The Queens Museum’s Open A.I.R. Artist Services Program invites you to an open conversation with ray ferreira (vers), Miatta Kawinzi (vers), Ro Garrido, and D’hana Perry (#KUNQ) on the issues and strategies that arise when navigating art spaces and institutions (art schools, art residencies, galleries, museums, foundations, etc). The conversation will center on raising critical questions about navigating institutions, examining power and privilege as artists, and sharing collective strategies and tools to support one another. 

The personal experiences of the panelists will be used as a departing point for an open discussion led by the interests and curiosities of the audience. We aim for the two hours to be a space for honesty and vulnerability, community-building, and the sharing of resources.

Space is limited so please RSVP here. Priority for this event will be given to other queer, trans and gender nonconforming people of color.

Some of the questions to be discussed:

• How do we re/define success and failure?
• How do you want your artwork to ideally function in the world?
• In what ways do you feel empowered artistically? In what ways do you feel disempowered?

This will be a seated event with seat priority given to folks with limited mobility. Please try to not use scented or fragrance products (including perfumes, oils, etc.) to create an accessible space for folks with chemical sensitivities. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have specific access needs that we have not covered.

About ray ferreira: ¿wenami? ray ferreira• blk latinx de queens. Their performative practice uses iridescence, movement, projection, repetition, and *~-~~*quantum poetics*~~-~* to create a banj criticallity:turnup w/the gurls and swerve past white cishet patriarchy that indetermina(c). They can be located museum educating at the Studio Museum in Harlem, as well as floating through other museum education departments. Other intersections of space, time, and matter include ITINERANT (at the Glasshouse), La MaMA, and various additional intra-actions.

About Miatta Kawinzi: Miatta Kawinzi is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer and educator. Of Kenyan-Liberian heritage, she was born and raised in the US South and is now based in NY. She has been granted artist residencies in South Africa, Switzerland, Mexico and NYC, and has exhibited and/or performed her work internationally. She received her BA in Interdisciplinary Art & Cultural Theory from Hampshire College in 2010 and her MFA in Studio Art from Hunter College in 2016. She is, as always, looking for poetry in the machine.

About Ro Garrido: Ro Garrido was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Queens, New York. They are a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist who works with collage, mixed media, installation, photography, and writing. Their work predominantly grapples with themes of memory, intimacy, and loss. Through these themes, Ro further explores migration, history, trauma, affect, and the private/public dimensions of everyday life. Ro is currently a 2016 Commission Artist with the Laundromat Project and a member of IMI Corona’s community council.

About D’Hana Perry: D’hana Perry is a Brooklyn based DJ, video artist, and public health researcher with a BA in Sociology & Urban Studies from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MFA in Media Art from Emerson College. Perry has spent sixteen years working in the non-profit sector including time as an Americorps volunteer, a legislative aide for a State Representative, a teacher, and a community organizer. They were a founding member of Make Shift Boston, a co-working art event space located in Boston’s historic South End district and Perry’s ongoing video performance work, LOOSE, has been featured at the Brooklyn Museum, MIT, The Design Studio for Social Intervention, Harvard University, Wesleyan University, The New England Together Electronic Music Festival, Parsons New School of Design, and more. Perry is also a member of the music production and art collective, KUNQ . KUNQ artists have taught and performed original work at such institutions and events as MoMA PS1, The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science, the 2013 Venice Biennale, and the 2014 Frieze Art Fair in London.

About the Open A.I.R. Artist Services Program: Open A.I.R. draws on the Queens Museum’s resources, staff expertise, and networks to provide workshops and lectures that help artists grow their practice, advance their career, and develop sustainable lives as artists. Given the Museum’s commitment to socially-engaged art that crosses sectors, as well as attention to its role in neighboring communities, Open A.I.R. works to expand the notion of who is an artist and, moreover, utilizes a holistic view of how to support their potential to thrive and contribute to the cultural landscape of Queens and New York City more broadly. Tailored to artists in the outer boroughs, Open A.I.R. prioritizes the needs of artists of color, queer artists, and immigrant artists, facilitating conversations where art meets activism, and organizing experiences that bring together artists and non-artists.

Open A.I.R. is made possible by a generous grant from The Scherman Foundation’s Katharine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund. Additional support provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Questions? Email sespinoza@queensmuseum.org