Arts & Culture Roundtables

The Arts and Culture Roundtables return for a two-part series in Fall, 2023

Yesterday to Tomorrow: Understanding the history of activism in the arts community, how it continues today, and how it will pursue into tomorrow

In this two-part series, we will build a dynamic dialogue around ways to foster equitable, inclusive, and respectful cross-cultural collaboration within our community. Following the theme Yesterday to Tomorrow, we will seek to deepen our understanding of historical exclusion and creative activism in our community, individuals and collectives creating change today, and engage dialogue about our collective and individual roles in this work moving forward.

  • Arts Panel Roundtable (November 6th)
  • Discussion Roundtable (November 13th)

Attend both Roundtables
We strongly encourage those interested in participating make the commitment to attend both parts of this series. However, if circumstances do not allow you to do so, please register for the day(s) on which you plan to attend. Structure and flow of the workshops are dependent on an accurate count of those who will be participating.

REGISTER HERE!

Roundtable Description

Join arts leaders from our community as they answer questions about justice-oriented artistic work. In considering our theme of “Yesterday to Tomorrow,” our panelists will speak from their connections to various communities, art forms, and lived experiences and how these coalesce with their current artistic work. Questions from and conversations with the audience will be welcomed and encouraged!

Details

Monday, November 6th 4-6pm

Register today!

Ways to attend:

  • In-Person at Wordcrafters in Eugene (436 Charnelton St. Ste 100, Eugene) 
  • Virtually via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87132936088
    ZOOM MEETING ID: 871 3293 6088
    DIAL-IN OPTION: +1 253 215 8782

About the Facilitator

Melissa Cariño (she/her/siya) currently serves as the Multicultural Liaison for the City of Eugene’s Office of Equity & Community Engagement. Prior to working in public service with local governments, Melissa was (and still is!) deeply involved in the social justice movements in the USA and beyond, while living and working in various communities across the nation and traveling to learn about other cultures and communities around the globe. She now resides on a hobby farm in rural Lane County with her partner and animal family. She looks forward to feeding her travel bug more in the near future.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

About the Panelists

Pamela Quan (she/her) is the Executive Director of the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, a grassroots, community-run festival that celebrates a broad spectrum of Asian American and Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (AANHPI) narratives and voices through recent works of independent film. The upcoming 19th annual festival will be a welcoming space for audiences to engage in conversations about identity, history, culture, and social justice. She is also a board member of the Chinese American Benevolent Association (CABA) and a residential Realtor with Hybrid Real Estate. She appreciates opportunities to connect and to contribute towards creating an inclusive community for all. 

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Jessica Zapata (she/her) originaria de México, es una ferviente gestora y promotora cultural, artista multidisciplinaria y docente, mentora en programas de arte y cultura, así como maestra de español. Como Fundadora y Directora Ejecutiva de Eugene Arte Latino (EAL), su misión es impulsar y difundir la cultura latinoamericana mediante talleres bilingües, conciertos, actividades artísticas y expresiones culturales, entre otros eventos que enriquecen el desarrollo humano y social de la comunidad. Desde 2007, Jessica Zapata ha sido un vínculo clave para conectar a artistas hispanohablantes con eventos, organizaciones, recursos y exposiciones, facilitando un extenso intercambio cultural entre México Sudamérica y diversas ciudades de los Estados Unidos. Además, Jessica ofrece una amplia variedad de talleres de arte, en español y bilingües, tanto para la comunidad en general como para el Club de Arte para Madres del Museo de Arte Moderno Jordan Schnitzer. 

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Jessica Zapata, originally from Mexico, is a passionate cultural advocate and promoter, a multidisciplinary artist, educator, mentor in arts and culture programs, and a Spanish teacher. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Eugene Arte Latino (EAL), she is dedicated to promoting and spreading Latin American culture through bilingual workshops, concerts, artistic activities, and cultural expressions, among other events that enrich the human and social development of the community. Since 2007, Jessica Zapata has been a key link in connecting Spanish-speaking artists with events, organizations, resources, and exhibitions, facilitating extensive cultural exchange between Mexico, South America, and various cities in the United States.Furthermore, Jessica offers a wide variety of art workshops, in both Spanish and bilingual formats, for the general community and for the Mother’s Club at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Modern Art.

Contact Jessica Zapata: eugeneartelatino@yahoo.com.

Kunu Bearchum (he/him) (Northern Cheyenne & Ho-Chunk Nation) is a Multimedia Producer and Artist. Drawing from his experiences as a tribal person “walking in two-worlds”, Kunu blends Native American culture with Hip-Hop and contemporary sounds within his music and art.

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Artist Share (and panelist!)

