: Intersections at the Center which explored the trajectories and complex interwoven legacies of the South Side Community Art Center and Chicago LGBTQ+ communities. Gayles’s personal research methodology combines archaeometry\, arts-based research\, conservation science\, art historical analysis\, ethnography\, historical reproduction\, and technical studies to explore material and visual culture.\n  \n \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nJared Brown is an interdisciplinary artist born in Chicago. In past work\, Jared broadcasted audio and text-based work through the radio (CENTRAL AIR RADIO\, 88.5 FM)\, in live DJ sets\, and on social media. They consider themselves a data thief\, understanding this role from John Akomfrah’s description of the data thief as a figure that does not belong to the past or present. As a data thief\, Jared Brown makes archeological digs for fragments of Black American subculture\, history\, and technology. Jared repurposes these fragments in audio\, text\, and video to investigate the relationship between history and digital\, immaterial space. Jared Brown holds a BFA in video from the Maryland Institute College of Art and moved back to Chicago in 2016 in order to make and share work that directly relates to their personal history.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/the-new-school-qtpoc-pathways/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230710T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230710T153000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20231003T185613Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240925T170742Z
UID:9949-1688990400-1689003000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:All of Living is Risk | Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:  \nJoin us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our fall/winter exhibitions alongside curators Rikki Byrd\, and Gervais Marsh\, with artist Cory Perry! \n  \n  \n \n  \n  \nAll of Living is Risk (2nd floor Cortor Gallery) brings together works by Cory Perry (b. 1989\, Fayetteville\, Arkansas) and Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum (b. 1990\, Boston). Drawing on Afrodiasporic textile practices of quilting and weaving\, respectively\, Perry and Ekwelum explore the juxtaposition of Black queer grief\, joy\, and belonging. Combining second-hand textiles and deconstructed clothing objects given to them by Black queer people whose voices have been underrepresented across the South – and specifically in their hometown of Fayetteville\, Arkansas – Perry pays homage to the region’s traditions of quilting. Strung along and suspended from string\, Perry’s installation recalls a clothesline. They critically engage quotidian and gendered gestures of homemaking to reflect on the ways that queer people in the South build relationships and foster collectivity\, despite the ruptures and ephemerality of these spaces caused by harmful societal reactions attempting to stifle their existence.\n\n  \n \nImage courtesy of artist Cory Perry. 2023. \n\nEkwelum creates grief cloths using a West African upright loom inspired by Nigerian “abata” cloths\, which are used to honor the dead during funerals. The artist extends the intent of these cloths as an archive of feeling to consider his life as a Black queer American-born\, Nigerian person. Combining weaving\, sculpture\, and installation\, found and purchased art materials\, Ekwelum’s practice puts pressure on and blurs the antiquated delineation between craft and fine art. Central to his artistic materials is a plastic lacing known as “gimp.” Often considered a tool for creative experimentation for children\, the artist uses it to represent his “inner child work.” In this exhibition and others\, Ekwelum “moves according to feeling\,” sculpting each cloth in response to gallery architecture\, exhibition themes\, and history of location. Perry and Ekwelum engage textiles and found objects as conduits for histories imbued with personal memories\, delving into the interiority of Black queer life. They meditate on what cannot be immediately “seen” or “known”\, and imagine possibilities for healing while creating spaces for living through joy and collective care.\n  \n \nImage courtesy of Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum. 2023. \n\n\nVisitors are invited to gently move their bodies through Perry’s installation and closely observe Ekwelum’s cloths\, inspiring the beauty of wonderment. Please honor their practices while being respectful and careful with their work. This exhibition is titled after scholar Kevin Quashie’s reflection in his essay “Queer. Caribbean. Miami. Boy: A Personal Geography”: “The truth is\, all of living is risk\, sometimes more so because of one’s age\, gender\, race\, but all of living is deep risk.”\n  \nIt is organized by independent curators Gervais Marsh and Rikki Byrd with support by the South Side Community Art Center\, Art Noir Jar of Love Fund\, and the Black Arts Consortium at Northwestern University.\n  \n \n  \nCory D. Perry (b. 1989\, Arkansas) is a multimedia quilting and performance folk artist based in Chicago\, IL. My art practice and research investigate the possibilities of what queering Black spiritual space can and could be through textiles\, images\, beads\, and various materials. