- Welcome to Kalamazoo Lively Arts.

The show that takes you inside Kalamazoo's vibrant creative community and explores the people who breathe life into the arts.

(upbeat electronic music plays) - [Narrator] Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

- I'm Jennifer Moss, here at Miller Auditorium.

On today's show, we explore the relationship between justice and art.

And reflect back on why art is so important in Kalamazoo.

But first let's hear some stories from artists who felt supported and green lit by the people around them.

- Oftentimes, there's kind of like a green light moment, right?

There's maybe somebody that either believed in you before you believed in yourself.

Did you have one of those experiences?

- Oh, I have had tons of those.

♪ Sing a song in my favorite key ♪ - My husband really did.

He said, you know, I bet you could do that.

We set up a studio, got all the supplies, which in fact, you know, include things like squeegees and spatulas and fun pieces of glitter and lots of cool stuff.

- I remember specifically my mom being intentional about taking me and my siblings to, like, the library, exposing us to like black literature and film.

And so I feel like that was like the spark that was like, oh, here's what's possible.

Like, I wanna dig into this more.

I wanna create my own, you know, stuff for people to think about at some point.

- It was in particular, Ed Genesis and Jocelyn Leach when I'd, I went to Fire on a date and it was a open mic.

And Ed Genesis was hosting that night and somebody, like you need to get up there on the mic and do something.

So I had this song that I rapped and sung and I had made the beat to, and he was like, yo we need to stay in contact.

And then another night, we went back there and Jocelyn Leach she was on this box drum that she has, and it was like, yo, can you hum a melody?

And we just had this cipher goin' and everybody felt so glad to just participate in that.

Wow.

It was just like, okay, maybe I can thrive in this community.

'cause I had just moved back from Nashville and I was ready to actually to be done with music.

♪ I know we grow from where we used to be.

♪ ♪ So I notice same when we supposed to be.

♪ ♪ And yes, my story is growing close to me.

♪ ♪ Then when I noticed them, boy, see ♪ - Thank you.

(Applause) - I put the first piece together in a couple hours, in fact, and he came into the studio and he said, how'd you do that?

And I said, I don't know.

So you know, it was kind of fun.

It was like from there on I thought, you know, well, he must think that that was pretty cool.

So off we went.

- Can you tell me a little bit about Eric Hawkins?

- Yes, I'd be happy to.

So Eric Hawkins was a modern dance pioneer and then sometime in the fifties, he formed his own dance company The Eric Hawkins Dance Company.

And he is the person who changed my life.

I actually saw him perform in 1970, and I had never seen anything like that before.

I experienced a month-long workshop with Eric.

And he was a person who's so charismatic and so deep in the way he taught dance that he really made me feel like I could do this.

And he was, he just said to everybody if you want to do dance as a career, you can do it.

So he said yes to me in a way that made me say, wow, maybe I really can do this.

And I danced with him for eight years touring all over the country and all over the abroad.

We went to Italy and France and a number of other places.

And they were just amazing years.

- Tyree.

Was there ever a time in your life where you had somebody, somebody that believed in you even more than what you believed in yourself?

- There used to be a director of the Black Arts and Culture Center, Sid Ellis.

So I told him I was a painter and I told Sid I had tons of paintings.

And he was like, well, where are they?

I said in my storage unit.

(laughter) So I drive him to my storage unit.

and he was like, yeah, brother, we gotta get you.

Oh we gotta get you in here.

So that was my first art show ever with him.

And that kept me connected with the BACC and doing different events around town.

- I'm guessing that people would say that you green lighted them.

You know, you were the one that believed in them.

Was there somebody that green lighted you?

- So I think about, yeah, choir director when I was, like, coming up in church who I just was, like, nope, I'm not singing the solo.

I'm scared.

Like my voice is trembling and they would just keep you know, pushing me, pushing me to do it.

And I'm so glad that they never stopped.

Tim Terrentine who is just like, so dear to me, so grateful for him.

I think about my mom who was like go to school for music.

Like you can, you know, Western the school, like just do it, do it.

And I was like, mom, no, no, no, no.

And then as soon as I, you know, graduated here I am, like, recording this music and performing and all of that.

So I'm glad that she just kept, you know, pushing that and like supporting, like she was in the front row at all the shows and bringing my aunts along with her and all of that.

So I just, I'm so grateful for that.

I know that it's important for folks to be able to have that opportunity, because after they get that first chance, it's like, it's just off to the races from there.

So yeah, those, those are the kind of artists that I'm intentional about reaching out to.

