I’m still in shock over winning 2nd place in Fiber Art Now’s Excellence in Fibers 2023… Pitch me please…
Boombox: Speakers Wanted
I am looking for artists and other interesting people to participate in a series of conversations on Governors Island this summer as part of ArtCrawl Harlem’s Boombox exhibition. Is that you?
Boombox: A four part, multi-disciplinary conversation about identity through the lens of Hip Hop culture.
Born in the early 1970s in the predominantly African American, Latin and Caribbean culture of the South Bronx, Hip Hop has become one of the most successful musical genres of all time, expanding internationally into the worlds of dance, fashion and art. Now firmly embedded in the mainstream, Hip Hop is celebrating its 50th year. In honor of its global influence, the Boombox Salon Series will bring together diverse panels of culture producers to examine how the enduring spirit of Hip Hop has influenced generations across the globe and shaped our discussions about identity and authenticity.
Salon Topics:
Growing Up Hip Hop – How has Hip Hop impacted the people who grew up with it, as well as subsequent generations? How has Hip Hop been a tool of education and social change?
Celebrating Black Joy – How has Hip Hop functioned as a vehicle for Black joy and excellence? What is the role of appropriation and commodification in the continuing quest for authenticity?
Unpacking Interracial Identity – How have people from outside the original Hip Hop community been influenced by the experiences and values outlined in the music? What is the role of the normalization of interracial relationships and identities in the commercial success of Hip Hop? What is the connection between Hip Hop culture and the erosion of segregation in society?
Black Exceptionalism – How has Hip Hop culture been conflated with Black culture? What notions of Black identity have arisen from inside Hip Hop and as compared to Hip Hop? Are Black people who don’t fit into the rapper stereotype seen as “exceptions?” What values and characteristics has hip hop championed, and have they been set up in opposition to values that are perceived as being “white?”
Boombox Second Sundays:
- May 14, 2023
- June 11, 2023
- September 10, 2023
- October 8, 2023
Please save these dates and let me know if you would like to join the conversation with a diverse group of creatives. You never know what will arise out of your participation in the conversation…
February Exhibitions and Beyond
Dark Matter
Exhibition Dates: January 13- February 11, 2023
Location: Kates- Ferri Projects, 561 Grand St, New York, NY
https://www.katesferriprojects.com/
Tenuous Threads
Exhibition Dates: January 24th- February 11, 2023
Location: Atlantic Gallery, 548 W 28th St #540, New York, NY
The Soul of African American Art
Exhibition Dates: January 22-March 5
Location: Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC), 100 South Street in Morristown NJ,
Each One Teach One: Preserving the Legacy in Perpetuity
Exhibition Dates: March 3 – July 30, 2023
Location: The Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road Morristown, NJ
Theda Sandiford: Triggered, Truth & Transformation
Exhibition Dates: March 25-May 28, 2023
Location: Schweinfurth Art Center; 205 Genesee St. Auburn, NY 13021
New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence. Artist Talk
Artist Talk: March 22, 12:00-1:00pm
Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ
Free Your Mind: MAFA Virtual Artist Talk
Date: March 28, 2023
Theda Sandiford: Triggered, Truth & Transformation @ Wa Na Wari
Exhibition Dates: April 22, 2023- July 17, 2023
Location: Wa Na Wari, 911 24th Avenue, Seattle WA
New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence exhibition.
Exhibition On View: June 18, 2022 – April 30, 2023
Museum Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9 am to 4:45 pm; Closed Mondays & all State Holidays
Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ
Sculpture Walk Springfield 2022-2023
Exhibition Dates: April 23,2022- May 21, 2023
Location: 411 N. Sherman Parkway, Springfield MO 65802.
Free Your Mind@ MAFA 2023 Conference
Exhibition Dates: June 22- June 25, 2023
Location: Millersville University, Millersville, PA
Theda Sandiford: Triggered, Truth & Transformation @ The Lab
Exhibition Dates: July 1, 2023- September 17, 2023
Location: The Lab at Krasl Art Center. 707 Lake Blvd, St Joseph, MI
Knotless Netting
I love when the uniform repetition of diamonds or squares of fishing nets has been torn and darned. The more haphazardly the net is repaired the better, especially if a garish color has been used to sew two nets together.
I have been using half hitches and looping in my work for years to build cordage. Recently I have been wondering what would happen if I start to use my own cordage to make my own nets?
