“Taking Collective Action to Build Community and Fight Racism”
w/ Daniel Park & Deen Rawlins Harris
Four-week intensive: April 13, 23, 27 & May 4, 2022 | 6-9 p.m.
(with 10am - 2:30 p.m. on Saturday 4/23)
“The Collective Liberation Cohort has been support I didn’t know I needed. Deen and Daniel laid the groundwork for us to continue exploring issues we encounter in our respective practices.”
White Supremacy is the air that we breathe and present in every aspect of cultural production. This intentional, BIPOC-only affinity group and structured conversation aims to support a community of practice and bolster the work BIPOC artists are already doing to name and interrupt white supremacy in their own artistic practice and sector, while providing a “Brave Space” for discussion. Participants will leave this intensive with a network of activist peers, tools, strategies, and concrete next steps to intentionally build liberatory practices into their own creative practice, including both the creation and performance of artistic work.
“ Collective Liberation sessions are a great way to network with other artists of color in the area. I appreciate how the group supportively explores how we choose to present ourselves on our own terms as artists. This safe space to explore self-representation was particularly useful for my grant writing and promoting new creative projects. ”
This workshop is for BIPOC artists in all disciplines and is open to artists across Massachusetts. This series is intended for artists who are ready to begin, or already have begun, applying liberatory and anti-oppressive frameworks to their artistic practice.
This workshop series requires applicants to fill out an Interest Form. This form is meant to help the facilitators better understand where you are in this work, so we can do our best to build a community with shared levels of analysis. You should not spend more than 15 minutes on it.
Interest form deadline: DEADLINE HAS PASSED
Images above: Creative work by 2021’s Collective Action/Collective Liberation cohort (left to right) Leslie Anne Condon + Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper, Ren Galvin (collab. with Nijah Nine), Yuko Okabe, and Jessica Roseman.
Presented in partnership with Mass Cultural Council
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
Daniel Park is a queer, bi-racial, theatre and performance artist based in Philadelphia. His work is interdisciplinary, combining live performance and game design to create hybrid experiences that explore the boundaries of human agency. He co-founded Obvious Agency, a worker-cooperative that creates interactive live performances blurring the lines between audience and performer, theater and game. Daniel has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and the University of the Arts. Daniel is also an activist and organizer, focusing on racial justice in the cultural sector. He has provided his services as a facilitator and consultant nationally through the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and has worked with organizations such as The PA Governor's Commission on Asian American Affairs, ArtPlace America, and Headlong Dance Theatre. He also acts as the membership and engagement coordinator with Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, a community group that brings together folks of pan-Asian descent involved in the performing arts.
Photo Credit: Lauren Miller
Deen Rawlins-Harris is an artist-educator from Boston, MA. In 2014, they were trained by Interaction Institute for Social Change in facilitative leadership. They’ve utilized their experience as a special education teacher designing curriculum and lessons to build workshops that are interactive, accessible, and grounded in a trauma-informed approach. Deen has facilitated and developed LGBQ/T+ trainings and Racial Justice trainings for people of all ages throughout the East Coast. Their approach is rooted in Patricia Gurin’s pedagogy for intergroup dialogue. All of Deen’s work serves as an intervention on oppressive thought, oppressive practices, and oppressive force.
This workshop is presented in partnership with the Mass Cultural Council.