Curious Story Lab

Curating the Branding of Black Power

Welcome to Episode 10 of Curious Story Lab. In this episode, we interview Es-pranza Humphrey, the education coordinator, about her first major curatorial project. The project is called "Black Power to Black People: Branding the Black Panther Party" held at the Poster House Museum in New York City. We discuss the complex process of curating exhibitions that bring history and Black visual culture to life. Credits: You can find Es-pranza Humphrey: Instagram: es-pranza [https://www.instagram.com/_espranzahumphrey/] For more information on Black Power to Black People: Branding of the Black Panther Party, visit Poster House Website: Poster House Museum [https://posterhouse.org/exhibition/black-power-to-black-people/]: Instagram @PosterHouse [https://www.instagram.com/posterhousenyc/] Bill Gaskin: Instagram: @BillGaskins [https://www.instagram.com/billgaaskins/] MICA: Founding Director of Graduate Photography+Media&Society  [https://www.mica.edu/graduate-programs/photography-media-society-mfa/] Website: BillGaskins.com [http://billgaskins.com/] Bomb Magazine: Bomb Magazine Spring Issue 2023 [https://bombmagazine.org/issues/163/] Instagram: @BombMagazine [https://www.instagram.com/bombmag/] Design Museum of Chicago: Website: DesignMuseumofChicago [https://www.instagram.com/designmuseumchi/] Instagram:@designmuseumofchicago [https://www.instagram.com/designmuseumchi/] Find Curious Story Lab Online Website: https://curiousstorylab.com/ [https://curiousstorylab.com/] Twitter: @curiousstorylab [https://twitter.com/curiousstorylab] Instagram: @curiousstorylab [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/] Email me: curiousstory21@gmail.com [curiousstory21@gmail.com] Credits: Creator & Host: Michele Y. Washington Producer: Alicia Ajayi @aliciaoajayi [https://www.instagram.com/aliciaoajayi/] Editor: Angelina Bruno Sound Engineer + Music: Roifield Brown [https://www.instagram.com/roifield/] Follow us on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5LSb4VVXBNDrD07YRdC6qM?si=ada62b4e87b74077] or Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-story-lab/id1576432620] Podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast About Us "Curious Story Lab" is a podcast that explores visionaries' of color working to reshape the future of our world. In this season, we explore the concept of "Futuring," delving deep into the stories of creators whose work shifts the narrative around design in the present and offers a glimpse into the future of their field.

Exploring the Creative Vision of Marcia Minter

In this episode of Reshaping Culture, I am thrilled to be joined by Marcia Minter, the co-founder, and director of Indigo Arts Alliance, a remarkable non-profit organization located in Portland. Together with her husband, artist Daniel Minter, they established Indigo Arts Alliance to provide a platform for artists of color to connect, create, and exhibit their work. Prior to starting Indigo, Marcia held the position of VP of Creative Director at LL Bean for 16 years. She also serves as a Trustee of the Portland Museum of Art and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and is a respected member of the Maine Arts Commission. During this episode, Marcia delves into what it took to plan last summer’s 2022 ReUnion Retreat at Haystack Artists Residency and then gives us a sneak peek into Indigo's big plans for this Spring and Summer season. Find more on Curious Story Lab: Website: Curiousstorylab.com [https://curiousstorylab.com/] Twitter: @curiousstorylab [https://twitter.com/curiousstorylab] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/]: @curiousstorylab [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/] Email me: curiousstory21@gmail.com [curiousstory21@gmail.com] Credits: Creator & Host: Michele Y. Washington Producer: Alicia Ajayi @aliciaoajayi [https://www.instagram.com/aliciaoajayi/] Editor: Angelina Bruno Sound Engineer + Music: Roifield Brown Follow us on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5LSb4VVXBNDrD07YRdC6qM?si=ada62b4e87b74077] or Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-story-lab/id1576432620] Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast You can check out Indigo Arts Alliance on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/indigoartsalliance/], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/indigoartsalliance/], Youtube, or Twitter [https://twitter.com/arts_indigo].  For more information on upcoming events, visit: Indigo Arts Alliance [https://indigoartsalliance.me/] David C Driskoll Fellowship [https://indigoartsalliance.me/the-david-driskell-black-seed-studio-fellowship-program-copy/] Prem Krishnamurthy: [https://premkrishnamurthy.com/] On Letters [https://d-o-m-a-i-n.org/On-Letters] Dept of Transformation [https://dept-of-transformation.org/] Symposium information: How Can We Gather Now? [https://symposium.wpadc.org/]  Organized by Washington Projects for Arts [https://www.wpadc.org/] Asad Raza [https://centerforthehumanities.org/programming/participants/asad-raza]

