Fisk University 94th Annual Spring Arts Festival

April 2-9, 2023

Respect ~ Restore ~ Replenish:

Fisk Continues to be Inseparable from The Arts!

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 2023, 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. In classes, they are taught and given constructive criticism, and each student has the opportunity to present work, created from their interests, imaginations, and experiences.

The department was founded by Aaron Douglas, known as “the father of black American art.” He 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.

Contents

Office of the President

Greetings Fisk Family and Friends,

Greetings Fisk Family and Friends,

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the 94th Annual Spring Arts Festival. This weeklong festival boasts of both student and faculty offerings centered on the theme Repair – Respect - Restore Replenish: Fisk Continues to Be Inseparable from The Arts. In the past, we have had such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Ossie Davis, Harry Belafonte, Golden Globe recipient Sheryl Lee Ralph, and our very own “Poet Laureate” Nikki Giovanni and the Grammy Award winning Fisk Jubilee Singers, just to name a few.

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the 94th Annual Spring Arts Festival. This weeklong festival boasts of both student and faculty offerings centered on the theme Repair—Respect—Restore—Replenish: Fisk Continues to Be Inseparable from The Arts. In the past, we have had such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Ossie Davis, Harry Belafonte, Golden Globe recipient Sheryl Lee Ralph, and our very own “Poet Laureate” Nikki Giovanni and the Grammy Award winning Fisk Jubilee Singers, just to name a few.

This year, we will honor one of our own. Professor Alicia Henry, chairperson of the Art Department. She will be the featured visual artist this year. Her works will be hung in the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery for all to witness her artistic brilliance and talent. The students are truly blessed to have the opportunity to study under her tutelage. We also have one of our John Lewis Center for Social Justice Fellows, Michelle Eistrup, presenting a multimedia production entitled Charging Changes. Both artistic offerings will be magnificent!

This year, we will honor one of our own. Professor Alicia Henry, chairperson of the Art Department. She will be the featured visual artist this year. Her works will be hung in the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery for all to witness her artistic brilliance and talent. The students are truly blessed to have the opportunity to study under her tutelage. We also have one of our John Lewis Center for Social Justice Fellows, Michelle Eistrup, presenting a multimedia production entitled Charging Changes. Both artistic offerings will be magnificent!

We have entered a collaboration with Vanderbilt’s Theatre Department to produce SWEAT, by Lynne Nottage as directed by Chuck Smith of the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. This production will feature students from Fisk University, as well as Vanderbilt University and will be performed on both campuses. What a unique opportunity for all involved!

We have entered a collaboration with Vanderbilt’s Theatre Department to produce SWEAT, by Lynn Nottage as directed by Chuck Smith of the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. This production will feature students from Fisk University, as well as Vanderbilt University and will be performed on both campuses. What a unique opportunity for all involved!

These offerings are a mere sample of what you will experience this week. There will be choral and band concerts, movies on the yard, a fashion show, and so much more. Excitement looms throughout our hallowed halls as we honor and celebrate the arts here at our beloved Fisk University. Students and faculty alike will share their gifts and talents throughout this weeklong celebration, which will open with a Rocket Team rocket blast off!

These offerings are a mere sample of what you will experience this week. There will be choral and band concerts, movies on the yard, a fashion show, and so much more. Excitement looms throughout our hallowed halls as we honor and celebrate the arts here at our beloved Fisk University. Students and faculty alike will share their gifts and talents throughout this weeklong celebration, which will open with a Rocket Team rocket blast off!

Repair. ---- Respect---- Restore---- Replenish: Fisk Continues to Be Inseparable from The Arts. I thank you in advance for sharing with us during this, our 94th Annual Spring Arts Festival. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Repair—Respect—Restore—Replenish: Fisk Continues to Be Inseparable from The Arts. I thank you in advance for sharing with us during this, our 94th Annual Spring Arts Festival. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Frank Sims, Interim President

Frank Sims, Interim President

HISTORICAL O VERVIEW

The 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.

