LIVING ARTS BLOG

Zack Bissell, Out-of-School Arts Program Manager 11/8/19 Zack Bissell, Out-of-School Arts Program Manager 11/8/19

Dispatches from the National Guild for Community Arts Education Conference

Every year, Living Arts sends a team to the annual conference of the National Guild for Community Arts Education. This event brings together artists, administrators, educators, and changemakers to share their work and models and build collaboratively on a national scale. The conference is an opportunity for all members of our team (staff, Teaching Artists, and students) to learn from peers and leadership in the field. Previously held in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and Baltimore, this year’s conference was held in Austin, Texas from October 30-November 2.

This year, we were fortunate to be able to take Diamond Davis, one of our youth leaders, to the conference for the first time and to attend the National Young Artists Summit which took place in conjunction with the conference. Diamond has participated in our programs since 2015 and quickly became a leader in our teen initiatives and classes.

A major highlight for me was the keynote from artist Favianna Rodriguez, who spoke about the power of culture and art to disrupt violent systems that operate in our society, and concrete tools that center teaching artists as instigators and partners. Rodriguez also addressed ways to design classes to reach all students. I also connected with colleagues from around the country and deepened my connection and mentorship with Diamond.

Overall, the conference this year gave me many tools, ideas, and inspiration that will continue to impact our Out-of-School Arts program and Living Arts as a whole for years to come. It was especially timely, as we continue to strategize and implement ways that youth can (and should!) shape the world around them. Diamond and I are now developing a plan to roll out our preparations for Open Arts Fest 2020 that includes more youth collaboration and community partnership.

Attending the NGCAE conference has given me the tools and inspiration to move our programs forward and be more innovative in the youth-led programming and creative youth development spheres. I am deeply excited and already looking ahead for next year’s conference and youth summit in New York City!

Diamond Davis

For the past 5 years, I’ve been involved with Living Arts programming and youth leadership in a variety of ways. This year, Living Arts invited me to represent them at the National Young Artists Summit (NYAS), an offshoot of the National Guild for Community Arts Education. I was really happy and super excited to be invited because it felt like a big opportunity. I didn’t initially know a lot about the conference but I was excited to represent Living Arts and meet all the different people there. As I learned more about the Guild and the NYAS, I couldn’t wait to start chatting with them about different projects and what they’re involved in at their organizations.

Day 1, National Guild for Community Arts Education Conference

I attended a few different presentations and workshops. One was a cutting-edge marketing session, where they talked about nonprofits, especially music in schools. l left with many ideas that will help us prepare for Open Arts Fest, including new ways to connect with the community, promote the event, coordinate with schools, and reach more youth. Another workshop focused on ways to use artistic experiences to set up safe and comfortable spaces in order to address difficult topics such as race, social justice, and equity. I also went to a youth-focused networking session. We talked about what is it like being a young artist and developing careers, parental approval/disapproval, and their guidance. It made me think a lot about my own pathway and if I want to pursue the arts or engineering, and about my mom’s support.

Day 2, the National Young Artists Summit

It was really fun and interesting with lots of different youth performances. We had conversations about gun violence, police brutality, sexual harassment, and there were artistic pieces relating to those topics such as dances, music, and others. Afterwards we did role-plays and discussed the topics. I also attended a dance session where we learned dance and I bonded with the people in the class. We were all really comfortable and were able to come out of our shells. The adult partners and facilitators reminded me of the adults at Living Arts such as Zack and Stephanie, who are able to step back and allow the youth to take the lead in different ways.

The other youth that I met were very inclusive and cared about all the individuals in the group to create safe and comfortable spaces for us to connect with each other. I was so happy to get a chance to connect more deeply with youth from Mosaic Theatre of Detroit, especially since we live in the same city. We’ll be able to continue chatting and collaborating as we build our friendships moving forward. We’re already talking about ways we can do things together soon. I also met DeLashea from Mosaic and have emailed her to start getting to know her better. There were also youth from around the country that are artists in many different mediums. It was really helpful to hear about their programs and events they are developing and leading.

Now that the conference is over, I’m hoping to get together again with everybody from Mosaic. I’m also looking forward to connecting Living Arts more to teens in schools so they can come to our events and get involved. I’m also going to be finding ways to get involved with other youth programs and nonprofits in Detroit such as Mosaic, Bloombodies, and others.

My experiences at the conference helped me realize how important it is to develop comfortable and safe spaces, especially for Open Arts Fest, so that we can use the space to share important messages and topics. That way we can have fun but also do great work together with our peers. I’m also hoping to join the planning committee next year for the National Young Artists Summit now that I’ve attended once and have met the planning team.

