THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
UNIVERSITY NEWS
SJP, GLO protest at Corporation meeting
Protestors distributed fliers, spoke with Corp. members arriving for breakfast
BY SAM LEVINE UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
As members of the Corporation, the university’s highest governing body and fiduciary, gathered at the Faculty Club early Friday morning for their February meeting, around 20 members of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Graduate Labor Organization were stationed outside the building, ready to greet Corporation members and promote SJP’s “Divest and Democratize” campaign.
SJP and GLO members carried signs and distributed fliers to arriving Corporation members, calling for the university to “withdraw investments in securities, endowments, mutual funds and other monetary instruments with holdings in companies” that the group said are “profiting from Israeli apartheid and (are) complicit in human rights abuses against Palestinians,” according to the flier.
ARTS & CULTURE
Several Corporation members took fliers from protesters and stopped to speak with SJP and GLO organizers about their demands.
In the past two years, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — two major human rights organizations — published reports alleging that the actions of the Israeli government toward Palestinians amount to apartheid.
In March 2020, the university’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies re-
‘After Hours’ shines spotlight on staff artists
Painting, photography, glass blowing on display at Granoff Center until Feb. 22
BY ASHLEY GUO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Since Jan. 23, an eclectic curation of artwork from Brown staff has been on display in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. In its second in-person iteration since the pandemic, “After Hours Annual Staff Exhibition” continues the more than a decade-long tradition of highlighting staff artistry.
“After Hours” features a diverse range of mediums and contributors, spotlighting art forms including painting, photography, glass blowing, punch needling and pottery made by artists from all departments, including the Department of Facilities Management, the School of Public Health, the university Library and Alumni Relations.
It’s not often that “staff all get to come together across disciplines, across buildings, to gather” and ap-
preciate art, said Kennedy Jones MA ’23, a Brown Arts Institute Program Fellow who has organized the show for the past two years.
After putting out an open call for staff artists, Jones worked with each artist to determine how to best display their pieces.
“I’m always just so happily honored” to put together the show, Jones said. “It’s just cool to see the really great work that staff (are) producing when they’re not doing the great work that they already do here.”
‘Let me just go for what I love’: Sie Jie Loo’s ‘Before and After Baby’
Art has always been a part of Sie Jie Loo’s life. Although Loo, department manager for visual art, took art and dance classes for most of her childhood, for a while, she found herself only able to pursue her creative endeavors as a hobby. But as an undergraduate student at Dartmouth, Loo decided to follow her dream and pursue art full-time.
“That’s when I said, ‘I think I have proven myself enough. Let me just go
leased a report recommending that the university divest from “any company that profits from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.”
President Christina Paxson P’19 did not publicly address the report until March 2021, when she shared a letter with ACCRIP’s successor body, the Advisory Committee on university Resources Management. In the letter, Paxson wrote that ACCRIP’s report findings lacked rigorous research and
SPORTS
inspired rap competition hosted by NOSODIFFERENT
University Hall boasts long history as first campus building Page 3
METRO
Commander Oscar Perez announced as PPD Chief
Mayor Brett Smiley’s appointment decision motivated by public survey, forum
BY JULIA VAZ METRO EDITOR
Last Friday, Mayor Brett Smiley announced that Oscar Perez, previously a commander in the Providence Police Department, will serve as the 38th chief of the PPD. Smiley’s decision was informed by a public survey and forum, The Herald previously reported. Oscar Perez, an immigrant from Colombia, will be the first Latino to occupy the position.
According to a Feb. 10 press release, Perez has served the PPD for 29 years, starting as a patrol officer and rising to the role of deputy chief. During his tenure, Perez “implemented a department-wide community policing bureau policy and spearheaded several police
community relations initiatives,” the press release stated.
Perez’s focus on community relations also motivated Smiley’s decisions. Smiley said that “Chief Perez has demonstrated he is (a) dedicated public servant that can foster strong relationships within the community and is (laser focused) on the quality-of-life issues our residents identified as top priorities.”
Perez highlighted the need to “get to work on the big issues,” which he identified as gun violence, crime prevention, youth support and quality-of-life for Providence residents. “Serving as chief of police for the city that welcomed me so many years ago and that has become my home is the honor of a lifetime … I am excited to give back to my community,” Perez said in the press release.
Perez immigrated from Medellín, Colombia, at the age of 13. He attended Providence public
Men’s basketball dominates Cornell 80-66
Brown jumps to third in Ivy as Coach Martin ’04 becomes winningest in u.basketball history
BY ABE WYETT STAFF WRITER
Earlier this season, Cornell defeated Brown 80-73 in Ithaca.
Head Coach Mike Martin ’04, with his 134th win, is now the winningest coach in Bruno basketball history, surpassing former u niversity Basketball Coach Stanley Ward.
“We were aware of it coming into the game, but Coach wanted (our focus) to be…getting the job done regardless of the record,” Paxson Wojcik ’23 said in a postgame conference.
“He’s very selfless, so he’s not gonna talk about it, but it’s really special, and we’re all really proud of him,” Wojcik continued. “We were excited to get it done, especially at home in front of a really nice crowd.”
Aaron Cooley ’25, Nana Owusu-Anane ’25, Kino Lilly Jr. ’25, Dan Friday ’24 and Wojcik lined the circle for tip-off. Friday sparked the scoring for Bruno with
a three-pointer — and Brown led Cornell for the remainder of the game. Lilly, Wojcik and Kimo Ferrari ’24 each drained threes to take a 12-4 lead with 15:22 remaining in the half.
With 8:36 on the clock, Friday converted a tough and-one layup.
Owusu-Anane soon stole the ball from the Big Red at halfcourt, dunking it to take a 24-13 lead. After back-to-back buckets for Lilly, Brown held a 30-13 lead, capping
off a 17-0 run.
Brown continued to dominate the Big Red, entering halftime leading 42-24.
Bruno’s offense continued to be hot in the second half, taking a 20-point lead, 46-26, with 18:30 left in the game. In a moment displaying the chemistry between Wojcik and Lilly, the co-captain tossed a behind-the-back pass to Lilly in
KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
Coach Mike Martin ’04, with his 134th win, is now the winningest coach in Bruno basketball history, surpassing former Coach Stanley Ward.
SAM LEVINE / HERALD
Protesters called for the University to increase transparency regarding its investments and the Corporation’s activites.
