From the Editor by Dr. Joan Cartwright

Dr. Joan Cartwright Editor-in Chief

From the Editor

south florida since 2007

www.wijsf.org

If three is the charm, then this issue is magic! Throughout my career, I sang with the bass player. Kim Clarke was one of the first bassist I recorded with. That demo got me many gigs and we remain friends and colleagues in the world of Musicwomen. It is only fitting that Kim is featured in this issue about Women Who Pluck Strings.

Among these gifted string players is Karen Briggs, a world-class violinist whom I met with Jazz in Pink led by our star contributor Gail Jhonson. I first encountered Karen in a YouTube concert as the Lady in Red with Yanni. I was rapt by her pizzazz! When she traveled to the Alabama Women in Jazz Festival, I had the privilege of meeting her, after a mesmerizing performance with Jazz in Pink.

Each of the women featured in this issue has stardust on her dress tail. They have weathered the storm of the male-dominated music industry to emerge as sirens of hope and joy. The year of the pandemic, 2020 presented insurmountable challenges for people, worldwide. Musicians had to throw on their amazing technicolor dream coats and wave their wands to make music through Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Gayelynn McKinney’s suggestion that she has Tales from the Dusty Trail catapulted us into a column that will have a long-lasting shelf life in this publication. We will gather more of these anecdotes for future issues. Meanwhile, enjoy the short tales told by Radha Botofasina, Gayelynn, and me. Then, Lydia Harris’ Health Corner has tips on staying alive and well.

I have no doubt that the 2021 issue will provide our readers with hours of discovery about some of the finest string instrumentalists in the country and the world. Enjoy the read and join us in our quest to promote women musicians, globally, by sharing Musicwoman Magazine with a friend. Sincerely,

Dr. Joan Cartwright Editor/Publisher

Caron Bowman is a multi-disciplined artist and her work spans many techniques including drawing, painting, and fiber media. She received international recognition and exhibited at the Marc Chagall Museum, DuSable Museum, Harlem Fine Arts Show, ARCO Madrid Fair, Continuum Art Fair, and Art Africa Fair. An American artist of AfroHonduran descent, she was born in West Palm Beach and her parents are from Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras. Caron has a B.A. in History and M.A. in ESE. Her influences were pop art, surrealism, and graffiti art that she synthesized into her work. Her artwork is about intensity of color, curved lines, and daring patterns unified into one language with a dream-like quality to the rhythm and unfurling of the forms in her work. She describes her art as SoFlo Superflat with emphasis on dark outlines and flat areas of color. She said, “My personal quest is to create art with a spirit, moreover, transforming two dimensional materials into spiritual substance. I use the vocabulary of color to speak, visually, in different languages, creating a relationship between the unconscious and conscious mind via abstraction and symbolism."

Regarding the sculpture, Caron wrote, “Known as the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone was an iconic African-American singer whose distinctive voice brought an unmatched level of eclecticism across five decades. The artwork expresses the connection between art and musical improvisation.” Kinetic Biennial

Since 2013, the City of Boynton Beach has curated an internationally unique, one-of a-kind kinetic art experience every two years. Art and technology collide to create kinetic art, which is fine art powered by solar, wind, light, sound, robotics, water, gravity and other elements. The fifth Kinetic Art Exhibit displays 20 outdoor sculptures along E. Ocean Avenue, between Seacrest Blvd. and U.S.1. On the weekend of March 6-7, 2021, a symposium, indoor gallery exhibitions, food trucks and musical performances were held in Boynton Beach Town Square. www.boyntonbeacharts.org Karibu Spinners

Six of the kinetic sculptures originate from the exhibition Karibu: A Celebration of Black Artists in Palm Beach County. ATB Fine Art Group Inc. curated the exhibition for the Cultural Council of Palm Beach in Lake Worth in the Winter of 2021. Karibu (pronounced kah-ree-boo) means “Welcome, come in,” in Swahili. The artists are Caron Bowman, Anthony Burks Sr., Tracy Guiteau, Cynthia Simmons, Raquel Williams, and Gillian Kennedy Wright.

P.S. Anthony Burks, Sr. created the logo for Gaiafest: A Celebration of Mother Earth with Women in Jazz in 1998.

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Friday, April 30, 2021