Art & Activism
The panel Art & Activism examines how, in times of social and political divisiveness, artists can and are using their art practice as a form of political practice, resistance and protest.
This talk considers how art can be a viable tool for advocacy and agency through the work of a panel of artists across disciplines: theater, dance, music, and visual art.
How do socially conscious art practices shift across these disciplines? How can an art practice affect the processes of inequity and injustice in ways that traditional forms of activism do not. What are the shared resources and platforms available to artists and how can these forms of dissidence be transformational tools for change?
A reception in the Booth Courtyard will follow the panel discussion, providing an opportunity to connect with local social justice organizations:
Artists Bios
Deidra ‘Krucial’ Cooper is a choreographer, educator, and street dance activist. A native of Inglewood CA and a talented krumper, Krucial is a member of Demolition Crew. She performs at schools, women’s prisons, marches, protests, boot camps and more. In 2013, Krucial and the Demolition Crew were featured in the award-winning short documentary STAND, which highlights how she infuses krump with activism. Additionally, Krucial has performed with Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre in: Chinatown Blues and Brush Up. As a teaching artist with Duck Truck Residency Program (DTRP), Krucial provoked imagination in her students through original movement. Krucial is also a member of the Wonder Women Movement geared towards motivating and empowering young ladies and women everywhere through dance. Krucial has traveled to colleges and universities across the U.S., as well as internationally to London, Belgium, and Spain teaching, judging, and showcasing at events geared towards uplifting communities and raising awareness around street dance activism. She strives to uplift people everywhere to demolish any and all obstacles they're faced with, while taking a stand against injustices around the globe. Deidra holds a BA in English from Johnson C. Smith University and an MA in Education from USC.
Lynnée Denise is an artist and writer who developed as a DJ through her parent’s record collection. Her work is inspired by underground cultural movements, the 1980s, migration studies, theories of escape, and electronic music of the African Diaspora. In 2013, she coined the phrase “DJ Scholarship” to explain DJ culture as a mix-mode research practice, both performative and subversive in its ability to shape social experiences; shifting the public perception of the role of a DJ from being purveyor of party music to an archivist and information specialist who assesses, collects, and provides access to music determined to have long-term value. Her performative lectures on “DJ Scholarship” have been featured at The Broad museum, The Tate Modern (UK), Savvy Contemporary Gallery Berlin, Goldsmiths University of London, Iziko South African Museum, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Stanford, Yale, NYU, and Princeton. She’s the product of the historically black Fisk University with an MA from the historically radical San Francisco State University Ethnic Studies Department. DJ Lynnée Denise is a visiting artist at the California State University, Los Angeles Pan African Studies Department.
LA native and current resident, Kohshin Finley, earned his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design. Born and raised in the contentious racial and social climate of South Central Los Angeles, Finley now taps into his own Black-Mexican heritage and experiences to create his paintings. Prior to each painting, Finley writes poems inspired by his subjects and interlaces them with his own history to tell a personal story that takes a new life on the canvas. His work has been exhibited nationally in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Mesa and Honolulu. Notable venues include the California African American Museum, The Honolulu Museum of Art School and Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. His work has been featured in the the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Hyperallergic, and Artillery, Studio Visit Magazine, Artists’ Magazine, and African-American Heritage History Month, a publication for the City of Los Angeles.
Keith A. Wallace is a playwright, actor, filmmaker, and self-proclaimed 'actorvist.' As an actor he has appeared in JUNK: The Golden Age of Debt, Blueprints to Freedom, Movers + Shakers, Death of a Driver, Venus, In the Crowding Darkness, and more. Select directing credits include: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and The Brothers Size (Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Production). Following its 2015 premiere in the international WoW Festival at La Jolla Playhouse, THE BITTER GAME, was a semi-finalist in the 2016 Sundance Theater Lab and the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Since, Keith has toured the show nationally and abroad including Under The Radar Festival at The Public Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, The American Repertory Theater, The Dublin Theater Festival among others. Keith is also a recipient of the 2016 Princess Grace Theater Award, United Solo Festival Avant Garde Award and a San Diego Critics Award nominee for Outstanding Solo Performance. He is a member of ArtChangeUS: Arts in a Changing America and his work has also been featured in The Monologue Project through The Dramatist Guild. Keith holds an MFA in Acting from UC San Diego and a BA in Drama from Morehouse College.
Moderator: Kailee Stovall '17, Oxy Arts Coordinator of Programs & Communications.
This event is free and open to the public.
Bird Studio (Booth Hall)
1600 Campus Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041
Made possible by the Arts and Urban Experience Initiative, which is generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
