Fisk University 95th Spring Arts Festival

SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL

Inseparable: Visual and Performing Arts and Fisk

Part of the Intellectual Fabric of the Institution

The Fisk University Department of Art is delighted to participate in the University’s Annual Spring Arts Festival which celebrates the arts and the humanities. In 2024, as in previous years, we continue our tradition of showcasing the creative efforts of our students, and of those who have taught and trained them. Student artists are selected from the Painting, Ceramic, Sculpture, and Photography Studios. In classes, they are taught and given constructive criticism, and each student has the opportunity to present work, created from their interests, imaginations, and experiences.

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The department was founded by Aaron Douglas, known as “the father of black American art.” He was the department chairman for 22 years and chairman Emeritus from 1966 until his death in 1979. An illustrious list of faculty and alumni have followed and left a remarkable impression. For over seventy-five years, the department has continued to produce exceptional graduates dedicated to the study of the arts and visual culture. Fisk’s museum collections have consistently been an integral teaching resource for students, artists, and scholars as well as the national and global community.

Dr. Agenia Walker Clark

18th President

Greetings Fiskites and Friends of Fisk,

I am elated to welcome you to our 95th Annual Spring Arts Festival where this year’s theme is “Inseparable: Visual and Performing Arts and Fisk–Part of the Intellectual Fabric of the Institution. ” I invite you to experience this year’s activities April 1-7, 2024. Visual, Performing, and Literary arts will be in abundance during this year’s festivities as we pay tribute to the legacy of Aaron Douglas, a key contributor to the Harlem Renaissance and who founded our Visual Arts Department 80 years ago. His murals grace the hallowed walls of Cravath Hall’s second floor rotunda, the board room, and the Office of Enrollment Management. His legacy continues through his former prized student, Professor LiFran Fort, who teaches and mentors the current generation of Fisk visual artists, one of which was chosen as the winner of Target’s 2023 HBCU Art Challenge.

In years past, we have hosted such luminaries as Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Judith Jamison, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and our very own Nikki Giovanni, just to name a few. We invite you to experience the creativity of our future playwrights, directors, actors, screenwriters and film makers, poets, musicians, singers, visual artists, and social justice activists. Our scholar/artists will showcase their unique talents by performing in concerts, recitals, plays, spoken-word events, films, panel discussions, and a student curated art show. How exciting!

Fisk continues the tradition of excellence in academia and art. Come and experience the arts at Fisk where art is interwoven into the intellectual fabric of Nashville’s oldest university. We look forward to welcoming you to our campus.

Fisk Forever!

Dr. Agenia Walker Clark

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The Annual Spring Arts Festival is an established tradition at Fisk University. In 1929, the first Festival was held under the auspices of the Fisk Music School with Ray Francis Brown as director. Invitations were sent to Nashville patrons of music and to friends of Fisk all over the country requesting their presence at the three-day celebration known then as “The Festival of Negro Music and Fine Arts.”

This cultural event opened with a concert of Jubilee Music, which featured the Fisk Jubilee Singers®, under the direction of Mrs. James A. Myers, and the Men’s Glee Club and Mozart Society (Choir) both directed by John W. Work. The second day featured a program of folk songs, dances and gymnastics by the Department of Physical Education for Women, a talk by James Weldon Johnson, a student recital, an art exhibit and a fashion show with the theme “Sugar and Spice – Fisk Fashions for 1929.” Festivities for the third day began with regular Sunday morning church service. The afternoon activities consisted of a concert of sixteenth century church music, music by Russian composers, Bach, and others. The festival closed with a tea in the parlor of Jubilee Hall honoring Maggie Porter Cole, one of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers®, Mabel Lewis Imes, a former Jubilee Singer and Mary Fisk Park, daughter of Clinton B. Fisk. The Board of Trustees, who met during the Festival, was present at the tea.

