Art As Memory: Maintaining Immortality With Mari Evans

This is a workshop series where you can choose your own adventure through art, memory, and poetry. through this workshop series we will dive deep into the work of Mari Evans, Indianapolis-based Black Arts Movement poet, writer, and activist. Evans is a master of depicting people and moments through words. This workshop explores her use of the themes memory and memorialization in selected works. Other topics discussed in this workshop are: Faith Ringold, blackness, Black Arts Movement, and immortality.

In this three day workshop series, you have the opportunity to join for one day or purchase a three day pass. You will discuss various topics, generate original work, and learn editing tips for your writing. The dates are Sunday, April 26th, 2020 to Tuesday, April 28th, 2020, each workshop is one hour from 6:30PM-7:30PM. 

Day One: Memory as Poetry 

Day Two: Memory as Art 

Day Three: Remembering “The Rebel” 

Single Day Workshop Pass -$12

• Workshop Access 

Three Day Workshop Pass - $30

• Workshop Access to All Three Days 
• Guided Syllabus 

Sign-up today!  Space is limited to 20 participants. 

Mari Evans (she/her) is an award-winning poet, writer, musician, playwright, tv personality, editor, and activist born in Toledo, OH. She lived in Indianapolis for nearly 70 years before her death in 2017. She attended the University of Toledo, where she earned a degree in fashion design (Poetry Foundation). Evans is a world renown art activist, best known for her contributions during The Black Arts Movement. Her most famous work is “I Am A Black Woman” (1970). She is acclaimed for her political voice for black liberation and her efforts to highlight black women’s literature. Evans received the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and completed fellowships at MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the John Hay Whitney Foundation (Poetry Foundation). She was featured on a Ugandan postage stamp (Poetry Foundation). Evans taught at Spelman College, Purdue University, and Cornell University, and received an honorary doctorate from Marion University (Poetry Foundation). . 

Chantel Massey (she/her) is a Midwest poet, teaching artist, educator, and avid Anime lover and the author of Bursting At The Seams  (VK Press, 2018). Her work is forthcoming or appears in FAFCollective, IndianapolisReview, Turnpike Magazine, and other online and print publications coming elsewhere. Her current focus is on human rights, confessional and emotional honesty about: womanhood, identity, sexuality, spirituality, and blackness. Massey serves as board member and Community Outreach Committee member for youth poetry organization, Word As Bond, editor for Sidepiece Magazine, and co- host for Tea’s Me Cafe with poet, Eric Saunders, every first Friday. By day she is a special education teacher providing an equitable education to little humans.

Tabitha Barbour (she/her) is a writer, researcher, culinary artist, and musician. She writes primarily essays and academic research. She is a graduate of Butler University, where she received a B.A. in English Literature. She is a recipient of the 2019 Indiana Arts Commission Individual Advancement Grant. Her premiere publication was featured in Apex Magazine in 2019 on Mari Evan’s leadership and community engagement. She is the co-owner of the food and wine blog, The Five Dollar Wine Club, and the culinary experience service, Full Body Productions. She is the co-creator of YAMS: A Literary and Culinary experience in partnership with For Colored Girls Book Club, where she merges her love for food and literature. 

“This project is made possible by the support of the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency.”