Miryam Johnson 8/21/19 Miryam Johnson 8/21/19

Reflections on Sofrito of Cultures

For three weeks, students of Living Arts' Youth Dance Ensemble studied under visionary master teachers Madame Penny Godboldo, Chi Amen Ra and Ozzie Rivera to understand the cultural connection between Black American and Afro Latinx communities (The African Diaspora). As the Living Arts Teaching Artist brought in on this project, I was honored to even be in the room with these incredibly decorated artists that I'd heard about for years. The importance of using dance as the catalyst to discuss these connections is a conversation I've had many times with various students, parents and fellow teachers. In Afrocentric and Indigenous culture dance is often used as an archive. Various movements are used in relation to specific traditions or derived out of cultural experiences. Thus, there's never a separation between the movement and the history of the culture. This is something that the Dunham Technique, the technique used to inform the residency, teaches extraordinarily well.

Because I've worked with this group of students over the past two years, I knew that they would be a very committed group and they would get pushed in ways they never had before. What I didn't fully anticipate was that I would too. Having only taken Dunham as a master class in High School I was far removed from this as a practice. So, months before the residency began I started training with Madame Penny in her weekly classes, and they were no joke. She pushed everyone to their strongest and gave personal attention/corrections along the way. I became quickly taken with this technique. It was the first time I felt my natural way of moving and my training could live in harmony. During the residency, I watched as the youth increasing soaked up every word Madame Penny said and came to the same realization I had only a few months prior. There was nothing like this technique.

Dunham wasn't the only movement style studied. The students got good doses of Step, Hip Hop, Rumba and Bomba as the teachers swapped responsibilities sharing our places of expertise. Each morning after they set intentions for the day, we moved into a lecture on the style they'd be learning in repertoire rehearsal. This time allowed for deep discussion on the connections and histories of the cultures. As each teacher had expertise in separate areas we found ourselves as students of each other as well, taking notes and asking questions. This inter-generational learning space was one of the most important parts of the days. It allowed for us all to continue growing and for the students to see their teachers as students themselves, something no one ever stops being.

The days went on and the youth became increasing confident movers. The shift in their mindset became abundantly clear, in the way they discussed and asked questions of the styles, their self-assurance and even their posture. This heightened as we moved into preparation for the show. There's an indescribable feeling when a performer moves to rehearse in a performance/theater space. After all the work training in class and rehearsal, your body takes over, bumps it up several notches and makes you performance ready. This is exactly what happened to the students. They performed a phenomenal concert of movement from across the African Diaspora, but more importantly learned their connection in that history, grew as artists, and became in tune with their bodies.

I'm still processing this work as these three weeks absolutely shifted the way I understand movement as well as myself. What I am absolutely sure of is; this residency connected me to artists I'd dreamed of working with, gifted me a brilliant mentor in Madame Penny, deepened my personal practice and strengthened my relationship to my students. For that I am forever grateful.

Jonathan Williams 8/21/19 Jonathan Williams 8/21/19

Looking Back: Open Arts Fest

Hi my name is Johnathan Williams, I am a visual artist, beatmaker, DJ, and I was on the Open Arts Fest planning team this year. I had a lot of fun this summer planning Open Arts Fest, and I also learned a lot and gained more experience for a career.

Open Arts Fest is important to me because it gives me and others a place to see performances and take part in fun art activities in the community. I think that an event like this is important to have because it exposes people to different forms of art and fun activities, but it is also a great way for me to connect with other teens around our creativity and expressing ourselves. Also, the event is based on our open studio model, so people can go at their own pace with the activities and performances that are happening.

The planning team for Open Arts Fest met three times a week to plan and make decisions around different parts of the event, such as the schedule, activities, decorations, community partners, evaluation, and marketing plan. One of the three weekly meetings was a training for Grow Detroit’s Young Talent. In these trainings we talked about things such as banking, how non-profit work, communication and professionalism, job searching and resumes, and self-awareness and personal growth.

Open Arts Fest 2019 this year was really fun, and there was a lot to do! I wish the event had been a little longer so we could have had time to have more fun getting into the arts activities after the performances, but I still had a great time.The performances by Mosaic, Living Arts dancers, and really all of them were great. I could see everyone was enjoying the event.

For next year, I hope that we can invite more people, and have more activities and performances during the event. We are also already working on bringing in some live art and more activities for outside. Lastly, I would like the event to be later in the evening so that we can have more teens there and so it will be less hot outside for the activities and performances. Overall I think that the Open Arts Fest was fun and important for the community and we hope to get a wider audience of teens next year.

Diamond Davis and Bailee Williams 7/22/19 Diamond Davis and Bailee Williams 7/22/19

Here's Why You Should Come to Open Arts Fest!

Hi! I’m Diamond and I’ve been with Living Arts as a dancer, photographer, and artist for over five years.

And I’m Bailee and I have been dancing at Living Arts for four years. I was originally introduced to Living Arts when me and my mom stumbled upon it, and I have been coming ever since. During my time here I have taken all types of classes like ballet, tap, point, jazz, hip hop, salsa, and Afro-Latin.