As a result of the success of the first Festival, it was decided that the event should become an annual affair. Over the years, guest participants have included such luminaries as Countee Cullen and Robert Hayden who shared their poetry, Arthur Spingarn, Martin Luther King, Jr., Pearl Buck, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Margaret Walker, Carl Rowan, Ossie Davis, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and J. Mason Brewer who have been among the convocation and seminar speakers, musicians who have ranged from Roland Hayes, Philippa Duke Schuyler and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra to Miriam Mekeba, Quincy Jones and Cannonball Adderly, and dancers representing the Pearl Primus, Jose Limon and Jean Leon Destine Dance Troupes.

In conjunction with the seminars, concerts, film showings and play productions, there have been several noteworthy art exhibits. Items from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, paintings by Aaron Douglas and other members of the Fisk faculty, portraits by Carl Van Vechten and works by Elizabeth Catlett have been displayed at the Library, Livingston Hall and in later years, the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery.

There were several historic events connected with the University, which occurred during the Festivals. In 1930, there was the laying of the cornerstone for the Erastus Milo Cravath Library. In 1959, there was the dedication of the Adam K. Spence Student Union Building, the W.E.B. DuBois Hall and Park-Johnson Hall. Events such as the crowning of the Festival King and Queen, the Beaux Art Ball and dance recitals were some of the most popular activities for Fisk students. Several awards have been presented to individuals for their outstanding achievements. In1932, Roland Hayes received the Doctor of Music degree and Marian Anderson, Dorothy Maynor, Pauli Marshall and Undine Smith Moore are among those who have received the Humanitarian Award.

No account of the history of the Annual Spring Arts Festival would be complete without mentioning our own talented “in house” artists. The Fisk Jubilee Singers® and the University Choir have been integral parts of the Festival since its inception. The Stagecrafters, founded in 1926, joined the festivities in the early thirties and Orchesis made its first appearance in 1954. The Modern Black Mass Choir and the Jazz Ensemble became part of the Festival in 1972.

During recent years, the Festival has attracted well-known participants like Shirley Chisholm, Nikki Giovanni, Hubert Laws, and the Boy’s Choir of Harlem. From all indications, it is evident that Fisk University stands in the forefront as a medium for cultural expression while she continues to subscribe to her legacy of excellence in the arts.

— Beth M. Howse ‘65 (1943–2012) Special Collections Librarian

MONDAY, APRIL 1

6:00 pm—GO! Poetry, On The Lawn

TUESDAY, APRIL 2

12:00 pm—Fisk Jazz Ensemble, On the Yard

7:00 pm—Fisk Music Department Showcase

Fisk Memorial Chapel

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3

10:00 am—Parallels of Art and Science

Dr. Kent Wallace Library, 3rd Floor

John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library

12:00 pm—Culinary Arts, Spence Hall with Chef Julian Garrett, Multipurpose Room

3:00 pm—Student Film Fest, 3rd Floor,

John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library

THURSDAY, APRIL 4

4:00–6:00 pm—Student Art Show

Lower Level, Carl Van Vechten Gallery

6:00 pm—Stagecrafters

Student Playwrights

One-Act Play Fest

Little Theatre—Admission: $5.00

FRIDAY, APRIL 5

5:00–6:00 pm—”Colonialism and the Archives: Looking at Reparations”

Panel Discussion

John Lewis Center for Social Justice (Corner of 16th Avenue North and Phillips Street)