ARTS & CULTURE
NOTSODIFFERENT hosts Super Bowl-inspired rap competition
Hip-hop collective brings artists together, fosters competition, community
BY MAGDALENA DEL VALLE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Tensions rose at the Watermyn Cooperative house Friday night as two hip-hop teams came face-to-face on stage, cheered on by shouts of encouragement from fans. Audience members were preparing for the “Superbowl,” a rap competition put on by College Hill hip-hop collective NOTSODIFFERENT, which was created last semester. They swapped footballs for mics, traded players with musicians and opted for a stage rather than a stadium for this “Superbowl” performance.
NOTSODIFFERENT divided its members into two teams, denoted by their respective colors: red and purple. Throughout the night, the teams battled it out for the win, each one hoping for their performances to elicit louder audience cheers than the other.
Ilyaas Sugal ’23, the event’s master of ceremonies, kicked off the “Superbowl” in a suit and sunglasses. After
ARTS & CULTURE
greeting the audience, he introduced members of the Red and Purple teams: Gustav Hall ’24, Jesse McCormick-Evans ’25 and Rose Posyer on the former; and Jordan Walendom ’23, Osiris Russell-Delano ’25 and Jordan Turman ’23 on the latter.
The NSD team came up with an intricate backstory for the performance, hoping to further engage the audience and increase interest in the performance with elaborate storytelling and world-building. “They all have a character,” Valerie Villegas ’25, one of the performance’s organizers, told The Herald. “Some of them are new to the game, some of them have been trying to make the Superbowl for really long, and this is finally their year.”
The storyline was promoted on NSD’s Instagram in the days leading up to the “Superbowl,” with every performer’s character getting a pre-competition interview.
During the show’s introduction, the performers booed their opponents and raised their fists at one another in mock competition, building on the pre-existing tension between the teams advertised previously on social media.
Following several rounds of perfor-
mances — including covers, original songs by the artists and some freestyle — the audience cheered the Red team to victory. Even though most of the performances were staged, Villegas clarified that the winner was not — not a single audience member or performer knew who would win until the end of the “Superbowl.”
The “Superbowl” is the “culmination of multiple (club) events,” said NSD co-founder Elliot urgent ’24. Namoo Song ’24, Walendom and urgent
founded NSD last fall to create a community for hip-hop at Brown and RISD after feeling that there was a “huge demand for” one campus.
NSD is about “creating spaces and creating a universe where (artists) can succeed,” said Walendom.
Last semester, the group’s performances mostly consisted of DJ sets and small gatherings. The “Superbowl” also showcased artwork, with Song and other NSD members creating works of art to hang around the co-op during the competition.
Even though NSD is not yet officially recognized as a Brown student organization, the collective is already leaving its mark on the community. Monica Zhang ’25, NSD’s marketing representative, told The Herald that her biggest takeaway from the group was that “no idea is a bad idea, and you can always build off of each other.”
“What is ‘NOTSODIFFERENT?’” Song asked. “You’ve gotta be there to understand.”
boygenius returns with three emotion-packed singles
Trio’s reunion delivers powerful lyrics ahead of album release coming in late March
BY DAPHNE DLUZNIEWSKI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
boygenius broke their four-year hiatus with the release of three singles Jan. 18, kicking off the 2023 music scene with a bang. The three new songs demonstrate how the trio’s dynamic allows them to produce masterpieces.
The band — composed of indie rock singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers — was rumored to be reuniting a week prior, when Coachella announced they would be performing at the festival later this spring. The group will also be touring the u.S. as a headliner for the Re:SET Concert Series, which released tickets to the public on Friday.
Before their group debut in late 2018, each of the three members had already kickstarted their solo careers: Baker’s discography included two studio albums titled “Sprained Ankle” and “Turn Out the Lights,” Bridgers garnered attention for hits like “Motion Sickness” from her 2017 album “Stranger in the Alps,” and Dacus’s 2018 album “Historian” delivered her most popular song, “Night Shift.”
Each of the three newly released singles are spearheaded by a different member of the band. As one artist’s vocals and respective production style lead the tune, the other two voices chime in behind her.
The first single, “$20,” explosive-
POLICE FROM PAGE 1
schools and holds a bachelor’s degree from Roger Williams u niversity and a master’s degree from Boston u ni -
that
ly announces that boygenius is back and ready to build on the same heavy emotions that characterized their first self-titled EP. The song appears to be a parallel to their 2018 song “Souvenir,” which Baker opened by describing a $20 dreamcatcher she bought to prevent her nightmares. But it seems the dreamcatcher didn’t serve its purpose: “$20” ends with a loop of Baker, Bridgers and Dacus begging for the money back.
Both “Souvenir” and “$20” present a theme of self-destruction, but the latter’s sound draws a contrast to “Souvenir’s” slow, somber melody. Baker opens the song with an urgent guitar riff and the confession “It’s a bad idea/ And I’m all about it.” Bridgers joins her in the background of the first verse and Dacus chimes in during the second. The chorus becomes an amalgamation of their voices as they begin belting disparate
lyrics over each other, contributing to the song’s chaos. It ends with Bridgers screaming in the background, a move similar to one she makes in her song, “I Know the End.”
The mood mellows with the next single, “Emily I’m Sorry.” Bridgers’ soft voice delivers this apology, presumably to vocal artist Emily Bannon. Bannon and Bridgers were close throughout Bannon’s relationship with producer Chris Nelson, which ended in 2019. In 2020, the two accused Nelson of abuse and fraud, which prompted him to instigate a defamation suit against Bridgers. Bridgers ultimately won the dismissal of the case.
“Emily I’m Sorry” is a plea for a second chance and a reflection on the costs of not knowing what you want until it is too late. Bridgers laments “I am twenty-seven/ And I
versity, both in criminal justice, the Providence Journal previously reported. He is also a board member of the Nonviolence Institute, which works to create “a community that uses the principles and practices of nonviolence to prevent, interrupt and heal violence and to uplift community,” according to their website.
don’t know who I am.” The production style — reminiscent of the tracks on Bridgers’ “Punisher” — coupled with self-deprecating lyrics, plants a deep feeling of desperation in listeners. Dacus and Baker amplify this sentiment with their wispy harmonies, and the song concludes with Bridgers repeating her apology over and over.