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arkansas School of Art and attended the Post-baccalaureate program in Sculpture and Museum Research at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi\, Ghana. Perry received their Master’s degree of Fine Arts and graduate certificate of Black Studies from Northwestern University. Perry is a recipient of the 2019 Windgate-Lamar Fellowship and the 2022 Sexualities Project at Northwestern University Award. In 2019 they were an honorary international artist for Chale Wote Performance Art Festival in Accra\, Ghana. Most recently\, they were a participant artist for the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival\, where they created and performed “Queer Black Sunshine” a meditative protest on the National Mall in Washington\, DC.\n“My art practice and research investigates ways to expand the possibilities of what Black queer space can and could be through textiles\, images\, beads\, and various materials. For me\, “to be Black and queer” is the potentiality of another world through self-identifying and self-actualizing gestures. I’m interested in what the materials can tell us through their palimpsest beauty. By layering various translucent textiles and allowing collaged fabrics to shift in composition from different perspectives\, windows are created for the seen and unseen. Black queer space is always in a state of flux\, and I want to explore that in my work.”\n  \n  \n \nRikki Byrd is a writer\, educator and curator who works across the academy\, arts and fashion industries. She has participated in curatorial projects with the Block Museum of Art\, SkyART\, and most recently curated the fashion presentations in the traveling exhibition The Culture: Hip Hop & Contemporary Art in the 21st Century\, co-organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art and Saint Louis Art Museum. Her research focuses on Black aesthetic practices including fashion\, performance\, and contemporary art\, and she has lectured at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis\, where she created new courses on fashion and race. Her writing appears across exhibition catalogs\, academic journals\, books\, and arts and fashion media such as Hyperallergic\, Cultured and Teen Vogue.\nShe is the co-founder and editor of the Fashion and Race Syllabus\, founder of Black Fashion Archive\, and an editorial advisory board member for Bloomsbury Fashion Publishing. Rikki is currently completing her PhD in the Department of Black Studies at Northwestern University. Her work has been supported by fellowships from the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation\, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation\, and the Presidential Fellowship at Northwestern University.\n  \n \n  \nGervais Marsh is a writer\, curator and scholar whose work is deeply invested in Black life\, concepts of relationality and care. They received a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and are currently a Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow with the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. Their writing\, artistic and curatorial work is rooted in Transnational Black feminisms\, with recent curatorial projects including To be pained is to have lived through feeling with Canada NYC and Rupture: Interventions of Possibility with Art at a Time Like This. Their writing has been published in several books and exhibition catalogs including Denzil Hurley (monograph)\, Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art\, Forgotten Lands Vol. 5\, KMAC Museum Triennial (2022)\, as well as online art publications such as Hyperallergic\, C Magazine\, Brooklyn Rail\, ARTS.BLACK\, Musée Magazine\, and PREE: Caribbean Writing\, among others. They have received fellowships and curatorial support from the Jamaica Art Society\, Terra Foundation for American Art\, VisArts Center\, The Gay and Lesbian Review\, Northwestern University\, and Independent Curators International.\nThey have taught undergraduate/graduate courses focused on Black Feminist theory\, praxis and performance\, and Black queer studies. They are an editor with Ruckus Journal and research interests include Black Studies\, Art history\, Caribbean Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. They grew up in Kingston\, Jamaica\, a home that continues to shape their understanding of self and relationship to the world.\n\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/9949/
CATEGORIES:Events,Exhibitions
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230715T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230715T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230706T205240Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230708T161354Z
UID:9866-1689426000-1689433200@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Before I Let Go: Film Screening & Discussion