6:00 pm—Stagecrafters

Student Playwrights

One-Act Play Fest

Little Theatre—Admission: $5.00

8:00 pm—Senior Recital, Khalil McCarthy

Appleton Room, Jubilee Hall

SATURDAY, April 6

6:00 pm—Stagecrafters Student Playwrights One-Act Play Fest

Little Theatre—Admission: $5.00

8:00 pm—Senior Recital, Zoe Frazier

Appleton Room, Jubilee Hall

SUNDAY, April 7

3:00 pm—Fisk University Choir Spring Concert

Fisk Memorial Chapel

STUDENT ART

Ashim Chand Freshman Computer Science Nepal

Sydney Nelson Freshman Art Nashville, TN

Sydney Nelson, Freshman, Art, Nashville, TN

Kendall Vaughn Rimbert Sophomore Art Louisville, KY

Kendall Vaughn Rimbert Sophomore, Art, Louisville, KY

Brian Thorton, Junior, Biology, Cuthbert, GA

Brian Thorton, Junior, Biology, Cuthbert, GA

Sydney Nelson, Freshman, Art, Nashville, TN

Target’s HBCU Art Challenge Winner: Sopuruchi Ndubuisi

Fisk University is proud to spotlight the remarkable achievements of Sopuruchi Ndubuisi, an exceptionally talented Art major with a concentration in Design, originally from Lagos, Nigeria. Sopuruchi’s unique design, “To Be Black Is,” has not only captured the essence of black excellence but has also earned a prestigious feature in Target’s nationwide Black History Month design contest.

The Target HBCU Design Challenge allowed Sopuruchi to align personal creative pursuits with a broader platform, showcasing the rich tapestry of black culture and identity on a national scale.

Reflecting on the nurturing environment at Fisk University, Sopuruchi credited the institution for playing a pivotal role in personal and creative development. “At Fisk, I learned about unfiltered African American History, which inspired me to explore my role in crafting change through art,” Sopuruchi remarked.

The support from faculty members and the vibrant community at Fisk has been a cornerstone of Sopuruchi’s journey. “My professors and mentors, like Professor Henry and Charly Palmer, have championed my dreams and fostered connections that have been invaluable to my growth as a designer,” Sopuruchi added, highlighting the collaborative and supportive culture that thrives within the university.

Sopuruchi’s journey from Lagos to Nashville and onto a national platform is a testament to the power of education, creativity, and the enduring spirit of excellence that Fisk University embodies.

You may read the full article at https://www.fisk.edu/universitynews-and-publications/from-lagos-to-the-national-spotlightsopuruchis-trailblazing-journey-in-art-and-design/

POETRY GO!

Go! Poetry was founded in August 2014 with the mission to cultivate a space where students can explore, create, and share their poetic voices. Comprised of students from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines, the group provides a platform for individuals to engage with the written and spoken word in all its forms.

The group’s activities center around its regular poetry slams and open mic nights, where members and guests are invited to step up and share their thoughts, stories, and emotions through poetry. These events not only showcase the talent and creativity of Fisk University students but also serve as catalysts for meaningful dialogue and connection within the community.

Go! Poetry also hosts workshops and writing sessions,providing members with the opportunity to hone their craft, receive feedback, and collaborate with fellow poets. Whether it’s experimenting with different poetic forms, exploring themes of social justice and identity, or simply finding inspiration in everyday experiences, the group encourages self-expression and exploration without boundaries.

Go! Poetry is more than just a student organization—it’s a testament to the power of words to inspire, empower, and unite.

Fisk Music Department

Ensembles

Showcase Concert

Tuesday, April 2, 2024, 7 p.m.

Fisk Memorial Chapel

Fisk University Band

Dr. James Pratt, conductor

Resilience

Crazy/Do You Remember the Times

Among the Clouds

Pinkzebra

Ceelo Green and Michael Jackson arranged for Fisk University Music City Sound by Stephan Naylor

Brian Balmages

Fisk Jazz Ensemble

Dr. Gary Powell Nash, conductor

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

The Look of Love

Black Gold

My Little Suede Shoes

Cannonball Adderley

Burt Bacharach/Sergio Mendez featuring Imani Suitt, mezzo-soprano

Esperanza Spalding featuring Imani Suitt, mezzo-soprano

Charlie Parker

Fisk University Choir Director, Christopher A. Duke Assistant Director, Andrew M. Davis

I Open My Mouth To The Lord

Bless Me

Everything Must Change

God Restores

arr. Anthony Brown

Donald Lawerence

Bernard Ignher

Dynamic Praise

Fisk University Choir's Spring Arts Concert

Sunday, April 7, 2024, 3:00 pm

Fisk Memorial Chapel

Director, Dr. Christopher A. Duke

Assistant Director, Andrew M. Davis

We’ve Come to Have Church

Keep Your Lamps

I Really Love the Lord

If God Said It

God Be Praised

I Shall Wear a Crown Thomas

GMWA (1986)