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

Fisk Spring Arts Festival April 2-9, 2023

April 2, 3:00 pm, Campus Grove

SIP & PAINT IN HIS IMAGE

April 3, 7:00 pm, Campus Grove

ROCKET TEAM BLAST-OFF

MOVIES ON THE LAWN

April 4, 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Appleton Room

CHARGING CHANGE WORKSHOP

Artistic Metamorphosis Towards Social Justice

April 5, 6:00 pm, The Oval

Student Fashion Show

April 6, 2:00–4:00 pm

Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery, Lower Level

Student Art Show Reception

SWEAT

by Lynn Nottage

Directed by Chuck Smith

Collaboration with Vanderbilt University’s Theatre Department

April 7, 5:30–6:30 pm

Opening Reception

Cravath, 1st floor, Rotunda

Performances

Friday, April 7, 7:00 pm

Saturday, April 8, 7:00 pm

Sunday, April 9, 2:00 pm

Little Theatre

$5 Students/$10 General Admission

Over the last four decades, Alicia Henry’s work has been widely exhibited and collected across the nation and abroad. On the campus of Fisk University, Henry has led the discipline of art and mentored generations of students, for which she is widely and affectionately known to all as “Professor Henry.”

A native of Illinois, Alicia Henry earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University School of Art. Over the course of her career, she has received numerous awards, fellowships, and grants.

Professor Henry’s work has also been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions at storied institutions, most recently the Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, Canada (2022), the Power Plant, Toronto, Canada (2019), the Havana Biennial at Matanza, Cuba (2019), Atlanta Biennial (2019), Cheekwood Museum, Nashville (2018-2019), Frist Museum, Nashville (2016). Her work has been featured in numerous publications.

Professor Henry is currently a full professor of art at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Artist: Diante Hollis, “Control”, 2023

STUDENT ARTISTS

Artist: Diante Hollis and Kya Knight, “The Pursuit”, 2023

Artist: Peyton Shephard, Save Yourself, 2022

Artist: Peyton Shephard, Lavendar Sunset, 2022

SWEAT

a Pulitzer

Prize-Winning Play

by LYNN NOTTAGE

Collaboration with Vanderbilt University’s Theatre Department

Dramatis Personae

Evan

Evan Understudy

Jason

Chris

Stan

Oscar Tracey

Cynthia

Jessie Brucie

Carrie Ford

Nantambu-Akil Fentress

Will Henke

Jeffrey Case

Alex LeRoux

Christian Rodriguez

Lily Gussis

Camryn Johnson

Paige Givens

Sean Webb

SWEAT is located in Reading, Pennsylvania, one of America’s poorest cities and set at a transitional time in American industry. The play examines the intersecting stories of workers on strike, three female friends who work together in a plant, and the generational differences between these workers and their sons,

Production Team

Director, Chuck Smith

Assistant Directors

Rachel Ward (Fisk) and Audrey Molina (VU)

Set and Lighting Designer

Phillip Franck

Costume Designer

Hannah Chalman

Composer

Joseph Wooten

Fight Choreographer

David Wilkerson

Technical Director

Liz Haynes

Lead Dramaturg

Khalid Long

Dramaturgs

Olutobi Akisanya (VU), Brianna Stewart (VU), Theatre Appreciation Class (Fisk)

Stage Managers

Asante Guzik (Fisk) and Esther Osunluna (VU)

WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST AND CREW

ALEX LEROUX is a junior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Psychology and Medicine, Health, and Society with a minor in theatre. This is his first show in VUT. He’s very excited and blessed to be a part of such an amazing process and to work with such an incredible cast. Alex has been involved with Vanderbilt Off Broadway productions over the past two years, including Dogfight, Spelling Bee, Carrie, and 9 to 5. He would like to thank his friends, family, the cast and crew, Mr. Chuck Smith and Ms. Fentress for supporting him throughout this process!

ASANTE BATES is a sophomore from Los Angeles, CA, at Fisk University majoring in Political Science. Prior to coming to Fisk, Asante has been acting both on stage and behind the camera for many years. This will be her second time stage managing for Fisk Stagecrafters and first time with another school. She has acted in Fisk’s productions of Pipeline, God’s Trombones, and Dreams and Nightmares. She directed Stagecrafters student led production of This is Real. Asante is beyond honored to work with the renowned Chuck Smith and her manager in crime Esther Osunlana on this collaboration project.

CARRIE FORD is a freshman at Fisk University. She was born in Clarksville, Indiana, but grew up moving around quite a lot. Nashville has been her longest stay though as she has lived here for almost seven years now. This will be her first production in college and is very excited because of her love for creative arts. After college, Carrie plans to pursue her dream of having

a creative arts business. In this, Carrie wants to share stories that have yet to be heard, especially in the Black community, in creative writing, create and direct film, and much more.