The final single, “True Blue,” leaves listeners on a more hopeful note with lyrics reflecting Dacus’ narrative songwriting approach. She seems to be completing the story first told in “Emily I’m Sorry.” With lines like “When you don’t know who you are/ You f— around and find out,” Dacus signals that the apologizer has finally gone through the process of self-discovery and made it to the other side. Both sonically and lyrically, the song captures the special comfort of being known so well that
During a press conference, Perez addressed the significance of being the first Latino to step into the role. “It is definitely a historical moment, a proud moment,” he said.
there is no need to hide. “True Blue” also offers a hint of happiness and healing that are often absent in the group’s music, which leaves listeners curious about the mood of their future music.
The band’s ability to create powerful and touching music can be largely attributed to the fact that each member preserves their individuality within the band. Each artist’s unique talents are beautifully married together to forge soul-crushing ballads, which are sure to hook listeners with their melancholic style and gritty lyrics. boygenius’ cohesiveness as a creative body amplifies their talent tenfold.
Much to their fans’ chagrin, boygenius went quiet following their first EP’s release. Still, the three flourished individually to become household names in the indie-alternative genre. Bridgers’ second studio album, “Punisher,” earned her four Grammy nominations, and her haunting vocals have been featured on several songs with other artists, including Taylor Swift, SZA and Kid Cudi. In 2021, Baker released “Little Oblivions,” a fragile and forlorn album reflecting on her addiction, faith and sexuality. The year also brought more of Dacus’ impeccable anecdotal songwriting with the release of her album “Home Video.” But the three never strayed far from each other; in each of their records, the other two frequently join in with ghostly harmonies in the background.
“$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue” form an emotional triple punch that represents a welcomed return of the group and sets high expectations that boygenius will undoubtedly meet with their upcoming debut album, “the record,” slated for release March 31.
“It’s a way to tell my community and the young kids out there that you can be here as well.”
MAGDALENA DEL VALLE / HERALD
Leading up to the event, members of the hip-hop collective NOTSODIFFERENT advertised the competition on social media through photos and pre-competition interviews showcasing the performance’s characters.
COURTESY OF BRIAN GALLAGHER VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Rumors
boygenius was reuniting after a four year hiatus started when Coachella announced the band would perform at the festival later this spring. A week later, the group announced their upcoming album.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Students discuss history of University Hall, connection to slavery
Brown’s oldest building has been used as dormitory, administrative building
BY SARAH ONDERDONK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Framed by the Van Wickle Gates, university Hall is a symbol of the university’s centuries-long history and prestige. To this day, the building’s 300-pound bell, hung in 1792, echoes loudly across the Main Green to signal the end of each class period.
According to the Brown university Campus Map, university Hall — built in 1770 — is one of seven existing college buildings in the united States that predates the American Revolution, making it the university’s oldest building.
Zoe Siegel ’25, who has attended several advising meetings in university Hall, said that she never took particular notice of the building’s history, despite being aware of its age. “There are a lot of historical decorations” inside, she said. “But I’ve never looked that closely at them.”
The first time University Hall was mentioned in Brown’s historical archives, then as an unnamed college building, was in the diary of Hezekiah Smith, an “early supporter” of the university. According to Encyclopedia Brunoniana, Smith wrote that the Corporation, the university’s highest governing body, “subscribed nineteen hundred and ninety-two dollars for the building, and for endowing the College.”
The proposed building, which would initially be known as the College Edifice, underwent multiple stages of planning under different committees before being finalized.
The university, then called Rhode Island College, was based in Warren, Rhode Island before the College Edifice
SPORTS
According to the Campus Map, University Hall is one of seven existing college buildings in the US that predates the American Revolution. In 1963, the building was recognized as a national historic landmark.
was erected. The creation of the building in Providence marked both a new location for the College and a new era that would stretch into the present day.
Reflecting on University Hall’s connection to slavery
In 1770, Nicholas Brown and Company began construction on the College Edifice. According to Encyclopedia Brunoniana, the building committee placed a notice in the Providence Gazette asking for donations of building materials. The company was involved in the Atlantic slave trade, according to the Report of the Brown university Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.
Donors financed the construction of the College Edifice in forms other than
pure monetary donations, according to the Slavery and Justice report. The wood for the building was donated by Lopez and Rivera, “one of the largest slave trading firms in Newport.”
Other donors honored their pledges by providing slave labor. There is evidence of four enslaved men who worked on the building, including “Pero,” “Mary Young’s Negro Man,” “Earle’s Negro” and “Abraham,” according to the report.
Allison Masthay ’25, who lives in Hope College — the second oldest building on campus, located next to university Hall — said that she has not paid much attention to the university’s first building during her time at Brown. “I just see it as another one of the pretty buildings on the Main Green,” she said.
Masthay was not aware of the build-
ing’s relationship with the slave trade.
“I think this is yet another example of the importance of awareness and education,” she said. “Everyone should know the building’s origins, … (it) shouldn’t be swept under the rug.”
Kanayo Duru ’25 also said he was not aware of the history of university Hall or the larger role that the slave trade played in financing the University.
“It just goes to show how deeply ingrained the slave trade is in Brown’s history,” he said. “It’s ingrained in the very foundations of our buildings.”
The many forms of University Hall In December 1776, the R.I. legislature took control of the Edifice to use as barracks and a hospital for American troops. The College retook possession
of the Edifice in May 1780 for a short period before the building was given to the French army to be used as a hospital, during which it bore a significant amount of damage. In 1800, the Corporation collected a “very inadequate” settlement of $2,779.13 for the destruction, according to Encyclopedia Brunoniana.
In 1822, the Edifice was renamed “university Hall.” Over two decades later, the building underwent renovations that enlarged the rooms, created offices for the president, registrar and steward, increased the number of student rooms from 38 to 44 and introduced gas light, steam heat and plumbing in the basement.
For much of its history, part of the building served as one of the many dormitories that students could live in. But in 1939, the Hall was almost entirely converted into an administrative building. The renovation and restoration that year revealed that “only portions of the cupola and two large beams on the fourth floor were the original woodwork of the 1770s,” according to the university map.
A 1963 Herald article reported that university Hall would be dedicated as a national historic landmark later that year. A representative of the Department of Interior called the building an “exceptionally valuable survival of the nation’s past,” according to an article published the day after the dedication ceremony.
At the ceremony, William H. Jordy, a former art professor, spoke about university Hall’s history. At the time of its creation, he said, the Boston Gazette called it a “College near as large as Babel; sufficient to contain ten times the number of students that ever have, or ever will, oblige the tutors of that popular university with the opportunity of educating or instructing them.”