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a special film screening hosted by filmmaker Cameron Granger\, with guest filmmakers cai thomas and Bobby T. Luck. \n  \n \n  \nWe invite you to join us for a special screening of Cameron Granger’s film Before I Let Go\, created during his residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 2022\, alongside Change The Name (2021) by cai thomas\, and Was It Your Trigger Finger (2023) by Bobby T. Luck. A short Q&A session will follow the screening.\nBefore I Let Go is the latest film from artist Cameron Granger. Set in the fictional town of Bad City\, 5 years after a giant monster attack leveled the city’s east side neighborhood\, the film follows a documentary filmmaker’s experience covering the community’s recovery efforts.\n  \nThe Before I Let Go Summer Tour is a series of free screenings at several community and artist-run spaces across the midwest and east coast. Each screening is free and features two filmmakers from or making work in each specific venue.\nEach stop on the tour is self funded. If you would like to support the programmers of the tour you can do so here. Your donation will go towards travel\, guest filmmaker stipends\, and each hosting venue.\n  \nYou can read more about the tour\, and see what other venues they’ll be stopping at here.\n  \n \n\nCameron A. Granger is Sandra’s son & came up in Cleveland\, Ohio. Inspired by the rigorous archival & homemaking practices of his grandmother\, Pearl\, Granger uses his work as a means to quilt his communal and familial histories\, into new\, not just potential\, but inevitable futures. He’s an alumni of Euclid public schools\, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture\, and the Studio Museum in Harlem AIR program.\n\n  \n \ncai thomas is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Chicago telling stories at the intersection of location\, self determination\, and identity about Black youth and elders She grew up in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood and is deeply interested in stories rooted in place. Her film Change The Name which follows young activists organizing in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast on BET. Her previous film Queenie about a Black lesbian elder in Brooklyn’s Bed Stuy neighborhood premiered at NewFest in 2020 winning the NY Short Grand Jury award and is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. cai recently completed Beneath The Surface which documents data scientist and journalist Trina Reynolds Tyler investigation into gender based violence at the hands of the Chicago Police Department and is digitally distributed by PBS’ Independent Lens. cai is a proud NeXt Doc Fellow.\n  \nAn intimate portrayal of Black youth organizing on the west side of Chicago\, ‘Change The Name ‘follows a group of 5th graders from Village Leadership Academy as they embark on a campaign to rename Stephen A. Douglas Park after freedom fighters Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass. Over the course of the three-year grassroots campaign the students tackle bureaucratic Chicago Park District systems\, underestimations of their capacity to make real change as well as a pandemic and global uprising.\n  \n \n\n\n\n\nBobby T. Luck is a visual artist and education activist based in Chicago\, IL who works in film\, multimedia collage\, sculpture\, and installation. After relocating to Columbus from Philadelphia he jump-started the Free Skool for Humans initiative\, co-founded MINT Collective\, and taught collage and film theory workshops across the country. Luck now works as Program Director for Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center.\n  \nWhere do your values begin and your influences end? Who told you you weren’t safe? Did you believe them? We have been trained since childhood via pop culture government intervention to pull the trigger for a country that had us constantly in its sites. Prison bed\, coffin\, or barracks?\n  \nOur protectors offer us an illusion of choice\, while the soft buzzy blue hands of the tv stroke and mold our foreheads\, assuring that our personal triggers were imported. ‘Was it Your Trigger Finger’ blurs the line between fact and fiction\, exploring how military propaganda in media has shaped our views of where our country’s traumas lie\, not within the home\, but with a foreign adversary.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/before-i-let-go-film-screening-discussion/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230812T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230812T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230809T023244Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230809T023244Z
UID:9890-1691845200-1691852400@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:PACE Artist Catalyst: A Closing Celebration
DESCRIPTION:Join us to celebrate PACE Artist Catalysts Cecil McDonald Jr. & Andrea Yarbrough.\n  \n \n  \n\n\nJoin us with artists Cecil McDonald Jr. & Andrea Yarbrough to celebrate their commissioned artworks as part of their PACE Artist Catalyst Award!\nA conversation will take place with the artists\, and Essence McDowell\, a communications strategist\, organizer and coauthor of two books\, including the recently released\, “Lifting As They Climbed: Mapping a History of Trailblazing Black Women in Chicago”. We’ll also have sounds from DJ Celeste Alexander and catering from Taylor’s Tacos !\n\n\n\n\n\nAndrea Yarbrough’s 2023 installation Collective Steps is an homage to the scores of Black women committed to sustaining the South Side Community Arts Center. Centered on mapping the stories of understudied Black women\, Yarbrough’s approach has been focused on Fern Gayden\, who was a leader\, writer\, and organizer. A founding member of the South Side Writers Group in the 1930s\, Fern Gayden’s long and diverse career included leadership roles in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the South Side Community Art Center.