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Artist Shanequa Gay’s Immersive Ode to West End Extended

THE BURTON WIRE — Artist Shanequa Gay’s immersive, site-specific exhibition LIT WITHOUT SHERMAN celebrates Atlanta’s historic West End neighborhood. Integrating a mix of mediums, the exhibit includes murals painted onto the museum walls, specially designed toile schema wallpaper, and interactive video vignettes which tell West End stories.  The exhibit has been so popular, with many patrons visiting several times, that it has been extended. LIT WITHOUT SHERMAN: A Love Letter To The West End will be on view through December 22, 2019 at Hammonds House Museum, 503 Peeples Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30310.  

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Artist: Shanequa Gay (Photo by: Hammonds House Museum)

By The Burton Wire

Atlanta, GA – Artist Shanequa Gay’s immersive, site-specific exhibition LIT WITHOUT SHERMAN celebrates Atlanta’s historic West End neighborhood. Integrating a mix of mediums, the exhibit includes murals painted onto the museum walls, specially designed toile schema wallpaper, and interactive video vignettes which tell West End stories.  The exhibit has been so popular, with many patrons visiting several times, that it has been extended. LIT WITHOUT SHERMAN: A Love Letter To The West End will be on view through December 22, 2019 at Hammonds House Museum, 503 Peeples Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30310.  

“This exhibit is a collaboration,” states Gay. “Not only do I express my personal affection and feelings about the West End, but I worked with members of the community to help tell their stories. The neighborhood has a rich history and its residents include activists, artists, politicians, scholars and people from all walks of life.”

“As an artist my goal is to create works that are public and exchange based, explore current social and ethical issues, and focus on the experiences of African-Ascendant bodies and communities,” explains Gay. “Decorum is my weapon of choice as it is a language that can speak through various mediums such as paints, prints, fabric, dinnerware, and wallpaper. Our first human introductions to the world begin in the home through the lessons of the ‘homemaker.’ Women are the mothers, nurturers and preeminent storytellers of our community. In my work I use the ‘homemakers aesthetic’ as a way of introducing new, old, or mythological narratives. I am very excited about working in collaboration with Hammonds House Museum to integrate community and art making in such an authentic way.”

“LIT WITHOUT SHERMAN has resonated with our community, as well visitors from around the world,” states Leatrice Ellzy, Executive Director of Hammonds House Museum. “From the scenes depicting a local couple on a date, the welcoming image of the owner of Soul Vegetarian, to the homage to W.E.B. DuBois and HBCU’s located here in the West End, there are so many wonderful stories being shared.”

Shanequa Gay is an Atlanta native who completed her AA in Graphic Design and Fashion Marketing from the Art Institute of Atlanta, a BA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), summa cum laude, and her MFA in Art History at Georgia State University.

Gay was one of 10 artists selected for OFF THE WALL, a Mural initiative led by WonderRoot and the Atlanta 2018 Super Bowl Host Committee. In 2013, Gay was chosen by The Congressional Club to be the illustrator for the First Lady’s Luncheon hostess gift for First Lady Michelle Obama. Gay’s work includes television and film features in Lionsgate’s Addicted, the BET series Being Mary Jane and Zoe Ever After, and Greenleaf on Oprah Winfrey’s network, OWN.

Gay’s work has been featured at venues including Art Basel Miami (2018) and Chastain Arts Center in Atlanta, GA (2019). For more information, visit shanequagay.com.

This post was curated by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.

Follow The Burton Wire on Instagram or Twitter @TheBurtonWire.

This article originally appeared in The Burton Wire.

Activism

Alternative Outcome to Slayings by Police Explored in One-Man Play

BLACK MEN EVERYWHERE! is the explosive new one man play written, directed, and performed by Jinho “Piper” Ferreira. Set against the backdrop of a presidential election, the play explores how political and cultural leaders wield the myth of the dangerous Black man to manipulate the masses for personal gain. Piper penned the follow-up to his ground-breaking solo play, “Cops and Robbers,” after an impromptu cross-country Black history tour. 

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BLACK MEN EVERYWHERE! is the explosive new one man play written, directed, and performed by Jinho “Piper” Ferreira.
BLACK MEN EVERYWHERE! is the explosive new one man play written, directed, and performed by Jinho “Piper” Ferreira.

Special to The Post

What would happen if police officers who have gotten off for killing unarmed Black people started turning up dead?

BLACK MEN EVERYWHERE! is the explosive new one man play written, directed, and performed by Jinho “Piper” Ferreira. Set against the backdrop of a presidential election, the play explores how political and cultural leaders wield the myth of the dangerous Black man to manipulate the masses for personal gain.

Piper penned the follow-up to his ground-breaking solo play, “Cops and Robbers,” after an impromptu cross-country Black history tour.

“My wife and I had been talking about it for years,” Ferreira said. They had taken their three children to Brazil several times and West Africa but had yet to explore their history as Black people in this country. “It was Juneteenth last year and I realized we had a few weeks to make it happen, so we just jumped in the car and left” Piper said.