CAMRYN SYMONE JOHNSON

is a senior elected studies major from Marietta, GA. She plans to obtain a Master of Fine Arts degree with aspirations of becoming an established actress and director

CHRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ

ROSALES is a junior studying Neuroscience and Data Science. He is originally from Washington D.C. and is overjoyed to participate in such a production. It is an honor to be a part of such an amazing team and to be able to have grown into this family you see in front of you. He has participated in previous productions such as Blues for an Alabama Sky and Unfinished Women. He sincerely hopes you enjoy tonight’s production. He would also like to acknowledge the genius and attention to detail of the director and any and all people involved in such an amazing production. This would not be possible without everyone’s involvement. Thank you!

ESTHER OSUNLANA was born in Nigeria, but was raised in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. She is majoring in Cinema and Media Arts with a minor in Theatre. She is incredibly honored to be stage managing SWEAT alongside Asante Bates.

This is her first official stage-managing gig, and hopefully not her last! Her acting credits include Lovelaces as Olivia, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot as Pontius Pilate, Unfinished Women Cry in No

Man’s Land While a Bird Dies in A Gilded Cage as Consuelo. She has had the opportunity to serve as assistant stage manager for Blues for An Alabama Sky and Antigone. Esther would like to thank her family for supporting her life in the theatre, her professors for their tutelage, and theatergoers for keeping our space warm.

JEFFREY CASEY is a proud native of Nashville, TN. He is a recent graduate of Fisk University, and a former member of the Grammy award-winning Fisk Jubilee Singers. Jeffrey has recently been seen in God’s Trombones (Fisk) and Twelfth Night (Nashville Shakespeare Festival).

LILY GUSSIS (TRACEY) is a senior from Chicago, IL, double majoring in special education and theatre. She has been seen on stage previously in Vanderbilt University Theatre’s productions of Bowling for Beginners (Holly DeStefano) and Antigone (Battle Warrior), Vanderbilt Off-Broadway’s productions of 9 to 5: The Musical (Roz), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Olive), Dogfight (Librarian/Mama/Suzette), and Firebringer (Emberly) and Iceberg Theatre’s production of Walking Each Other Home (Brenda). Off stage, Lily served as the stage manager for Vanderbilt Off-Broadway’s production of Carrie: The Musical and has been a part of production crew for several Vanderbilt University Theatre productions. Lily is currently serving as the president of Vanderbilt University Theatre. Lily would like to thank the entire cast, crew, and creative team behind Sweat for allowing her the opportunity to be a part of this incredible production. She could not think of any better way to close out her college theatre career. Enjoy the show!

PAIGE GIVENS is a freshman at Vanderbilt double majoring in Human and Organizational Development and Mathematics. She is from Appleton, Wisconsin and is thrilled to be involved in theatre. She has previously been involved with productions at Vanderbilt including Antigone (Ismene), Unfinished Women Cry in No Man’s Land While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage (Assistant Stage Manager), and No Further (Jamie). She would like to thank her mom for supporting her and running lines with her over the phone.

SEAN WEBB is a senior at Fisk University. Sean has participated in theatre for most of his life. Though he is majoring in business administration, he plans on using the skills he has learned in college to manage his own creative career. Sean has participated in shows such as: The Colored Museum, A Raisin in the Sun, The Wiz, West Side Story, and more.

WILL HENKE (JASON) is a senior studying Theatre and HOD from Franklin, TN. He is honored to be a part of this theatrical love child of Vanderbilt and Fisk. His past roles include Franklin Hart (9 to 5), The Proprietor (Assassins), Tommy, (Carrie), Leaf (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Boland (Dogfight), Judge Littlefield (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot), and Rapunzel’s Prince (Into the Woods). He also wrote Wingman Telegram, to the chagrin of the Vanderbilt Theatre department and surrounding Nashville community. He would like to thank his parents for their love and support, his brother Sam for putting his acting career on hold for college football and letting Will shine, and his high school director, Ms. T, for giving him his big break as Horse #3 in Cinderella.

Nantambu-Akil Fentress is an author and graduate of Meharry Medical College. He played football for the University of Miami, Florida, from 2011-2014, and graduated from the University of Miami in 2015 with a degree in Biology, with minors in Chemistry and Spanish.

