Nashville, Tenn. – July 7, 2020 – OZ Arts Nashville today announced that it will present the video premiere of works by its Art Wire Fellows, an ongoing writers’ collaboration between OZ Arts and The Porch, on July 16 at 8 pm across its website and social platforms. The event will feature 9 writers who attended OZ Arts’ 2019-20 performance season and responded to the presentations with original writing. Each writer will share a 3-minute literary piece that draws upon performance elements ranging from image to subject matter to thematic content.
The Fellows, comprised of 4 teenagers and 5 adults, come from a variety of backgrounds and have been mentored through the writing process by Susannah Felts, co-founder of The Porch, and Joe Kane, director of The Porch's youth programs.
“When these dynamic writers share their personal emotional responses to some of this season's favorite performances, they are giving us fresh insights, while also reminding us of the time when we could experience a performance together in the same room,” said Mark Murphy, OZ Arts Executive and Artistic Director. “Their work captures the immediate and visceral reactions to their experiences and presents literary pieces that are personal, playful and deeply engaging.”
Inspired by performances from both international and local artists, the works are an extensive representation of the season. Featured writers and the performance they’re responding to include:
- Henry L. Jones — a poem in response to Notes of a Native Song, Stew & Heidi
- Serena Alexander — prose in response to The Longest Night, Portara Ensemble with Ciona Rouse & Jeff Coffin
- Amber Stewart — a poem in response to First Fruit, New Dialect with Rosie Herrera
- Kashif Graham — prose in response to Mellotron Variations, featuring Pat Sansone and John Medescki
- Rachel Reynolds — a poem in response to Frankenstein, Manual Cinema
- Dana Malone — a poem in response to ID: Entitades, Companhia Urbana de Danca (Brazil)
- Yurina Yoshikawa — prose in response to Split Flow, Hiroaki Umeda / S20 (Japan)
- Ephie Hauck — poetic prose in response to This Holding, Jana Harper with Rebecca Steinberg & Moksha Sommer
- Alora Young (2020 Nashville Youth Poet Laureate) — a poem in response to The Day, Wendy Whelan and Maya Beiser
“The work presented at OZ never fails to leave audiences thinking, and it’s exciting to see that borne out in these writers’ works,” said Susannah Felts, co-founder of The Porch. “The Porch is honored to nurture this form of cross-pollination in the Nashville arts scene.”
The film is free to view with an optional “pay what you can” donation. Proceeds will support The Porch's BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) writers fund, developed to provide financial support for those wishing to take part in their classes.
For more information about the partnership between OZ Arts and The Porch, visit https://artwire.ozartsnashville.org/.
About OZ Arts Nashville
Since opening in 2014, OZ Arts Nashville, a 501(c)(3) contemporary arts center, has changed the cultural landscape of the city. Housed in the former C.A.O. cigar warehouse owned by Nashville’s Ozgener family, OZ Arts, under the artistic leadership of Mark Murphy, brings world-class performances and art installations to the city, and gives ambitious local artists opportunities to work on a grand scale. The flexible 10,000 square-foot, column-free venue, nestled amidst five acres of artfully landscaped grounds, is continually reconfigured to serve artists’ imaginations, and to challenge and inspire a diverse range of curious audiences. OZ Arts regularly engages the community for participation with visiting artists and artworks – either directly, through school visits, workshops, master classes, school performances and/or curated programs led by local teaching artists. In addition, OZ Arts founded a program called OZ School Days, a daylong, multi-arts program presented in partnership with Centennial Performing Arts Studios that aims to engage students aged 5 – 15 years old on days when Metro Nashville Public Schools are out of session (ex: Columbus Day, Presidents Day). For more information, please visit http://www.ozartsnashville.org/.