Wrestling suffers loss to Columbia, drops to 3-9 on the season
Team unable to carry momentum from Friday’s 27-18 win over Long Island university
BY AUSTIN XIANG STAFF WRITER
The wrestling team (3-9, 2-5 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) fell short against Columbia (5-7, 5-3 EIWA) with a score of 36-3 on its senior night Saturday. The loss came on the heels of a 27-18 win over Long Island university the day before.
Brown began the match trailing 6-0 after forfeiting at 125 lbs, before Hunter Adrian ’25 (133 lbs), the team’s captain, attempted to cut the lead against the Lions’ Angelo Rini.
Entering the third period tied at two, Rini pulled off an escape and had a riding time advantage, giving him a de facto 4-2 lead. But in the closing seconds, Adrian was awarded two points after pulling off a takedown of his own, using his neck and shoulders to flip Rini over and take the match into overtime.
Adrian was the aggressor in sudden victory after spending much of regulation fending off Rini’s moves.
Just 32 seconds into overtime, Adrian had Rini in a leg split and tossed him over on his side, pulling off the upset 6-4 victory against the higher-ranked Lions wrestler.
“There’s still time on the clock and the match is not over, so keep wrestling and keep pushing the pace and good things will happen,” Adrian said of his mindset during the comeback win.
Ian Oswalt ’25 (141 lbs) was up
next, quickly wrestling his way to a 4-0 lead over Matt Kazimir with a forceful takedown in each of the first two periods. Kazimir responded with two escapes and a timely takedown with 39 seconds remaining in the third period, which pushed Oswalt’s riding time below one minute and forced the second overtime in as many matches. In overtime, Kazimir lunged for Oswalt’s right leg, folding Oswalt over and onto his knees for the takedown
and securing his own surprise victory. Columbia carried its momentum into the next match, with Brunonian Ricky Cabanillas ’23 (149 lbs) unable to outwrestle Danny Fongaro in a 5-2 loss.
“I knew he was good on his feet and liked to control his hands, so I was waiting for him to step and got a good takedown on him,” Ricky Cabanillas said. “He kept coming after me, and maybe I wasn’t ready for that … but he timed my footstep and he was able to take me down.”
The Lions controlled the remaining matches, stringing together victory after victory to complete the day. Columbia took eight out of nine total matches, with Adrian’s victory the Bears’ lone win.
“They just beat us in positions that we needed to win,” Assistant Coach TJ Dudley said. “Their guys that were losing found a way to come from behind, and we needed to close out matches a little tighter.”
Despite the loss, Dudley said there were many positives to take away from the evening, adding that “the scoreboard isn’t reflective of what happened every match” because each contest was close.
“These are guys that are ranked in the top 20 in some of these weight
classes, and our guys were beating them at one point or another,” Dudley said. “It shows us where we are, which is leaps and miles and bounds further than we have been in the past.”
That night, the team celebrated its seniors — Darby Diedrich ’23, Samuel Lynch ’23, Thomas Mukai ’23, Aaron Wolk ’23 and brothers Ricky and Nicky Cabanillas ’23 — in their last match at home. Each senior was given a plaque, announced to the fans in attendance at the Pizzitola Sports Center and recognized for their contributions to the team.
Ricky Cabanillas said his senior night experience was “pretty good,” and that he enjoyed having his family in attendance to cheer him on.
“It’s a bit of a bittersweet moment,” Ricky Cabanillas said. “I’ve done this for 15 years and it’s going to come to an end one day. So thinking about that, (I’m) just giving it all I have, trying to be the best leader (and) best athlete I can.”
The team will now shift focus to its upcoming match against Harvard in Cambridge this Friday.
According to Adrian, the players will “clear our heads, come in on Monday, and just keep working on where we went wrong.”
NAT HARDY / HERALD
CHIP DELORENZO VIA BROWN ATHLETICS
Columbia took eight out of nine total matches, with captain Hunter Adrian ’25 taking the Bears’ lone win.
Wellisch ’26: News on TikTok is desensitizing us to tragedy
Normally, I am a satisfied TikTok user, but this week I developed my first major gripe with the platform: TikTok distorts how we consume news.
For the first time, scrolling through my daily TikTok feed left me deeply unsettled. One second, I was watching a clip of two girls dancing, and the next, I was met with footage of a child trapped under rubble following the recent earthquake in Turkey and northern Syria. Moments after that, I was back to a lighthearted makeup tutorial. I had no time to give the child’s survival story the attention and empathy it deserved before it was replaced by a remarkably superficial clip. Jamming world tragedies in between sequences of content meant for quick and mindless consumption is unethical. Presenting news, especially tragic news, in this way diminishes the severity of humanitarian crises and encroaches on our capacity to respond appropriately.
On a psychological level, when one encounters trauma-related stress, they go into “fight, flight or freeze” mode before healing. Yet, when we are constantly exposed to trauma in our news notifications and social media apps, our capacity to relax, recover and cope healthily is diminished.
Simply put, we need more time to digest the traumatic stories of our world. TikTok perpetuates a toxic, fast-paced relationship with the news that forces us to forgo opportunities to process tragedy meaningfully. This leaves us numb — we lose our capacity for reflectiveness and self-awareness, ultimately challenging our
ability to empathize with crises and the people they affect. Thus, having news on TikTok only pushes users of the app to grow indifferent to our world’s most critical issues.
There are problems with how TikTok delivers news to its users even beyond the inappropriate way it presents traumatic news stories. The app’s highly personalized machinelearning algorithm creates dangerous echo
aligned with a user’s existing values and beliefs. While this strategy is lucrative in generating ad revenue and attracting users to the app, it also limits our exposure to the diverse set of opinions that exist in the real world.
TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform in the u.S. and has garnered the attention of over a billion users worldwide, which is why some may argue it’s a valuable platform for
“The news we see on TikTok is a threat to our ecosystem of information, and we must reevaluate its place on the platform.”
chambers that can polarize communities. By assessing how many times we replay a video or how fast we scroll past a post, the TikTok algorithm creates individual content feeds catered to each user’s personal preferences. For example, the platform has been criticized for creating a radicalization pipeline that pushes young men toward misogynistic content. Consequently, TikTok is complicit in deepening extremist viewpoints by recommending content
disseminating information. However, in practice, TikTok has become nothing more than a cesspool of misinformation for its young consumer base. According to a research report by NewsGuard, searching the app for information on top contemporary news stories returns results that are riddled with false or misleading claims. The news we see on TikTok is a threat to our ecosystem of information, and we must reevaluate its place on the platform.
