The 20th year anniversary of the Newark Arts Festival 2021 is October 7 through 10, 2021.
My Middle Passage installation of 3 emotional baggage carts will be in the Newark Arts Headquarters at 609 Broadstreet, Newark NJ.
I plan to be at the Festival for the opening on Thursday October 7th and bopping around the festive that weekend. DM me if you want to link and gallery hop.
Covid Protocols: To enter the Newark Arts Headquarters (609 Broad Street), all will be required to show a vaccination card or negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of arrival. Masks and social distancing are mandatory.
Come see me during at Art 150’s JCAST HQ, enter on the corner of 1st Street and Provost. Ride the elevator up to the second floor. There is lots to see and do.
I have three emotional baggage carts in Pro Art’s Reversed Engineered in the main gallery. One emotional baggage cart in Art House Production’s Renaissance. In the common area lobby you are invited to make strings of beads of recycled bottle caps and interact with my hair sculpture, All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go.
I’ll be around the corner in Studio #231, working on Crossroads Jail Net.
There is plenty to see and collect including mini-baggage carts, affordable monoprints and ice dyed & printed tote bags.
On Location: Art 150; 150 Bay Street, Jersey City NJ, Studio #231
Of Friday, September 10, I’m hosting my first open studio session in 18 months.
Audience participation is encouraged. Come wrap and hitch knot yarn onto rope to become a part of a hair installation and find a common denominator amongst us all, HAIR.
We are also making strings of beads made with recycled bottle caps in the 2nd floor common area of Art 150.
NOTE: Entrance lobby for the 2nd floor studios is separate from that for the residential units of 150 Bay and can be found at the NE corner of the building, at the corner of 1st St. and Provost St.
In-Person Opening Reception: Sunday, September 12, 2021, 12:00pm-6:00pm
On Location: 481 Van Brunt St Brooklyn, NY 11231
Bottle caps, neon yellow 550 paracord, 200′ neon yellow camo 850 paracord, hollow braided polyurethane rope, solar LED rope lights, recycled Fresh Direct bag and commercial fishing net, zip ties, gold spray paint on recovered shopping cart. Photo by April Tracey
I started calling this cart Wide Load before I was even conscious of how much of my emotional baggage is tied to the food I eat.
Don’t even think of visiting my Mom without her feeding you. I can still smell , vivid memories of being punishing for not eating my food and being reminded of the starving children in Africa. A double whammy of eat and feel guilty about eating. I could go on and on…
The 3rd annual Future is Female exhibit, curated by sk.Artspace, aims to shed light on black women visual artists who persevered and became activists through their personal choices. The exhibition will highlight women, like me who unapologetically live their lives through action, women who had no intention of being a person of influence, yet raised the bar to lead, even when no one was looking – the “Unsung Shereos.”
I have three emotional baggage carts in the show, including my very first, Caution Baggage Cart.
Caution Baggage Cart
While working on my first shopping cart “Caution Baggage Cart” I was thinking about the people I had lost to Covid and the inability to properly mourn socially distant. I realized I was carrying a lot of emotional baggage related to fear of loss.
The cart needed some wheel repair and rust removal. Once sanded down, I spray painted the cart with gold and bronze paint left over from a previous project. The luscious gold wefts called to Caution tape that I had just foraged from the construction site across the street. I found just the right mix of fabric, paracord and yarns to complete the weave in my remnant stash.
A dynamic presentation made up of a virtual exhibition and public art installation on Governors Island, Hidden in Plain Sight confronts the psychological impact of racial gaslighting as revealed in her everyday interactions.
Join me for an interactive open studio audience participation session, to wrap and hitch knot thousands of yards of recycled yarn onto rope. Your essence will become a part of this hair installation, finding a common denominator amongst us all, HAIR.
Also, I will be working in my Art 150 Studio #231 on the second floor of 150 Bay on Saturday, September 11 and Sunday, September 12 from 1:00-6:00pm both days. Stop by
NOTE: Entrance lobby for the 2nd floor studios is separate from that for the residential units of 150 Bay and can be found at the NE corner of the building, at the corner of 1st St. and Provost St.
Have a peak at Heights Over Springfield in the TSGNY June Member’s Show and view all the member’s work. I hope you find as much inspiration from looking at these works as I have.
