2023 Passager Winter Issue:
Ancestral Trauma, #74
“I see this issue as a mending, turning trauma and pain into art . . . It is the process of creating that heals us.”
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Christine Lincoln, Guest Editor
Tears of Radiant Light, Cover Art
Lenett Partlow-Myrick
Poetry, Fiction & Memoir | Theme: Ancestral Trauma
Softcover | 155 Pages | $15
2023 Winter Issue Zoom Launch
SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2 PM EDT
Middle Passage: Perspectives of Sea & Sky, Lenett Partlow-Myrick
jaki-terry, Agenmaki, Kabuki Theatre at UW-Madison
The 52-wk. Art Challenge
Our exhibits, performances, recitals, concerts, readings, and other public-facing work is only a small fraction of what we do as artists. The actual work gets done in our waking hours out of the spotlight and oftentimes in our sleep when there are no audiences and no pay. That work is anchored in the sacred territory of our creative processes and practices.
~Mama Nef
The 52-wk. Art Challenge is a deep dive into committed practices of being an artist. Each week we will discuss a new piece of work created by Mama Nef along with the creative catalog of actor-director-playwright jaki-terry and other guest artists. The focus of these conversations is about process and how the work gets done. Join us for this 52-week journey and watch what happens.
The Power of Everyday Artists and Makers of Things
Click here to listen to the
Artists and educators Lenett Partlow-Myrick and Jenny O'Grady discuss the medium of book art and the transformative workshops that they lead. Lenett describes book art as a way to reimagine the possibility of what books can be, how they’re created, and ways that we can interpret them. In their workshops, which they lovingly call “human bonding studios,” they lead groups of people through a journey of self-exploration and genuine connection.
Lenett and Jenny provide space, materials, and a thought-provoking question to get their students started. The focus isn’t on the end product, but rather being open to a different way of delving into deep conversations about one's intentions, limitations, and purpose. Lenett and Jenny believe that everyone is an artist and describe what they’ve witnessed when a group of adults take time to pause and get curious.
In our conversation, we also touch on Lenett and Jenny’s collaborative efforts outside of the workshops. They’ve recently wrapped up “Dos-A-Dos II,” a showcase of book art and poetry called at Howard Community College’s Richard B. Talkin Family Art Gallery. Listen in to learn more about Lenett and Jenny’s enriching perspective on how sculptural storytelling can impact individuals and communities on a foundational level.
Topics Covered in the Podcast: Jenny and Lenett’s introduction to book art / Questions that workshop participants explore / Ways to make art more accessible to people, especially those who don’t identify as artistic or creative / The impact of quality, honest communication / Using book art workshops as a way to dissipate polarity in communities.
Pam Uzzell is a documentary filmmaker and podcaster currently living in Oakland, CA. At twenty-two, she began working in post-production, with credits in over twenty feature films, including Terminator 2, Godfather III, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She is the director and producer of three independent documentaries, Some Call It Heaven (2007), Unearthing the Dream (2012), and Welcome to the Neighborhood (2018). Unearthing the Dream, which tells the story of the Black schools in Malvern, Arkansas, before desegregation, won Best Documentary at the Arkansas Independent Black Film Festival. Pam’s latest documentary, Shelter in Displacement, (short, 2020) was selected as part of the de Young Open and is part of the COVIDeos Collection at Filmsight.com. Read more at Art Heals All Wounds Podcast.
Victor Rodgers "The ARTifacts" Release
Big shout out and congratulations to my creative "potna" Victor Rodgers aka Slangston Hughes et al. on the release of his Anthology Mixtape "The ARTifacts," which he defines as "a collaborative effort between myself and all of my artistic personalities...". It's an amazing collection of songs / poems / spoken word rich jewels, and it's FREE!
Dos-à-Dos II: A Celebration of Friendship Through Bookmaking Art / Aug. 29 - Nov. 13, 2022
Love begets love. The love of book art Jenny O'Grady and I share is a magnetic field that continuously attracts loving support for our work. Thanks to Thomas Engleman, Emma McDonnell, Steven Silberg, Alfonso Fernandez-Vazquez, Greg Staley, and the Richard B. Talkin Family Art Gallery at Howard Community College for the loving curatorial care given to every aspect of this exhibit. Special thanks to everyone who came to the show and left such loving comments and reviews. You all inspire us to vision forward. Click here to read more about the exhibit and view the exhibit catalog.