Art

PRESS ROOM: Edward M. Kennedy Institute Calls On Artists To Participate In Growing Exhibit About Importance Of Diversity In Democracy

Published

6 years ago

January 14, 2019

By PR Newswire.

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate issued a call to artists across the country to design a chair for inclusion in the Institute’s dynamic A Seat at the Table exhibit. The exhibit is inspired by Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s words and lifetime of work to promote a more inclusive democracy. A Seat at the Table is currently on display at the Institute in Boston and will run throughout 2019.

The exhibit features a prominent table surrounded by a wide selection of chairs and a spotlight on a folding chair representing Congresswoman Chisholm’s famous quote, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and the first black candidate to run for the presidential nomination of a majority party. Over the course of her 14 years in Congress, Chisholm was a force for change and a champion of legislation that would improve the quality of life for women, children, people of color, and the poor. In the A Seat at the Table exhibit, Institute visitors learn about key moments in Congresswoman Chisholm’s life and explore her historic speeches through various aspects of the immersive display.

Through a series of interactive workshops held at the Institute and across the Greater Boston area, the Institute engages schools and community organizations in conversations about why diverse representation is vital for democracy. The result of these workshops are unique chairs created by the participants as representations of voices, messages, and topics to be discussed at tables at the national, local, and personal level. Select chairs created by community and school groups are on rotating display at the Institute throughout 2019 as part of A Seat at the Table.

The new call to artists is an invitation for artists to interpret the journeys to the table of prominent legislators and activists, both historical and contemporary. Featured individuals have been chosen as examples of how people are the agents of inclusion in democracy.

“A Seat at The Table was created both as an artistic endeavor and as a conversation generator to spark conversation among our visitors about why diversity matters in democracy,” said Kennedy Institute president Mary K. Grant, Ph.D. “Now, we are calling on artists across the country to create distinct chairs to recognize admirable individuals and help share how each of them made a lasting impact on our country.”

A collection of twenty artist-designed chairs will highlight achievements by activists, legislators, and other Americans with contemporary or historic significance. Artists that would like to submit an entry may do so by filling out an application on the Institute’s website. A jury panel will select final participants. The deadline for responding to the Institute’s call to artists is February 1, 2019.

“The Kennedy Institute is honored to showcase Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s famous words and life story through this exhibit – one that makes you think about why diversity of representation is vital and what necessary contributions we each bring to the table when we pull up a chair,” said Jan Crocker, Senior Exhibit and Content Developer. “The exhibit serves as an extension of Chisholm’s call to action to think about how we as a nation benefit when more people have a seat at the table.”

This article originally appeared in the Charleston Chronicle.

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

3 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

4 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

4 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.