This summer marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a turning point in the history of disability rights. During her years of writing, art, design, and research, Sara Hendren (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) has found the field of disability studies a rich and deep world to explore. "And in the course of all of those years of both writing … [Read more...]
Artist Voices
Highlighting the work and voices of individual artists.
How Has the Pandemic Impacted Your Creative Practice?
Periodically, we pose questions about issues artists face in their work and lives. It's hard to calculate the change and disruption the COVID-19 crisis has caused, on every level. We were curious about the ways it might have shifted the trajectory of artists' work. We asked artists in different disciplines: How has the pandemic impacted your creative practice? Cat … [Read more...]
Simone John: Poetic Inheritance
Even before the pandemic, Simone John's (Poetry Fellow '20) creative practice was headed in a direction that would serve her well during months of isolation and uncertainty. Since the 2016 election, she had been considering how her ancestors navigated times of turmoil. "Understanding that this is not the first crisis my community has had. And that we survived, because I'm … [Read more...]
Black Beauty Dance
Black Beauty Dance is a virtual workshop series for Black college dancers created and led by Shakia Johnson, who is the Five College Joint Lecturer in African Diasporic Dance. Against the backdrop of the murders of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police, Shakia reached out to the piece's Black student cast members to ask how she could support them, and in … [Read more...]
Curators, Editors, and Presenters: Our Advice for Artists
Periodically, we pose questions about issues artists face in their work and lives. This month, we're posing a question to a group of curators, editors, and presenters that we first posed in 2017: If you could convince artists to change ONE thing about the way they approach you/your organization for opportunities, what would it be? Aynel David Guerra, Curator, Director of … [Read more...]