CHUCK SMITH (Director), a member of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Board of Trustees and Goodman Theatre’s Resident Director, is also a Resident Director at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT) in Sarasota, Florida.

A strong supporter of the Fisk Stage Crafters, co-directing The Meeting and The Interview, Mr. Smith was production assistant on Knock Me A Kiss and donated the current lighting system in the Little Theater. Other credits include Jitney and Gem of the Ocean for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival and The Meeting for the Kennie Playhouse Theatre.

His Goodman Theatre credits include the world premieres of By the Music of the Spheres, The Gift Horse, and Objects in the Mirror; the Chicago premieres of Pullman Porter Blues, Race, Having Our Say, The Good Negro, Proof, The Story, and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. Mr. Smith directed James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, which transferred to

Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company, where it won the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award for Best Direction; A Raisin in the Sun, Blues for an Alabama Sky; August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, Two Trains Running and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Ain’t Misbehavin, the 1993–1995 productions of A Christmas Carol, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, Vivisections from a Blown Mind, and The Meeting

Mr. Smith served as dramaturg for the Goodman’s 2003 world-premiere production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. His WBTT credits include Knock Me A Kiss, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, The Mountaintop, The Amen Corner, and Flyin’ West. In Chicago, he is an associate member of the American Blues Theater Company, and he directed the New York premiere of Knock Me a Kiss, receiving ADELCO awards for production and direction, and The Hooch for the New Federal Theatre.

CHUCK SMITH

Photos taken during rehearsal of SWEAT

Fisk/Vanderbilt Theatre Collaboration

The inaugural Fisk University and Vanderbilt University co-production of SWEAT began in the summer of 2021. Chuck Smith, Goodman Theatre’s resident director and an associate producer of Legacy Productions, came from Chicago to direct the Nashville Shakespeare Festival and the Kennie Playhouse Theatre production of August Wilson’s Jitney. His arrival started a chain of events—his reconnection with Dr. Leah Lowe, the outgoing Chair of Theatre at Vanderbilt University, led to her suggesting to Professor Phillip Franck, the incoming theatre chair, to hire Mr. Smith to direct a play in Vanderbilt’s upcoming theatre season. Professor Franck then reached out to Persephone Felder-Fentress, Assistant to the Provost for Cultural Enhancement, at Fisk, with the idea of a joint production. When Lynn Nottage’s play, SWEAT, was selected, the plans included holding auxiliary campus events and partnerships, to bring greater awareness to this historic project.

SWEAT was the topic of a panel discussion, held in the fall of 2022, hosted by Professors Persephone Felder-Fentress and Phillip Franck, and moderated by Dr. Leah Lowe. Panel participants included Dr. LaTanya Rogers, Fisk University; Dr. Jefferson Cowie,

Vanderbilt University; Dr. Khalid Long, University of Georgia; and Chuck Smith, director of the play. Points discussed were the historical setting and significance of the play and the playwright. The event was co-sponsored by Vanderbilt’s American Studies program, the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, and the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.

Early in 2023, SWEAT was cast and rehearsals began. There were many logistical challenges, ranging from transporting students from one university to the other, to navigating the universities’ different cultures and administrative practices. However, the experiences gave hope and determination to apply the lessons learned. The results have been a magical process—a cast composed of Fisk and Vanderbilt students, working cohesively toward a common goal, guided by Mr. Smith, with crew members from both universities. Excitement builds, as work continues in the rehearsal halls.

SWEAT will open April 7-9, 2023, at Fisk’s Little Theatre, as part of the 94th Annual Spring Arts Festival, April 2-9, on the Fisk campus. On April 13-15, SWEAT can be seen at Vanderbilt’s Neely Auditorium.

THEATRE: Stagecrafters

Fisk University’s Acting Ensemble

The 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 97 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.

More photos taken during rehearsal of SWEAT

CHARGING CHANGE

Artistic Metamorphosis Towards Social Justice

Michelle Eistrup is the Aaron Douglas Artist Fellow-inResidence for The John Lewis Center for Social Justice on the campus of Fisk University.

Growing up in Jamaica, Eistrup experienced spirituality as a ubiquitous factor. African cosmology moved like an undercurrent through dance, music, gestures, and proverbs - and in closed circles. Since the mid-90s, she has explored several spiritual spheres of the African Diaspora, first with studies at Haverford University in the United States and then later with field work in the Caribbean and in West Africa.