♪ Three.

I got a planet that doubt me.

♪ ♪ I got manage your mouthpiece.

♪ ♪ That only feed on the essence.

♪ ♪ I got the essence.

♪ ♪ I got the weapons.

♪ ♪ I want perfection.

♪ ♪ I wanna know while I'm stretching ♪ ♪ Already know why I'm stressing it.

♪ ♪ Be the sun in the moon.

♪ ♪ I feel too hot to be cold.

♪ ♪ When it's you?

♪ ♪ I feel too, when I walk on the floor, open it tomb ♪ ♪ put out a broom on a witch ♪ ♪ stick up a boom with a stick ♪ ♪ poke on a dow.

♪ ♪ I'll have you blessing a chow.

♪ ♪ I have you, right?

♪ ♪ The guideline guideline guideline ♪ ♪ All five ♪ ♪ Guideline guideline guideline ♪ ♪ Eight eyes shot ♪ ♪ Pour the Merlot in the Vat ♪ ♪ You feel more low when you scout ♪ ♪ More low for the poor ♪ ♪ Too lucky to come off the store.

♪ - What do you think are some ways that that art can change the world?

- Art could be a place where we all come together and then it opens up conversation and not conflict.

There can be conflict within conversation but it should give us this lens that we can all meet in the middle of.

We all saw this for the first time.

- Artists over history have been well positioned to be able to speak and interrogate things that are happening in culture.

And they're the ones that often bring up issues of injustice in our community.

So they definitely have a very important role.

Oftentimes, they've had to flee because they become dissidents.

So artists are extremely important in the relationship to thinking about justice and how to bring light to things of inequity in our culture.

- Every year on Martin Luther King Day, I would have one teacher playing us the I Have a Dream speech and I would watch all of my, all of my classmates sleeping sleeping, looking at their shoes, not thinking it's really important.

On their phones, when we had phones.

And I realized that this is not important to an entire demographic of people.

And then I realized that if all of these other people in the room don't care, I have to be the one person who cares.

And that doesn't mean that it's my responsibility, as a person of color, to educate privileged people, to this.

It means that if I am the person who cares, I need to be doing something because nine times out of 10, people are not doing things.

♪ Hold up.

♪ ♪ You are not raised this way ♪ ♪ To sustain this train of thought.

♪ ♪ I know.

♪ ♪ Since we've been gone, ♪ ♪ You've been building up raging pain your heart ♪ ♪ We're sorry ♪ ♪ We miss you too and you know ♪ ♪ That we love you ♪ ♪ But you gotta grow up ♪ ♪ Into what you should be, cause you wasted ♪ ♪ Too much time thinking what could be ♪ ♪ Option A through Z ♪ ♪ Stop.

♪ ♪ This is your moment ♪ ♪ And it's all on you to show them why you chosen ♪ ♪ and you have to own it.

♪ ♪ So they'll follow suit and won't give up on hope yet.

♪ ♪ This what you wanted ♪ ♪ Ever since you were born learning all you can know ♪ ♪ While we sheltered exposure so we could be closer ♪ ♪ But as you approach it, hold on, ♪ ♪ We still with you ♪ ♪ Grandma, please, don't cry.

♪ ♪ Grandpa, dry your eyes ♪ ♪ I'm just going outside ♪ ♪ Promise I'll be fine, everything's all right ♪ ♪ thank you for my life ♪ ♪ Thank you for my life ♪ - Art can definitely make an impact with justice.

Artists are role models for rappers and singers and your favorite entertainers.

They're role models to people.

So when they are bold enough to speak out on issues, okay, maybe I need to look in it.

This maybe I need to really know what's going on.

- Do you believe that art can change the world?

- Yes, I do.

And if you follow my Faces part three project basically I asked that question.

For me, I think that art has more power than politics.

And I actually went to school for political science and I went into art because I realized that I could use that degree and I could propagate positive and anti-racist media.

I can create that positive image while also educating people even if they don't wanna be educated.

- What would you say the role of art is in justice?

- Hmm.

The role of art.

So I always think about the arts as like this vehicle to change happening.

So you think about the civil rights movement.

I mean, even most recently with the public execution of George Floyd and I always am paying attention to what are the, what is the creative response to these things that are happening?

And then you think about, like, the songs and the music that came out of that movement, all the way to like, I can't even tell you all, the amazing murals and things, that I saw in 2020 around just like raising the awareness of that, you know, racial unjust and situations that continue to happen.

So whether it's like a poet who is like, no, this is not right.

I'm gonna talk about it.

You know, songwriter who creates a song to speak to the agony that they feel from those situations, all of that helps lead towards change or making something different.

And even though sometimes that takes a while to happen.

Just the opportunity to express and release about it is enough, is enough, just in itself.

You know, in that, in that moment.

- Serial killer walks down the street, he fits the description.

It's a white man in a suit.

Another man walks down the street doesn't fit the description, but he's black.

So you just shoot it's as if you think black people are bullet proof.

Congratulations.

That same black man is at his own funeral.

And he finally gets to wear the same suit, but I'm reminded that the battle's not against flesh and blood.

So I thank God for my relationship with him that everything that's happening it all stimulates from sin.

Just like the same sin that separated God from Satan and Adam and Eve from God and the garden.

- Art has a huge impact and huge influence on just how we learn and how we're exposed to different stuff that we never thought we'd be exposed to.

And then how we able to see ourselves, you know, 'Cause if I'm able to tell you a story about me and you are able to put yourself in my shoes, you like, wow, wow.

Like what if I would've went through that?

What would I have done?

You know?

And cause you to ask questions and provoke thought and challenge thinking and change perspective.

- And you're able to see the similarities between yourself and someone that you never would've even thought that you would have, you know, some connections to.

So don't take it out of the schools, like leave the band programs and the art classes and all of that in because we're gonna need that.

We do need it and we're going to need that.

So yeah, I'm a huge proponent, huge.

♪ Catch the five.

♪ ♪ Let me take control.

♪ ♪ No audition ♪ ♪ You're the only role ♪ ♪ When you are ready ♪ ♪ Just say action ♪ ♪ Turn this into a habit.

♪ ♪ We can't afford to just let go.

♪ ♪ I promise I will not play fair.

♪ ♪ I'll show you no one else compares.

♪ ♪ Cause it's right.

♪ ♪ Here's a good thing ♪ ♪ To give you all that should be ♪ ♪ To make sure that you'll get there ♪ ♪ You'll go.

♪ - Why should people support the arts in Kalamazoo?

- Wow.

Why wouldn't you support the arts in Kalamazoo?

Kalamazoo is a fantastically unique city.

We have so many arts offerings here.

It's really, really a fertile place.

And it's one of the reasons I moved here because I knew this was a place that really likes its arts.

(classical music plays) - Kalamazoo is a huge art city.

That's what we're known for.

We're known for having that artist community.

And when you're supporting it you're helping build the city itself.

And it just brings more people here and more events.

- Why support the arts in Kalamazoo?

- Well, to support the arts in Kalamazoo, you're also supporting Kalamazoo itself.

You're not just supporting the concept of creativity but you're also supporting the concept of economic and social growth in Kalamazoo.

- It's important.

It actually builds community and it actually puts you in touch with what's happening here.

- The world is so stressful.

Going and being a part of a theater gives you an escape from what's happening in the world.

It's still there and it's not gonna go anywhere but you have a couple hours where you're with family and you're doing something you enjoy.

You're learning.

("We're All In This Together" from High School Musical 2) ♪ Party's on ♪ ♪ Now everybody make some noise ♪ ♪ Come on scream and shout ♪ ♪ We've arrived because we stuck together ♪ ♪ We make each other strong ♪ ♪ We're not the same ♪ ♪ We're different in a good way ♪ ♪ Together's where we belong ♪ ♪ We're all in this together ♪ ♪ When we reach ♪ ♪ We can fly ♪ - Man.

We need art, man.

There's so much darkness in the world right now.

Like we need some bright spots.

I mean, we can't like change everything but like this seems like a safe, safe space more so like curated space for it to even be able to have those moments with people.

- You love Kalamazoo.

Why should people support the arts in Kalamazoo?

- People should support black arts in Kalamazoo.

I'm not, I'm gonna say black arts in Kalamazoo.

- Yep.

- Because we have a lot of wonderful people who need your support to live.

We all have our different skills.

Like, we all have the things that we're good at.

You know, some people go into law because they're really good at debate or argument.

Some people go into, you know, culinary because they've always loved cooking for people and providing that meal.

Artists go into art because they love putting their labor and their heart into something that you can absorb for the rest of your life.

It's not just something that you're eating once.

It's something you're eating every single day.

And I think we need to pay artists.

So there are a lot of great organizations like Wild Soul Artistry run by Yolanda Lavender who has seen me since I first came to Kalamazoo who has believed in me every step of the way.

And always given me a chance and her whole motto is pay artists.

