Practivist of the Week - E. Amato

Practivist of the Week - E. Amato

[Editor's note: E. Amato would like you to know that she is the editor of Zestyverse in the interests of full disclosure!]

How old are you, if you don't mind?



What is the main focus of your practivism at this time and how does that manifest? 

The main focus of my practivism at this time is creating live performance events that promote diversity, sustainability, and connection. After over a decade of promoting and producing events, I have begun to percolate a formula that allows maximum connection with the audience and sustainability for artists, audience, organizers and community. As a promoter and producer, I have always made sure there is parity on my stages between genders, orientation, age, ability, ethnicity, etc. In my time promoting, I have seen this parity decrease elsewhere. The lack of women on festival stages this past season has been well-documented, for example. My practivism is refocused on this issue for my own events, as I find it has renewed importance.

In 2013, I did an event called Secret Door featuring poets and musicians. It was in a tiny space that we designed specifically for the event. The evening took on a life of its own - the barrier between artist and audience erased itself and collaborations formed. This model has wider applications and can be partnered with community needs to develop audiences, spaces and creative relationships in ways that are financially sustainable. In order to learn and experiment more, I've accepted a place in the MFA, Creative Producing program at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In order to get there, I still need financial support, so I've begun a crowd fund to help.

What route did you take to get here?

The longest possible one! I began as a performer, who decided to direct. I've always written. I went into film production, which gave me a huge amount of down time between jobs as well as a strong sense of things being far too big and taking far too long. The combination of these led me - indirectly, of course - to get on stage and read some of my poems. I loved the immediacy and the audience being right in front of me instead of in a a darkened movie theatre 24 months from now. This led to a B-career as a performance poet. With the organizational skills I had from production and my voice as a poet, many encouraged me to start my own venue. My unpredictable work schedule made me start with one-off events that I knew I could actually attend! This led to hosting,then a monthly venue, and the Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, among other things. Now I had three full-time careers! I did this for about ten years. Then I fell. My body did not bounce back - my resilience was worn out. I had a vision of what I wanted to build, but I did not have the strength, focus, or resources. It was frustrating and even debilitating in its own right. Getting back on my feet was a lot of work - I'm not sure I'm even all the way there, yet.

But there was also inner work to do - did I still have the commitment to the vision I had before everything went so wrong? I knew that in order to achieve this goal of the MFA and building a creative entrepreneurship I need more than one  hundred percent commitment. I felt sparks, but I knew sparks weren't enough. I continued to self care and meditate, stretch and strengthen. 

Eventually a flashpoint showed up - that place where I had to commit or choose another path. I knew that this was not a dream I could let go. I embraced with the strength that I had, but I knew I'd need to create community support around me to fully enable this vision. 

This is a great way to start this journey, as I feel sustainable arts require community involvement and collective choice-making. The entertainment industry's practices lag far behind where we actually are in 2015. In order to move them into the world we are living in, we have to move away from a hierarchical and pedagogical model of taste and presentation and towards one that will engage people viscerally. People need strong engagement now to counter the large amounts of time we spend partially engaged through our devices or altogether disengaged. 


I hope I've answered the questions! i'm so used to being the one asking! If you're a Zesty fan, a fan of any of my work or just stopping by and like the sound of all this, you can support by donating, sharing or just sending great energy! Thank you!

Women You Should Know - Practivist Nafeesa Monroe

Women You Should Know:

Practivist Nafeesa Monroe

[Editor's note:  We've combined a Women You Should Know with a feature for our Practivist series. Practivism is pragmatic, proactive, promotable activism. Nafeesa Monroe certainly qualifies as a practivist, by taking her art, craft and training to the next level with the Classics in Color project. You can be a practivist, too, if you like her mission, you can support the project via Fractured Atlas.] 

How old are you, if you don’t mind? 

AAAAHHHH! The one thing I CAN'T SAY! I've been in the theatre for more than twenty years.

What is the main focus of your practivism at this time and how does that manifest? 

Making theatrical classics (including Shakespeare and what might be considered other classic works for the stage) accessible and relatable to a culturally and ethnically rich community. It manifests itself through the creation of Classics in Color: A Theatre Company, which  is in its inaugural season and fundraising stage. 

