Table of Contents Welcomes................................................................................................2-3
Carlton Turner, Alternate ROOTS Executive Director Charmaine Minniefield, ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Local Coordinator
About Alternate ROOTS & ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta...............................4 ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Partner Organizations.......................................5 Meeting Processes & Roles.....................................................................6-7 ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Schedule......................................................8-18
Overview Schedule..........................................................................8-9
Narrative Schedule.......................................................................10-18
Bios for All Presenters..........................................................................19-22 Venues, Hotels, and Staff Contact Information.........................................23 Special Thanks....................................................................................24-25
#AlternateROOTS
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Welcome Carlton Turner, Executive Director Welcome to Atlanta! Home of the Chickasaw and Muscogee (Creek) people. We are constantly reminded that this land has a rich and storied history, one that includes many cultures and peoples. We recognize those that came before us. This weekend we will gather to share our culture, stories, ideas, and challenges. We will take time to witness the changes that are taking place in this city and the impact of those changes on the people, landscape, and the culture of the city. Throughout our time together it will be important for us to remember that there have been people inhabiting this area for thousands of years. Their history is our history. The act of remembrance allows us to be connected to the continuum of community, spirit, and tradition that allows us to gather here. ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta marks the sixth and final event of the regional gathering series that has also taken us to New Orleans, Eatonville, New Market, Dallas, and Richmond. In each city, our work gained momentum as we met new artists and community members using their art to shift the material conditions of their community. Alternate ROOTS is honored to welcome you to the growing Southern city of Atlanta to close out this series. We hope that your time here is well spent, your days filled with engaging and inspiring conversations.
What is Creative Placemaking? That’s what we’re here to explore together! We hope that you leave this weekend with a deeper sense of the many different practices and perspectives that these two words encompass, and how they help us work towards equity. For the sake of a joint jumping off point, check out the definition of creative platemaking the National Endowment for the Arts uses: public, private, notfor-profit, and community sectors partnering to strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, tribe, city, or region around arts and cultural activities. We at ROOTS are in the midst of a project that is looking to define creative placemaking for ourselves. This collective, grassroots, multimedia research project lifts up the creative placemaking practices our members are engaged in across the South. The project shares a title with ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta – Creating Place: The Art of Equitable Community Building – and throughout this weekend you’ll get a sneak preview of the work of this project, which launches in spring 2018.
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Charmaine Minniefield, Local Coordinator Atlanta is changing. With landscapes that include a newly constructed stadium and another repurposed, an ever-expanding walking path intended to connect communities from one end of the city to the other, and public artwork and making-spaces that leverage creative concepts around technology, urban design, and global perspectives – the city is experiencing a sort of renaissance. But what happens when a city loses its identity and its citizens in the process? When progress means removal? When the landscape of the city looks so far removed from its original cultural identity that the memory of the city is lost? Memories that include the struggle and ultimate achievements of an entire civil rights movement; the layers of identity that followed, which included the establishment of institutions, communities, and businesses which spoke to a new day of freedom and justice; when, finally, arts movements and organizations were born from the desire to express that new freedom – committed to cultural understanding, community involvement, and collective sustainability. Sometimes I look at our city and I think these are concepts that are fading. ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta serves as a homecoming and reunion for Alternate ROOTS after 41 years of supporting nationally renowned artist activists working in communities all over the southeast. As we convene in the King Historic District, once ground zero for the civil rights movement, I am hopeful that this convening will mark this moment of renaissance with a reminder of the ethics and morals that the arts here in Atlanta were built upon, where artists worked with communities, not just in communities, where arts organizations took the time to engage local artists and cultural agencies that have been around for generations doing the work of creative placemaking, building and sustaining their communities, hoping to leverage the creative resources and ideas of their new neighbors in order to continue to do so forward. I am hopeful for what is to come. With well intended efforts of moving the work of artists into communities as a way to create a sense of renewal, I am inspired by the new creative landscape ahead. I feel that as long as we stay present, sharing our ideas, our cultures, our stories - STANDING through the change - without the requirement or expectation of removal, we can all see progress together. It is a such an honor to stand inside of this moment with my ROOTS family. Welcome.
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About Alternate ROOTS & ROOTS Weekends Alternate ROOTS is an organization based in
the Southern USA whose mission is to support the creation and presentation of original art, in all its forms, which is rooted in a particular community of place, tradition, or spirit. As a coalition of cultural workers, we strive to be allies in the elimination of all forms of oppression. ROOTS is committed to social and economic justice and the protection of the natural world, and addresses these concerns through its programs and services. ROOTS was founded in 1976 in order to meet the distinct needs of artists who work for social justice, and artists who create work by, for, about, and within communities of place, tradition, affiliation, and spirit. Originally an acronym for “Regional Organization of Theaters South”, ROOTS quickly established itself as a thought leader in the field of community-based arts and the only regional collective of artists committed to social and economic justice. In response to the needs of the growing field of community-based arts, ROOTS evolved to a multidisciplinary member-based and artist-driven organization. Member artists develop programs, and ROOTS provides resources for the needs of these socially conscious artists.
ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta is the culminating event in a series of six regional gatherings that Alternate ROOTS is convening throughout the South from 2015-2017. Through the theme of Creating Place: The Art of Equitable Community Building, we’re digging into the practice of creative placemaking within the context of Atlanta’s fast changing landscape, paying special attention to how art can both drive and resist gentrification. ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta brings together artists, cultural workers, activists, urban planners, real estate developers, city officials, and community members to engage in deep dialogue, make and witness art, and learn from one another. Exploring creative placemaking, we seek to lift up forms of community development rooted in justice and equity, spirit and culture. In doing so, we make connections between past, present, and future while uplifting grassroots, creative, community-powered solutions. ROOTS Weekends are a condensed version of ROOTS Week, our signature gathering. These three-day convenings bring artists, organizers, and cultural workers together to build community and share work through performance and visual arts, workshops and dialogues. ROOTS Weekends deepen our collective understanding of the work of social change by celebrating artists and organizers who are working within communities to develop creative solutions to longstanding issues. 4
ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Partner Organizations The Arts Exchange The Arts Exchange is a multicultural, multidisciplinary, intergenerational arts center committed to artists as agents for positive social change. Founded in 1984 by a diverse group of artists, activists, and community supporters, The Arts Exchange remains a vibrant part of Atlanta’s cultural scene by bringing people, ideas, and the arts together, offering practicing, professional artists a chance to nurture their creativity and to share innovative arts experiences and educational opportunities with the public.
Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History Anchoring the west end of the Sweet Auburn historic district, the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History opened May 1994 in Atlanta. A special library of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System (A-FPLS), it is the first public library in the Southeast to offer specialized reference and archival collections dedicated to the study and research of African American culture and history and of other peoples of African descent.
C4 Atlanta C4 Atlanta Inc. is a non-profit arts service organization whose mission is to connect arts entrepreneurs to the people, skills, and tools they need to build a successful artistic career in metro Atlanta. The organization was founded in July 2010 in response to a growing need for business services for Atlanta’s arts community. C4 Atlanta fulfills this mission by offering professional practice classes for artists, fiscal sponsorship, co-working space, and more.
WonderRoot WonderRoot is an arts organization that works to improve the cultural and social landscape of Atlanta through creative initiatives and community partnerships. The anchor of WonderRoot is their Arts Center – a full-service facility that supports artists, offers public programming, and brings diverse voices together to envision and activate a stronger Atlanta. 5
Meeting Processes & Roles
Photo by Sandra Andino
As part of ROOTS’ community-building practice, we are intentional about the ways in which we gather together and share space. These meeting agreements are an evolving snapshot of practices we use to cultivate equity, community, and wellness when we convene as a group. They are by no means a requirement for every gathering, nor are they ever complete. As you get together throughout the weekend, please feel free to use these agreements as a starting point and add/ change/invent new language to better serve the unique needs of your group. Meeting Agreements At the beginning of meetings/Learning Exchanges, we create a meeting contract. This agreement includes everything from emotional needs to physical requests in order to keep us together and moving as a cohesive, productive group. It can include things like:
• Include the pronouns you use when you introduce yourself. (More on
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this on p. 7) • Use “I” statements (speak from your own experience and feelings). • Take care of yourself and your own needs. • Avoid alphabet soup/coded language (if there are newcomers in the room, do not assume that everyone knows what our acronyms or buzzwords mean). • Seek first to understand; assume good intent. • Don’t drop a bomb and walk away. • Leave the space in better shape than we found it. • Come forward, come back (if you’re participating a lot, make space for others to have a turn; if you’re not participating very much, challenge yourself to do so). • Ask before you hug. (More on this on p. 7) • Let’s have stretch breaks and creatively use our bodies whenever possible!