Eistrup invites you to an open public workshop, held in conjunction with her work titled Charging Change 2nd movement, that will be exhibited at Fisk University in the Fall of 2023, as part of the EADJ program Artistic Activism and the Power of Collective Resistance, curated by Selene Wendt.

Charging Change is based on extensive research about Bakongo cosmology and ideology from 2015-2021. It connects scientific research and museum artifacts from across the western hemisphere with people and stories from among the African Diaspora. Participants of this workshop will be introduced to the visual language of Bakongo cosmology. (As interpreted by Nashville-based dancers through movement and gesture, this cosmology becomes physical and tangible. Some of these dancers will be present to conduct the workshops: Henry Alumona (Dancer and Fisk Student), Shabaz Ujima (Dancer), and Thea Jones (Dancer).

Their dance and the Dikenga cosmogram serve as an introduction to a large-scale public video installation that will be on view at Fisk later this year. Eistrup is committed to revitalizing the Bakongo cosmology, which radiates the core energy, philosophy, beauty,

and strength still present in the African Diaspora, the Caribbean, and the United States.

The first phase of Charging Change was presented at Documenta 15, Germany, where Eistrup collaborated with dancers and musicians from Portugal, Cape (or Cabo) Verde, and Brazil.

Eistrup also wishes to thank people from the community for their support: Dancers: Henry Alumona, Shabaz

Ujima (Dance Ensemble), and Thea Jones; Curator

Selene Wendt; Dr. Cobra Mansa, Professor Lakesha

Moore, Visual Artist, and Professor Magdalena

Campos-Pons; the team at EADJ, Professor Jamaal

Sheats, Professor Persephone Fentress, Professor

Wilna Taylor, Professor C. Daniel Dawson, Dancer

Aundra Lafayette, Professor Lena Winfree, Adrienne Latham, Frank Inyima, Adrianna Carter, and Bryston Lee.

https://www.michelleeistrup.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=32148&Akey=FGYAF5RY

You may purchase BRIDGING ART and TEXT. 3 volume publication: https://www.hurricane-publishing.com/#!/products/bat-bridging-art-text

http://michelleeistrup.com/link/BAT_Bridging_Art_and_TextBAT, Bridging art and Text info

https://connect.fisk.edu/donate

Fisk University opened in Nashville in 1866 as the first American university to offer a liberal arts education to “young men and women irrespective of color.” Five years later the school was in dire financial straits.

George L. White, then Fisk treasurer and music professor, created a choral ensemble of students and took the group on tour to earn money for the University. The ensemble, initially consisting of eleven students, left campus on October 6, 1871. Only nine students completed the first tour. To commemorate this historic day, Jubilee Day is celebrated annually on October 6.

The first concerts were in small towns. Surprise, curiosity and some hostility were the early audience responses to these young black singers who did not perform in the traditional “minstrel fashion.”

One early concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, brought in $50, which was promptly donated to victims of the notorious 1871 fire in Chicago. When they reached Columbus, the next city on the tour, the students were physically and emotionally drained. Mr. White, in a gesture of hope and encouragement, named them “The Jubilee Singers,” a Biblical reference to the Jewish year of Jubilee in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25.

Continued perseverance and beautiful voices began to change attitudes among the predominantly white audiences. Eventually skepticism was replaced by standing ovations and critical praise in reviews. Gradually they earned enough money to cover not only expenses, but to send back to Fisk.

In 1872 they sang at the World Peace Festival in Boston and at the end of the year President Ulysses S.

Grant invited them to perform at the White House. Funds raised from this tour were used in purchasing the current land on which Fisk University is located.

In 1873 the group, now eleven members, toured Europe for the first time. Funds raised during this tour were used to construct the school’s first permanent building, Jubilee Hall. Today, Jubilee Hall, designated a National Historic Landmark by the US Department of Interior in 1975, is one of the oldest structures on campus. The beautiful Victorian Gothic building houses a floor-to-ceiling portrait of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, commissioned by Queen Victoria during the 1873 tour as a gift from England to Fisk.

The ensemble returned to England in May 2015 and performed in Birmingham. In recent years, the Fisk Jubilee Singers have performed in Italy, Spain, Ghana and Germany. As they travel, they continue to sing the Negro spirituals, thus preserving this important genre of music and the rich legacy.

