Event Schedule

Toshi Reagon, Bowdoin College’s Joseph McKeen Visiting Fellow, 2022-2023, will share an evening of music and conversation centered on racial justice, climate justice, gender justice, and faith. These themes, which will guide her work as a fellow, are culled from Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, a dystopian speculative Afrofuturistic fiction piece providing commentary on climate change and social inequality. 

Reagon will be joined by Judith Casselberry, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Bowdoin College, Samaa Abdurraqib, Executive Director of Maine Humanities Council, and others in a discussion of the significance of Butler’s work, contemporary societal challenges, and the importance of community.

An Evening With Toshi Reagon is part of Parable Path Maine, a framework Reagan is bringing to Bowdoin during the course of her fellowship that is based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. For the Parable Path Maine initiative, the McKeen Center will be working alongside Indigo Arts Alliance, and the Maine Humanities Council for the next two years to bring the work of Butler to libraries, correctional facilities, and community organizations across the state.

Our Fall 2022 International Artist in Residence, Renata Felinto will present a special performance art piece celebrating the Brazilian religion of Candomblé. Stemming from West African spiritual practices, AMOR-Tecimento: Nourish the Earth’s Stomach will pay homage to Candomblé’s tradition of the veneration of spirits known as orixás. This performance is an exploration of the various ways in which one may establish and renew our spiritual energy, also known as axé. Propagating our relationship to our material bodies and the earthly body, Renata will lead participants through a powerful experience that calls forth healing and spiritual nourishment.

Join us in-person for Ritual Research, an artist talk with our Fall 2022 International Artist-in-Residence, Renata Felinto.

This talk will take attendees on a journey into Renata’s process as a researcher and further explore artists of African descent and their impact on the larger visual art world. Through the visual arts, she uses research to forge deeper connections with spirituality. As an artist, researcher and educator, Renata focuses on issues surrounding the Black female identity, the reverberations of displacement, and how contemporary issues are in dialogue with history.

Presented in partnership with the Center For Maine Contemporary, join us in-person or online for a conversation between renowned artists Daniel Minter and Eneida Sanches, moderated by esteemed scholar Henry John Drewal.

The dialogue between Minter and Sanches will touch on their unique connections despite vast geographic distance. Minter was born in the American Southeast while Sanches was born in the Northeast of Brazil. The artists will speak about their respective sources of creativity, as well as the deep love and respect of indigenous African spiritually and culture embedded in their works. 

Part of the third annual Beautiful BlackBird Children’s Book Festival, Indigo Arts Alliance will host a discussion surrounding the past, present and future of the Black American Experience, inspired by the New York Times Magazine’s award-winning book “The 1619 Project: Born on the Water” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson.

Moderator Marcelle M. Medford will guide panelists through reframing of American History and explore ways in which audiences of all ages and backgrounds can engage in building a future of hope, celebration and freedom. 

Audience members are invited to shape a future of hope, celebration and freedom. Through the lens of art, history, politics and academia, this panel conversation will ignite the sparks of creativity, questioning and pride in our complex identities.

Presented by our Summer ’22 David C. Driskell Fellow, Brian J. Evans and commissioned by Meetinghouse Arts Gallery, Do, Process: An Offering/Sharing of Embodied Authenticities is a creative arts framework tasked with generating work grappling with the first three words of the preamble to the United States Constitution: “We, the people…” A multi-disciplinary offering/sharing to engage audiences in community-driven art focused on creating spaces to process. Utilizing dance, spoken word poetry, videos, songs, and photography, this offering/sharing will serve as a snapshot in to Evans’ Fellowship process and his great admiration for the arts ability to bring about restorative justice and solutionary change.

Presented in partnership with Mayo Street Arts, join us for a work-in-progress libretto reading of Post Pardon: The Opera, written by our current Artist-In-Residence, Arisa White.

With its concern for gendered and ecological violence, Post Pardon is the transgenerational apology needed to repair a Black woman’s soul. Adapted from Arisa White’s eponymous poetry chapbook, published by Mouthfeel Press in 2011, Post Pardon was inspired by poet Reetika Vazirani who killed her two-year-old son and then took her own life in the summer of 2003. As a device to non-judgmentally enter the interior landscape of a woman who contemplates murder-suicide, Post Pardon employs Caribbean mythologies and West African cosmologies to explore the concept of inherited sorrow.

Featuring local artists and actors, Arisa’s reading of this text will focus on the libretto as a poetic literary form and the inherent musicality of language to amplify the ritualistic, performative, and evocative nature of the lyric. A moderated discussion and Q&A will follow.