Assigned Roles At the beginning of a meeting/workshop, we assign roles. Some of these roles are already in place (e.g. workshops are facilitated by the artist/activist who proposed that session) and not every role is necessary for every kind of gathering (e.g. a dance workshop may not need a note taker). Roles can include:
• Facilitator: knows the goals and objectives of the session and keeps
everyone on point toward that end. • Co-Facilitator: jumps in when the facilitator needs help, often will also keep “the stack” or “queue” (the list of people who are waiting to speak). • Time Keeper: is aware of how much time has been allotted for an exercise/discussion item and gives verbal or visual cues when time is coming to a close. • Public Scribe: takes notes publically on butcher paper/chalkboard/etc. • Note Taker: takes notes for archival purposes on computer. • Emotions Monitor: keeps a temperature reading on the room. If things get heated, suggests a breathing exercise, bio-break, etc. If the group moves through a hard piece successfully, suggests a celebratory moment. • Door Keeper: greets latecomers or those who have had to leave and come back; catches them up on what the group has been discussing so the session does not have to stop with each new entry. Check-ins/Check-outs Generally, as time and agenda allow, meetings/Learning Exchanges begin with a check-in and end with a check-out. Individuals are invited to say what’s going on in their neck of the woods, or in what physical, spiritual, or emotional state they’re entering or leaving the space. This process can be shortened creatively by asking participants to use one word, movement, a song title, or some other abbreviating concept to capture an energetic reading. Sharing and minding folks’ pronouns. We encourage everyone sharing space with us this weekend to identify your pronouns on your nametag. Being intentional about sharing pronouns and attentive to using folks’ correct pronouns is part of growing our practice of gender liberation. It’s a way to make the space at ROOTS Weekend more welcoming and affirming to gender nonconforming, transgender, and genderqueer folks – and doing so makes us ALL more free! If being mindful of pronouns is new to you, this weekend is a fabulous opportunity to make this part of your practice. Cultivating a culture of consent: Ask before you hug. Seek a verbal “yes” before extending your arms for a hug or placing your hand on someone. No matter our intentions, we do not know folks’ boundaries or what they may be feeling inside – you never know where someone is or has gone through. This is especially important if you do not know the person but is also a good idea to practice with all of your friends and family. And yes, it may seem awkward or silly, but this practice ensures that all ROOTS Weekend participants can feel safe and empowered in their own bodies. 7
Schedule of Events All programming takes place at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, except Friday and Saturday’s bus tours, WonderRoot’s Screen Printing Studio, and Storytelling Open Mic, at the Edgewood Speakeasy.
Thursday September 28, 2017 Auburn Avenue Research Library | 101 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
10 am-5 pm: Creating Place: the Art of Equitable Community Building Learning Exchange 10:30 am: Welcome 11:00 am-12:30 pm: Community that is ROOTed: A National Creative Placemaking Conversation 12:30-1 pm: Community Lunch 1-2:30 pm: The Art of Equitable Community Building: Showcase 3-4:30 pm: Workshops 6-9 pm: ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta KickOff Party and Reception for Stand: A Visual Dialogue on Justice
Friday, September 29, 2017 Auburn Avenue Research Library | 101 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
9:30 am-12:30 pm: The Atlanta BeltLine Bus Tour Meet @ Inman Park MARTA Station 1055 DeKalb Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307
10:00 am-11:15 am: Abel 2, Inc. Workshop 11:30 am-12:45 pm: The Art of Equitable Community Building: Films & Conversation 12:30-1:30 pm: Community Lunch 1:30-3:00 pm: The Atlanta BeltLine Conversation 3:15-4:45 pm: Workshops 7-9 pm: ROOTS Lounge Live 8
Saturday, September 30, 2017 11 am-4 pm: A Sankofa Journey: Atlanta Grassroots Arts Bus Tour organized by The Arts Exchange Meet at the old school at 1043 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316; Parking entrance is off of Stovall St SE. Look for the ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta sign.
2:30-4 pm: WonderRoot’s Activist Screen Printing Studio with Local Artists on the Theme: Housing Justice This workshop will take place at WonderRoot, 982 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. Parking is available at the old school at 1043 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. Parking entrance is off of Stovall St SE. Look for the ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta sign.
7-9 pm: StoryMuse presents Stories on the Edge of Night: A Storytelling Open Mic This event will take place at the Edgewood Speakeasy, 327 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312.
Sunday, October 1, 2017 Auburn Avenue Research Library | 101 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
10 am-12:45 pm: Workshops 12:45-1 pm: Closing Circle 1 pm: Community Lunch
Alleged Lesbian Activities, a performance by Last Call. Photo: Melisa Cardona.
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Thursday, September 28, 2017 Auburn Avenue Research Library | 101 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
10 am-5 pm: Creating Place: The Art of Equitable Community Building Learning Exchange 10:30 am: Welcome 11 am-12:30 pm: Community that is ROOTed: A National Creative Placemaking Conversation This panel discussion sets the framework for the weekend, and gives context for Creative Placemaking work on the national level. Moderated by Carlton Turner, Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS, and featuring F. Javier Torres, Director of National Grantmaking at ArtPlace America, Lori Pourier, President and CEO of First People’s Fund, and Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, this conversation will explore themes of equity within the national ecosystem of creative placemaking practice.