Hi! I’m Diamond and I’ve been with Living Arts as a dancer, photographer, and artist for over five years.

We’re two of the teens planning Open Arts Fest. We’d like to share some info with you about Open Arts Fest and invite you to join us in this all-teen art party!

Open Arts Fest is an event thrown by the teens in the SPOT, Living Arts’ teen open studio. We first started working on the event last year. Originallym we didn’t know what it was going to be or how it was going to come out but we knew we wanted to spread the name of Living Arts and also have something fun for the community every year. So we came up with Open Arts Fest. The program is not just to bring in more teens, but to have a fun interactive event for not only the Southwest Community but whoever else would like to come.

Last year the event was filled with hula hoop contest, dance competitions, performances, open mics, screen printing, and more! There were so many different things for everyone to do.

This year, we are inviting teens to come to the event, either to stop by and hang out or to sign up to perform. You can submit a proposal to perform here. We’re working to make it bigger and better to top last year!

We have already started posting flyers for the event and even gathered some teens to perform. There will be a DJ with some really cool beats and music! We will also have fun activities to participate in and prizes to win. We’re very excited about the printmaking because of all the different designs.

We’re excited about the food trucks because we know they will be just as good as last year! The performances will be great and we’re also participating in them. Stop by 3-6pm on August 10th at the FREC (2826 Bagley).

Hope to see you there!

Diamond & Bailee

Guest User 6/3/19 Guest User 6/3/19

Before You Take the Stage: A Chat with Living Arts' Senior Artists

In the 45 minutes window between school and rehearsal, I met with 5 young women at the FREC-Mercado. In preparation for their upcoming 20th Annual Student Showcase, we sat down to talk about their history with Living Arts, and the role the organization has played in their lives.

“I came to Living Arts when I was 5 or 6,” stated 18-year-old Xalma Palomino. “The studio was right around my house, so my mom just signed my sister and I up for a ballet class once a week”. 18-year-old dancers Carolina Anaya and Andrea Hinojosa also began in ballet. “Xalma introduced me to dance because we’ve been friends for many, many years. My mom signed me up and I took every class they took,” says Anaya. Alexis Harris, 18, began dancing when she was 3 years old, and was introduced to Living Arts by her grandmother at 8 years old. Alexis in turn introduced Tanykia “Diamond” Davis to Living Arts when the girls were in the 8th grade.

On Sunday, June 9th, Xalma and Carolina, along with fellow senior dancers Alexis and Andrea, will be performing in their last Showcase. The recital will be held at Cass Technical HS, where most of the young woman attend. The performance will be bittersweet for the girls as they are also graduating from high school and moving on to different things in life. “It’s sad because we’re leaving now. We became like a family, we all grew up with each other like sisters,” stated Xalma. Andrea added, “We really became close to each other and not seeing them every day is going to be weird.” What started as a fun activity as children has become a passion for these young artists.

Dedicating so many years to their craft, has not come easy. “We’ve had to choose between school activities and rehearsals or performances at times. I even missed my mom’s graduation,” said Alexis. But the sacrifice is worth it. When Diamond and I spoke on the phone, she talked about the feeling of creating. “Every time I get in the studio to dance or I’m making art at the SPOT, it’s a chance to be the best dancer or artist I can be. It helps my mind expand and open up.”

There’s a consensus among all the young women that their craft has given them a sense of freedom. Jeimy Lopez, 18 ,shared, “Making art, especially painting, gives me an outlet for stress. I can channel that I have into making something beautiful.” Jeimy began as a dancer as well, but realized she didn’t have the same love of dance as visual art. She’s passionate about the open-studio model of the SPOT and has previously presented on the approach at conferences. She continued, “For teenagers who are just trying to see what art has to offer for them, it’s better to have a research-based approach in the studio, where the mentor is there to guide along the way. It helped me to discover art as an outlet.”

Through the arts, each of the young women have found an identity that is all their own. “I’m more outspoken now and not afraid to express what I want,” said Carolina. “So many kids feel like they’re going to be judged for what they do or say, and I feel like through dance, I’ve gained so much confidence.” Each expressed they’ve faced criticism for not being “enough” (whether their art was something that didn’t speak to others or their bodies didn’t scream ‘dancer’), but they all site persistence and the support of their fellow artists as their motivation to do what they do.

When asked what advice they wished they’d heard more of as children, and what advice they wanted to give to young artists, they shared encouraging words to keep making art. Diamond summed it up best when she said “You can do whatever you set your mind to as long as you keep at it. Anything you do can be a form of art. When you move your body, it’s a form of art, when you’re drawing, painting, it’s art, whatever it is, it will tell a story to someone. It might take some time, but don’t give up. It will get you somewhere in life.”

Click here for more information about Living Arts’ OSA program. And for tickets to the 20th Annual Student Showcase, click here.