TikTok was designed to be an entertainment app, and it needs to start acting like it again. Despite TikTok’s persistent failings as a news source, about a quarter of American adults under 30 are now turning to the app for news coverage. This makes sense to me — TikTok caters to our short attention spans, embracing a visually stimulating aesthetic that traditional news media cannot compete with. However, as engaging as TikTok may be, none of this contributes to the app’s ability to actually function as a viable news source.
It is clear that TikTok is a defining entertainment product for our generation, but this doesn’t mean that it has to fulfill every media consumption need we have. TikTok has had unprecedented success as a social media app, but it has failed to effectively house news and entertainment together. Perhaps there is an entrepreneurial opportunity to leverage TikTok’s ingenious video format to exclusively disseminate credible news stories without personalized algorithms. However, in order to get to this point, we must purposefully push back against the desensitization and polarization of news on TikTok and work together to develop a modern medium for news engagement.
Yael Wellisch ’26 can be reached at yael_ wellisch@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.
CALENDAR
TODAY’S EVENTS
STEM Faculty Lunch with Lisa Pruitt Sc.M.’90, Ph.D.’93 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Faculty Club FEBRUARY
Sami Schalk, “Black Disability Politics” 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Cogut Institute, Room 305
TOMORROW’S EVENTS
Fluids Seminar: Bianca Viggiano, Johns Hopkins 3:00 p.m. Barus and Holley, Room 190
Avoiding Burnout 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Innovation Zone
Goodman Colloquium - Dr. Lisa Fazio, Vanderbilt university 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Friedman Auditorium
DH Salon: using Scalar to Illuminate the Fragments Controversy 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Rockefeller Library
Disaffected: The Cultural Politics of unfeeling 4:00 p.m. Pembroke Center
‘Carrying Black tradition forward’: Theater pioneers talk community
Panelists,
leaders discuss history and tradition of Black theater in R.I.
BY SARAH OGUNDARE STAFF WRITER
Providence community members gathered in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts Friday, Feb. 10 for a colloquium entitled “The Book of Black Theatre.” The event was hosted by the Department of Africana Studies’ Rites and Reason Theatre in collaboration with (De)cypher: Black Notes on Cultural Criticism, a social and political journal, as the first act in a three-part series titled “Flipping the Script: RI Histories of Black Community Theatre.”
At the event, the panel highlighted trailblazing Rhode Island creatives who were instrumental to the establishment of Rites and Reason, the Providence Black Repertory Company and the Mixed Magic Theatre.
According to Elmo Terry-Morgan ’74, artistic director of Rites and Reason and associate professor of Africana Studies and Theater Arts and Performance Studies, the event was about offering space for “conversations with innovators of contemporary Black theater in Rhode Island.”
The event featured various forms of storytelling — singing, historical accounts, imagination exercises, music video showings and more — and was conceived and moderated by two PhD students, Melaine Ferdinand-King GS and zuri arman GS.
Ferdinand-King and arman were inspired to put on the event after doing archival work with Lisa Biggs, assistant professor of the arts and Africana studies.
“Experiencing the archive was like returning from a swim to find new skin laid out for me by familiar hands I never met in this lifetime,” arman said. “I suppose that’s what an elder does. They contextualize, they refresh our eyes and they guide without steering, allowing creative liberties while providing the necessary wisdom time has not afforded me yet.”
A history of Black community theater in R.I.
The Rites and Reason Theatre has held workshops open to all community members, co-hosted collaborative festivals with members from various educational and artistic institutions in Rhode Island and produced many shows since its creation, according to Ferdinand-King.
The theater was born out of student advocacy and faculty-student collaboration, Terry-Morgan said.
specificity, prompting her not to advance the matter to the Corporation for consideration.
Protesters also called for the university to “democratize the Corporation” by increasing transparency regarding the university’s investments and making the Corporation’s activities more accessible to the university community — such as by implementing “open forums for Brown community members to dialogue with the Corporation,” according to the flier.
According to Eli Grossman ’24, an
George Bass, a late faculty member of playwriting and Afro-American studies, now known as Africana studies, founded The Rites and Reason Theatre in 1970. Bass, a u niversity community member, creative and mentor, served as assistant to legendary 20th-century poet Langston Hughes.
Panelist Ramona Bass-Kolobe ’72, who was married to Bass, participated in the 1968 student walkout, part of the on-campus advocacy that helped establish Rites and Reason at Brown — making it the first and only Black theater in the Ivy League at the time.
The theater’s central focus was to make performance art accessible and “collaborative, rather than hierarchical,” according to audience member Gina Rodriguez ’08.5, who worked at Rites and Reason as a student.
Bass-Kolobe recalled how her late husband’s impact shone through Rites and Reason’s innovative and immersive performance methods.
Bass’s legacy also spans far beyond the confines of the u niversity, Terry-Morgan noted. He added that Bass worked tirelessly to break down the division between “gown and town,” addressing the ways Black people were systematically pushed out of their neighborhoods and ex-
organizer for SJP, “democratization” of the Corporation would make it easier for students to engage with the body’s members and for other activist groups to pursue their agendas of endowment divestment.
According to Anila Lopez Marks ’26, another organizer for SJP, “ ‘Divest and Democratize’ … absolutely extends to the interests of a lot of activist groups on campus because, at its core, the Corporation and Brown’s endowment is what steers a lot of our capacity to invest and make a difference.”
The event
cluded from local communities.
According to Terry-Morgan, Rhode Island’s Black theater history is important to understand given the untraditional paths taken and the unwavering dedication of the community’s leaders. “Otherwise, people show up and assume (the theater) has always been here and been well-funded,” he said.
The Rites and Reason Theatre brought together not just performing arts students, but people of all concentrations and Black theater professionals, according to panelist Donald King ’93, founder of the Black Repertory Company.
Community theater versus regular theater
Panelists also compared the difference between conventional and community theater to the difference between performing and storytelling.
Storytelling is “something you can share wherever you are,” Bass-Kolobe said, whereas theater performance creates a “colonial barrier” through the physical and metaphorical curtain drawn to exclude those who cannot pay for tickets.