12:30-1 pm: Community Lunch 1-2:30 pm: The Art of Equitable Community Building: Showcase What does creative placemaking look like in grassroots communities throughout the South? Given the challenges to health and livability that our communities are facing – gentrification, deportation, mass incarceration, environmental destruction – what essential perspective do ROOTS artist/organizers bring to national conversations about creative placemaking? This performative showcase lifts up the work of contributors to ROOTS’ collective, multimedia research project, Creating Place: The Art of Equitable Community Building. The full project launches spring 2018. Featured artists: Dora Arreola, Andrea Assaf, Edyka Chilomé, Angela Davis Johnson, Kerry Lee, nelle mills, Ashley Minner, Indee Mitchell, Kim Pevia, Muthi Reed, Jeree Thomas, Samuel Valdez.
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3-4:30 pm: Workshops Stories of Self, Home, Place & Space: Shannon Turner In this 90-minute oral storytelling workshop, Shannon M. Turner, Founder/ Creative Director of StoryMuse (storymuse.net), will work with participants to cultivate their stories as a technique for personal & professional development. Activities to include: practice deep listening; experiment with story techniques such as plotline, character, and theme; and discuss the opportunities and pitfalls of telling personal stories in the public sphere such as vulnerability and floodlighting. Participants will emerge from this experience with new resources, research, and connections from the reality storytelling movement, as well as one new story for sharing. Interested participants will be invited to prepare a story for Saturday night’s ROOTS Weekend event, Stories on the Edge, and could be featured storytellers.
What Violence Are You From?: Arielle Julia Brown This workshops functions to redress shared understandings of US regions and reconfigure them through the lens of regional histories of racial terror. This workshop engages cultural workers in cultural justice mapping exercises, facilitated discussions, and creative coalition building tactics. This session is rooted in the design and process of Black Spatial Relics, a new performance residency based at Brown University that supports the development of new works about slavery, justice, and freedom in and around US sites that are local to the transatlantic slave trade.
Kerry Lee, Co-Artistic Director of the Atlanta Chinese Dance Company, dances Fan as a Paintbrush. Photo: Bubba Carr.
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6-9 pm: ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta KickOff Party Join us for appetizers and beverages at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. The KickOff Party is free and open to the public, and features Stand: A Visual Dialogue on Justice, a visual arts exhibition curated by Charmaine Minniefield around the weekend’s theme, Creating Place: The Art of Equitable Community Building, as well as music and art presented by the following artists: Visual Artists: Melissa Alexander Jamaal Barber Joe Bigley Julius Brown Jessica Caldas Alfred Conteh Angela Davis Johnson Joe Dreher Maurice Evans The Charleston Rhizome Collective Myra Greene Normando Ismay
Helms Jarrell Grace Kisa Meredith Kooi Arturo Lindsey Sonia Osio Charlie Palmer Sheila Pree Bright frank d. robinson jr. Gregor Turk Lisa Tuttle Fabian Williams Shannon Willow
Sonia Osio’s Global Mandala.
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Music: Global Village Chorus
Students of the Global Village Project.
The Global Village Project is an accredited middle school for teenage refugee girls with interrupted education. Students come from Afghanistan, Burma, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Nepal, Somalia, and Central African Republic. ROOTS member Elise Witt serves as Artist-in-Residence, assisted by Music Team members Joyce Williams and Jacqueline Howard. GVP is an arts integrated school, featuring collaboration of music, drama, dance, and visual arts with science, math, social studies, and English language acquisition. GVP also collaborates with the larger community, and is becoming a model for refugee education worldwide. The Global Village Chorus sings original songs, songs from the students’ home cultures, and songs from the global peace and justice repertoire. Performative Installation: Charmaine Minniefield (Lead Artist), Kimberly Binns (Digital Editor), Muthi Reed (Sound), Julie B. Johnson (Choreographer/Dancer), Kalah Byrd (Dancer), Tambra Omiyale Harris (Dancer), and Nneka Kelly (Dancer) Remembrance as Resistance: Digitally Mapping The Ring Shout examines the institution of place and space as they inform identity and belonging by revisiting the Ring Shout – a traditional African American worship and gathering practice whose origins predate slavery out of West African ritual and ceremony. The circle is where the gathering would take place, sometimes as an act of resistance, and where prayers were harnessed. By digitally recreating this giant Ring Shout, projected onto the exterior of the Auburn Ave. Research Library, Minniefield draws connections between the endangered Gullah Geechee coastal area, where signs of the Ring Shout remain even today, to the King Historic District, also affected by urban renewal and gentrification – both rich with history of African American faith-led resistance and activism. 13
Friday, September 29, 2017
Auburn Avenue Research Library | 101 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
9:30 am-12:30 pm: The Atlanta BeltLine Bus Tour Inman Park MARTA Station | 1055 DeKalb Avenue, NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 The tour is limited to those who signed up ahead of time. Participants will meet in the parking lot off Edgewood Ave. and Hurt Street (do not go to the Reynoldstown side of the station). There are no restrooms at the Inman Park MARTA station. A restroom break is provided at the tour’s midway point. You are welcome to bring your own snack. Bottled water is provided. The Atlanta BeltLine is the most comprehensive transportation and economic development effort ever undertaken in the City of Atlanta, and among the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment programs currently underway in the United States. The Atlanta BeltLine will ultimately connect 45 intown neighborhoods via a 22-mile loop of multi-use trails, modern streetcar, and parks – all based on railroad corridors that formerly encircled Atlanta.