\n  \n \n\n  \n\nCecil McDonald’s 2022 installation Metropolis: A City In Black\, is a public viewing installation in the historic bay window of the venerable South Side Community Art Center. Over six months\, McDonald traversed the streets\, parks\, beaches\, porches\, and neighborhoods in and around Bronzeville. Photographing friends\, strangers\, and passersby from a mobile studio\, McDonald created both formal and candid portraits; the portraits\, collaged with moving abstract imagery\, create an odyssey of humanity infused with all the unique sensibility and tempo of black life in the metropolis.\n  \n\n \n\n\n\nAndrea and Cecil’s commission were supported by the Public Art & Civic Engagement Capacity Building Initiative\, granted to the South Side Community Art Center from Mural Arts Institute\, a program of Mural Arts Philadelphia.\n\n\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/pace-artist-catalyst-a-closing-celebration/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230818T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230818T210000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230818T231602Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230818T231927Z
UID:9897-1692381600-1692392400@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour with DJ Finding Ijeoma
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a night of dancing this Friday for our 3rd Bronzeville Art District (BAD) Trolley Tour of the summer\, with guest DJ Finding Ijeoma! She’ll be dj’ing alongside our current video works on view in the Burroughs gallery\, as part of ‘Black Light Cinema Project’!\n  \nAlexandria Eregbu is a creative anthropologist. Her practice spans across art\, music\, and poetry in order to consider objects\, stories\, and experiences that address justice and the humanities. As the founder of FINDING IJEOMA\, Alexandria uses her lifestyle and storytelling platform to realize meaningful forums that celebrate African-American experiences\, including— DJ sets\, exhibitions\, product design\, programs\, and intimate gatherings. Alexandria’s work has appeared on screen in Candyman (2021\, directed by Nia DaCosta)\, performing for musicians and festivals such as Sudan Archives and Englewood Music Fest\, on radio and television. Alexandria’s writing has been published by the University of Chicago Press\, Sixty Inches from Center\, Terremoto Magazine\, Candor Arts\, and Green Lantern Press. Alexandria is a 3Arts Teaching Artist recipient and current faculty at the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago.\n\nEvery 3rd Friday until September you can take a ride on the Double-Decker Bus for art and entertainment in the Bronzeville neighborhood! 2023 Summer Tour Schedule and participating Bronzeville locations include:\nBlanc Gallery\, Bronzeville Artist Lofts\, Gallery Guichard\, Faie Afrikan Art and South Side Community Art Center
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/9897/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230826T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230826T140000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230821T175542Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230821T175615Z
UID:9904-1693051200-1693058400@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Telling Your Story: Grant Writing Workshop for Artists
DESCRIPTION:Join us in a workshop with Lauren Woods for a partnership with ILA’s flagship program\, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals) Coaching Series.\n  \n \n  \nILA’s flagship program\, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals)\, is an ongoing effort to advance our mission of educating\, celebrating\, and elevating Black artists across Chicago. These monthly activations serve as an opportunity for working creatives to connect with subject matter experts in their area of interest. G-to-G coaching sessions are presented in a lecture/interactive format\, with ample opportunity for group discussions among teaching artists and attendees.\n  \nTelling Your Story: Grant Writing for Artists will be led by Lauren Woods of Chicago Community Trust. This workshop\, specially catered for Black artists\, and creative entrepreneurs will focus on effective strategies for grant writing methods. Participants will learn how to meaningfully communicate their arts practices\, missions\, values and artist statement as it relates to securing funding\, and additional purposes relevant to artists and creative entrepreneurs.\n  \nILA\, founded by Rachel Gadson\, believes in the power of Black artists and exists to inspire and promote their creative works. Through educational experiences\, empowering events\, and intentional programming\, we are creating a generational web of growth and expansion within the arts.\n  \n \nLauren M. Woods is a program manager for the Building Collective Power strategy at The Chicago Community Trust. In this role\, she is responsible for leading grant making initiatives that support local journalism\, media\, and civic storytelling in the Chicago region. Prior to joining the Trust\, Lauren managed the district-wide Service-Learning Initiative at Chicago Public Schools and directed the Midwest educational partnership strategy for an international nonprofit\, WE.\n\nAs an artist and fourth generation Chicagoan\, Lauren believes in the transformational power of narrative and storytelling to activate community and spark systems change.\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/telling-your-story-grant-writing-workshop-for-artists/
