Hi! We are the 2017 Fellows at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. We are a group of 12 (not counting our lovely teacher Sarah Sherban) from all through New Haven. We are banded together by our love for all things art, whether it is music, drawing, or even working behind the scenes to make beautiful productions. Our troop met January 18th 2017 and instantly clicked. Our goal is to learn the inner workings of what brings the Festival to life. As a class we broke up into teams to create series of blog posts on some of what we will be working on, including our experiences and impressions fromo field trips and with guest artists.
Activate (Be)longing
Autors: Emily & Mi'jae (Bios)
The Arts & Ideas Fellows are hosting an Activate (Be)longing community building event, in response to the show (Be)longing by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis, who are passionate about creating a dialogue about the conflict of gun violence in our cities. Our event, Survival of the Fittest?: Youth, Guns and the Culture of Violence, will be held on June 8, 2017 at the New Haven Free Public Library Ives Branch from 5:30-7:30pm in collaboration with the Citywide Youth Coalition. Its’ goal is to engage in the difficult conversations around gun violence, not only in our community, but everywhere. We wish to stir up awareness and discussion through art, including visual arts, photography, short videos, and other methods.This Dinner and Dialogue will encourage guests to speak their minds about their interpretations of what the students created with themes of peace and togetherness.
We are calling for other groups and organizations to put together their own programs to help spread awareness and conversation. Community programs could be a variety of events, such as town halls, performances and workshops. Activate (Be)longing needs many people to come together to figure out how to stop the gun violence ripping through the hearts of many people, families and communities. We are trying to be heard for the voices that are silenced or can't be heard.
-Emily and Mijae
To be a part of Activate (Be)longing submit your event here >
Fellows Photo credits: Top: Laura; Bottom left to right: Aliah, Dan, Mi