Fisk University’s
92nd Annual SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL May 2021
Artist: April Lacey (Sophomore, Art)
Arts: Making of a Movement The Fisk University Department of Art is delighted to participate in the University’s Annual Spring Arts Festival which celebrates the arts and the humanities. In 2021, as in previous years, we continue our tradition of showcasing the creative efforts of our students, and of those who have taught and trained them. Student artists are selected from the Painting, Ceramic, Sculpture, and Photography Studios where they are
given opportunities to present their creative work during classes and receive constructive criticism. The department, founded by Aaron Douglas, known as “the father of black American art,” was the department chairman for 22 years and chairman Emeritus from 1966 until his death in 1979. An illustrious list of faculty and alumni have followed and left a remarkable impression. For over seventy-five years, the department has continued to produce exceptional graduates dedicated to the study of the arts and visual culture. Fisk’s museum collections have consistently been an integral teaching resource for students, artists, and scholars as well as the national and global community.
ghij INHALE, EXHALE Through the course of 2020 and 2021, there were many unprecedented things happening in the world (the Pandemic, the Economic Collapse, Social Justice issues, etc.), and it was easy for us to get lost in the negativity. Some people may have felt that life was filled with pain and suffering, but it ultimately forced us to focus on the meaningful moments, loved ones, and most importantly, ourselves. This year’s Annual Student Art Exhibit, “Inhale, Exhale”, explores themes related to mental health. —Curator Statement by Jansen Buchanan and Jessica Wilson
Jansen Buchanan
Jessica Wilson
Office of the President
Dear All, The annual Spring Arts Festival of Fisk University has a ninety-two-year history of displaying the creative ingenuity and talents of our faculty, students, alumni, and friends. Fisk’s Annual Music and Arts Festival began in April 1929 to emphasize, display, and celebrate the work being done at the University in the fine and cultural arts. Although the festival is virtual this year, it is no different! This 92nd Annual Spring Arts Festival is being presented under the appropriate and relevant theme “Arts: Making of a Movement.” Fisk students and faculty have always come together to address social problems in their community, across the nation, and around the globe, whether through non-violent resistance, direct action, scholarly arguments, or in this case, the arts. Our belief in activism for social change has always been a vital part of Fisk University’s identity. The arts have contemporary social relevance and has consistently been an effective tool for the advancement of social and political movements. It is my hope that this year’s virtual festivities will not only attract a wider audience but continue our tradition of social justice through artistic creativity and cultural significance. Thank you for joining the celebration, for being a part of this momentous occasion, and for supporting the arts and culture at Fisk University. Best regards,
Vann R. Newkirk, Sr., Ph.D. President
1000 Seventeenth Avenue North
| Nashville, Tennessee 37208-3051 | P: 615.329.8555
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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
he Annual Spring Arts Festival is an established tradition at Fisk University. In 1929, the first Festival was held under the auspices of the Fisk Music School with Ray Francis Brown as director. Invitations were sent to Nashville patrons of music and to friends of Fisk all over the country requesting their presence at the three-day celebration known then as “The Festival of Negro Music and Fine Arts.” This cultural event opened with a concert of Jubilee Music, which featured the Fisk Jubilee Singers®, under the direction of Mrs. James A. Myers, and the Men’s Glee Club and Mozart Society (Choir) both directed by John W. Work. The second day featured a program of folk songs, dances and gymnastics by the Department of Physical Education for Women, a talk by James Weldon Johnson, a student recital, an art exhibit and a fashion show with the theme “Sugar and Spice – Fisk Fashions for 1929.” Festivities for the third day began with regular Sunday morning church service. The afternoon activities consisted of a concert of sixteenth century church music, music by Russian composers, Bach, and others. The festival closed with a tea in the parlor of Jubilee Hall honoring Maggie Porter Cole, one of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers®, Mabel Lewis Imes, a former Jubilee Singer and Mary Fisk Park, daughter of Clinton B. Fisk. The Board of Trustees, who met during the Festival, was present at the tea. As a result of the success of the first Festival, it was decided that the event should become an annual affair. Over the years, guest participants have included such luminaries as Countee Cullen and Robert Hayden who shared their poetry, Arthur Spingarn, Martin Luther King, Jr., Pearl Buck, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Margaret Walker, Carl Rowan, Ossie Davis, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and J. Mason Brewer who have been among the convocation and seminar speakers, musicians who have ranged from Roland Hayes, Philippa Duke Schuyler and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra to Miriam Mekeba, Quincy Jones and Cannonball Adderly, and dancers representing the Pearl Primus, Jose Limon and Jean Leon Destine Dance Troupes.