10-11:15 am: Abel 2, Inc. Workshop This workshop seeks to garner advice from persons interested in/linked to the disability community for ways to attract existing performing artists with disabilities. Abel 2 recognizes that performing artists with disabilities want to focus on their abilities rather than bring attention to their limitations…just like any other artists. We, however, value their uniquenesses and see the opportunity to reach the largest minority group in the US (19%). Abel 2 seeks to promote shows that feature talented performers with disabilities and target audiences that are truly inclusive: made up of people with and without disabilities…across the full disability spectrum.
11:30 am-12:45 pm: The Art of Equitable Community Building: Films & Conversation What does equitable creative placemaking look like in grassroots communities throughout the South? Part two of The Art of Equitable Community Building research project sharing, this session picks up where Thursday’s showcase left off – featuring four short films developed by ROOTS members for ROOTS’ collective research project on creative placemaking. Come for screenings of films about the work of Clear Creek Creative (Clear Creek, KY), ConNECKted (Charleston, SC), Free Movement (Wilmington, NC), and SpiritHouse (Durham, NC), followed by facilitated conversation about the films, podcasts, and articles that comprise the overall project. The full project launches in spring 2018. 14
12:30-1:30 pm: Community Lunch 1:30-3 pm: The Atlanta BeltLine Conversation The Atlanta BeltLine conversation will uplift multiple voices that delve deep into the creation, intention, and impact that the BeltLine has had on Atlanta neighborhoods, residents and the arts community. C4 Atlanta’s, Jessyca Holland will moderate a conversation that features Ryan Gravel, original BeltLine visionary, Fabian Willams, Visual and Performance Artist, Columbus Ward, director of Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation, and Jaequan Allison (JQ), Youth Communications Coordinator for Project South: The Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide.
3:15-4:45 pm: Hurston, Barnicle and Lomax: Lynn Linnemeier & Val Lyle Despite Jim Crow laws that prevailed in 1935, anthropologists Zora Neale Hurston, Mary Elizabeth Barnicle, and Alan Lomax embarked on a road trip to record songs of African Americans in Georgia and Florida. Partnering with the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, VA/TN, Hurston, Barnicle and Lomax will bring an interactive community collaborative traveling showcase that reimagines the trio’s intrepid journey through the contemporary lens of visual art, music, and literature. This presentation will share goals and concepts for the project and engenders feedback from the audience.
7-9 pm: ROOTS Lounge Live Music: Liza Garza & Eli Lakes Rooted in a passion for Oneness and Tradition, Liza Garza and her oldest son, Eli Lakes, present an array of original music that carries on in the tradition of their family. Honoring their ancestors, they hold sacred the power of song and storytelling and its ability to unveil bridges between the hearts. Championing the vulnerable, they find joy within every creative exchange, celebrating their mutual passion for each other and their divine purpose.
L-R: Liza Garza & Eli Lakes; Erin Washington; Anita Crethers
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Alabama Hold On: Erin Washington Alabama Hold On is an experimental theatre piece that explores the state of Alabama through the eyes of a black woman. Filled with music and conversations on politics, spirit, and racial relations in 2017, Alabama Hold On creates an amazing conversation about how we can create the community we want to live in even in a space that has been so torn apart by division. Drawing on the healing energy of her ancestors, Washington provides an analysis of community building in Alabama that leans on the historical while imagining what Alabama 2.0 will be once we’ve all committed to equitable community building!
Rumble Black Girl Rumble: Anita Crethers Rumble Black Girl Rumble is a presentation/performance that pays homage to strong and affluent black heroines of the past but also to present-day black women and girls who fight for social, personal, economic, and political justice. The poetry and lyrics that makes up this presentation come from the perspective of a black girl raised in substandard circumstances who found her escape through the art and history of infamous and black women, but also through the love of black women she saw every day.