Andre Thomas (b.1952)

Charles Nic ks (1941-1988)

Lalia Cooper, Alto

Traditional

Bishop T.D. Jakes (b.1957)

Thomas Whitfield (1954-1992)

Kristen Jones, Soprano

Everything Must Change

Bless Me (Prayer of Jabez)

Total Praise

The Lord Bless and Keep You

I Have No Doubt

Benard Ighner (1945-2017)

Grace E. Smith, Alto

Jordan Kelley, Tenor Saxophone

Raymond Newsom, Piano

Donald Lawerence (b.1961)

Richard Smallwood (b.1948)

Peter C. Lutkin (1858-1931)

Louis Area Fellowship (2013)

Music Department

Historical overview

The roots of Fisk University’s music program trace back to its earliest days. In 1871, George L. White, a talented musician and educator, formed the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This groundbreaking ensemble embarked on tours across the United States and Europe, captivating audiences with their renditions of spirituals and gospel music. Their performances not only raised funds for the university but also drew attention to the richness of African American musical traditions.

Through the efforts of White and the Jubilee Singers, Fisk gained international recognition and laid the foundation for its esteemed Music Department. Over the years, the department expanded its offerings, attracting renowned faculty members and nurturing generations of talented musicians.

In the early 20th century, under the leadership of John W. Work II, the Fisk Music

Department flourished. Work, a distinguished composer, ethnomusicologist, and educator, elevated the department’s profile through his scholarly contributions and commitment to preserving African American musical heritage. His research and compositions helped document spirituals and folk songs, ensuring that they would not fade into obscurity.

The Fisk Music Department continued to evolve, embracing diverse musical genres and fostering innovation. It became a hub for creativity and expression, attracting students from all walks of life who were drawn to its rich history and vibrant community.

Today, the legacy of the Fisk University Music Department endures. Its graduates have gone on to become leaders in the music industry, making significant contributions to jazz, classical, gospel, and beyond. The department remains dedicated to excellence, striving to uphold its tradition of artistic achievement and social impact.

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THEATRE: Stagecrafters

Fisk University’s Acting Ensemble

The Fisk University Stagecrafters was organized in April of 1926, with English 142 (a class in Pageantry) as a nucleus. The director was Miss L. E. Cashin, Professor in Comparative Literature. Its purpose was the “fastening of art for art’s sake, the discovery and development of new talent, and the establishment of a little theatre on the Fisk campus.” The initial performance was Sophocles’ Antigone, which was presented in May, 1926.

From this rather auspicious beginning 98 years ago, Stagecrafters has evolved into the main University theatre group. They have occupied the Little Theatre since 1935. Today, the group provides opportunities for

intensive study of plays and their production. Membership is open to all students, who may participate as actors, designers, lighting technicians, make-up artists, or in the construction of scenery or costumes. Major productions and student directed laboratory performances are held each year.

Fisk University Stagecrafters are pleased to present

STUDENT-LED PRODUCTIONS: Communicated Love and The Forest

Written/Directed by ASANTE BATES

CAST

Lily ................................................. Neveah Gay

Crystal ............................... Scott Raegan Waller

Alex Green .................................... Quintin Scott

Alexa Jackson .............................. Sydney Ligon

Destiny ...................................... Lauren Hutchins

Dancers ....................... Gift Eni, Kennedy Camille Tamiya

CREW

Assistant Director ........................... Rachel Ward

Stage Manager ....................... Danielle Claybon

Writer/Director’s Note

Asante Bates

I am so excited to showcase both Communicated Love and The Forest to Fisk University during the Spring Arts Festival. These pieces are straight from the heart of myself and one of my closest friends. I was over the moon when our theatre advisor, Persephone Felder-Fentress, approved of doing student-led productions again.