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In conjunction with the seminars, concerts, film showings and play productions, there have been several noteworthy art exhibits. Items from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, paintings by Aaron Douglas and other members of the Fisk faculty, portraits by Carl Van Vechten and works by Elizabeth Catlett have been displayed at the Library, Livingston Hall and in later years, the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery. There were several historic events connected with the University, which occurred during the Festivals. In 1930, there was the laying of the cornerstone for the Erastus Milo Cravath Library. In 1959, there was the dedication of the Adam K. Spence Student Union Building, the W.E.B. DuBois Hall and Park-Johnson Hall. Events such as the crowning of the Festival King and Queen, the Beaux Art Ball and dance recitals were some of the most popular activities for Fisk students. Several awards have been presented to individuals for their outstanding achievements. In1932, Roland Hayes received the Doctor of Music degree and Marian Anderson, Dorothy Maynor, Pauli Marshall and Undine Smith Moore are among those who have received the Humanitarian Award. No account of the history of the Annual Spring Arts Festival would be complete without mentioning our own talented “in house” artists. The Fisk Jubilee Singers® and the University Choir have been integral parts of the Festival since its inception. The Stagecrafters, founded in 1926, joined the festivities in the early thirties and Orchesis made its first appearance in 1954. The Modern Black Mass Choir and the Jazz Ensemble became part of the Festival in 1972. During recent years, the Festival has attracted well-known participants like Shirley Chisholm, Nikki Giovanni, Hubert Laws, and the Boy’s Choir of Harlem. From all indications, it is evident that Fisk University stands in the forefront as a medium for cultural expression while she continues to subscribe to her legacy of excellence in the arts. — Beth M. Howse ‘65 (1943–2012) Special Collections Librarian
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VISUAL ARTS
Artist: DeAngela Stargell (Senior, History)
Artist: Jansen Buchanan (Sophomore, Art Psychology)
Artist: Jessica Wilson (Senior, Psychology)
Artist: John Henderson IV (Freshman, Art)
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“What I dream of”
LITERARY ART
by Aliyah Riddle (Freshman, Psychology) i wish i didn’t feel sad i imagine a life where i am happy all the time where i wasn’t left battered, beaten, and bruised by the feeling of NOT feeling good enough i wish i had the courage to wake up and feel confident in the appearance God so graciously blessed me with i wish i didn’t feel selfish for finally whispering that i’m helpless amidst the sea of emotions that yell out everyone else’s problems and drown mine and i rarely ever get like this oh but when i get like this
i climb through the holes placed in my soul by the people who have abandoned me my mind dwells on the ideas of who i could’ve been if my innocence wasn’t snatched away from me the times when i’m able to sleep i lie down and dream about a life where anxiety didn’t exist a life where all of my clothes fit where my bow leggedness wasn’t constantly on display where my nerdiness was cherished where the size of my breast didn’t correlate to the attention that i “hoped to receive”
all of my progress is wiped away i get sent back to the days where i never cherished days i would look forward to nightfall because at night when everyone is sleeping i can cry out in peace i can cry and no one will hear me
a life where my emotions didn’t over run me
and when i wake up my face is stained from the salt water trail that flows off of my bed from the tear drops that turn to footsteps that force me to look into the mirror and “see myself”
but when i do oh its bad
then i ask myself what do i see within myself and i wonder who i am and if i’ll ever stand a chance against this monster of emotions that consume me it is the constant feeling of not ever feeling good enough feeling like there is something wrong searching myself in and out hoping to find where i lack the place where my cup fails to runneth over
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i have not written a poem like this in so long because i do not always feel like this
when all the energy i use to be happy translates to being sad the very flowers of joy i watered with hope become wilted rose pedals deprived of nutrients by the rain that pains my soul i do not understand i don’t get it i feel like i am not understood they don’t get it i hope and pray and dream of a life where i am always happy a time when i wont feel sad i will constantly be happy.
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FILMMAKER: Merawi Gerima Merawi Gerima is a filmmaker from
Washington DC. This origin informs his work and his community-centered orientation. RESIDUE, his first feature, was a total communal endeavor, made possible primarily by the effort of the people it attempts to portray. Following its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, RESIDUE was honored with the festival’s Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Acting Award for star Obinna Nwachukwu. RESIDUE was awarded Special Mention at the 77th Venice International Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori and won the John Cassavettes Award at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Gerima is a graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts
(SCA). He is the son of celebrated Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima, a legendary figure in the L.A. Rebellion film movement.
“Synonymous” by Sky Makenna Barnes (Junior, Psychology) Am I fine? i think so but the way i allow my darkness to consume me take all my light, slowly. i miss it everyday. faith in betterment, dreaming of radiance, free of anxiety, heartache, but sometimes i miss death reminiscing on how bittersweet it was, wondering why death was so bright, the intensity of its freedom my soul at ease flowing through energy but then, i’m here, breathing and seeking to make myself the synonymous with the memory of death or light
Description: Being someone who suffers with mental illness, I know how hard it can be to suffer with unwanted thoughts. When I wrote this piece, I was experiencing those thoughts, I wasn’t sure how to express or alleviate myself from them. I wouldn’t call myself a poet because I don’t usually write, but I felt this was the only way to hear and see what I was feeling inside. By sharing this, I want others to understand they aren’t alone and when they feel alone to try to take control of those thoughts and make them magic. Power to the mind. Power to the people.
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ARTIST: Ibrahim Mahama Fisk University is hosting a large-scale public artwork by prominent Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama from April 21 through May 31. This will be only the second time Mahama’s work has been unveiled in the United States. Part of Mahama’s influential Occupation Series, Leaves of Grass 2012-2021. 2021. is being created from jute sacks initially collected by Mahama from Ghanaian markets and then sewn and resewn together on their paths to new artistic interventions. Fisk University’s Little Theatre is the site of Leaves of Grass 2012-2021. 2021. because of its powerful historical significance. — by Ann Marie Deer Owens
“The Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice” April 22–May 31, 2021
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(https://apnews.com/article/education-arts-and-entertainment-public-artlifestyle-race-and-ethnicity-3edb797e241b634b531de40ef52bb901)
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he nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) is presenting Walk Together Children: The 150th Anniversary of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a performance film featuring the multi-award-winning and world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers®. The film was created in collaboration with Musical Director Dr. Paul T. Kwami and producer/director Jon Royal.
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TPAC has made the film free to student audiences from April 26 – May 14th as part of its annual Season for Young People. The film is available to the public for $20 via Vimeo On Demand during the same time with proceeds split between TPAC’s nonprofit mission and the Fisk Jubilee Singers Endowed Scholarship Fund. Fisk Forever!
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/walktogetherchildren
ghij THEATRE: Stagecrafters
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Fisk University’s Acting Ensemble
he Fisk University Stagecrafters was organized in April of 1926, with English 142 (a class in Pageantry) as a nucleus. The director was Miss L. E. Cashin, Professor in Comparative Literature. Its purpose was the “fastening of art for art’s sake, the discovery and development of new talent, and the establishment of a little theatre on the Fisk campus.” The initial performance was Sophocles’ Antigone, which was presented in May, 1926.