Classics in Color focuses on producing vibrantly-cast classical works for the stage, expanding the perception of classical theatre. As a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic ensemble, Classics in Color embraces the theatre of inclusion, on stage and off, opening up and extending the understanding of classic tales. Classics in Color: classical theatre for all the people, by all the people.

Currently CIC is co-producing an ethnically diverse production of the play "Proof" by David Auburn. This shift in the ethnic background of the family in this play allows a different audience base to see themselves on the stage in this story. It also expands the conversation about women and math to include women of color and what challenges they face in math and other STEM programs.

We could use your help to make it happen. Your financial support is tax-deductible. Every little bit counts and makes a difference!

What route did you take to get here?

I have been performing on stage for more than 20 years. A few years ago, I received my MFA in Classical Acting from The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University. This led to teaching Shakespeare primarily in public schools to young people who did not see themselves represented on the stages they attended. I decided to do something more pro-active, and thus created the theatre company. It's still growing, as am I and its mission. It's a challenge, but worth it.

Practivist of the Week - Adam Wedd

Adam Wedd

How old are you, if you don’t mind?

I'm 28 . but what's age in the context of eternity :P?


What is the main focus of your practivism at this time and how does that manifest?

2 things. To enable every person to shine like stars in their communities and to write songs that articulate the spiritual emotional journeys of people - and to have as much fun as possible along the way! We run music workshops and open mic nights at a drop in café that's open 5 nights a week in the basement of a theatre. The vision is for every young person to explore their voice, have it heard, understood and affirmed! We also run a youth magazine which is going to have 8000 physical copies printed next year reaching the schools of west Kent. We also record young artists for free and have just had a young persons song we recorded at the café played on BBC Kent radio, which is nice!


What route did you take to get here?

I've always walked the line between being a youth worker and song-writing tea drinking performing extrovert. I fell into youth work as a result of older wiser people pouring their wisdom and time into me and song-writing has been a way I've connected with the world on a daily basis since age 12. Though I don't feel like I've arrived anywhere, on a very long adventure! I started working for the YMCA London South West running a range of youth work projects, namely Music Room which is still going and is a space for young people to come and learn an instrument for free and to be able to explore performing, recording and other aspects of the art and craft.



You can check out the youth café here http://facebook.com/houseinthebasement

Editor's Note:  Adam has an amazing gig coming up on November 29th in London - it's a huge collaboration - check it out!

Practivism = Proactive, pragmatic, promotable activism.  

Are you a practivist?  Do you turn your talents and energy into helping community, sustainability, youth, equality?  Do you know a practivist?  If so, the Zestyverse wants to feature you - send a message!  

Pracitivists of the Week - A4DS!

ART FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

How old are you, if you don’t mind?

Well there are 6 of us active right now, and we range in age from mid 20s to mid 30s.


What is the main focus of your practivism at this time and how does that manifest?

We focus on the junction between art and politics, so we approach political issues from a cultural perspective, while at the same time we organize an art collaboration in a democratic way and use some grassroots political organizing techniques in our artworks, such as talking to strangers on the street, tabling, and polling. We don't tend to focus on any one political issue, but create different projects based on what's piquing our interest at the time. Generally, we try to create work that opens a space for participation as we want to create an analog for greater political participation in society. And by political participation, we're not aiming to get out the vote, but to reach past that and encourage people to take greater power back into their own hands by organizing themselves. We believe strongly that people do care but feel they have no outlet for their concerns and become disillusioned. Political struggle has been at such an ebb until recently, especially union organizing and protest, that we have no models for how to fight back. We hope that we can provide some models and some encouragement in the struggle.

What route did you take to get here?

Steve (my husband) and I co-founded A4DS in April 2007. Steve has been an activist for many years, and also is a talented illustrator and writer. I had just graduated from art school in Jewelry/Metal Arts, but was being pulled towards conceptual art and social practice due to my frustration with the art world as I saw it at the time. We wanted to reach people that might not be exposed to art, and people who could not afford to collect art. We weren't interested in creating art objects, but in creating situations that encouraged open dialogue and debate. For several years, we created projects alone. In early 2011, we submitted a proposal for a show at Southern Exposure called The Cries of SF, in which people were taking on the personas of town criers and street vendors. Our proposal involved building a cart, and neither of us were experienced builders. A friend of ours, Francois, who creates sculpture, joined us to help build the project and we liked working together, so he became a part of the organization. We also enlisted the help of our friend Sean, who is a gifted poet and actor, to write our "cries" and perform with us, and he has continued to work with us. Through the course of the project, we met two other artists, Jesse and Ethan, who were interested in what we were doing and wanted to join as well. Jesse is a printmaker and Ethan is a photographer, though they had both stretched into performance art and interactive work previously and were interested in social practice. We went from just the two of us to 6 of us (and a couple of non-active members) in the space of a few months!

