SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) —This Saturday, the Activated Artist Fest hosted by Create a Space Now transformed Proctors theatre into a space where community, art, and activism met to share one goal — to spark the conversation and inspire action on social change.
“We use and think that art is much more than entertainment purposes and we value the social justice and change making properties that art has and offers,” said Hettie Barnhill, founder of Create a Space Now and head of Activated Artist Fest.
AdvertisementThe day began with a Hip-Hop Body Flow session, using movement to express a range of emotions ranging from joy to oppression.
“We were looking at hip hop from the place of emotion, understanding how movement could be a vehicle of resistance. Movement can be a vehicle of protest, and we just don’t think that. We know that because our history has taught us this,” said Barnhill.
This free event welcomed the public. The only cost — bringing an open mind. Author Shakema Funchess led a storytelling session challenging people to write about a child with a disability struggling to be seen.
“Today we have transcended what actually it means to tell stories,” said Funchess. “Martin Luther King’s, I Have a Dream, Sojourner Truth, Ain’t I a Woman, and then you look at the LGBTQIA movement, you look at the modernization of things such as when you go to drag shows and they’re a community just being themselves is a form of resistance.”
That group story will be a published as a free eBook. The event also covered different events and activities such as theater workshops, dance, art for kids, poetry and much more.
“I feel like events like this are important because it spreads awareness about other things that are going on in the world and how to fix them and other ways to comprehend and to communicate with other people through different things that are so common and confusing,” said Jordan Dixon who was an attendee of the event.
The festival wrapped up Saturday at 6 PM. Organizers say the work of using different types of art and performances in order to create social change is just getting started. For more information about Create a Space now click here.
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