From this rather auspicious beginning 95 years ago, Stagecrafters has evolved into the main University theatre group. They have occupied the Little Theatre since 1935. Today, the group provides opportunities for intensive study of plays and their production. Membership is open to all students, who may participate as actors, designers, lighting technicians, make-up artists, or in the construction of scenery or costumes. Major productions and student directed laboratory performances are held each year.
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“NIGHT VISION”
by Dominique Morisseau Ayanna...................Keenya Phillips-Riley Ezra.................................. Cameron Davis
“SOME OTHER KID”
by A. Rey Pamatmat Owen..................................Jayden Ruben Andre..................................Jeffrey Casey Elissa...........................Maddyson Barron
“COLORED”
by Winter Miller Blue........................................Jada Spight Also........................ Blue Cameron Davis Green...........................Maddyson Barron Purple....................Keenya Phillips-Riley Yellow....................................Kiare Green Pink ....................................Jeffrey Casey Red.....................................Jayden Ruben
“THE BALLAD OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN”
by Dan O’Brian & Quetzal Flores George Zimmerman......... Johnny Aubry Trayvon....................Marcellous Lindsley Officer.................................Jeffrey Casey
Directed by PERSEPHONE FELDER-FENTRESS
“DRESSING”
Persephone FelderFentress
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by Mona Mansour & Tala Manassah Mom.......................................Jada Spight Son................................... Cameron Davis
“NO MORE MONSTERS HERE”
by Marcus Gardley Rebecca...............................Layne Parker Doc......................................Jeffrey Casey Greatest-Grand............McKenna Mimms Ookie.....................................Kiare Green
CAST
DIRECTOR
Set Design/ Construction........................................ Shane Lowery Costume Designer................................................ Hazel Robinson Sound Designer.......................................................... Jada Spight Lighting Engineer....................................................... Kiare Green Assistant Lighting Engineer...................................... Keenya Riley Stage Manager...................................................McKenna Mimms Assistant Stage Manager........................................... Kiare Green Stage Crew...................... Marcellous Lindsley, Johnathan Aubrey Jeffery Casey, Keenya Riley, Lane Parker McKenna Mimms, Cameron Davis, Alezea Yelvington Videographer............................................................ Sekou Writes
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Johnathan Aubrey
Maddyson Barron
Jeffery Casey
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Cameron Davis
Kiare Green
Marcellous Lindsley, Jr.
McKenna Mimms
Keenya Phillips-Riley
Jayden Rubin
Lane Parker
Jada Spight
https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/52520
SOCIAL ISSUES: Our Heart in Song The Voice Studio and Opera Workshop of Fisk University is giving a presentation in song on YouTube.com. Students are presented singing spirituals, art songs, and other popular songs of our day as pictures and scenes of social issues dear to their hearts appear with the song. Some performances are dramatizations of these issues. Videos and dramatizations are compiled from recital and seminar performances as well as voice studio lessons, Opera Workshop assignments and private homes. The program order appears in the YouTube description, along with a separate program. —Gwendolyn Brown, Professor.
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https://youtu.be/PiD5aRgY_NA
ghij SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL COMMITTEE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Persephone Felder-Fentress Convener
Vann Newkirk, Ph.D. President
Gwendolyn Brown
Shirley Brown, Ph.D.
James Dennis Katara Grissom Alicia Henry Adrienne Latham Brandon Owens, Sr.
Holly Hamby, Ph.D. LaTanya Rogers, Ph.D. Jocelyn Imani, Ph.D. Lola Brown-Norris
Nathanial Perry
Sherri Rucker
Jamaal Sheats
Karen DeBerry
DuJuan Jackson
Sekou Writes Moment of Creation Studio
SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL 2021 SPONSORS
Peter Fields, Ph.D. David Ian Lee William Flood
General Alumni Association of Fisk University, Inc.
The Designing Apple Studio Office of Institutional Advancement
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Kappa Lambda Omega Chapter
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Artist: Jori Jackson