Art

‘Music Makes Me Happy’ movement addresses social change with art, music events

ATLANTA VOICE — The purpose of “Music Makes Me Happy” was to inspire social change through art and music

Published

5 years ago

February 18, 2019

By Hunter Gilmore

Joshua Dingle, a 25-year-old Philadelphia native and the creator of an art-music event series, “Music Makes Me Happy,” is using his deep connection with music to inspire artistic minds to join together from coast to coast.

From the age of 3 to 12, Dingle said he attended speech therapy, which wasn’t producing adequate results. He was later introduced to music and theatre and said that not only his grades quickly improved but also, within a year, he was able to speak perfectly.

“[Music Makes Me Happy] was inspired by my own personal story,” Dingle explained. “I grew up in foster care and had a very traumatic childhood filled with physical and verbal abuse. I developed a speaking disorder in which I had to write everything down, I couldn’t talk.”

According to Dingle, the purpose of “Music Makes Me Happy” was to inspire social change through art and music.

The brand itself, which started as a t-shirt line, has grown from its Philadelphia roots to additional installations with monthly events in Atlanta and Los Angeles, Dingle said.

Over the last couple of years, Dingle said the movement has garnered tremendous support, gaining co-signs from the likes of Janelle Monaè, Jasmine Sullivan, and Anthony Hamilton.

“I’m excited because we’re expanding to five more cities very soon,” Dingle said.

Beyond the apparel and events, Dingle explained that the Music Makes Me Happy movement also comprises a number of initiatives designed to address social issues. For example, the movement’s “Create, Connect, and Care” event was designed to serve as the glue that holds together this creativity-driven platform.

“We’re creating spaces for people who care about social justice and social change, we create platforms that allow them to use their voices,” Dingle said.

“We create connection points for people who care about the same things or share common interests and we care by incorporating our youth, we can’t expect the future to be great if we can’t positively affect those who will become it.”

In addition, Music Makes Me Happy houses a strong awareness of mental health-related issues and has a taken a conscious stance of its presence within the artist community. Dingle and his team launched an “Emoji Art Show” to help aid in this significant cause.

“(The Emoji Art Show) is a multi-sensory seven city art show that occurs every year to promote the amplification of emotions through art,” Dingle said. “We use emojis because that’s a popular device we use to express ourselves, so we use it to express ourselves in the art show. When we launched it, it was a huge success with more than 300 people in attendance.”

The Emoji Art Show is just one example of the many soulful-inspired events the organization curates to feed minds, Dingle explained.

“Most people who are in Atlanta would come to The Good Sound event, which is a multi-gathering amongst different types of artists,” Dingle said. “It occurs the second Sunday of every month. Some things you could expect are a jam/open mic session, a feature of different artists, conversations around mental health, or directorial debuts.

“There’s no format, it’s all about being organic and fresh,” he added. “You’ll learn about Music Makes Me Happy, network with people, and plug into other things we’re doing.”

For more information about Music Makes Me Happy or to view their upcoming events visit musichappiness.org.

This article originally appeared in the Atlanta Voice.

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Art

Marin County: A Snapshot of California’s Black History Is on Display

The Marin County Office of Education, located at 1111 Las Gallinas Ave in San Rafael, will host the extraordinary exhibit, “The Legacy of Marin City: A California Black History Story (1942-1960),” from Feb. 1 to May 31, 2024. The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

Early photo of Marin City in the exhibit showing the first department store, barber shop, and liquor store. (Photo by Godfrey Lee)

By Post Staff

The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

All will have the opportunity to visit and be guided by its curator Felecia Gaston.

The exhibit will include photographs, articles and artifacts about the Black experience in Marin City from 1942 to 1960 from the Felecia Gaston Collection, the Anne T. Kent California Room Collection, The Ruth Marion and Pirkle Jones Collection, The Bancroft Library, and the Daniel Ruark Collection.

It also features contemporary original artwork by Chuck D of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Public Enemy, clay sculptures by San Francisco-based artist Kaytea Petro, and art pieces made by Marin City youth in collaboration with Lynn Sondag, Associate Professor of Art at Dominican University of California.

The exhibit explores how Marin City residents endured housing inequities over the years and captures the history of plans to remove Black residents from the area after World War II. Throughout, it embodies the spirit of survival and endurance that emboldened the people who made Marin City home.

Felecia Gaston is the author of the commemorative book, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home: The Story of World War II Marinship and the Legacy of Marin City.’ Thanks to the generous contribution of benefactors, a set of Felecia’s book will be placed in every public elementary, middle, and high school library in Marin.

In addition, educators and librarians at each school will have the opportunity to engage with Felecia in a review of best practices for utilizing the valuable primary sources within the book.

“Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to learn from these significant and historical contributions to Marin County, California, and the United States,” said John Carroll, Marin County Superintendent of Schools.

“By engaging with Felecia’s book and then visiting the exhibit, students will be able to further connect their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of this significant historical period,” Carroll continued.

Felecia Gaston adds, “The Marin County Office of Education’s decision to bring the Marin City Historical Traveling Exhibit and publication, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home’ to young students is intentional and plays a substantial role in the educational world. It is imperative that our community knows the contributions of Marin City Black residents to Marin County. Our youth are best placed to lead this transformation.”

The Marin County Office of Education will host an Open House Reception of the exhibit’s debut on Feb. 1 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.. All school staff, educators, librarians, and community members are encouraged to attend to preview the exhibit and connect with Felecia Gaston. To contact Gaston, email MarinCityLegacy@marinschools.org

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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.

Published

2 months ago

February 16, 2024

Oakland Post

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?

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.

Published

3 months ago

January 24, 2024

Oakland Post

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 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.