Feminist Futures Series Kick-off Party

Join us for the official kick-off party for the Feminist Futures: Art, Design & Activism Event Series. The afternoon will include participatory readings of texts and poetry on feminism, queerness and gender written by Gloria Anzaldúa, Zach Blas, Lucy Lippard, Audre Lorde, Fred Moten, and Wu Tsang. The event will include a re-staging of the landmark performance of artist Faith Wilding’s poem ​“Waiting” by Detroit-based interdisciplinary artist, Arturo Herrera.Participatory readings will be led by artists Chace ​“Mic Write” Morris and Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe.After the readings we will announce the Feminist FuturesReading List for upcoming series events. Enjoy a live DJ and refreshments.

Feminist Futures: Art, Design and Activism is an ongoing event series exploring the role of feminism in art, design, scholarship, and politics. The series brings together multigenerational artists and thinkers in contemporary art, design, art history, and related fields who have shaped, and are shaping, current discourses on gender and the fight for equality.

Arturo Herrera is an interdisciplinary artist based in Detroit, Michigan. Herrera explores issues across national boundaries, including the politics of race and language, borders, and self-disclosure of sexual orientation. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art in Canada, at the University of Windsor, with concentrations in sculpture, photography, and performance art. Herrera’s most recent presentation was at the Detroit Historical Museum, as part of the show Looking For America, an event organized by the New American Economy, American University School of Public Affairs, and Curios​i​ty​Con​nects​.us. Previously, his work has been presented at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Venice International Performance Art Week in Venice, Italy.

Chace Morris (Mic Write) is a poet/​emcee from Detroit. He is currently working on the 2^nd installment of his critically-acclaimed EP, ONUS Chain, a video trilogy & music EP hailed by Okayplayer as ​“one of the best protest records of 2016.” Chace is a 2018 MAP Fund recipient, 2‑time Knight Arts Challenge recipient, a Kresge Literary Fellow, a Callaloo Fellow, 2‑time Rustbelt Poetry Slam Champion & the recipient of the 2016 Alain Locke Award from the Detroit Institute Of Arts. His poems have been published in The Offing, Wildness, Muzzle, Drunk In A Midnight Choir & Radius— once nominated for a Pushcart Prize— & his music has been featured on Bandcamp Daily, NPR, The Village Voice, Detroit Free Press, Mother Jones & NBC’s The Grio. He is also a contributing writer to Black Nerd Problems & constant artistic partner of Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe. Sherina is proud to have collaborated with her partner, Chace Morris (Mic Write). Together, the duo produced C R O S S R O A D at the Detroit Institute of Arts in October, 2017.

Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe is a writer, editor, performer & educator from Detroit, MI. She is a 2018 MAP grant awardee, a 2017 Knight Arts Challenge awardee, a 2014 Kresge Theater fellow, a 2014 Cave Canem fellow, 2013 Voices of Our Nations Authors alum, executive director of Obsidian Blues and co-founder of the C R O S S R O A D collective. Her 2015 play ​“On Becoming Unfukwitable” forged new dramatic territory with a searing insight into how a daughter transcends molestation by her father. The production blends healing practices and multiple genres to create a group story-telling experience. Her ability to create a safe space for survivors makes ​“Unfukwitable” an insightful, evocative, liberating and transformative experience. Her latest project, *** *****, uses art to create a healing vibration to transcend trauma.

Feminist Futures: Art, Design & Activism Series is organized by Stamps Gallery and co-sponsored by the Center for the Education of Women+ (CEW+): Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund with support from the Institute for Research on Women & Gender (IRWG) and the U‑M Library.