Ziree Sun is the musical stage name of 25 year old Black and queer artist Dez Brock (she/they) who will also be joining us as a panelist after their performance. Dez is a Eugene local and has lived in our community for the past 6 years. Ziree Sun is an RNB, Soul, and Hip-hop inspired indie artist who often performs with a band. Ziree Sun placed top 3 this year for Best Singer-Songwriter in Best of Eugene!

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About the Workshop

In this Roundtable, we will look towards the future by diving into stories of the past. Eva Osirus, the facilitator of the NAACP’s “Our Stories” project, in collaboration with the StoryHelix Community Storytelling Project at Wordcrafters in Eugene, will guide all participants in a group listening and discussion experience around the recorded story of a local storyteller. Through this guided conversation, attendees will gain new insights through story, connect with fellow community members, and identify actions they can take to better our community for all.

Details

Monday, November 13th, 4-6pm

Register today!

Ways to attend:

We apologize, an incorrect Zoom link was previously posted. Thank you for your understanding – we hope to see you soon.

About the Facilitator

Eva Osirus (she/her): Eva Osirus is a creative working out of Eugene, Oregon. She is the CEO and Founder of Sirius Rising LLC, multimedia company & business consulting. Her background is in classical music, film, healing arts, literature, and art. When she is not working in the community or making, she is walking a path to becoming a better being through tea ceremony, music production, dreamtime exploration, and connecting to others.

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About the StoryHelix Editor

Leah Velez (they/she) is a writer and interdisciplinary teaching artist based in Portland, originally from Chicago. They work to create structures that encourage creativity and examine the power structures behind the ways we think, create, and move. Leah leads Wordcrafters’ Adult and Community Programs, as well as the community storytelling project, StoryHelix. They also are the founder of TeachWriteNow, which combines improv with elements from RPGs for immersive learning experiences. When not involved in storytelling shenanigans, Leah can be found dancing.

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Artist Share

Jack Flukinger (he/him/él) (shown here with his out-of-this-world cat, Pluto) is a trans man who has lived inside of Oregon and outside of the box for his whole life. He has been performing spoken-word poetry locally in Eugene for over a year. Nothing empowers him more than helping others, especially the trans and gender-diverse community. In his free time, he crochets, does crosswords, and uses the oxford comma.

REGISTER HERE!

The 2023 Arts & Culture Roundtables are a partnership of Lane Arts CouncilFlorence Regional Arts Alliance, Minority Voices Theatre, Wordcrafters in Eugene, C.R.O.W., and local community members. This program was made possible in part by grants and funding from Oregon Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, United Way of Lane County, Umpqua Bank, and City of Eugene Cultural Services. In-kind support provided by Eugene Ballet, Florence Regional Arts Alliance, and Siuslaw Public Library District

Please consider a donation to support the continuation of these vital conversations.

About Arts & Culture Roundtables

The arts are an integral and powerful tool in helping communities reflect, grow, and heal, but first, we need to examine how our local arts community excludes some of the most relevant voices. The roundtable series began with two community-guided conversations to get a sense of the perceptions and realities within our arts community. Following roundtables have been planned in response to the needs that arose from those initial conversations. Ultimately, we hope participants will gain new perspectives and information, find inspiration to create change in their organizations and communities, and garner a newfound connection with other artists and arts professionals for support and resource-sharing. 

Arts & Culture Roundtables are planned in response to the larger need to address harmful systems of power. It is our responsibility to acknowledge our community’s history and actively gather to have courageous conversations about its current state of exclusion, inclusivity, and representation. Through this series of roundtables, we want to better understand and acknowledge the inequalities that exist in Lane County’s arts community. We are striving to:

  • Take an honest look at the issues and challenges in our own arts communities
  • Identify strategies to improve equity, accessibility, and representation in our own practices, programs, operations, and organizational cultures
  • Recognize gaps and identify existing resources and support for artists and arts professionals
  • Cultivate space for the voices of black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and other underrepresented community members to be heard

Previous Roundtable Topics & Presenters Included:

  • Roundtable Kickoff Community Conversations, led by Ritu Roy and Eric Braman
  • Empowered Spaces – a Panel Discussion with local BIPOC Artists and Advocates
  • Finding Our Why, led by by Sarai Johnson
  • Two-part Series on the Tenets of White Supremacy, led by Ayisha Elliott

2021 Two Part Roundtable Series with Ayisha Elliott, Recordings

We encourage you to watch this series with presenter Ayisha Elliott.

Together we explored a conversation around white savior complex and where our relationships to privilege can complicate our intentions and our collective impact. In this two-part series, Ayisha, skilled in creating spaces where vulnerability, honesty, and courage can thrive, provided essential reflection and inquiry to support all attendees in understanding the deep and layered relationship of privilege and racism.

Part I Recording
Part II Recording

Please contact Eric Braman at eric@lanearts.org with any questions.