Freedom Summer Comes Into Focus

On to the next step!  As I've mentioned before, I've been combing through the Civil Rights Archive at Queens College (where I teach), and putting together a proposal to celebrate the 2014 50th Anniversary of the Mississippi Summer Project.

Under the guidance of Mark Levy, a QC graduate who participated in the 1964 civil right campaign, the plan is becoming more refined and gaining momentum.

The nature of the project is similar in form to the projection work I've created for the Juilliard School.  It also builds on storytelling concepts I explored in my graduate thesis project at the School of Visual Arts.  The central theme I want to investigate is how the passage of the time affects living memory and recorded history. For the time being, I will leave it at that- my ideas will no doubt evolve as I join a larger conversation, because... 

Last week, the president of the Queens College formally invited me to submit my proposal and be a part of a committee he is forming to plan the 50th anniversary commemoration.  I am tremendously excited about this opportunity, as it will connect me to other faculty members and alumni who are committed to preserving the legacy of this critical campaign in the Civil Rights Movement.  I cannot wait to get started, as I know the process will expand my understanding of these historical events and principles, which have long captivated my imagination and influenced my trajectory as an artist and a teacher.

Whatever form my involvement ultimately takes, whatever form the commemoration takes, I am honored and humbled to participate in the process. 

Happy Inauguration

 Let's make the next four years progressive!

MICA studio visit

Yesterday, my studio mates HyeSu Lee, Ben Voldman, Pat Kinsella, and I hosted MICA students from Matt Rota's illustration class.  It was fun to take a break from drawing, shine up our workspace, and be reminded of how talented and dedicated my peers are.  Also nice to speak with students from my alma mater, so far away from Bawlmor!  Got me craving some Old Bay seasoning on anything and everything.

Freedom Summer

I've been busy digging through the extensive Civil Rights archives at Queens College, and this week I had the honor of meeting up with Mark Levy, a veteran of the movement, a labor activist, and a donor to the archives.  I've read the journals he kept while working in Mississippi in the summer of 1964, and it was incredible to get a chance to speak with him.

The 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, for which Levy volunteered, is coming up in 2014.  We talked about what could be done in commemoration, and, more importantly, what could be done to examine and preserve the legacy of this pivotal moment in the movement.  Stay tuned...

We then went over to the Godwin-Ternbach Museum for the opening an exhibit of protest posters from the 60's, which was accompanied by photographs of student activism on Queens' campus.  There are stunning posters by alumni Mark Podwal, who spoke about his career at the event.  GO SEE THIS SHOW!  Elliot Linzer, another civil rights activist (who has also donated materials to the archive), was there as well.  He talked about working with Bayard Rustin (!!!), and being a plaintiff in the court case that secured the right to hand out pamphlets on govt. property.  The whole day was such an amazing opportunity to connect my thoughts on this history with the actual people who made it.   I cannot imagine who I would be, or how I would navigate this world, if these activists had not bent the "moral arc" a hell of a lot closer to justice in the 1960's.  Many have continued in the fight for social and racial equality, and it's difficult to describe the feelings that accompanied this experience- a mixture of gratitude, awe, and the recognition these people are humans (not superheroes).

Mark gives lectures on the history of the movement, and he asks audiences to imagine what would have happened if no one had shown up to the March on Washington.  Would King's Dream speech have lived beyond that day if only a small group turned up at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial?  Mark asked me to make an image for this part of his lecture, and that's what the red photomontage is for.  The blue image is for the Freedom Summer proposal and will be incorporated into an animation.

I'm from Driftwood #3

This is my third image for I'm From Driftwood.  It accompanies a story from a teacher in Dubuque, IA, who describes the lies she tells to navigate her day to day routine.  It's exhausting, and you get a sense of the deep isolation caused by self censorship in the name of self preservation.  The real kicker is how this habit creeps into relationships where censorship is not needed.  This is a familiar tale in the queer community, and this story was such a poetic expression of something I know I experience.

I'm very excited about how the piece came out.  I've been relying more on shapes and less on line-work to bring images together, particularly with the Driftwood illustrations.  This one feels like the best result so far.

The greatest challenge in creating this illustration was picking a sentence from the writing to incorporate.  The other Driftwood pieces had stand-out lines that emphasized a key point of the story.  The impact of this story comes from reading the piece in its entirety, and it was difficult to select a singular sentence to communicate its punch.  I decided to go with a section of the first sentence, which I felt would create desire for an explanation about why this woman is constructing barricades around herself. 

Here's the link to the story.  Can't wait to start on the next one!

Image for CycleKids

I was contacted by Weymouth Design to create an image for CycleKids, a Boston-based nonprofit.   They wanted an image that responded to the question, "Where does your bike take you?"  My answer was "Home before curfew."  Thanks to Art Director Chip Griffin.

New Album Artwork

I just finished creating cover artwork for Brooklyn jazz pianist JP Schlegelmilch's new album, "Throughout."  Thanks for the fun project, JP!