Artists with Impact
Artists U teaches artists how to make a life
The hardest thing about making a life as an artist is actually making a life as an artist. That's where Artists U comes in. Andrew Simonet is a choreographer and a writer who directed the Headlong…
Floco Torres is a self-made man in Macon
What do you do on your lunch break? Rush out the office door to grab something from the nearest fast food joint or food truck you can find? Order take-out from a nearby restaurant to eat at your…
Gonna Make You Sweat: Sweat Records promotes Miami's independent, local music scene
It's impossible to talk about the arts in Miami without mentioning Art Basel – how does this or that scene/event compare to Art Basel and how does it contrast; does it "fit in" with the culture…
Ryan Myers-Johnson founded Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts to showcase alternative arts
When Ryan Myers-Johnson left Detroit after graduating from the Detroit School of Arts in 1999, she was already planning her return. At first she didn't go far -- just down the…
Terry Blackhawk teaches Detroit kids the power of poetry through the InsideOut Literary Arts Project
InsideOut Literary Arts Project started out as so many other well-intended projects do: as an idea that didn't quite seem realistic enough to become reality. Until it did. It is worth quoting…
Of corn and men: Yvonne Escalante explores themes of social and environmental justice through corn
Corn: it's a rather pedestrian agricultural product. Chances are, you probably don't think too much about corn as you go about your daily life. You buy ears of corn for your summer barbecues. You…
Public art as social activism: Ta-coumba Aiken creates art that heals the heart and soul
Ta-coumba Aiken grew up in Evanston, Illinois during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, the rise of the Black Panther Party and Black Power, and the prominence of the NAACP's civil rights…
The McColl Center offers urban residencies to socially-conscious artists
What is "environmental art"? Specifically, environmental art is public art that mitigates some sort of environmental issue at its location site. But in a more general sense, environmental art…
The Porch Light Program takes the transformative power of art to the streets
The Porch Light Program is a program of the City of Philadelphia's Mural Arts, a citywide transformative arts project that has been ongoing for 30 years. Porch Light takes the idea of the…
Joey Stuckey is a blind musician who teaches people how to hear
Joey Stuckey is a recording artist, a recording engineer and producer, a radio personality, a television host, and an educator. He is also blind. The latter part is important not because it impairs…
A new rep for rap: Keepers of the Art educates as it entertains
Rap has a bad rep. What started out as a way for young black and brown kids in the Bronx in the 1970s to have a voice and share what was going on in their community has been co-opted and diluted by…
Say hello to my little film festival
Certain cities become victims of their own representation in the press. Right or wrong, when a story sells, the media will tell it. For the city of Miami, the story that has historically sold best is…
Experimental performance group The Hinterlands explores the outer limits of identity
In contemporary usage, "hinterland" is defined as "an area beyond what is visible or known." And this is why Richard Newman and Liza Bielby named their experimental performance group, headquartered…
The media is the message: Guante uses hip hop culture to educate and engage the community
Canadian philosopher and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan coined the expression "The medium is the message" in 1964 (long before the creation of the Internet), implying that it's not so much…
Swaraj Yoga teaches self-rule to those in recovery
The image you might conjure of a "stereotypical" yoga devotee – thin, probably affluent, likely to be white and even more likely female, any age but with a decided youthfulness – is in direct…
Grizzly Grizzly is an artist collective focused on citywide collaboration
When it comes to identifying which arts organization is behind what art project in the city of Philadelphia, attributions can get a little tricky. While artists today are generally known to proffer a…
ZERO1 is where art and technology converge
ZERO1: The Art & Technology Network in San Jose is where art meets technology to shape the future. It is a nonprofit art and technology organization with the mission of providing a platform for…
Betsy Fitzgerald is a classical musician who doesn't take "no" for an answer
Betsy Fitzgerald knows that the world of the classically trained musician doesn't always intersect with the world of arts advocacy and community engagement. In fact, at the time she attended the…
Akron Film+Pixel is creating a local culture of independent film one movie screen at a time
Steve Felix has been making movies since he was a kid. At 19 he began working as a wedding videographer and also made his own short films. Now he is the Executive Director of Akron Film+Pixel, a…
Don't call it graffiti: Daniel Fila is a professional fine artist who paints murals all over Miami
Before Art Basel made Miami Beach a world-renowned destination for modern and contemporary art, artists like Daniel Fila were laying the groundwork for Miami's exploding street art scene. "In the…
A picture is worth a thousand words: Jai Tanju gives a personal touch to digital works
If you scroll through photographer Jai Tanju's tumblr page, you'll find exactly the kinds of images you would expect to see from someone who got his start in skateboarding photography: boards in…
Y-O's Poetic Peace Arts poetry slams give a voice to unheard Macon artists
Poet and community organizer Y-O left her native Macon, Georgia to attend Georgia College in 1991. It was here that she "officially" became a poet, writing her first poem at the age of 17. From…
From show pigs to Prokofiev: Bobby Wesner gets inventive to support Neos Dance Theatre
One of the biggest challenges most artists face is funding. A person might be one of the most talented people in their field but without the right funding opportunities, that potential will never be…
Teo Castellanos never thought of himself as a writer until he started winning awards for it
Teo Castellanos never thought he would be a writer. In fact, he was writing professionally for several years before he finally started to consider himself one. “I wouldn't call myself a writer for a…
All the world's a stage: Nichole Canuso Dance Company creates "experiential" dance performances
You are one of six people in a room inside the Power Plant Productions basement, where a labyrinthine art installation has been constructed. You are each given a set of headphones to wear, and then…
Annabel Manning's work as a participatory artist gives voice to the silent, suppressed, invisible
In September 2001, Annabel Manning had been living in New York for over 15 years. After 9/11, she decided to move to Pennsylvania and work on a farm. That was 12 years ago, and she speaks haltingly…
Oskar Ly's work reconciles her identities as a Second-Generation-Hmong-Queer-Asian-Woman-Artist
There are roughly 30,000 Hmong-Americans living in Saint Paul, Minnesota today, more than any other city in the country. The Twin Cities Metro area has a Hmong population of 64,000. While those may…