For Bass-Kolobe, theater is a community art form that flourishes far past the bounds of the stage. Whether
“I think we are generally well received” by Corporation members, Grossman told The Herald. “There were definitely people who brushed us off, but that’s to be expected. We appreciated (that) people took our fliers and that some (members) did stop and talk with us.”
“Brown is a learning community strengthened by expression of the wide range of views held by individuals and groups on campus,” wrote u niversity Spokesperson Brian Clark in an email to The Herald. “Each of us as members is free to debate and
“I’m on the street (or) I’m at the bus stop, I’m doing theater,” she said.
King noted that he “never had the luxury of making things just about ‘theater.’” For him, it’s much more personal. “My community is here,” King said.
While there may be a perception of community theater “not working at the highest level,” according to Karen Allen Baxter, the former senior managing director for the Rites and Reason Theatre, Providence’s Black theater circles redefined “community” as something rooted in intimacy, support and reliability.
Financing Black theater
Today, the matter of funding continues to pose challenges for members of Providence’s Black theater community. According to panelist Ricardo Pitz-Wiley, this is especially the case when grant proposals inquire about the theaters’ intentions to center diversity, equity and inclusion.
Instead of recognizing the obvious diversity of Black theaters, many investors choose to allocate finances and resources to white theaters “centering DEI” over Black theaters that are unquestionably diverse, Pitz-Wiley said.
On the other hand, “from day
protest while respecting the freedom of others to disagree.”
Beckett Warzer GS, an organizer for GLO, explained that GLO members joined the protest “to demand that Brown invest in grads and not (Israeli) apartheid.”
SJP organizers told The Herald that they hope to continue advocating for divestment and voice their concerns to the Corporation in the future.
“We plan to continue (being) present and annoying them, even in the slightest sense, to continue to
one, we were diverse and inclusive,” Pitz-Wiley added.
Bass-Kolobe recommended that the new generation of Black community theater ask themselves whether funders “expect to be shareholders or sharecroppers” in the relationship between Black artists and investors.
“My hope and my prayer is that building forward, artists shouldn’t have to be in the bottom rung economically,” Bass-Kolobe added.
Maintaining these Black artistic institutions has opened the door to “mythical Afro-diasporic transformative experiences,” King said. He recalled “not having a reflection” growing up, and is “honored to have the opportunity to hold a mirror” to Black communities in Rhode Island.
For Ferdinand-King, conversations like these “are an opportunity to honor ancestors and gain insight about carrying Black tradition forward.”
The panelists possess “the radicality of practice in their bravery, courage and gall needed to maintain these important Black institutions,” she said.
“Black people are integral to the art scene in Providence and the creative capital,” arman added. “Even if that fact goes unacknowledged.”
remind them that there is a desire for accountability and there is a student presence that cares” about how the endowment is invested, Lopez Marks said.
“We don’t forget the tremendous decision-making power that (the Corporation has), and we’re hoping to be consistently vocal whenever we have the opportunity, like the rare occurrences when they are together as a corporation,” said Jack Doughty ’23, an organizer for SJP. “Throughout this semester, we hope to be a continuous presence.”
SARAH OGUNDARE / HERALD
Melaine Ferdinand-King GS and zuri arman GS were inspried to put on the event after doing archival work with Lisa Biggs, assistant professor of the arts and Africana studies.
featured various forms of storytelling such as song and imagination exercises.
ARTS & CULTURE
Student theater performances to watch out for this semester
From opera to film, students discuss plans for coming theater season
BY RYA VALLABHANENI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
With shopping period over and spring weather quickly approaching, student groups on campus are ramping up their programming — rehearsals and practices are being slotted into students’ schedules, and many groups are working toward a major semesterly goal. Brown’s many theater groups are no exception.
Student theater at Brown typically boasts an impressive variety of performances, ranging from operas to table reads to full-out Broadway musicals. While each group shares a love for the stage, all are planning unique productions to showcase what they do best.
Theater Arts and Performance Studies Department
The Theater Arts and Performance Studies Department will focus its attention on its annual “Writing is Live” festival this spring.
According to Communications and Audience Services Manager Brianne Shaw, the festival features new, in-progress plays written by playwrights in the u niversity’s MFA program. The festival also includes a night of readings — u ndergrad u nderground — showcasing excerpts from plays written by undergraduates.
The festival will take place in two parts: “Part 1 features readings from first-year MFA playwrights, staged readings from second-year MFA playwrights and u ndergrad u nderground,” Shaw wrote in an email to The Herald. Part 2 will feature fullscale productions from the program’s third-year playwrights.
Part 1 is scheduled for Feb. 9-12 and Part 2’s shows will take place March 15-19. All performances will occur in Leeds Theatre.
Rites and Reason Theatre
Rites and Reason Theatre, established in 1970, seeks “to express the cultural, social and ideological concerns of the African Diaspora,” according to the Department of Africana Studies website.
They will begin their season with “Flipping the Script,” an event series offered in conjunction with the Department of Africana Studies. The series was “conceived, cu -
rated and moderated by Africana Studies graduate students” Melaine Ferdinand-King GS and zuri arman GS, Stage and Production Manager Kathy Moyer wrote in an email to The Herald.
The series, which kicked off Feb. 10, will focus on the history of Black community theater in Rhode Island.
On April 7 and 8, Rites and Reason will also host WORD!’s Spring Showcase. According to their Instagram, WORD! is “Brown/RISD’s spoken word/slam poetry group working to amplify the unheard and illuminate the unseen.”
To close out its season, Rites and
Reason plans to put on “AFROFANTASIA: The Journey of Iyanu.” The play will be fully produced by Jason Tristan Brown ’23, with a cast of over twelve members, Moyer wrote. Performances are scheduled to take place between April 26 and 29 at the Granoff Center.
Production Workshop
Production Workshop is a campus group committed to making anti-racist theater, according to board member Louisa Cavicchi ’25.
“The goal is to uplift marginalized voices in the theater community who haven’t had a platform in entertain -
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
ment in the past,” Cavicchi said.
PW is also responsible for maintaining the u pspace and the Downspace — the two black box theaters at TF Green Hall. As a result, the organization has a very busy season ahead. “We have this space — we want to be able to get as much theater in there as we can,” Cavicchi said.
“Our first show of the semester is ‘Hint,’ which is a parody of a murder-mystery board game that you might know,” Cavicchi said. Performances are currently slated for the weekend of Feb. 23-25 in the
Kaiolena Tacazon
ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD
Downspace.