CATEGORIES:Events
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230909T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230909T140000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230906T210406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230906T210406Z
UID:9910-1694260800-1694268000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Telling Your Story: Grant Writing Workshop for Artists Part ll
DESCRIPTION:Join our second workshop with Lauren Woods for a partnership with ILA’s flagship program\, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals) Coaching Series! \n  \n \n  \nAfter the wealth of information exchanged in our first session of “Telling Your Story” workshop\, we invite you to join ILA\, SSCAC\, and Lauren Woods for an afternoon writing session\, specially catered to Black artists\, and creative entrepreneurs. Set time aside with us to work on your next grant application\, artist statement\, or mission/vision statement. We’re excited that Lauren shared an abundance of knowledge that can now be applied tactically in real-time. Join us for an afternoon of building and growing together.\n  \nILA’s flagship program\, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals)\, is an ongoing effort to advance our mission of educating\, celebrating\, and elevating Black artists across Chicago. These monthly activations serve as an opportunity for working creatives to connect with subject matter experts in their area of interest. G-to-G coaching sessions are presented in a lecture/interactive format\, with ample opportunity for group discussions among teaching artists and attendees.\n  \nILA\, founded by Rachel Gadson\, believes in the power of Black artists and exists to inspire and promote their creative works. Through educational experiences\, empowering events\, and intentional programming\, we are creating a generational web of growth and expansion within the arts.\n  \n \n\nLauren M. Woods is a program manager for the Building Collective Power strategy at The Chicago Community Trust. In this role\, she is responsible for leading grant making initiatives that support local journalism\, media\, and civic storytelling in the Chicago region. Prior to joining the Trust\, Lauren managed the district-wide Service-Learning Initiative at Chicago Public Schools and directed the Midwest educational partnership strategy for an international nonprofit\, WE.\n\nAs an artist and fourth generation Chicagoan\, Lauren believes in the transformational power of narrative and storytelling to activate community and spark systems change.\n  \n \n\nAs a young Black girl from the south side of Chicago\, my city and environment have always been cultural influences on my creative spirit. I thrive off of creative expression and connection\, and as an artist\, one of my biggest challenges in advancement became access and resources.\nAs I’ve learned to progress\, I now seek to be the connection with ILA as a trusted resource. Creating community through connection to help Black artists get the opportunities they deserve is the backbone of our impact.\n  \n-Rachel Gadson\, ILA Creative Studio Founder
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/telling-your-story-grant-writing-workshop-for-artists-part-ll/
CATEGORIES:Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230929T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230929T193000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230925T180642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230925T180642Z
UID:9916-1696010400-1696015800@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:3831 Activation | Friendship Meditation: A Rehearsal
DESCRIPTION:Join us for an evening of “rehearsal” with Anna Martine Whitehead and Damon Locks !\n  \nPresented with Chicago Architecture Biennale\, during Chicago Exhibition Weekend.\n  \n \n  \nLocks and Whitehead will activate the basis of their friendship — rehearsal. They think there is something to learn about relationships\, energy\, and faith from dreaming new worlds together.\n\nThey’ll share with you what they think\, and they’ll invite Nnaemeka Ekwelum into the conversation\, and then they’ll see what you make of all that. \n  \n \nImage courtesy of  DJ Schaller.\n  \nAnna Martine Whitehead is an artist\, performer\, educator\, and freedom dreamer from Virginia. She teaches with Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago\, and she makes work about black queer portals.\n\nImage courtesy of Ricardo Adame\n  \nDamon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist\, educator\, vocalist/musician. Since 2014 he has been working with the Prisons and Neighborhood Arts Project at Stateville Correctional Center teaching art. He is a recipient of the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Achievement Award in the Arts and the 2016 MAKER Grant. In 2019\, he became a 3Arts Awardee. He teaches in the Sound Department on improvisation at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Damon leads the Black Monument Ensemble and is a founding member of the band The Eternals.\n  \n  \nFeatured Image (Above)\, courtesy of William Frederking.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/3831-activation-friendship-meditation-a-rehearsal/