Join us for The Fugitive Creative: A Practice of Residing in Your Own Humus Soil, a generative workshop led by our current Artist-In-Residence, Arisa White and Signature MiMi.

Arisa will lead participants through a generative workshop that imaginatively engages the mind, body and spirit in mapping out its humus—the “dark organic matter” that nourishes your boldest and daring ideas. Through somatic + centering exercises, deep questioning, and reflective writing, folks will become aware of their fears, inhibitions, and the social expectations that stifle their creativity. Followed by a Sole Planting exercise, led by MiMi Signature, attendees will make foot paintings to serve as visual expressions of how they want to step into the world.

Together we will conceive of practices and design prompts that free and express their inescapable selves. Participants are asked to dress comfortably and to bring a yoga mat or blanket to lie on. All writing levels are invited, no experience is required.

Presented in partnership with SPACE Gallery, join us for this double feature of Neptune Frost. Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams brings his unique dynamism to this Afrofuturist vision, a sci-fi punk musical that’s a visually wondrous amalgamation of themes, ideas, and songs that Williams has explored in his work.

Co-directed with the Rwandan-born artist and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman, the film takes place in the hilltops of Burundi, where a group of escaped coltan miners form an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective. Set between states of being – past and present, dream and waking life, colonized and free, male and female, memory and prescience – Neptune Frost is an invigorating and empowering direct download to the cerebral cortex and a call to reclaim technology for progressive political ends.

Presented in partnership with Bates Dance Festival, join us for Rhythm and Pattern: A Conversation with Daniel Minter and Reggie Wilson. This program brings together visual artist, co-founder and Artist Director of Indigo Arts Alliance, Daniel Minter in conversation with choreographer Reggie Wilson, moderated by Marcia Minter, co-founder and Executive Director of Indigo Arts Alliance.

Minter and Wilson have been engaged in generative dialogue on the overlaps that inform both of their practices for nearly three years, connected through their relationship as Artists in Residence with the Lynden Sculpture Garden. This conversation will present a unique opportunity to experience a sneak peek into the minds of two important African American artists working in very different mediums yet connected by history— past, present and future.

As the co-founder and author of the book and movement, MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, our current Artist in Residence, Adama Delphine Fawundu invites the public to a hands-on workshop where participants will be able to explore their personal narratives in the form of bookmaking. Each participant will leave with a unique hand made book.

Taking place LIVE on Zoom, join us for a virtual conversation between the iconic visionary, Dr. Deborah Willis and our June Artist-in-Residence, Adama Delphine Fawundu. Together, they will discuss the use of photography archive in the development and expansiveness to the canon of art history.

This in-person fundraiser and film screening is in support of More Women Surf+, co-Founded by our Winter 2021 artist-in-residence, Pamela Chèvez. More Women Surf+ is a collective of women empowering other women+ and diversifying the cold water surf scene. They create a welcoming space for bipoc, trans and non-binary folx through community-based events, surf lessons, and creative projects.

This program will feature drinks, small bites, and an exclusive film screening of Bangla Surf Girls by filmmaker and director, Lalita Krishna. Tickets start at $20.00 with all proceeds going to More Women+ Surf. Funds will be used towards the creation of a surf club where girls from under-represented communities can find a space to learn and enjoy the benefits of surfing.

Join us in-person for an artist talk and Counternarratives workshop led by our May Artist-in-Residence, Alexandra Bell. During this hands-on workshop, participants will review a newspaper article and share their proposed edits in the spirit of Alexandra’s Counternarratives series where she edits New York Times articles to reveal biases and assumptions about race and gender. Workshop supplies will be provided and all skill levels are welcome. High School students are encouraged to participate.

Our April 2022 Artist-In-Residence, Tanya Crane will present on her creative practice, current works and dynamic social engagements. The workshop will begin in her artist talk, grounding participants to create their own jewelry using donated materials from the community and of participants. All supplies, and materials will be supplied. All skill sets are welcome.

Radical Jewelry Makeover has been traveling nationally and internationally to communities since 2007, educating jewelers of all levels about mining and material sourcing issues involved in jewelry making through a fun, fast paced, community-based project. Thus we are excited to welcome “Radical Jewelry Makeover” to Portland, Maine.  

Presented in partnership with the Institute For Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, join us for a panel discussion with the three IAA alumni Artists-In-Residence featured in the exhibition “Visions for our Future; Echoes of our Past: Dianne Smith, Nyugen E. Smith, and Carl Joe Williams.”

Moderated by Dr. Myron Beasly; IAA’s Board member and Associate Professor of American Studies at Bates College, this panel will weave the various threads of these interdisciplinary artists’ work into one unified picture. Together we’ll dive deeper into how the exhibition examines, deconstructs, and re-invents new ways of making in order to accurately reflect global communities.

