join us at the church art house as we celebrate and listen to works by omaha based poets and performers, jean - marie, aspen monet laboy, and deathgod.

midwest poetics centers connection, conversation, collaboration, and communal learning. it is an opportunity for artists to hold space together for writing, reading, literature, and performance that heals and holds the power to lead us to more questions. this lit space is intended for us to both: workshop new material and support each other in a peer to peer setting by showing up to listen.

a day of intentional retreat centering connection, reflection, and restoration. this special juneteenth edition of soulful safespace sunday was dedicated to the spirit of the living embodiment of - ancestral freedom and included a freedom mapping writing workshop lead by sheri purpose hall.

a private invitational gathering dedicated to the Black, Brown, and Indigenous femmes - who have supported and uplifted us in community.

what does it mean to build community?

what are the ways in which we are individually and collectively responsible for our shared freedom and liberation.

within their practices, both artists materialize storytelling, symbols, the history of flag making, and ethnography to form their understandings of place and belonging.

through shared artist presentations, meaningful feedback, and communal discourse we were able to learn more about these artists’ work while also noticing similarities that connect their practice and experiences.

“rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. healing is an act of communion." - bell hooks

through an open forum format, this session was dedicated to communal resistance following the cleared police charges in the shooting of teenager, Ma'Khia Bryant. grounded by meditation lead by azi rae king, participants were encouraged to share art and dialogue that made space for raw emotional healing and released anger and rage.

this edition of soulful safespace sundays was in collaboration with “because of this,” an exhibition + performance series that reclaimed space and centered the work of local and regional contemporary artists of the African diaspora, while purposefully building a multidisciplinary peer network for BIPOC artists in the midwest region.

“because of this” was hosted and supported by charlotte street foundation in kansas city, mo and was curated by mary lawson, our cofounder.

in this workshop, youth explored mask masking using found and gathered natural materials with artist, author, and writer olivia hill.

scholars learned about the herstory of oral storytelling for black, brown, and indigeonous people as a significant tool to carry legacy and document our lives . miss olivia shared a traditional african folk story and scholars created vibrant masks based on animals in the story using natural materials gathered on a nature walk.

this emergency session was created in response to the need to be in sisterhood and community to mourn our sister, Breonna Taylor.

our time together manifested as a sacred grief circle that made space for sharing and releasing individually. we came as we were and prioritized vulnerability through shared ritual, meditation, herbalism, song, and oral storytelling.

thank you to the folks who shared and held us on Breonna’s sunday.

our first session was affirmed and uplifted by a meditation selection from June Jordan’s 1978 poem for south African women - “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” we engaged in shared meaningful exchange and discussion lead by artwork from alajia mckizia, celeste butler, and cristina victor.

this inagural session of souful safespace sundays was held at bemis center for contemporary arts in omaha, nb in an effort to bridge the gap between BIPOC local artists and visiting artists in residence.