“Our March slot is going to be a festival of table readings of original student plays and student scenes,” Cavicchi added. The festival, called “Writing is Dead,” will take place March 10-12, also in the Downspace.
Cavicchi added that PW’s April slot will be devoted to another mainstage production in the Downspace, but applications for the process have not opened yet. In the meantime, she said that PW is accepting applications for the TWITS program, or “Two Weeks In The (up)Space.”
The program’s shows are a “generally more experimental kind of work,” Cavicchi said. PW will help produce the show over two weeks, March 8-21, that will culminate in a performance towards the end of the session.
Musical Forum
Musical Forum will work on a couple of big projects throughout the semester, according to Co-Chair Miriam Arden ’23.5. The group is a “student-run musical theater” group that aims to put on one big production every semester, according to Arden.
“Our mainstage show this semester is ‘Spring Awakening,’ which we’re very excited for,” she said. “It’s like
a rock-style musical, very angsty.”
The show was cast about two weeks ago, and rehearsals have already begun. Musical Forum is hoping to stage the show the weekend of March 17 in the Fleet Library at RISD, according to Arden.
The library “would be a very interesting, new venue for Brown theater,” Arden said. “It’s this very cool, almost gothic room.”
According to Arden, “there is a huge shortage of good theater spaces for student groups, so if we’re able to make (theater) in this kind of unconventional venue, that’d be very cool.”
In addition to its mainstage production, Musical Forum will host a musical festival towards the end of April exclusively featuring work written by students.
The festival will include “two short student-written musicals and one longer student-written piece,” Arden said. A more formal reading of the longer work will be held in mid-March, culminating in the full performance at the end of the festival.
Music Forum wants to “expand opportunities for students to create their own work and write their own shows,” Arden said, adding that the group is “always talking about how to break down barriers for getting
involved in theater.”
The group is currently “trying to increase transparency with the audition process” and increase outreach.
Brown Opera Productions
Brown Opera Productions plans to “get back to (its) roots” this semester with two different presentations of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” according to President Emma Giventer-Braff ’23.
“Around March 17 and 18, we will have a performance that is gala style,” Giventer-Braff said. The performance will be an opportunity for vocalists and the pit orchestra to practice live at Alumnae Hall. “It’s going to be just a sing-through, basically,” she added.
For their second presentation of “The Magic Flute,” BOP plans to take a step out of its comfort zone and produce a film.
“The concept is putting ‘The Magic Flute’ in 1960s New York in a sort of Mad-Men-esque vibe,” Giventer-Braff said. “If someone had asked me two years ago when I became president if I would have imagined us doing a film, I would have thought that was out of reach.”
But BOP has grown tremendously since its inception in 2009, GiventerBraff said, putting on its largest show
yet last semester with a cast of 18.
According to Giventer-Braff, BOP will film and edit throughout the spring and likely screen their productintheGranoffCenteronApril22.
Ensemble Theatre at Brown Ensemble Theatre at Brown plans to concentrate most of its time on its production of “Tick, Tick… Boom!” The performance is scheduled to take place in Alumnae Hall the weekend of April 14.
Ensemble remains “dedicated to the production of fully orchestrat-ed ensemble musicals that foster an inclusive community,” according to a student involved in the leadership of the production, who was granted anonymity “This semester, we are also trying to improve and refine our DEI statement,” thestudent said.
One way the group aimed to accomplish this was by opening “audition slots for performers of color first for 48 hours,” that student added. After that period, slots were openeduptothe entire student body.
Ensemble’s production team has already started planning for the show, and the group plans to post its cast list on Feb. 19 before jumping into rehearsals.
Kitchen Sink Theater Company
Kitchen Sink Theater Company is one of the newest additions to Brown’s theater scene, having formed just last semester. Accord-ing to member William Malloy ’25, the organization is a “process-based theater group,” focusing on teaching its members “how wedo”theater.
“We’re a non-hierarchical group where members of the company take on multiple different roles in produc-tion,” Malloysaid.
This means each person in the group is involved in “every single aspect of a show,” member Catherine Jones ’23 added. Jobs are shuffled as lighting designers become directors, directors become stage managers and all taketurnsactingonstage
This semester, Kitchen Sink is working on a documentary-based project. Malloy explained that they plan to conduct several interviews, transcribe them, cut them down into monologues and then construct a play out of whatever material re-mains. All of the interviews will be united by a common subject: base-mentsandattics.
Jones emphasized the potential for ambiguityinsuchaconcept,add-ingthat interviewees will feel includ-ed to share whatevertheywantto
Both Malloy and Jones said that the productionwouldpremieresome-time in lateApril.
FROM PAGE 1
the corner for a quick three, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“I was excited when I threw the behind-the-back pass because I knew that there was no chance Kino was going to miss it,” Wojcik wrote in a message to The Herald.
In the following play, Landon Lewis ’26 posterized a defender, capping off a massive Bruno run to take a dominant 30-point lead, 59-29.
Although Cornell cut the deficit to only 14 with six minutes remaining in the contest, the Bears held on to their lead, ultimately winning the game 80-66.
The team has “gotta get better at playing with a 30-point lead,”
Martin said following the game.
“That’s a good problem for us to have at this point.”
Wojcik, Lilly and Friday led the team in Saturday’s match. Wojcik tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds
and six assists, shooting 5-11 from the field and 3-7 from three-point range. Lilly notched 25 points on an efficient 10-13 from the field and 3-6 from behind the arc. Friday added 16 points, a career-high seven assists and five rebounds.
“I went over film with the coaches a little bit, so I kind of knew … what spots were gonna be open,” Friday said of his career-high in assists. “I just tried to take advantage of that (and) get my
guys good shots.”
As a team, Bruno shot 29-54 (53.7%) from the field and 10-24 (41.7%) from behind the arc. Defensively, Brown held Cornell’s high-powered offense — ranking fifth in Division 1 with 84.0 points per game — to 66 points, their second-lowest total against an Ivy opponent this year. Cornell shot 22-58 (37.9%) from the field and 6-28 (21.4%) from three-point range.
“I thought our offense and defense complemented each other,” Coach Martin said. “We shared the ball offensively. We got great shots. We took what the defense gave us. Defensively, I thought our physicality and our ball pressure disrupted them.”