Saturday, September 30, 2017 11 am-4 pm: A Sankofa Journey: Atlanta Grassroots Arts Bus Tour organized by The Arts Exchange and moderated by Alice Lovelace, President Board of Directors. Meet at 1043 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 Tour limited to those who signed up ahead of time. Participants will meet at the old school. Parking entrance is off of Stovall St SE. Boxed lunches provided. The literal translation of the word and the symbol “Sankofa” (from the Akan) is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” Join us on a Sankofa journey into Atlanta’s historical “left behind” past, back to an age when a progressive mayor gave financial support to artists and arts based organizations and set the stage for Atlanta’s reputation as an Arts Mecca. A ceremony/conversation tour honoring the people, places, events, and outcomes of that past through the stories of artists initiated spaces. 16
WonderRoot screen printing workship at Ponce City Market.
2:30-4 pm: WonderRoot’s Activist Screen Printing Studio with Local Artists on the Theme: Housing Justice WonderRoot | 982 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 Parking is available at the old school at 1043 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. Parking lot entrance is off of Stovall St SE. Learn the importance of accessible messaging at WonderRoot’s Activist Screen Print Studio, a community initiative that seeks to affect positive social change through the accessible medium of screen printing. WonderROOT will re-share art work from their justice screen printing campaign where they partnered with City for All, Living Transit Fund, and the Housing Justice League featuring art work by artists are Lynne Tanzer and Monica Alexander, and host a screen printing tutorial where participants will have the opportunity to try their hand at making a print. This workshop is open to the public and for all ages.
6:30-8:30 pm: StoryMuse presents Stories on the Edge of Night: A Storytelling Open Mic Edgewood Speakeasy | 327 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312 Every city’s got a story to tell. At the heart of every story, something changes. Stories on the Edge of Night will be an opportunity for Atlantans and our outof-town visitors to gather, take the stage, and share stories about resilience, home, place, space, old lessons re-learned, new realities, and living on this edge of...change. This event is free and open to the public. Storytellers and story listeners from the general Atlanta community who are not a part of ROOTS Weekend are also invited to participate! 17
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Auburn Avenue Research Library | 101 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
10-11:15 am: Accessing Your Body Wisdom in Challenging Times: InterPlay Atlanta Come join InterPlay Atlanta’s body wise activists and artists to play with ways to relieve stress and cynicism. We currently live in interesting times and are inundated with an overload of information and experiences. InterPlay is an active, creative way to unlock the wisdom of the body. You will be lead through a series of incremental forms that lead participants to movement and stories, silence and song, ease and amusement. In the process, we discover the wisdom in ourselves and our communities.
11:30 am-12:45 pm: Afro-Brazilian Dance Workshop: Tamara Williams Afro-Brazilian Dance is a study of the connections between the rhythms and the traditional movement, archetype and story, of the elements of nature interpreted as an art form. Afro-Brazilian Dance encourages participants to become aware of cross cultural dance by means of investigating the societal development surrounding folkloric, religious, and social dance traditions. In this workshop, participants will practice Orixá Dance Movements and Samba Afro. These dance forms represent resilience and perseverance for the AfroBrazilian population. We’ll acknowledge these movements as a form of agency, and use the elements of nature that surround us as a source of empowerment.
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Tamara Williams. Photo Courtesy the Artist.
Bios for all Presenters Abel 2, Inc. - The mission of Abel 2, Inc. is to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities and the under-served by creating music and arts opportunities for Employment and Enjoyment. That said, we believe everybody deserves a stage; however our social norms have marginalized and limited engagement with people with disabilities, thus limiting their ability to perform as artists and enjoy performances as an audience members. All this in spite of them being the largest minority group in the US (19%). We are looking to showcase talented performing artists with disabilities. Kimberly Binns is a filmmaker, editor, visual artist and curator. Her signature “micro-minies” are short documentaries which tell the stories of creatives, makers and artists. She has served as a contributor to Atlanta’s online arts magazine, Burnaway by capturing the Atlanta cultural scene on film. Her recent work documented the ChopArts international program for homeless youth in India. Arielle Julia Brown* is a creative producer and social practice theatre artist. Arielle is the creative producer of Black Spatial Relics, a new performance residency about slavery, justice, and freedom. She served as a 2015-2017 graduate fellow with the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University where she holds a M.A. in Public Humanities. Dudley Cocke*, writer, stage director, and producer, is the artistic director of Roadside Theater, a part of the award-winning rural arts and humanities center, Appalshop, in Whitesburg, Kentucky. The 43 year-old Appalachian ensemble theater has toured its original plays in 45 states and Europe. Mr. Cocke is the recipient of the 2002 Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities and recently Imagining America’s Randy Martin Spirit Award for original thinking. Anita Crethers* is a member of Alternate ROOTS and S.T.R.U.G-Lin Life Change Group. She is an emcee, artist, activist, and a poet. She has been writing since she was nine and performing since the age of twelve. She has performed with People like Dean Atta, Rage Almighty, Sunni Patterson and Michael Guinn. Anita has also taught Poetry and Hip Hop workshops at the South Dallas Cultural Center, Dallas Public Library, and DISD Schools. She has been featured in several poetry shows and venues. Liza Garza* - Emmy Award nominated Liza Garza is a lightworker, mother, activist, poet, and vocalist who is passionate about Oneness. From her soulful sounds of Mexican folk tunes with the intricacy of Hip Hop rhyme schemes, to her handcrafted adornments inspired by indigenous textiles, she bridges the ancestral with the modern. With performances that include The Lincoln Center, The Apollo, NALAC, HBO Def Poetry, and numerous stages worldwide, diverse people find a home in her voice. Possessing a self-formatted degree in Performance Activism from the University of Michigan-Flint, Liza * Denotes member of Alternate ROOTS
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spends the balance of her time speaking at universities and conferences. InterPlay Atlanta* is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that uses structured improvisational play to foster freedom and joy, decrease stress, and build just communities. InterPlay Atlanta offers regular monthly playshops to artists, activists, and anyone seeking creative play and connection. In addition, regular classes are offered in partnership with Trinity House, Mercy Care, Atlanta Pretrial Detention Center, and The Friendship Center. Julie B. Johnson*, PhD, is a Dance Lecturer at Spelman College; a co-founding editor of The Dancer-Citizen; and a strategist for Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround and Dancing for Justice Philadelphia. Her work centers on African Diaspora movement aesthetics, community meaning, collaborative inquiry, and embodied memory. Eli Lakes* is a musician, producer, and art activist. Raised and rooted in culture and purpose he has pursued his passion from an early age. Eli began experimenting with his voice and several instruments and due to his self driven work ethic got on the road as his mother Liza Garza’s official guitarist and backup vocalist at the age of 15. He has joined her at The Happy Feelings Concert at the Flint Institute of Arts, The Clear Creek Festival (Berea, KY), Taking it the Streets Festival (Chicago, IL) and numerous universities. His experience and inherent wisdom radiates far and wide. Lynn Marshall Linnemeier* is an Atlanta based visual artist whose largescale mixed-media works are informed by ancestral memory through community collaborations. Her work utilizes primary source documents and photographs to examine political issues and activism within communities. The work is often site-specific and collaborative bringing community members together to assist in the fabrication of the works of art. Through her personal initiative, The Journey Projects, she has brought art projects to many rural communities as well as urban enclaves. Val Lyle* is an Artist/Activist/Educator working in Southern Appalachia around themes of cultural identity. Her five-year-old company “Art Now LLC� handles large-scale public artwork commission while she continues a gallery presence with sculptures and paintings. Recent works include live performance and digital storytelling. Charmaine Minniefield* - The work of Charmaine Minniefield ritually explores the mysterious power of women, the tradition of ancestral veneration, and the reclaiming of lost narratives, past and present. Her most recent site-specific installations leverage digital mixed media and projection mapping to reclaimed and retell those stories lost to time, gentrification, and erasure. Lori Lea Pourier, (Oglala Lakota) has served as the President, First Peoples Fund (FPF) since 1999. She has nearly 30 years of experience in community economic development with a specific emphasis on native arts and culture revitalization within tribal communities. Her career began at First Nations 20
Development Institute where she led the national tribally based arts program for nearly 10 years. She was awarded the Women’s World Summit Foundation’s 2013 Women’s in Creativity in Rural Life Award. She holds a Master of Science degree from New Hampshire College Graduate School of Business. Muthi Reed* is a multidisciplinary Black Prismatic artist from Philadelphia who works under the name Krewe Coumbite. As a documentary media maker, sound recordist, oral history researcher, they generate remixes of open source material, shaped by notions of individual and collective Black culture - economics, work, power, technology, rhythm, and harmony. F. Javier Torres is the Director of National Grantmaking at ArtPlace America. In his role he is responsible for building a comprehensive set of demonstration projects that illustrate the many ways in which arts and culture can strengthen the processes and outcomes of the planning and development field across the United States. Prior to his role at ArtPlace, Javier was Senior Program Officer for Arts and Culture at the Boston Foundation where he led an exploration of the role of culture as a tool for transformation, sustainability, and as central to the development of vibrant communities. Javier spent six years as the Director of Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, a program of IBA, a community based multi-disciplinary arts complex that operates as a regional presenter and local programmer for Latino arts. Currently, he is a board member for Grantmakers in the Arts and an advisory board