Being the president of Stagecrafters definitely put a lot of pressure on my shoulders to make sure these shows came out amazing. I am pleased that I had a strong team behind me to bring these productions from paper to the stage.

Writing is one of my favorite creative outlets, and I am beyond honored to share this creation with the world. Writing allows me to be myself, which means plenty of puns, personal references, and “dad jokes.”

Communicated Love is a story about keeping up communication in all different relationships. I chose to write about this because it hits close to home, even though I am 3,000 miles away from home. Going to a college is not the easiest venture, let alone going to a college halfway across the country. Fisk has taught me how important the idea of family is because these are the people who will be here for you when you can’t be around your other family.

Gift

Kennedy Martin

Lauren Hutchins Ne’Veah Gay

Quintin Scott Raegan Waller

Sydney Ligon Tamiya Sparks Asante Bates WRITER/

The Forest

Written/Directed by CARRIE FORD

CAST

Raya ............................................ Aniyah Stoves

Belief ..................................... Hajr Abdurrahman

Doubt ........................................ Brynn Patterson

Numbness ............................................... Gift Eni

Faith ............................................... Asante Bates

Dad ........................................ Jonathan Calhoun

Pastor ............................................ Quintin Scott

Dancers ................. Neveah Gay, Raegan Waller

Kennedy Camille

CREW

Assistant Director ........................... Asante Bates

Stage Manager ....................... Danielle Claybon

Set Designers .............. Mekhi Love, Jaden Jones

Make-Artists ... Leah Thomas, Hajr Abdurrahman

Writer/Director’s Note

Carrie Ford

The Forest is a play dedicated to the loss of my mother, my life with grief, and the many emotions that have come with it. The verity of my experience is established in a piece of advice I once heard from my therapist—life, although ever-moving, is not linear. It is cyclical. In this, you will have many emotions, however, they are not permanent. Therefore, it is okay to embrace and find beauty within them, but not to live in them. In this, you must “keep walking.”

The setting of the play takes place in 2018 to symbolize my mother’s passing on July 24, 2018, the lessons I have learned, and continue to learn. The setting of The Forest illustrates the initiation of grief. In the forest there is usually an ongoing path of trees seen and/or walked through before reaching a new destination. This, to me, is the reality and the stages of grief.

At fourteen, it felt as though someone had dropped me in a foreign place, and it was up to me to navigate a new life. Due to this, it feels as though I have continued to grow within the forest, as my outlook on life has completely changed through loss.

In presenting this production, I hope to share with others the normality and importance of having a variety of emotions and feeling them, which are essential to one’s growth. The emotions you may feel in life do not take away from your purpose.

One of the last pieces of advice my mom gave me was to “Trust the process.” I have taken this approach throughout my life and especially my grief journey. I believe my story is a testament to purpose within pain, and I hope to share it with the world, to share motivation and inspiration. I hope to reach people who may not feel seen within their struggle and may want to clarify their own situations, whether the same or similar.

Aniyah Stoves

Asante Bates Brynn Patterson

Hajr Abdurrahman

Kennedy Martin Ne’Veah Gay Gift Onyekachi Eni

Quintin Scott

Carrie Ford

WRITER/ DIRECTOR CAST

Jonathan Calhoun

Raegan Waller

Selene Wendt is an art historian, independent curator, and writer based in Oslo. Her ongoing curatorial focus is on decoloniality and socially engaged art practices, with emphasis on interdisciplinary projects situated at the intersection between contemporary art, music, and literature. For more information, about her work as a curator and writer please visit www.theglobalartproject.no

Michelle Eistrup’s Four Faces of the Sun (2023) is a richly layered work centered around the ideology and symbolism of the Bakongo religion and the Kongo cosmogram, known as Dikenga. This large-scale multisensory installation builds upon Eistrup’s earlier work and her extensive research and interviews with renowned scholars, cultural anthropologists, and art historians. Here, she implements visual, sonic, and kinetic elements in a fourchannel video installation that brings the spiritual language and power of Nkisi objects to life.

