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Category Archives: Arts
Community Matters: Remy St. Clair
Charlottesville can feel stiflingly small. Or it can feel like there’s an overwhelming influx of newcomers who don’t share history or values. So, I’m always surprised and delighted when I newly meet a fellow native who is my people. Remy St. Clair has collaborated with two of my favorite co-conspirators, Lisa Green with Cville Pride and Raven with 9 Pillars Hip Hop Cultural Festival.
Remy is warm, sweet, personable, and funny. I was struck throughout his talk about the difference of access that Black and White people face in the Charlottesville community. This town was made for people who look like me. We gots lots of middling white people art– some good, some terrible, and most just meh. Meanwhile, Black artists are trying to find some space to create that isn’t gentrified or policed by white people. Remy has been working for years to get space for Black Excellence in the arts to shine.
Some highlights:
- Remy talked about hip hop is healing. Hip hop is not just the music, it’s also fashion, knowledge, graffiti, and more.
- He said about the racial strife within Charlottesville– “It’s been dark for a while, but the dragon doesn’t have to hide his head anymore.”
- It’s hard to get events scheduled in Charlottesville because venues say “we’re not insured to have that kind of event here.”
- It is critically important that artists get paid for their work.
Community Matters: Raven Mack
I’ve been delayed in writing about Community Matters for this week because it’s been such a busy week, and frankly, I’m writing about my guy which has been . It’s been a busy week for the two of us– Tuesday was Community Matters, Wednesday was the first Haiku Slam of the year, Saturday we went to Leni Sorensen’s house for dinner, and Sunday we went to dinner to meet X of the Black Power Station in South Africa– a week full of the things we love most– ideas, community– new and old, the arts.
Raven and I met in August of 2018. He signed up to be part of the community care response to the one year anniversary. Within minutes I recognized that he was smart and observant and “deputized” him to make decisions. After that weekend we started talking. I went to his September haiku slam and recognized that he had created an environment that felt akin to CLAW and BE, but in 17 syllable poetry battles. A year and a half later, we’ve increasingly become partners in plans– plans for the apocalypse, the arts, community, and some undiscovered empty building.
Tuesday, Raven talked about his vision of how writing and the arts can be a path to healing. Here’s some takeaways from his talk:
- Thrive vs Survive. Raven talked about how difficult it is to simply survive, and that participating in the arts can push someone over into being able to thrive.
- When he was a painter he’d have a stack of 3”x5” cards in his pocket in order to quickly write haiku without getting fussed at for slacking off. Make art in the corners of your life.
- I’ll be honest– so much of what Raven was talking about wasn’t new to me– repackaged into the format for the evening, but I was so proud to have some of my best friends witness what a brilliant, creative thinker my partner is.
Wednesday night was Raven’s haiku slam. The 3 top finishers were all under 22. The energy was amazing. The room was full of laughter, righteous anger, and wordplay. Having back to back Community Matters and Haiku Slam, made me so proud of how we support each other to foster the community that we desire and need.
Photos by Kristen Finn