member for the Design Studio for Social Intervention. Shannon M. Turner* is the founder and creative director of StoryMuse, which provides unique strategies for personal, business, organizational, and community development through reality storytelling & theatre techniques – everywhere it is needed. Recent engagements include CARE USA’s staff and at GSU’s Young African Leaders Initiative. Shannon also recently completed a year-long ROOTS-funded artistic residency at Virginia Tech around the tenyear anniversary of the shootings that occurred there in 2007. Shannon was Manager of Programs & Services at Alternate ROOTS, 2009-2015. You can catch her Mondays at noon as co-host of North Avenue Lounge on WREK, 91.1, northavenuelounge.com. Learn more about Shannon’s work at storymuse.net. Erin Michelle Washington is an artist, community builder, and teaching artist from Montgomery, AL. She attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and obtained her MFA in Acting from San Francisco’s award-winning, American Conservatory Theater. While in the Bay Area, Erin co-lead a youth initiative, The Nia Project, which provided artistic outlets for youth residing in Bayview/Hunter’s Point. In 2009, Erin started Soul Productions, a company that exposes urban communities to emerging independent artists who are pioneering new approaches to music and theatre. She has since taken her thoughts on community on the road. Columbus Ward is the director of Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation and 21
serves on the board of Georgia WAND Education Fund, Inc. Peoplestown and surrounding NPU-V communities are affected by the Atlanta BeltLine. Columbus works with community residents that seek a better understanding of what is happening today in his community and is engaged with connecting residents and stakeholders to become more involved in all of the human needs. Columbus began community organizing in NPU-V as a youth, and his work over the decades has had an important impact on the City of Atlanta: for instance, he was ensured the 2006 Olympic development was equitable and recently brokered a community benefits agreement with the sale of Turner Field. Tamara Williams is an Assistant Professor of Dance at UNCC. She earned her BFA in Dance from Florida State University and her MFA in Dance from Hollins University in collaboration with Frankfurt University-Germany. Her choreography has been performed nationally, and internationally in Serbia, Switzerland, Trinidad, and Brazil. In 2011, Williams created Tamara LaDonna Moving Spirits, Inc., a contemporary arts organization dedicated to performing, researching, documenting, cultivating and producing arts of the African Diaspora.
Join Alternate ROOTS If you feel a kinship with the work of Alternate ROOTS, and your practice aligns with the mission, please consider joining the movement and becoming a general or organizational member for $40. You can become a member online at www.alternateroots.org.
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Photo: Ariston Jacks
Venues, Hotels, and Staff Contact Information Venues Auburn Avenue African American Research Library 101 Auburn Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30303 Paid parking available in adjacent lot; metered street parking also available.
WonderRoot 982 Memorial Dr SE Atlanta, GA 30316 Parking is available at the old school at 1043 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. Parking lot entrance is off of Stovall St SE.
Edgwood Speakeasy 327 Edgewood Ave SE Atlanta, GA 30312 Street parking available.
Hotels Hyatt Place Atlanta Airport-South 1899 Sullivan Rd. College Park, GA 30337 770-994-2997
Hyatt Regency Atlanta 265 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta, GA 30303 404-577-1234
Contact Information To reach a ROOTS staff member, call the office number, 404-577-1079, and dial the extension of the person you need to speak with. You will be rerouted to their cell phone. Programs Manager, Wendy Shenefelt, is the primary point of contact, please try her first. Wendy Shenefelt, Programs Manager: x306 Ashley Walden Davis, Managing Director: x304 Paige Heurtin, Operations Manager: x305 Nicole Gurgel-Seefeldt, Communications Manager: x303
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Thanks to the many, many good people whose work brought ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta together! ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Partners The Arts Exchange Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History C4 Atlanta WonderRoot
ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Staff Arielle Brown, Programs Associate Tae Eady, Lights Operator Aimee McCoy, Stage Manager Charmaine Minniefield, Local Coordinator Allen Welty-Green, Sound Operator
ROOTS Weekend-Atlanta Planning Team Eleanor Brownfield Kathie DeNobriga Tae Eady Audrey Gรกmez Jessyca Holland Alice Lovelace Aimee McCoy Jonathan S.E. Perkins Priscilla Smith Shannon Turner Allen Welty-Green Patton White Elise Witt
Alternate ROOTS Staff Carlton Turner, Executive Director Ashley Walden Davis, Managing Director Paige Heurtin, Operations Manager Wendy Shenefelt, Programs Manager Nicole Gurgel-Seefeldt, Communications Manager Kerry Lee, Operations Associate Joseph Thomas, Communications Developer Aimee McCoy, Arts Management Fellow 24
Many Thanks to our Funders! The ROOTS Weekend Series is supported by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Alternate ROOTS is additionally supported by the generous donations of our gracious members, private individuals, and the following funders: Fund for Southern Communities National Endowment for the Arts Surdna Foundation The Ford Foundation Quixote Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Nathan Cummings Foundation Robert Rauschenberg Foundation The Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta