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BLOCK 6 – 2022
In This Newsletter:
1. Thoughts from the Director
2. Juni One Set and the “Boy mother / faceless bloom” World Premiere
3. Block 6 Arts Opportunities
4. Join the Reading Groups and Meet Two Pulitzer-winning Asian American Authors: Ayad Akhtar and Viet Thanh Nguyen
5. Introducing Open Arts: Jam Sessions, Open Mics, and the Arts at CC Information Booth
6. Keep in Touch!: Find Us in Cornerstone, Worner, and the Mail Center
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Winter Start Orientation students participate in the scavenger hunt and a series of challenges to cultivate teamwork and community while giving them a chance to explore all the of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III.
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Thoughts from Ryan Raul Bañagale, Director of The Arts at CC
Collaboration. It is a word and a practice that gets thrown around a lot — especially when it comes to the arts. And there is no shortage of examples of the ways we approach, engage, or theorize about collaboration. But in short, collaboration drives creativity and community. It allows for growth and celebration and possibility.
This block, an exciting collaboration several years in the making takes the stage in Cornerstone Arts Center: “Boy mother / faceless bloom” is the result of an ongoing collective of artists working both here at CC over multiple residencies and workshops with students and the community. Following its world premiere, the piece will tour to both Cincinati and Seattle (and possibly elsewhere as well!) before circling back as an exhibition at the Fine Arts Center. More about this exciting piece appears below.
Additionally, The Arts at CC is pleased to announce our first “Arts in the Arena” event, March 11 from 6-10 p.m. in Ed Robson Arena. This collaboration with Campus Activities and student arts groups features the second round of The Sound of CC’s annual Battle of the Bands and a drag show produced by CC’s Mutual Aid. Alongside these spotlight events will be dancing, art making, paper airplanes, food trucks, and more. Follow @TheArtsAtCC on Instagram for additional details as they unfold. We hope this first creative adventure into the hockey stadium will inspire future “Arts in the Arena” collaborations!
And speaking of collaborations, I want to give a huge shout out to The Arts at CC student interns: Camron Bacher, Barbara Bilic, Will Burglechner, Lily Price, and Anya Quesnel. They’ve been up to a lot to build community through the arts — only some of which we’re highlighting in the newsletter that follows.
Sincerely,
Ryan Raul Bañagale
Director of The Arts at CC
Associate Professor, Music
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Co-creators of “Boy mother / faceless bloom:” Juni One Set (Eddy Kwon, Senga Nengudi, and Degenerate Art Ensemble’s Haruko Crow Nishimura and Joshua Kohl)
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Juni One Set and the “Boy mother / faceless bloom” World Premiere: Get tickets here for their performance at CC February 24-27!
“Our work is intensely collaborative, rooted in the deepest respect and love we hold for one another. Through an intentional, transformational process, we build a world within which we can be free. Our bodies live in fear, in the shadows of beginning-less violence, in joy, and in care. Through ritual and embodiment, we find openings for healing and growth and invite others to arrive. We are trying to tell a story we never want to end.” — Juni One Set
This past month, the creative and tech team of the “Boy mother / faceless bloom” production have been creating, collaborating, and experimenting tirelessly in Cornerstone Arts Center to prepare for the world premiere February 24-27. The piece has been co-created through an intensely collaborative process over the span of three and a half years by Juni One Set: Eddy Kwon, Senga Nengudi, and Degenerate Art Ensemble’s Haruko Crow Nishimura and Joshua Kohl. In addition, Production Coordinator Max Sarkowsky ’20 has brought together an excellent team of CC students to provide technical and coordination support. Stay tuned for more about the students’ perspectives participating in this production in our next newsletter.
The artists — each of whom has a distinguished and creatively boundless artistic practice — arrived on campus in August 2018 to explore possibilities for learning from and with each other, with the distant goal of creating something together. Read more about their collaborative journey at the Creativity & Innovation Newsletter here.
Boy mother / faceless bloom is made in collaboration with The Arts at CC, Creativity & Innovation at Colorado College, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, the Colorado College Theatre/Dance Department, and the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center.
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Students speak with drummer Harold Summer after a concert by world-renowned and Grammy-winning saxophonist Bobby Watson All-Star Sextet hosted by The Sounds of CC on Friday, February 4, 2022. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III / Jazzphoto.Com.
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Block 6 Arts Opportunities
Ongoing:
March 11, 6 p.m.: “Arts in the Arena” (Ed Robson Arena)
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Join the Reading Groups and Meet Two Pulitzer-winning Asian American Authors – “Forever Foreign: Asian America, Global Asia, and the Problem of Anti-Asian Racism”
Following the mass killing of Asian-Americans in Atlanta on March 16, 2021, an act of violent anti-Asian racism that shook the nation, a group of CC faculty felt it would be helpful to host a series of events that highlight the histories, narratives, and voices from Asian societies and of Asian diaspora communities in the United States to increase knowledge and awareness of these communities. “Forever Foreign” is a year-long series that culminates with keynote lectures by two Pulitzer prize-winning Asian-American writers and public intellectuals: Viet Thanh Nguyen (April 7) and Ayad Akhtar (April 5).
In their work, both Nguyen, author of “The Sympathizer” and “The Committed,” and Akhtar, author of “Homeland Elegies,” write evocatively about the legacies of America’s two longest wars and the intersections of violence, migration/displacement, memory, and racism.
In anticipation of their visit to campus, faculty members will facilitate reading groups during Block 6. These are opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to come together to discuss the visiting authors’ works. Sign up to join the reading groups here! Free copies of books are available to CC students, faculty, and staff. First-come, first-served.
Additional details along with a full schedule of speakers and reading groups are available here.
The “Forever Foreign” series is sponsored by the Asian Studies Program; Cultural Attractions Fund; National Endowment for the Humanities; MacLean Fund for the English Department; Department of History; Department of Political Science; Butler Center; Department of Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies; Center for Global Education and Field Study; and Feminist and Gender Studies.
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Introducing “Open Arts:” Jam Sessions, Open Mics, and The Arts at CC Information Booth
By anya quesnel ’22, The Arts at CC Intern
Toward the end of last semester, The Arts at CC interns interviewed our fellow students to learn more about how our office can serve the student body. We were curious about students’ takes on the current arts climate on campus and wanted to know how we could connect students with the arts experiences that they felt excited about. Many students reported that they wished there were more ways to partake in the arts that were more casual than enrolling in an adjunct or being a part of a club. We learned that the busyness of the Block Plan was a major factor affecting students’ abilities to engage in existing arts spaces as often as they want.
In response to this feedback, we are planning an events series called “Open Arts!” This series will feature jam sessions where students of every skill will be invited to informally come together, pick up an instrument, and play music. We also hope to host several open mics where anyone can hop on the mic with poetry, short fiction, music, or comedy. Watcht for updates about upcoming “Open Arts” events!
From our interviews, we also learned that some students want to attend more arts events, but they simply don’t know what’s going on. Especially for our peers who are not big into social media or are regularly connected with the arts networks at CC, there seemed to be a communication gap between students and the events that they would be interested in.
To bridge this gap and keep students informed, we decided to set up a biweekly arts information booth in Worner. Watch for us on Mondays and Wednesdays on your way to and from lunch at Rastall. Barbara, Lily, and anya are happy to tell you about ongoing or upcoming arts events — from student group auditions, to upcoming arts blocks to check out, to talks by visiting lecturers, to concerts. Looking for something cool to do this weekend? Stop by our table in Worner to find out what arts events are popping on and off campus. We also have sandwich boards up in Worner and outside the Mail Center for up-to-date arts events each week. Do you have any suggestions for how to make The Arts at CC more engaging or exciting for you? Have an artist you would like to bring to campus? Please stop by The Arts at CC office anytime in the box office in Cornerstone. We are always down to have tea, chat, and share music.
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Find Us in Cornerstone, Worner, and outside the Mail Center!
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