Q&A WITH MALAKHI EASON

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

Throughout the last year, Malakhi Eason has brought a distinctive exuberance and a fresh vision to the Festival with innovative programming ranging from an Ideas talk on hair art to a drag show featuring New Haven legends. Here, Malakhi takes us behind the curtain of his creative process.

One of your key initiatives has been to introduce new art forms to the Festival. Why?

I often hear people say, “I’m not creative; I don’t have an artsy bone in my body.” But I think everything that you do is art! When you create a look, that’s art. When you make a drink with layers of colors and a little cherry on top, that’s art. Art is all around us—even our refrigerators are art; someone produced the design and functionality. I’m a licensed hairstylist and my art has always been hair. We don’t often think of hair as art, so I wanted to focus on this art form in 2021 because hair art has history, it’s visual, it has texture. It is important to expose people to other worlds and to address the ways that hair artistry has cultural and political roots.

Why is inclusivity important?

I like moving into spaces where I feel welcome. There are so many opportunities in the world to be excluded; if you’re not in the right social bracket, the right crowd, with the right opportunities. I believe arts experiences should be limitless. Everybody should have access to and feel welcome at the Festival. We are all in this together.

How do you mix your own artistry as a musician and hairstylist with your work at the Festival?

I actually don’t mix them. The singer-performer side of Malakhi is my free and very artsy side. I use a different, but equally creative, part of my brain as a programmer. I’m blessed to have a creative mind in my job so I can think outside the box, solve problems, work with people, mix and mingle, and make it happen.

When people think of Festival programming with you at the helm, what do you hope people will think of?

I want audiences to think it’s fresh and creative and to leave with experiences they’d never experienced before. When audiences think of the Festival, I hope they know they’re going to get something unlike any other festival they ever been to. I want it to affirm their own artistic passions and stretch them to have experiences that are unexpected.

Malakhi RL Eason II

Malakhi RL Eason II brings more than 15 years of arts administration experience to the Festival. Originally from Boston, he was most recently Programming Manager at Omaha Performing Arts, where he curated the expansive Jazz on the Green Series, ranging from intimate cabaret performances to outdoor concerts. Malakhi was formerly a background singer for touring artists while living in Los Angeles, CA.

A graduate of University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT, he earned a Masters of Arts in Leadership from Grace University and is currently working on a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University. Malakhi has also served in many positions that convey his passion for service and youth mentorship; he encourages young people to find their passions. Malakhi is an active member of numerous organizations, including the Lincoln, NE, Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc; Lambda Pi Eta (National Honors Society); and the NAACP. In his free time, he loves to travel, write songs, eat at great restaurants, and spend time with family and friends.