The Artist as Social Entrepreneur
The Artist as Social Entrepreneur will consist of published work documenting the many instances where artists have successfully made a socially engaged business around art making. Artists and creatives can thrive, and make a positive change in the world. I am interested in understanding how creativity affects an individual’s experiences and behavior; and in turn how those experiences and behaviors result in successful enterprise. Through research, I hope to pursue questions that provoke thought and inspire action.
My Offering
My Offering is a performance and community engagement project that creates the space for the individual and the collective to give back to our natural environment. In a collaboration between dancers and poets, a story is woven together to take in, reflect, and honor the significance of the natural physical spaces around us. Ideally it will consist of a series of site specific works created in collaboration with Kimani Fowlin and inspired by Carolyn Finney’s “Black Faces, White Spaces” . In her book, Finney shares ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in United States. She also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns.
100 For Justice
100 for Justice is a dance project that facilitates healing amongst community members by highlighting the body as a vehicle for talking back to the world about social injustice. I hope that my idea will gain momentum and inspire others to create their own 100 collaborative art works in response to social injustice.
The goals of the project are as follows: 1) connect everyday people, dance professionals and other community-based artists to co-create 100 dances in response to social injustice; 2) improve the health and well-being of community members – minds bodies and spirits – through meditation and movement based workshops; 3) explore the potential for each individual who participates to make a unique and powerful contribution to social justice 4) strive for balance by providing an opportunity for us to take our awareness out our minds (which is how we most often approach problem solving) and into our bodies.