South Seattle College faculty will a host a virtual speaker series titled Artist as Storyteller: Adaptation, Resiliency, and Environmental Justice, with the first event coming March 9, 2021.
The series, supported by the Seattle Colleges Performing Arts Fund, will welcome BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists, performers and activists to share their work and explore what it means to be an artist in today’s social and cultural climate. All events are free, open to the public and hosted virtually on Zoom.
From beatboxing and butoh to drag, photography, and tattoos, the Artist as Storyteller speaker series will feature six artists. It begins on March 9, 2021 and concludes on June 8, 2021. Links to learn more and join each speaking event are available at www.artistasstoryteller.com.
The series was organized by four South Seattle College faculty members and they will host future series in 2021 and 2022.
Artist as Storyteller Event Schedule:
Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Butylene & One: Seattle-based Latinx drag performers
Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Haruko Crow Nishimura: dancer, vocalist, and co-director of the Degenerate Art Ensemble
Tuesday, April 27, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Nicole Paris: freestyle beatboxer, YouTube star, and children’s book author
Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Nic Masangkay: Seattle-based Filipinix cultural worker in music, poetry, multimedia and transformative justice
Tuesday, May 18, 1 – 2 p.m.: Emma Kates-Shaw: handpoke tattoo artist of the Bad Apple Tattoo Collective
Monday, May 31, 1 – 2 p.m.: Binh Danh: inventor of the chlorophyll printing process, photographer and artist
The series theme, “Adaptation, Resiliency, and Environmental Justice,” emerged from the challenges and new possibilities of the COVID-19 era. We cannot safely gather in the community spaces of galleries, theaters, or music venues. We have experienced and borne witness to economic devastation, racial inequities, insecurity of healthcare systems, the violence of failing political systems, and a changing climate that has wrought havoc on our more-than-human world.
However, art making, activism, and storytelling persists and provides a refuge and space for reflection in this time of isolation. Artists, performers, and activists are on the cultural front lines of helping us understand the future through new forms of digital and adaptive storytelling. In bringing the public and artists together in conversation we hope to create a new community formed with a foundation of resiliency and persistence shared by all.
For more information about the participating artists and links to join the virtual event can be found at www.artistasstoryteller.com.