Brown will play Princeton (167, 7-3 Ivy), who is currently first in the Ivy League, on Friday at 7 p.m. in Princeton. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
BASKETBALL
FROM PAGE 1
for what I love,’” Loo said.
Working in the Department of Visual Art has allowed Loo to be immersed in the art world even when she is not creating.
“It’s a good combo,” Loo said. “When I’m not working, I try to paint, but when I’m working, I’m actually managing the art department.”
Loo’s favorite medium is a variation of traditional Chinese painting that uses ink and watercolor on Xuan paper, which is traditionally used for Chinese calligraphy and painting. Loo said she applies more modern approaches to traditional techniques, incorporating influences from Western art.
“I like to paint abstractly. I try to do more improvisation and I like music, so (there are) a lot of rhythms in my painting,” Loo said. “I use a traditional
“After Hours” places on the diverse staff at Brown, as she said staff creatives can sometimes be overlooked.
‘I’m the happiest when I’m creating something’: Ashley Gayle’s ‘Duality’
Ashley Gayle, assistant director for the Shared Interest Groups program in Alumni Relations, contributed a piece titled “Duality” to the exhibition. In her artwork, Gayle aims to represent the complexity of “presenting yourself to the world in a certain way and presenting yourself at home as your true self.”
“On the right-hand side, it’s a Black woman in an office space with her hair straightened, and she’s in buttoned-up clothing and there’s a desk behind her,” Gayle said. “On the other side, her hair is out and it’s natural and curly, and there (are) leaves and flowers behind.”
In 2020, Gayle participated in the
medium, but I try to innovate with it.”
Loo’s “Before and After Baby,” a set of two pieces, is on display at “After Hours.” She created the first piece before having her baby and the second piece after returning to work from maternity leave.
In her art, Loo calls attention to the “yin and yang” aspect of the two sides, with the assertive “yang” representing the “before baby” period and the fluid “yin” representing the “after baby” period.
“It’s kind of like a timestamp,” Loo said. “I paint abstractly for viewers to feel … whatever complicated emotions I have about being a mom.”
Loo appreciates the spotlight that
so I have to be conscious of making sure that I’m doing something creative consistently.”
“For anyone who loves art or loves creativity, just go for it and keep doing it,” Gayle added. “Don’t get caught up in how good it is or if it’s perfect because it’s a work in progress.”
A ‘warm embrace’: Luis Gonzalez III’s ‘Aura’
Luis Gonzalez III, assistant operations manager at Brown Bookstore, has been creatively expressing himself through art his whole life, whether doodling in his wallet-sized sketchbook or painting a bigger piece on the weekends.
Gonzalez said his art was initially inspired by nature. “I was studying photography in school, and then something switched where I wanted to see what I can create from my inner world.”
“I drew all my life, but the moment I actually put color into one of my drawings, everything changed,” he said.
Gonzalez’s painting “Aura” features many natural elements, vibrant colors and a mask, which he said is a common theme in his artwork. The color palette in this piece is inspired by the colors of the Caribbean, where his family is from, Gonzalez said.
His artwork is “deeply inspired by my culture, my ancestors (and) people that have shown me what life feels like with color in it,” Gonzalez added.
The idea of “Aura” comes from the energy that Gonzalez feels from the people that he comes across in his life, explaining that “everybody has this bigger image outside of us as individuals.”
In his painting, Gonzalez said he sought to specifically capture his grandmother’s energy. “It’s loving, it’s a very warm embrace, and she showed me how to carry that affectionate energy around me.”
This is Gonzalez’s third time participating in the show. He said he greatly appreciates the opportunity to meet other artists on campus and to share in a common interest.
“It’s a great way to highlight this different type of human element we all have,” Gonzalez said. “We all have passions. We all have things that we love.”
An ‘escape from the world around us’: Brittany Pailthorpe’s ‘In Spite of the Way That It Is’
Many artists shared artwork with personal meaning for this year’s exhibition, including Brittany Pailthorpe, a research project specialist at the Office of the Vice President for Research. Pailthorpe shared a marker-and-paint piece inspired by the musical “Hadestown.”
Titled “In Spite of the Way That It Is,” the artwork usually hangs in Pailthorpe’s home.
“It gives me great motivation when I look at that piece when I’m in my home office,” Pailthorpe said. “I hope that some folks see that piece, wonder what ‘Hadestown’ is and then hopefully it touches them as much as it touches me.”
announcements, managing the Humanities Research Fund and updating the website, she said. In her artwork, Pailthorpe similarly turns to many forms.
“I create art in all different types of mediums,” including graphic design and embroidery, she said. “I was originally a painter working in acrylic and then I switched to writing when I was an undergraduate.”
Pailthorpe shared that she is always impressed with the quality of the work
presented at “After Hours” and is appreciative of Brown Arts Institute for “keeping art at the forefront” of campus.
“Everybody has an amazing repertoire of art — things that match with their work and things that don’t match with their work,” Pailthorpe said. “This show is an amazing way to see the different aspects of the staff at Brown.”
“After Hours” will be on display until the exhibit’s closing celebration Feb. 22.
online iteration of the faculty exhibition. But this year, during the “After Hours” Family and Friends Day celebration, Gayle was able to commemorate the exhibition’s opening with her family while meeting other artists in the community.
“It was really cool to be there in the community,” she said. “I was just blown away by the talent, and it was fascinating to see all the different mediums that people were using.”
When life gets busy, Gayle said that she makes a “very conscious effort” to make time for her artwork. “It’s easy to put creativity on the back burner,” she said. “What I realized was (that) I’m happiest when I’m creating something,
In this piece, Pailthorpe stenciled in lyrics she found most impactful from the musical. The piece follows a linear color progression from top to bottom, displaying a descent into the fictional Hadestown, she said.
“The lyrics are all meshed together,” Pailthorpe added. “It focuses on the phrases that I find most impactful from all of the different songs.”
Pailthorpe said she worked on this piece for about 30 minutes at a time throughout the fall and summer as a way to “escape from the world around us.”
As a research project specialist, Pailthorpe has several roles in the workplace, including limited submission
EXHIBITION
ASHLEY GUO / THE HERALD “In Spite of the Way That It Is” by Brittany Pailthorpe
ASHLEY GUO / THE HERALD “Aura” by Luis Gonzalez III
ASHLEY GUO / THE HERALD
“Before and After Baby” by Sie Jie Loo
ASHLEY GUO / THE HERALD
“Duality” by Ashley Gayle