ReMapping New England is a historical recovery project aimed at inscribing these effaced narratives both in the built environment and on a dynamic digital landscape in an effort to re-member our communities in all their diversity and radically shift public consciousness toward truth. 

Presented in partnership with Atlantic Black Box, this fourth installment of our ongoing series will feature Indigo Arts Alliance’s 2022 April A.I.R, Tanya Crane and The Haus Of Glitter collective as they dive deep into the various ways in which art, history and legacy speak to each other in order to change the collective understanding of the history of New England. Moderated by the Founder & Executive Director of Atlantic Black Box , Meadow Dibble.

Presented in partnership with Black Public Media, Maine Film Center, and Maine Public Television, join us for a community conversation about the new film, Revolution from Afar.

Moderated by award-winning radio journalist, Hana Baba, this virtual panel discussion will engage questions of identity, art, activism, and the work of individual and communal efficacy. Panelists include the film’s director Bentley Brown, artist Khadega Mohammed, and our 2012 AIR Alumni, Nyamuon “Moon” Nguany Machar.

You can tune into the television broadcast of the film on Maine Public Television, April 7th at 9pm EST and April 9th at 2pm EST. You can also stream the film on demand at worldchannel.org beginning April 4th.

Presented in partnership with Khmer Maine, this evening will feature a small reception, ceramic art auction, and special in-person film screening of the documentary “Yary Livan: Khmer Traditional Ceramic Artist.”Directed by Vibol S. Sungkriem, this film tells the story of Master Yary Livan, one of three remaining Khmer master ceramicists in the world who is on a mission to preserve and save a dying art through community engagement and education.

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with the artist and filmmaker, moderated by Khmer Maine President, Marpheen Chann. All proceeds from the art auction will go to support Khmer Maine and Indigo Arts Alliance.

Join us for this in-person fundraising concert to support Indigo Arts Alliance’s AIRs (Artist-In-Residence), featuring an opening performance by alumni Artists in Residence: VIVA and a very special performance by international blues legend, Guy Davis.

Indulge all of your senses with delicious hors d’oeuvres, cash bar and wonderful company as we celebrate highlights from our amazing programs with a taste of what’s to come next. Tickets are priced at $100.00 with all proceeds going to Indigo Arts Alliance. Limited seating available.

Part of our ongoing Seeking Resonance series, Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations invite you to experience Step Afrika!

So much more than a dance concert, Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities, traditional African dances and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, captivating experience. This dance company employs a  blend of technique, agility and pure energy to make each performance unique, leaving audiences with their hearts pounding every time.

Part of our ongoing Seeking Resonance series, Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations invite you to experience Sphinx Virtuosi: Tracing Visions!

The nation’s most dynamic, exhilarating professional chamber orchestra, Sphinx Virtuosi is dedicated to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in classical music. The exquisitely curated program “Tracing Visions”, challenges and evolves the “classical canon” by illuminating a new pathway for listening, sharing and expression through voices rich with history, conflict and celebration. Their dynamic program includes works by composers Xavier Foley, Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery and more.

Led by Veronica Perez, our 2021 David C. Driskell Fellow, this workshop will be a guided, in-person braiding session that encourages us to dig deeper into our relationship with our hair. These braiding circles open up new ways of seeing, honoring identities, and fighting for collective liberation through community gathering and conversation.

Participants’ braiding contributions will be incorporated to create a larger installation art piece that will be in a final exhibition at the CMCA in the summer of 2022, as recordings of people’s hair stories will be embedded into sculptural pieces created by Veronica. 

All materials will be supplied. Ages 16+.

Presented by Indigo Arts Alliance in collaboration with Embody The Rhythm , this workshop will dive deep into the art of Djembe drumming. Led by drumming Master Namory Keita, participants will have a chance to learn this specific percussive style with the traditional Doundoun family of drums.

‬

Whether you are a beginner just starting down the path of drumming or a seasoned player ready to grow your skills, Namory’s infectious joy for playing and teaching will inspire. Participants are encouraged to bring their own djembe drum if they have one, or reserve a drum ($5). A limited number available so please reserve early. This workshop is open to all ages 16+.

