Award-Winning Chef Carla Perez-Gallardo ’10 Opens Community Refrigerator at Her Hudson, N.Y., Restaurant Lil Deb’s Oasis
Staffs at Lil Deb’s Oasis and Kitty’s Market have joined forces to establish two community refrigerators that will be co-managed by local activist volunteers. The fridges are meant to be self-sustaining, with produce and other goods provided by local donors. Lil Deb’s Perez-Gallardo is committed to making up any shortfall. “I feel it’s especially important right now, when so much is up in the air and so many people have lost their jobs, to keep food accessible,” she says.
Azikiwe Mohammed ’05 Founds Black Painters Academy, a New School Dedicated to Black Art History
Azikiwe Mohammed ’05 observed that drop-in painting classes focused largely on white, Western artists. He’s working to create a free space that will shift the paradigm. The Black Painters Academy, located in Lower Manhattan, is set to open early next year, as a school where aspiring painters can learn from the rich history of Black art. Classes will be free of charge and open to students of all ages.“Eloquent, unexpected, and beguiling”: Meshell Ndegeocello’s Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin from the Fisher Center
“‘Gifts’ is the word that stands out in trying to label or describe Chapter and Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin,” writes Joseph Dalton for the Times Union. Created by singer/songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, the multiplatform work blends Ndegeocello’s music with writings and speeches by Baldwin; informal meditations on religion, identity, and power; short animated videos; and artistically rendered broadsheets into what Ndegeocello describes as “a 21st-century ritual tool kit for justice.More News
- Ama Josephine B. Johnstone Named as 2020–21 Keith Haring Fellow in Art and Activism at Bard College
- Bard College Is Inaugural Member of Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance
- Tschabalala Self ’12 Explores Black American Identity in First Major Gallery Exhibition in New York City
- Research Projects on the Border Crisis by Recent Bard College Graduates Featured in Special Issue of EuropeNow
- Filmmaker Hazel Gurland-Pooler ’99 Awarded $25,000 Grant as One of Six Finalists for Library of Congress Lavine / Ken Burns Prize for Film
- Simon Gilhooley on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Confirmation and Tracing the Origins of “Originalism” to Slavery
Upcoming Events
- 11/29SundayUPSTREAMING
Artwork by Rebecca MeekTuesday, September 15, 2020 – Thursday, December 31, 2020Meshell Ndegeocello
UPSTREAMING Inspired by the writing of James Baldwin
Chapter & Verse:
The Gospel of James Baldwin
Created by Meshell Ndegeocello
In collaboration with Charlotte Brathwaite
Featuring the contributions of Staceyann Chin, Suné Woods, Nicholas Galanin, Paul Thompson '93, Justin Hicks, and more.A Co-Production of Bismillah, LLC and Fisher Center at Bard
Co-Commissioned by Live Arts Bard, UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre, and Festival de Marseille.“No label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and no religion is more important than the human being.”—James Baldwin
A project inspired by James Baldwin’s truth-telling treatise on justice in the United States, The Fire Next Time, and our endlessly changing world. Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin is a 21st-century ritual tool kit for justice. A call for revolution. A gift during turbulent times.
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy—but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” —James Baldwin
Each month, September–December 2020, we offer gifts—music, thoughts, meditations, and visual testimonies of resilience—inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time.
“This is my offering to you. This is a different experience so I hope you have an open mind or at least an open heart. I see James Baldwin as an Orisha, his writing as the living word. I wanted to pay homage to him and to the time and effort it took to sit, to physically and emotionally fill the page with a truth that made my own sorrow feel less lonely. He put me on a path of empathy and humility towards my parents. It humbled me towards my mother born in 1944 and my father born in 1939—a time I can’t imagine living in while black.” —Meshell
Check out "Songs of Protest & Healing: Meshell Ndegeocello on the Gospel of James Baldwin" on Tidal Magazine.VISIT
Visit www.thegospelofjamesbaldwin.com to access these gifts (new content released monthly):
CALL
Dial a toll-free telephone number and discover songs, meditations, and chants to ease your mind any time, day or night when you need it most.SEE
Experience visual testimonies of Baldwin’s text, with original music created by Meshell and artistic collaborators, including Suné Woods, Nicholas Galanin, and Charlotte Brathwaite.READ
Our monthly broadsheet, featuring Baldwin’s words and calls to action, is available as a PDF here.*
*Sign-up for receiving the physical broadsheet delivered to your mailbox ended on September 21. To get the latest Fisher Center news, sign up for our weekly e-News here. - 12/03Thursday12:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST/GMT-5 CCS Galleries
- 12/03Thursday7:30 pm – 8:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Online Event
- 12/04Friday11:00 am – 12:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Online Event
Friday, December 4, 2020
CCS Bard: Conversation with George Stanley Nsamba
Online Event 11:00 am – 12:30 pm EST/GMT-5
In conjunction with Day With(out) Art 2020, CCS Bard will host a discussion with artist, filmmaker, and activist George Stanley Nsamba. Day With(out) Art is an international day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. Register in advance here.
Believing in the power of art to tell people’s stories, Nsamba has directed a number of films throughout his career that touch upon the lives of those living with HIV and AIDS. In his newly commissioned work Finding Purpose (2020) the artist offers reflections on the experience of producing a film about teens born HIV positive in Uganda and the pervasive and discriminatory stigmas that cling to that status. This film builds upon the artist’s distinctive commitment to intergenerational and youth-centered storytelling. Nsamba is also a devoted mentor, and in 2013 he founded The Ghetto Film Project in the slums of Naguru, as a way to train and empower youth in socially engaged film production.
In this student-focused discussion between the filmmaker, members of Bard College, and the wider community, Nsamba will lead a conversation around his practice, the role of the artist in society, and the difficult yet important work of bringing personal narratives of HIV and AIDS to the fore.
This conversation is free and open to the public. Registration is required in advance here. Prior to the event, participants are invited to learn more about Nsamba’s practice through materials made available here. Questions for the artist can be submitted in advance via this Google Form.
George Stanley Nsamba is a filmmaker, spoken word artist, and human rights activist. In 2013, he founded The Ghetto Film Project to mentor and train youth in socially engaged film production. Nsamba's films Time Irreversible (2017), The Dummy Team (2016), Silent Depression (2015), and Crafts: The Value of Life (2015) have screened throughout Africa and the United States.
Learn more about Day With(out) Art 2020 at visualaids.org.
Reflecting on the Moment
Conversations on Racial Equity and Justice
Reflecting on the Moment is a collaborative initiative spearheaded by the Dean of the College in consultation with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The new series invites alumni/ae, current undergraduates, faculty, and staff to have honest conversations about the current moment we are living in the wake of a global pandemic and systemic police brutality. The aim is to present models of inclusive dialogue, to draw from the rich personal experiences and expertise of our ever-developing and ever-changing community, and to present approaches for community activism and engagement in the name of racial equity and justice.