February 10, 2021
Dismantling & Decolorizing the Arts: An Undoing of Racist Systems in Arts and Cultural Institutions
Adriane Jefferson, executive director of the Department of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven, will discuss her work to improve diversity and cultural equity in opportunity and representation in arts and cultural institutions in New Haven. Jefferson has spent much of her career working to provide opportunities in the arts for the underrepresented. She has worked to confront racial implicit bias and on dismantling systems of racism, especially in the arts, including the creation of “The Arts for Anti-Racism pledge.”
Contact: Brian Day, daybr@easternct.edu
February 17, 2021
New Beginnings: Justice Alternatives Through the Arts
Judy Dworin will discuss her innovative arts outreach for women at York Correctional Institution and men at Cybulski Community Reintegration Center, and for individuals returning from York and Cybulski to their communities. She will reflect on how this work informs a different perspective on who is behind bars, examining the positive changes that can and do occur, and supporting a rehabilitative and strengths-based approach to incarceration and reentry. This workshop will show how to bring the authentic voices and real-life experiences of women and men from prison to the stage, integrating movement, spoken word and song to examine the choices and twists of fate leading to incarceration.
Contact: Theresa Severance, severancet@easternct.edu
February 24, 2021
Karen Finley: A Heroine of Performance Art
In this collaborative project with the Eastern Theatre Department, renowned performance artist Karen Finley will participate in the Eastern art exhibition in spring 2021. Finley also has agreed to be in residency Feb. 16-18 to work with students in Professor James Holland’s Experimental Theatre class. Her focus on issues of power inequities, race, ethnicity and gender are relevant to all academic disciplines.
Contact: Yulia Tikhonova, tikhonovay@easternct.edu