Hosted by Marco Soulo and Almondbuttersmooth, Freestyle Friday is freestyle cypher series that encourages healing through collaboration and genuine expression. Indigo Arts Alliance is partnering with Signature Soul and Modern Day Circus to present the upcoming livestream for this ongoing series. Each installment of Freestyle Friday prioritizes strengthening relationships between BIPOC creatives and cultivating spaces for growth. Through the art of being present, the goal is to create a space of community, expression, and healing.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance for African From The MaineLand. The program will consist of a community discussion and an intimate screening of the documentary I Come From Away: An Immigrant in Maine, featuring our 2020 Winter Artist-In-Residence, Nyamuon Nguany Machar (aka Moon). This special event is planned to take place in-person at the Indigo Arts Alliance 60 Cove Street Studio in Portland, ME.

Directed by Charles C. Stuart, I Come From Away: An Immigrant in Maine tells the story of Moon’s journey towards finding “The American Dream” in the whitest state in America. Through her eyes, this film shines a light on the experiences of Portland, ME immigrant community, detailing their successes and their burden of continuing racism.

This event is free and open to the public, ages 16+, but space is limited. Stay tuned after the screening for a community discussion moderated  by the film’s director, Charles Stuart with Moon Machar and Portland’s city Councilman, Pious Ali.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations in collaboration with The Immigrant Welcome Center on November 18th at 7pm EST for “Music From The Sole: “Partido”, the next installment of our ongoing Seeking Resonance series.

Co-created by Leonardo Sandoval and Gregory Richardson “Music From The Sole: “Partido” blurs the line between a dance and music performance, exploring the convergence of percussive dance and live music with contemporary urban styles in African-American and Afro-Brazilian culture. This performance will take place at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations in collaboration with The Immigrant Welcome Center on November 4th from 7-8pm EST for “Cartography,” the newest installment of our ongoing Seeking Resonance series.✨

Created by Kaneza Schwab and Christopher Myers, Cartography invites you to hear the stories of young refugees and asks us all to consider what part we play in the lives of young people who set out into the unsure waters of their futures. Through this multimedia theatrical work, witness a world alive with movement and migration as the effects of climate change, war and poverty give shape to where we have come from and where we are going.

Cartography will take place at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, ME and is best suited for those 12 and up. Family audiences are welcome. Click on the link in our bio to purchase tickets.

Indigo Arts Alliance and our partners at Atlantic Black Box invite you to join us virtually for this third installment of our ongoing ReMapping NewEngland conversation series.

This upcoming panel will feature Indigo Arts Alliance’s 2021 Fall Artist-In-Residence,  Antonio Rocha in conversation with Dr. Rachel Harding, Associate Professor of Indigenous Spiritual Traditions in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Denver and Dr. Kate McMahon, Museum Specialist, Center for the Study of Global Slavery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

​​Together, these brilliant minds will discuss the Afro-Atlantic histories and events inspiring Rocha’s current work in progress. Topics will include the Malaga ship and the destruction of Black communities at the turn of the century, Environmental Justice, African Diasporic Spirituality and more.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance’s 2021 Fall Artist-In-Residence, Maestra Isaura Oliveira for an Introduction to Brazilian Orixá Dance!

A multidisciplinary artist and a Cultural Educator, Maestra Isaura’s expertise is in African Brazilian Cultural Dance. Her practice is dedicated to studying and teaching the African roots of Brazilian Sacred & Popular Dances, Rhythms, Chants, and Performance-Rituals, in addition to studying modern and contemporary dance techniques. In this special dance class, participants will be given an introductory lesson to movements of Brazilian Orixá Dance with live drumming lead by local Guinean artist Namory Keita.

Maestra Isaura will be the guest instructor for Marita Kennedy-Castro’s dance class Embody The Rhythm, held at the Dan Gymnasium at Breakwater School, 856 Brighton Avenue in Portland, ME.

Masks are required for classes at Embody the Rhythm and physical distancing is encouraged. Tickets are available on a sliding scale basis from $20-$25. Space is limited.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance’s 2021 Fall Artists-In-Residence, Antonio Rocha & Maestra Isaura Oliveira for this FREE interactive lecture/demonstration, in partnership with Mayo Street Arts. 

During the program Antonio & Isaura will share their creative practices. Using movement and storytelling to narrate history and ancestrality, they’ll give participants insight into the work they’ve been developing during their residency at Indigo Arts Alliance. There will also be an exclusive preview of a brand new project, written and performed by Antonio about the history of a ship called Malaga built here in Maine!

This event is open to the public and will take place at the Mayo Street Arts theater located at 10 Mayo Street, Portland, ME. All performance levels are invited, as no dance experience is required. 16+. Space is limited.

All patrons and staff attending events will need to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test (administered by an authorized provider with your name included on the test) within the past 48 hours, along with a matching photo ID. Proof of vaccination can be your physical vaccine card/official record, or a photo of such documents. Proof of a negative test result can be physical or digital. Children under 12 are exempt from this policy.