The two-time GRAMMY Nominated Fisk Jubilee Singers® have won a Dove Award and have been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame as well as the Music City Walk of Fame. In 2008, the Fisk Jubilee Singers® were awarded the National Medal of Arts by former President George W. Bush at the White House. Other awards of the ensemble include the Governor’s Award, the Recording Academy Honors, and the Heritage Award of the Nashville Music Awards. The Fisk Jubilee Singers® were among the 2015 GRAMMY Hall of Fame inductees and are the 2017 recipients of the SYNERGY AWARD presented by the Nashville Ballet.

Fisk Jubilee Singers®

Dr. Paul T. Kwami

March 14, 1952–September 10, 2022

Paul

Theophilus Kwami was the third of seven children born to Mr. Theophilus Walter Kwami and Mrs. Monica Rosaline Kwami on March 14, 1952, in Amedzofe, located in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa. He attended elementary and middle schools in Amedzofe. He then attended Mawuli Secondary School in Ho, Akropong Presbyterian Teachers Training College, and The National Academy of Music in Ghana. He also taught at the Academy of Music. On December 23, 1982, Paul Kwami married Susanna Asare, and they were blessed with three children.

He migrated to the USA and enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1983 through 1985. Paul T. Kwami had the honor and privilege to be selected as a Fisk Jubilee Singer®. He gained admission to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he graduated with a Master of Music degree in 1987. Later he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree (DMA) in Conducting at The American Conservatory of Music, Chicago Campus, in 2009.

In 1994, Dr. Paul T. Kwami was appointed The Director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers® and later became a fulltime faculty member of the Music Department at the university. A position he held until he passed away. He was the first African to direct the Fisk Jubilee Singers® and the first to hold the Curb-Beaman Chair position. Under his Directorship, the Fisk Jubilee Singers® won numerous awards, including a Dove Award, the Recording Academy Honors, and Induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. The Fisk Jubilee Singers® also received the 2008 National Medal of the Arts and, most recently, won their first GRAMMY on March 14, 2021.

On September 10, 2022, Paul, God’s humble and faithful servant, went to live in his eternal home in heaven. He is survived by his wife, Susanna, of nearly 40 years, his children, Paul E., Delali, and Rachel Kwami. As well as his siblings: Ruby, Patricia, Joan, and Dickson Kwami, along wit numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and many friends.

2023 Fisk Annual Research Symposium

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

9:00 am–5:30 pm

Fisk University John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library

9:00 Am–12:00 pm Morning Poster/Oral Presentations, Library

12:00 pm–1:00 pm Lunch Break

1:00 pm–4:00 pm Afternoon Poster/Oral Presentations, Library

4:00 pm–5:30 pm Plenary Panel, AI and Ethics, Jubilee Hall

For more information: Katharine Burnett, Leslie Collins, Sajid Jussain, and Anne Roberts

https://www.fisk.edu/event/23rd-annual-fisk-research-symposium/

Presenting a show celebrating the arts through fashion.

The show is a production lead by the Fisk student organization, The beGinninG, a modeling troupe, started on campus in 2019.

Spring FashionArtsShow e

SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL COMMITTEE

Persephone Felder-Fentress convener

Lakesha Moore Calvin

James Dennis

Michelle Eistrup

Katara Grissom

Adrienne Latham

Nate Perry

Jamaal Sheats

Art, front cover:

Eniola Olatokunbo

Reflection of Passion

Freshman

Computer Science

ART CREDITS

Art, back cover: Henry Alumona

Genesis

Freshman

Computer Science

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Frank Sims

Interim President

Robert Carr, Ph.D. Provost

Phillip Franck

Leah Lowe, Ph.D.

Title III

General Alumni Association of Fisk University, Inc.

Nancy N. Apple

The Designing Apple Studio Program design and layout

Art, inside back cover: Aaron Douglas (1899-1979) Building More Stately Mansions, 1944 (courtesy of the Fisk Universiy Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery)

Michelle Eistrup wishes to thank EADJ, Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice, the Danish Arts Council, and the John Lewis Center for Social Justice Fisk University, who have sponsored this workshop and the coming Charging Change 2nd Movement.

This production uses the Artist Engagement Services of the University Resident Theatre Association.