Three weeks later the family had seen everything from the African American Museum of History and Culture in Wash., D.C., to the phenomenally preserved Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. They’d stood outside of the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., and paid their respects at the Africa Town cemetery – where the passengers of the Clotilda (the last known U.S. slave ship to smuggle captured Africans into this country) were buried near Mobile, Ala.

“We had the kids keep a journal of the trip and my wife and I took notes, but once we got back home, I knew I had to make the pen move,” he said.

Ferreira plays 21 characters in the 60-minute emotional roller coaster ride; personalities we all know. While brilliantly weaving in themes of revolution, treachery, and revenge, “Black Men Everywhere!” is surprisingly — more than anything else — a love story.

“I wrote the play for Black men and everyone who loves us,” Ferreira said. “The play is narrated by a sistah and performed in front of the deeply spiritual artwork of Nedra T. Williams, an Oakland priestess of Olokun. It’s called ‘Black Men Everywhere!’ but we don’t exist without the Black woman.”

For tickets, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/5dm3mhra

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Art

City of Stockton Seeks Applications for Public Art Murals

The City of Stockton Arts Commission (SAC) has announced the opportunity for artist(s) and/or artist teams to apply to design and paint original artwork on City-owned property through a Public Art Mural Program. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. Applications and additional information are available online at www.stocktonca.gov/publicart.

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The Public Art Mural Program incentivizes mural installations by providing city funding and the means of curating the City’s collection of murals.
The Public Art Mural Program incentivizes mural installations by providing city funding and the means of curating the City’s collection of murals.

City of Stockton

The City of Stockton Arts Commission (SAC) has announced the opportunity for artist(s) and/or artist teams to apply to design and paint original artwork on City-owned property through a Public Art Mural Program.

The deadline for applications is Friday, March 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. Applications and additional information are available online at www.stocktonca.gov/publicart.

The Public Art Mural Program incentivizes mural installations by providing city funding and the means of curating the City’s collection of murals.

This program has $50,000 in available funds for artist(s) and is also available for those who have already identified funds and would like to complete a mural project on city-owned property. Applications will be reviewed on a competitive basis and selected by the SAC.

To learn more about the Stockton Arts Commission (SAC) or qualifications and eligibility for Public Art Mural Program, please visit www.stocktonca.gov/publicart or call the Community Services Department at (209) 937-8206.

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Art

Black Nativity: A Unique Adaptation of the Christmas Story

“Black Nativity” is a cultural adaptation that tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Created by the poet, novelist, playwright and activist Langston Hughes, and performed by an all-Black cast, this unique musical production showcases traditional Christmas carols sung in a gospel style, along with some new songs specifically written for the show.

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Poet, novelist, playwright and activist Langston Hughes.
Poet, novelist, playwright and activist Langston Hughes.

By Tamara Shiloh

“Black Nativity” is a cultural adaptation that tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Created by the poet, novelist, playwright and activist Langston Hughes, and performed by an all-Black cast, this unique musical production showcases traditional Christmas carols sung in a gospel style, along with some new songs specifically written for the show.

The show made its debut Off-Broadway on Dec. 11, 1961. It was a groundbreaking moment because it was one of the first plays written by an African American to be staged in New York City. The play gained popularity quickly and even toured Europe in 1962, with one notable performance at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy.

“Black Nativity” has become an annual tradition in Boston, since 1970. It has been performed at various locations, including the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, Boston Opera House, Tremont Temple, Roxbury Community College, Northeastern University’s Blackman Auditorium, and Emerson College’s Paramount Theater. This production is considered the longest-running rendition of the Langston Hughes’ classic.

The original cast included 160 singers, classified by age group and vocal range. They were accompanied by soloists, a narrator, and unique portrayals of Mary and Joseph, who communicated without speaking. Musicians and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters added depth to the performance.

The show begins in complete darkness as barefoot singers, dressed in white robes and carrying electric candles, walk in while singing the classic hymn “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” This creates a captivating and atmospheric start to the performance.

One of the most dramatic moments in the play is the portrayal of Jesus’ birth. The stage transforms from orange and blue lights to a deep red hue. African drums and percussion are used to echo Mary’s contractions, adding a unique touch to the story. The Three Wise Men, often prominent members of the local Black community, play their roles without singing.

The show concludes with the chorus singing a reprise of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” as they exit in darkness. A final soliloquy delivered by a young child brings emotional closure to the performance.

Originally, the play was named “Wasn’t It a Mighty Day?”

Notably, Alvin Ailey, a renowned dancer and choreographer, was part of the original Off-Broadway cast. However, both he and Carmen de Lavallade left the production due to a dispute over changing the title to “Black Nativity.”

In 2004, a documentary film was made about the world premiere performance and the creation of the best-selling gospel Christmas album, “Black Nativity – In Concert: A Gospel Celebration.” This original cast performance took place at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Portland, ME.

A film adaptation of “Black Nativity” directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett was released on Nov. 27, 2013, bringing this remarkable Nativity story to a broader audience.

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