CATEGORIES:Events
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20231007T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20231007T153000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20230927T232147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231003T191905Z
UID:9925-1696680000-1696692600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Through a Lens of Beauty & Wonderment: Notes on Collaborative Friendship | Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:Join us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our fall/winter exhibition with curator and artist Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum! \n  \n\n \n  \n  \n  \n…Notes on Collaborative Friendship (First floor Burroughs Gallery) is the culmination of Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum’s doctoral research on friendship\, artistic collaboration\, and decolonial Black political thought. Through a series of intentional and creative partnerships between him and eight other US-based artists/scholars\, this project experiments with the rigor of collaborative friendship as a creative methodology in contemporary art making and knowledge production. It also affectively explores alternative ways to represent Black Studies scholarship within and beyond academic spaces of learning.  \n  \nCollaborative artist interventions in the exhibition include:  Lishan AZ\, Shenequa “SHENEQUA” Brooks\, Stephen Hamilton\, Noor Jones-Bey\, Mercy Emelike\, Carmen Neely\, and Cordelia Rizzo. \n  \n*Co-sponsored by Northwestern University’s Department of Black Studies. \n  \n  \n \n  \nNnaemeka (Emeka) C. Ekwelum is a transnational and multidisciplinary researcher\, educator\, and artist/curator from Boston\, MA. He currently lives in Chicago\, IL\, where he is a Ph.D. candidate in Black Studies (African American Studies) at Northwestern University. Emeka’s scholarly and creative interests converge at the intersection of history\, critical theory\, creative expression\, curatorial practice\, and political education. His dissertation project–“On Artistic Collaboration & Decolonial Black Political Thought”–examines the critical role(s) of beauty\, wonderment\, and friendship in contemporary and craft art collaborations between and amongst Black creatives. Prior to returning to graduate school\, Emeka held a professional career as an educator in his home state of Massachusetts\, formally and informally working with youth and adult learners across a range of cultural contexts in the Boston/Greater Boston Area. His teaching philosophy\, interpersonal values\, and political commitments are a reflection of his academic training in Comparative Ethnic Studies (Columbia University\, B.A.) and Arts in Education (Harvard University\, Ed.M.)\, drawing on theories of Black feminist and political thought to interrogate ideas of power\, privilege\, and personhood through art and artmaking.\n  \n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/through-a-lens-of-beauty-wonderment-notes-on-collaborative-friendship-all-of-living-is-risk-opening-receptions/
CATEGORIES:Events,Exhibitions
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20231104T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20231104T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20231101T220948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231101T222149Z
UID:9964-1699102800-1699110000@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Burroughs Legacy Day
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a family friendly afternoon of celebrating and learning more about the legacy and art practice of Dr. Burroughs!\n\n\n\n  \nWe’re excited to share this day viewing specially selected works by Dr. Burroughs from the SSCAC Archives and Collections Department\, as well as rotational screenings of interviews and talks featuring Dr. Burroughs\, and locally published print works and projects exploring her practice and legacy. Dr. Burroughs artwork coloring sheets will be available for a fun family activity!\n  \n \n  \nMargaret Taylor-Burroughs (November 1\, 1915 – November 21\, 2010)\, also known as Margaret Taylor Goss\, Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs or Margaret T G Burroughs; was an African-American artist and writer and a co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History. She also helped to establish the South Side Community Art Center\, where at the age of 23 Burroughs served as the youngest member of its board of directors. Dr. Burroughs was also prolific in her dedication to teaching creative writing and art at Stateville Prison for over 25 years paving the way and creating an inspirational example for what is now the  Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project.\n  \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShe was a prolific writer\, with her efforts directed toward the exploration of the Black experience and to children\, especially to their appreciation of their cultural identity and to their introduction and growing awareness of art. As an artist\, Burroughs worked in many mediums\, including sculpture and painting\, but she is most renowned as a printmaker. \n\nWorking primarily with linoleum block prints\, Burroughs crafted a lasting body of art that includes striking images of African American leaders\, history\, and ordinary life.