To find out more about A4DS CLICK HERE!

So What's A Practivist?

Someone who practises practivism!

Practivism = Proactive, pragmatic, promotable activism.  

I think I made up the term; maybe not.  The Zestyverse has been featuring practivists for over a year now.  Some recent profiles include:

• Helping Kcymaerxthaere with it's Abilene project which is going on now!
• Open Mike Eagle who is getting ready for the Uganda project!
• Tara Hardy whose medical fund overflowed it's goals!

Are you a practivist?  Do you turn your talents and energy into helping community, sustainability, youth, equality?  Do you know a practivist?  If so, the Zestyverse wants to feature you - send a message!  

Practivist of the Week - YOU Helping Ingrid

Ingrid

The campaign for Tara Hardy's health care was fulfilled with a speed and intensity that made many of us feel reinvested in the values of our community.

Health and wellness seem to be recurring themes.  Our health care infrastructure needs attention, and has begun demanding it.

This week I'm hoping you can help contribute to making a short life a happier one, and one with precious memories for her family.  Baby Ingrid was diagnosed with brain cancer about 6 months ago.  Currently she is 20 months.  Her cancer has returned and the doctors do not feel that further treatment will not impede the progress of the disease.  They have given her a prognosis of only 3-5 months to live.  This means she might not see her second birthday.

Her parents would like to make the rest of her time with her family sweet and memorable.

Ingrid is too young to be considered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation program, so they are dedicating themselves to fundraising to make her wishes come true.

To donate to Ingrid's Travel Fund, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE!!!!!  Baby Ingrid's Travel Fund has now surpassed its goal!  But please feel free to keep on giving!

Practivist of the Week - Update!!!!

In 9 hours, the goal of $10,000 was reached.  Donations will continue to be accepted for further health care costs.

There aren't words for how amazing this is.

Practivist of the Week - Queen Sheba

Editor's note:  It's true - we've been sadly devoid of our weekly practivist features for a while.  Maybe it's cause all those practivists are working too hard to take the time to answer some silly questions.  So, yay to Sheba, who answered the questionnaire I sent her, oh, ages ago.  She's so focused on her practivism, she hasn't at all let you in on how incredibly cool, talented, and hard-working she is, but if you click on her name, you can get to her website.  Then you'll wonder how she even has time for this running stuff.  P.S.  If you know a practivist - or are a practivist - get in touch!

There she is!  Waving and smiling!

Queen Sheba

How old are you, if you don’t mind?

 I mind.

What is the main focus of your practivism at this time and how does that manifest?

Hmmmmm...I've been getting everyone I can think of into running. Losing weight, getting back, or into, shape.  Fighting.  Diabetes and obesity in the African-American community.  I belong to a great national organization called Black Girls Run!

I do NOT own, run, control or manage this organization. I DO volunteer several hours a week as a Speed Training Run Leader and spread the Good Word as an enthusiastic BGR Ambassador.

What route did you take to get here?

I used to run as a child and young adult. Then, every now and then as an adult, when I would start to gain weight.  But, never long enough to make it a habit.

This time last year (October-ish 2010), I was 45lbs. overweight, drinking every night in poetry clubs, eating late night and oversleeping.  (Yes.)  I wasn't exercising at all.

A new friend introduced me to one of their friends that runs ONE race a year: the Publix Half-Marathon in Atlanta and asked me to join her.  I snapped my fingers, literally, and changed my mind on all those self-abusive behaviors.

We started training a few days later.

I changed my eating habits and stopped drinking completely through June 2011 and dropped 30lbs.  No crash diets. I wanted to teach myself, learn how to eat this time.

I didn't meet BGR until late June and have been reppin' us all over the country.

I enjoy being an athlete again and I'm telling everyone about running.

Get in shape. For YOUR life. For the rest of your life.