Thanks to YouTube University, I am get a little inspiration as part of my virtual “sketching” and learning process…
Mini Emotional Baggage Carts @ Affordable Art Show
This week is your last chance to pick out your very on mini emotional baggage cart before they are shipped off for my solo shows in Seattle and Michigan this Spring.
Please join me for the close of the Affordable Art Show at Art House Productions Gallery
Closing Reception: January 27, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Art House Gallery at The Hendrix – 345 Marin Boulevard (on Marin Blvd between Morgan St and Bay St.)
Tenuous Threads
I’m pleased to share that one of my new Hair Rope pieces will be included in this show of contemporary work incorporating textiles, fibers, threads and mixed media.
The show description really resonated with me… All of life is connected through networks, systems, fibers, and webs. Communication (visual, verbal, electrical, chemical, and kinetic) enables an exchange of information amongst all life forms. Tenuous Threads alludes to the delicate lines that bring us together and sets us apart; that joins us yet repels us.
The opening reception is Thursday January 26th, 5:30- 8:00pm. I hope to see you there.
Exhibition Dates: January 24th- February 11, 2023
Location: Atlantic Gallery, 548 W 28th St #540, New York, NY
Jute Erosion Control Cloth
Loews and Home Depot are my favorite art supply stores.
Jute Erosion Control Cloth is a tough, natural, biodegradable geotextile used to stabilize slopes and control soil erosion.
It is also the latest art supply I am mocking up a few ideas to experiment with…
The Soul of African American Art
Exhibition Dates: January 22-March 5
Location: Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC), 100 South Street in Morristown NJ.
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 22nd from 3pm to 6pm.
Please let me know if you want to carpool and join me.
Triggered, Truth & Transformation
I have three solo shows in 2023 focused on this theme.
Despite the growing commitment to racial equity, the day-to-day experiences of women of color are not improving. Women of color face similar types and frequencies of microaggressions as they did two years ago – and they remain far more likely than white women to face disrespectful and “othering” behavior.
The weight of these triggers underpins very real consequences… stress, anger, frustration, self-doubt and ultimately feelings of powerlessness and invisibility. These triggers come with a hefty toll of emotional baggage.
Extensions of rope, wrapped, knotted, woven, and embellished with recycled textiles, zip ties, ribbon and yarn, gingerly invite the audience into off the-wall conversations about the “respectability politics” of black hair. My Emotional Baggage Carts are vessels for this racial trauma. The act of making, weaves the sting of daily microaggressions into the cart, freeing me from these constraints.
Exhibition Schedule
Exhibition Dates: March 25-May 28, 2023
Location: Schweinfurth Art Center; 205 Genesee St. Auburn, NY 13021
Exhibition Dates: April 22, 2023- July 17, 2023
Location: Wa Na Wari, 911 24th Avenue, Seattle WA
Exhibition Dates: July 1, 2023- September 17, 2023
Location: The Lab at Krasl Art Center. 707 Lake Blvd, St Joseph, MI
Dark Matter
Dark matter takes up an estimated 25% of the vast universe. It is not observable through the human senses. In the darkness of space, its presence is detected by its interaction with gravity and its mass bending light around it, similar to refracted distortions in water. It is an uncomfortable truth that so much exists in our reality, yet so much is beyond our perception.
Like light revealing dark matter in space, the artists in the exhibition use the physicality of their work to present unrepresentable realities and experiences. The artists offer a range of engagement, from providing comfort to illustrating society’s harmful, unacknowledged ills that impact groups differently.
Each artist in DARK MATTER brings personal and systemic concerns to the foreground. By starting with the intangible, the artists render perceptible the dark matter of society.
DARK MATTER features artists Kevin Claiborne, Turiya Magadlela, Jamel Robinson, Nnorom Samuel, Theda Sandiford, Rudy Shepherd, Jairo Sosa, and Roscoè B. Thické III on view Tuesday, January 10th to Saturday, February 11th, with a reception on Friday, January 13th, 2023. Mark your calendar for a performance by Rudy Shepherd takes on Saturday, January 21st, and on Thursday, February 2nd, a special program with Art Noir.
Exhibition Dates: January 13- February 11, 2023
Location: Kates- Ferri Projects, 561 Grand St, New York, NY