Stolen from Africa and dispersed throughout Western ethnographic museums, these artifacts (and what they represent spiritually) are also directly connected to the stories and heritage of African Americans living in the southern United States. In a continuation of Eistrup’s ongoing history lesson, she explores entangled colonial histories through a pared-down visual language that combines movement, dance, and music to convey themes ranging from respect and sorrow to honor, joy, and remembrance. The spiritual significance of Nkisi objects thereby

Four Faces of the Sun

Michelle Eistrup

comes to life visually and musically. With dance and movement at the core of this work, the wider implications of the movement of Black bodies takes on multiple layers of meaning—through history, across oceans, and between geographies. As is often the case with Eistrup’s interdisciplinary approach to the shared cultural history of the Black Atlantic, Four Faces of the Sun connects bodies across geographies through objects, movement, and sound. The dramatic poses of the dancers, conceived in direct response to the Bakongo gestures that are symbolized in Nkisi figures, create a strong visual impact against the brightly colored red, yellow and blue backdrops. The work translates to a powerful visual reminder of the direct link between the capture and containment of African bodies and the theft and looting of African artifacts

during the colonial era. One can almost hear the gentle whisper of ancestral voices in an extended scream from one side of the Atlantic to the other.

Positioned here, in the American south, on the Fisk University campus, at the very library that houses the original printing plates of W.E.B. Du Bois’s seminal book, The Souls of Black Folks, the work takes on additional nuance. These dancers are not simply performing, they are part of a crucial transition from passive observer (of a distant colonial past) to active participant (in a forceful decolonial strategy). As they move across the external facade of the Fisk University Library, they activate and mark a historical site, through gestures and movements that are ultimately linked to the forced displacement of Black bodies from Africa, across the Atlantic, and to the Americas.

Artistic Fellow at the John Lewis Center for Social Justice, Fisk Univeristy

Four Faces of the Sun, installation shot, Fisk University, Nashville, 2024

Photos: Michelle Eistrup

Four Faces of the Sun, installation shot, Fisk University, Nashville, 2024

Photos: Michelle Eistrup and Lexander Bryant

The Body, Colonialism, and the Jurisdiction of Justice's Possibility

In this event, we explore the ways that lives and bodies are understood through the archive and beyond. Through an interdisciplinary conversation bridging art, desire, law, and the social-behavioral human sciences, we consider what new vistas can be seen as we reckon with the legacies of marginalization(s). Our goal is to develop a lens through which we can see the possibility of new institutions and ways of seeing and being in the world.

—James Pratt, Jr., PhD

Featuring: Judge Rachel Bell, Dr. James Pratt, Qwynn Foster, and Michelle Eistrup.

James Pratt, Jr., PhD

Judge Rachel L. Bell

Michelle Eistrup Qwynn Foster In the Deep Underground and Up Above, Michelle Eistrup, 3-channel video, Busselton, Australia 2018.

SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL COMMITTEE

Persephone Felder-Fentress convener

Lakesha Moore Calvin

James Dennis

Michelle Eistrup

Katara Grissom

Adrienne Latham

Alicia Henry

Jamaal Sheats

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr. Agenia Clark President

Dr. Robert Carr Provost

Dr. Shirley Brown

Dean of Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences

Dr. Katherine Burnett Chair, Department of English

Dr. Natara Garvin

Shane Lowery

Veronica Kizer

Susan Matheson

Parents and Families of the Fisk University Stagecrafters

Nancy N. Apple

The Designing Apple Studio

ART CREDITS

Art, front cover:

Bradley Watts

Judgement Day

Junior Biology

Art, back cover:

Eric Newell

Untitled Sophomore Art

This production uses the Artist Engagement Services of the University Resident Theatre Association.

Michelle Eistrup wishes to thank EADJ, Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice, the Danish Arts Council, and the John Lewis Center for Social Justice Fisk University, who have sponsored this workshop and the Four Faces of the Sun.