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/dr-burroughs-legacy-day/
CATEGORIES:Events
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20231118T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20231118T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T033824
CREATED:20231116T202438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231116T202604Z
UID:9974-1700312400-1700319600@sscartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Haus: An Introspective of House Music\, Architecture + Queer Culture at 3831
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a special roundtable talk on the iconographic and cultural reference to House as a ‘revolutionary Black Space’!\n  \nSouth Side Community Art Center is thrilled to host an informative and reflective roundtable panel\, discussing both the iconographic and cultural reference to House as a ‘revolutionary Black Space’.\n  \n \n  \nThis dynamic panel will be moderated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara\, featuring Boogie McClarin\, Antonio Robles Levine (BLESSTONIO)\, Duane Powell\, Frederick Dunson\, Meida Teresa McNeal\, and Skyla S. Hearn.\n  \nThe panel will explore central themes such as “The House” as a revolutionary Black space; Architecture (Bauhaus)\, House Music\, Queer Culture\, and South Side Community Art Center’s history in relation to such themes.\nExpanding upon Floating Museum’s Chicago Architectural Biennial’s theme for this year “This is a Rehearsal” framework\, this program intends to highlight how SSCAC\, or any other home/house or space in Chicago’s South Side\, has served as a place of rehearsal or refinement of craft during the height of house music.\n  \n \n\n\n\n\n\nTrail-blazing performer\, educator\, philosopher\, builder and guide\, Boogie McClarin explores movement and music for liberation\, transformation and celebration. Prolific\, award-winning\, and ubiquitous\, Boogie McClarin has been an integral force in Chicago’s arts and culture for two decades\, performing for a broad array of artists including: Chicago Dance Crash\, Chicago Shakespeare Theater\, Chip E\, Darryl Pandy\, Hieroglyphic Being\, Ni’ja Whitson\, Orisha Dance Chicago\, Kirby Reed\, Ron Trent\, Lisa Johnson Willingham\, Trio Mokili (featuring Makaya McCraven and Junious Paul) and Oveous. She has appearances in videos by Kafele Bandele\, Mr Greenweedz\, and most notably in the Terry Hunter remix of the House music anthem\, “In The Beginning There Was Jack” by Chuck Roberts ft Monique Bingham. A pioneer in dance education\, Boogie McClarin began to cultivate her unique curricula and pedagogy while teaching “Hip-Hop/Funk/House” in 1999 at The Old Town School of Folk Music (eventually becoming “Chicago House” and “Urban Social Dance” in 2007).\n  \nBoogie McClarin continues to lovingly share her approach to dance in Chicago\, nationally and internationally. She has produced shows\, workshops\, lectures and writing for classrooms\, universities\, theaters and public spaces.\nRecent projects include work with Free Street Theater (“50 in 50” and “Still/Here”)\, Forward Momentum\, and the Chicago House Music Festival.\n\n  \n \n\n\nAntonio Robles Levine (@Blesstonio) is a Chicago-based DJ\, classically trained musician\, event/music producer\, and dancer. Antonio is fascinated with club culture and has spent years studying and curating events in Chicago and Santa Barbara. His multicultural background lends him an attuned\, eclectic ear ready to sonically compel audiences and create electric and magnetic dance floor experiences. As a club dancer committed to fostering an inclusive\, dance-focused environment\, Antonio believes in the legacies of clubs and dance floors as brave spaces for “queerness\, blackness\, transgression\, community\, inclusivity\, freedom\, liberation\, inspiration\, and radical joy” (Honey Dijon)\, where dancers and DJs are equal\, active participants in protecting these sacred spaces of movement. Antonio was the co-founder and resident DJ of Fortune\, a party series that centered dance as liberation and holds a safe space for the TQLGB+\, Femme\, Non Binary\, BIPOC\, and disabled communities.\n  \nBLESSTONIO was nominated in the Chicago Reader’s 2022 “Best of List” for Best House Music DJ. Fortune won 2nd place in The Chicago Reader’s Best Dance Party category.\n  \nBLESSTONIO currently holds DJ residencies at Blind Barber\, The Charleston\, and AAJA Radio in London. He was an honorary guest DJ at the Frankie Knuckles Tribute two years in a row (Sept 2022 & Sept 2023) in partnership with The Chicago House Music Festival\, DCASE\, Rebuild Foundation\, and The Frankie Knuckles Foundation. He recently sat on The Museum of Contemporary Art panel in discussion with house music pioneer and The Warehouse founder\, Robert Williams. He has opened up for The Blessed Madonna\, Ron Trent\, and Ron Carrol.\n\n  \n \nDuane Powell‘s love for music started an early age growing up in the 1970’s being exposed to Chicago’s rich soul music scene.\n  \nAs a historian\, Powell created the interactive lecture series Rear View Mirror Sessions sharing his vast knowledge about the history of music legends at UChicago Arts\, Stanford University\, Detroit Institute Of Arts and Chicago Public Library. With his knowledge of the music industry\, Powell became a fixture on the global music scene and began speaking about his knowledge of the business on panels and workshops including The International Soul Summit (ATL)\, Urban Organic (Detroit)\, I Got Soul Conference (Dallas)\, Chicago Artist Resource and the Chicago Cultural Center.