In participation with Freedom & Captivity, Keita Whitten, licensed therapist, healer and performer will be presenting a Somatic Liberation Dance Wave Experience from 5 – 7pm EST on Tuesday, September 28th at Indigo Arts Alliance’s 60 Cove Street studio. This special event is a continuation of the Somatic Abolitionist Community Dance Performance documented in July. 

For this final part of the series— Movement as Healing and Wellness; Good for the Soul, Body and Mind, participants will be actively engaged in movements led by Keita Whitten. Participants will engage in a 90-minute workshop concluding in a 15-minute meditation. Movement will be grounded in exploring the question, “what does liberation and freedom feel like in your body?” 

This event is free and open to the public, ages 16+. Space is limited.

In conjunction with the free screening of Black Art: In the Absence of Light, join Indigo Arts Alliance and The Portland Museum’s PMA Films for A Live Virtual Conversation between legendary Black Art: In the Absence of Light filmmaker Sam Pollard and Indigo Arts Alliance’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Marcia Minter.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance and The Portland Museum’s PMA Films for a free screening of Black Art: In the Absence of Light on Wednesday, September 8th. 

David C. Driskell served as the Elder Advisor to Indigo Arts Alliance. His mentorship, advice and support helped to affirm and inform our unique model. Now, you can take a deeper dive into his groundbreaking work as a mentor and curator with the extraordinary documentary Black Art: In the Absence of Light, which focuses on his life and career, often through the eyes of the generations of artists, collectors, and scholars that he influenced.

This screening will be held at Hannaford Hall, 88 Bedford St. on the USM campus in Portland. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the film starts at 6:30 p.m. The film is preceded by a live musical performance by Kafari beginning at 5:45 p.m. and an introduction by Indigo Arts Alliance. Walk-ins will be accommodated based on day-of seating availability.

Join us at 6:30pm on Thursday, September 2nd at Fox Field, Kennedy Park for an evening of community, art, and abolition! We will project works from the Art on Abolition online exhibition while enjoying ‘Songs of Freedom & Captivity,’ a mixtape curated by Samuel James. There will be speakers, organizations tabling about their work, and ample opportunities to get involved! 

Speakers will include Marcia and Daniel Minter of Indigo Arts Alliance, Skye Gosselin of Maine Youth Justice, Bobby Payzant of Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, Michael Kebede of the Maine ACLU, and performances by Ali Ali and Myles Bullen.

Tabling organizations will include the Maine ACLU, Maine Youth Justice, Maine Inside Out, Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, Maine People’s Housing Coalition, the Maine DSA, and Maine Access Points. 

PLUS: Gateway Community Services will be offering COVID-19 vaccines and testing on-site! 

Freedom & Captivity is a statewide, coalition-based public humanities initiative to explore and promote abolitionist visions and organizing in Maine during fall 2021. The public launch will be held on Fox Field, Kennedy Park in Portland, ME, on September 2, 2021, at 6:30 pm.

Daniel Minter, painter, assemblage artist, 2021 Joyce Award recipient and co-founder of Indigo Arts Alliance will host an in-person collage and mixed media workshop exploring how we develop and transform the cultural landscape of the African diaspora.

Participants will draw on transatlantic themes found in African symbology, masks forms, and iconography that appear in Driskell’s artistic practice. These concepts are prevalent in African American culture and across the Americas.

As there is limited space please register by August 13.

Participants will be guided on a 90-minute walk through the city’s Old Port neighborhood, led by ABB Education Coordinator Seth Goldstein. The tour, which highlights Portland’s rich African heritage, will conclude at Indigo Arts Alliance. Here, participants will have the chance to create their own woodblock prints from the Portland Freedom Trail Markers designed by artist Daniel Minter.

Join Indigo Arts Alliance and The Portland Museum of Art in person at the Bernard Osher Foundation Auditorium from 6 – 7:30pm as we honor David Driskell’s love of the natural world through facilitated discussion between environmental activists, farmers, scholars, and artists. Panelists representing Maine’s African Diaspora will discuss the importance of understanding Black people’s relationship to the land, past, present, and future, starting with re-contextualizing our histories and exploring the resurgence of younger generations taking up the cause to correct the false narratives that have obscured Black people’s experiences with the environment and environmental activism.

Panelists include Samaa Abdurraqib (Maine Humanities Council), Phillip Dube (The Trust for Public Land), Cheryl Townsend Gilkes (Colby College), Daniel Minter (Indigo Arts Alliance), Amara Ifej (Maine Environmental Education Association), and Dawud Ummah (Ummah Enterprises).