You have to pay artists because we put in 10, 12, 13, 14, 24 hours into the work that we're doing, sometimes way more.

And we're usually asking for half of the price that it's actually worth.

- You live and breathe the arts in Kalamazoo.

Why would you say that the arts are important to a community?

- So many reasons.

It's like the, it's the art is like the release.

It's your window into just, like, the beauty of all these different cultures and people and, you know, who they are, what they're thinking and feeling.

- That's what Kalamazoo is.

It's the thing that makes us so special.

We have a lot of goings on when it comes to the arts.

And so it makes Kalamazoo a really nice place to live.

I mean, who wants to live in a place where you can't see anything or do anything in the artistic realm?

- Why support these arts in Kalamazoo?

- 'Cause you'd have a pretty ugly, boring world without it.

- Whether it's music whether it's a fine art, whether it's theater, we are going to make you feel things.

You're gonna laugh.

You're gonna cry.

You're gonna learn something new.

You're gonna hear a story, maybe that you've never heard before.

And it's gonna touch your life in a way that you can't even imagine.

- We teach a lot of, of life lessons in dance and you learn a lot of life lessons in dance.

You learn time management, you learn self management, you learn connections with each other.

You learn relationship building, you learn conflict resolution.

The list is endless of how much you learn in the arts.

So we need to be supported so everyone can experience and engage with it.

So they can also be opened up to those life lessons.

- I travel all over the world and am able to be in spaces with lots of different creatives in different ways.

But like there's no place that's like Kalamazoo, especially in terms of the supporting of the arts in this community.

So yeah, there's no other places like it, in my opinion - I look at buildings every day and see beautiful murals and see the work of musicians.

And I just feel like it's such a special place.

It's small enough where, you know, we are a community of artists who know each other and support each other.

And I just feel like it's such a vibrant artistic community - And art is expression.

So you write, you rap, you sing, you paint, you make beats, you take pictures, that that's the Kalamazoo way.

- What makes Kalamazoo kind of your place, your city?

- Mm yes.

Well, I was born and raised here and I always tell people I have tried to escape a few times, but it didn't work, which I'm grateful for that because I have a lot of clarity about this being the place that I, you know, need to be for this time and this season in my life.

And I just, I just love it.

There's so much, like, talent and all the time, I'm like, oh, who is that?

Or what is this, you know, new things.

So I'm grateful that I'm still able to be, like discovering, things at the same time that I'm also very, you know, familiar with a lot of the people and places and things here in Kalamazoo.

But yeah, I hold it, you know near and dear to my heart, I'm a daughter of this Kalamazoo community, which I'm, you know, so grateful that I'm still able to live, work, and play in this community that that raised me.

Yeah.

I mean so much to the point that I have a song about it.

So that's, you know, cool too.

Yeah.

And I just, I'm so grateful for and I just love Kalamazoo so much.

♪ A song in my favorite key ♪ ♪ Oh, too low ♪ - Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Kalamazoo Lively Arts.

Check out today's show another content at wgvu.org.

We leave you tonight with another great performance.

I'm Jennifer Moss, have a great night.

(band begins playing music) ♪ There's a place beneath the stars ♪ ♪ Beautiful waters ♪ ♪ Beauty and love ♪ ♪ Come and see ♪ ♪ Gonna blow your mind ♪ ♪ We're waiting for you ♪ ♪ This is where dreamers can dream ♪ ♪ Super Bowl champions ♪ ♪ American Idols ♪ ♪ World Series shortstops who play for New York ♪ ♪ And right here ♪ ♪ Come take a load off ♪ ♪ And go into downtown ♪ ♪ The lights and the action ♪ ♪ The flashy attractions ♪ ♪ This is where movies are made ♪ ♪ This is why ♪ ♪ We are cool ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ ♪ This is why we're cool ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ ♪ Just take a minute ♪ ♪ Let me take you there ♪ ♪ Don't be scared of lions, tigers, and bears ♪ ♪ The happy house is where ♪ ♪ Cooler now ♪ ♪ For the President ♪ ♪ The people in the painting ♪ ♪ Southwest Michigan ♪ ♪ You're amazing ♪ ♪ This is why we are cool ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ ♪ This is why we are cool ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ ♪ This is why we ♪ ♪ Why we ♪ ♪ Are cool ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ ♪ In Kalamazoo ♪ - Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ The bittersweet between my teeth ♪ ♪ Trying to find the in-between ♪ ♪ Fall back in love eventually ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ The bittersweet between my teeth ♪ ♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ Trying to find the in-between ♪ ♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ Fall back in love eventually ♪ ♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