\n  \nAs a DJ\, Duane has spun at and held residencies at many of the most popular venues and galleries around the city including the House Of Blues\, Virgin Hotel\, Museum Of Contemporary Art and Navy Pier. In addition\, he has opened for many heavyweights in music including opening for Frankie Beverly & Maze at The Taste Of Chicago and has shared the bill with many legendary DJ’s and Grammy-winning producers in the dance music world including Joe Claussell\, DJ Spinna\, Steve “Silk” Hurley\, Maurice Joshua\, Josh Milan\, Timmy Regisford\, Ron Trent and more. In 2019\, he was named Chicago’s best House Music DJ by the Chicago. In 2022\, he was chosen to represent Chicago as a featured DJ for the hugely global Boiler Room TV.\n  \nIn 2022\, with his Sunday Service he opened the stage at The Chicago Gospel Fest and in 2023\, he was invited to bring Sunday Service to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in D.C.\n  \n\n \n\n\nFrederick Dunson is the Executive Director of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation.\nServing others and giving back to his community has always been important to Frederick Dunson. Born on Chicago’s West Side\, he attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help Grammar School\, St. Ignatius College Prep and Columbia College where he majored in Arts & Entertainment Management & Public Relations. He was employed at the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County for nearly 34 years. He received numerous commendations and acknowledgements for his public service and retired in December of 2014.\n  \nSince then he has continued his service work as Founder\, President & Executive Director of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation – NFP\, formed to honor famed Grammy Award winner Frankie Knuckles\, Frederick’s best friend and business partner to continue Frankie’s legacy through charitable endeavors. Dunson and Knuckles who were partners of their production company D/E Entertainment held some of the most highly anticipated and attended events for 13 years at some of the most renown and venerable venues here in the city of Chicago.\nFounded in December 2014\, the Frankie Knuckles Foundation – NFP is a not for profit educational\, and cultural organization dedicated to the advancement of Frankie Knuckles’ mission as the global ambassador of house music through media\, conservation and public events continuing and supporting the causes he advocated. The FKF is a recognized 501c3 and focused on these initiatives: music in schools\, LGBTQ youth homelessness\, AIDS research / prevention & diabetes research / education.\n  \nFrederick currently serves on the Board of the Empowerment Center for Better Living where he attends and is a member as well.\n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSkyla S. Hearn\, a proud Chicagoan by way of the Great Migration (Mississippi)\, is an information professional who is most concerned with supporting community efforts to further substantiate first-person-centered perspectives to strengthen their own documentation and to contribute to incomplete overarching records.\nAddressing efforts to establish personal\, community and cultural heritage archives\, Skyla founded ActivelyArchiving and works closely with creators on local\, national\, and international projects; and is a co-founder of The Blackivists.\n  \nInstitutional work includes inaugural Manager of Archives for Cook County Government under the Board President and Commissioners; Director of Archives and Special Collections for DuSable Museum of African American History; Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Museum and Exhibition Studies (MUSE) Graduate Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Skyla is currently the Lead Processing Archivist for the Johnson Publishing Company Archive at the Getty Research Institute.\n  \nTowards legacy building\, she proudly co-edited the zine publication Our Girl Tuesday: An Unfurling for Dr. Margaret T.G.Burroughs alongside Tempestt Hazel and Sarah Ross with an introduction by Mariame Kaba\, published by Sojourners for Justice Press.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\nMeida Teresa McNeal is Artistic and Managing Director of Honey Pot Performance. She received her PhD in Performance Studies (Northwestern) and her MFA in Choreography & Dance History (Ohio State). Awards include an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in New Performance Forms\, Field Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago\, 3Arts Award in Dance\, Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist\, and the Links’ Hall Co-Missions Fellowship.\n  \nAn Independent Artist and Scholar at the intersection of performance studies\, dance\, and critical ethnography\, Meida teaches at University of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Meida also works with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events’ Executive Administration team as the Senior Manager of Arts & Community Impact Investments building and implementing artist recovery programs and creative placemaking grantmaking initiatives. Prior to this role\, Meida worked with the Chicago Park District as Arts & Culture Manager supporting community arts partnerships\, youth arts\, cultural stewardship\, and civic engagement initiatives.\n 
URL:https://sscartcenter.org/event/haus-an-introspective-of-house-music-architecture-queer-culture-at-3831/
CATEGORIES:Events
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