Michelle Wilkinson: Reshaping Culture

In Part 1 of episode 5, Reshaping Culture, I’m talking with Michelle Wilkinson, curator of Architecture and Design at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. She talks about why it’s essential for the museum to preserve Black Design History and why she has taken on building out this collection of work by key Black Architects and Designers. Building off preserving Architectural Design, Culture, and history in 2018, Michelle organized the museum’s three-day symposium, “Shifting the Landscape: Black Architects and Planners, 1968 to Now.” Then from 2019-2020, she was a Loeb Fellow [https://loebfellowship.gsd.harvard.edu/fellows-alumni/fellows-search/michellewilkinson/] at Harvard Graduate School of Design, which provided an opportunity to expand upon her research on preserving Black Architecture and Design.  We also talk about what led her to seek out the work of Michael Puryear’s Dan chair, [https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/michael-puryear-dan-chair-2010]which is now part of the collection that Michelle is helping to build.  Find more on Curious Story Lab Website: Curiousstorylab.com [https://curiousstorylab.com/] Twitter: @curiousstorylab [https://twitter.com/curiousstorylab] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/]: @curiousstorylab [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/] Email me: curiousstory21@gmail.com [curiousstory21@gmail.com] Credits: Creator & Host: Michele Y. Washington Producer: Alicia Ajayi @aliciaoajayi Editor: Angelina Bruno Sound Engineer + Music: Roifield Brown Follow us on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5LSb4VVXBNDrD07YRdC6qM?si=ada62b4e87b74077] or Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-story-lab/id1576432620] Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast You can check out Michelle Wilkinson on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/michelleinthemix/?hl=en] or Twitter [https://twitter.com/mjinthemix?lang=en].  For more information on the Smithsonian Institute African American Museum of History and Culture (NMAAHC [https://nmaahc.si.edu/]) Fellowship: Loeb Fellowship [https://loebfellowship.gsd.harvard.edu/fellows-alumni/fellows-search/michellewilkinson/] Writings: Harvard Design Magazine Race&Space [https://www.harvarddesignmagazine.org/issues/48/race-space] Symposiums/Talks:  Shifting Landscape Black Architecture [https://nmaahc.si.edu/shifting-landscape-black-architects-and-planners-1968-now-0] Black in Design at Harvard 2017 [http://www.blackindesign.org/bid2017-sessions]

Bill Gaskins: New Forms of Knowledge PT. 2

In Part 2 of episode 4, Building New Forms of Knowledge, I'm talking with Bill Gaskins. After interviewing both Kelly Walters and Bill Gaskins, because of the depth of what each shared, I felt strongly that this was the only way I could do them justice. They each have such powerful voices in the spaces they occupy through their practices and as educators, curators, writers, and in pushing forward new knowledge and learning. Bill is the founding director of a new program, Photography + Media and Society, at MICA, Maryland College of Art, in Baltimore, Maryland. Bill discusses why he chose to leave the Fine Arts to join the field-based program as an affinity group among Graduate Directors at MICA because the Program is not limited to the white cubes of Fine Art alone. Furthermore he talks about the ways in which his students examine ideas through fine art, fashion, advertising, video journalism, politics, marketing, and other contexts, while fostering radical collaborations in and beyond the MICA community. Then Bill speaks about what it's like for him not just to be a professor, but what it means to be a transformative professor. Find more on Curious Story Lab Website: Curiousstorylab.com [https://curiousstorylab.com/] Twitter: @curiousstorylab [https://twitter.com/curiousstorylab] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/]: @curiousstorylab [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/] Email me: curiousstory21@gmail.com [curiousstory21@gmail.com] Credits: Creator & Host: Michele Y. Washington Producer: Alicia Ajayi @aliciaoajayi Editor: Angelina Bruno Sound Engineer + Music: Roifield Brown Follow us on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5LSb4VVXBNDrD07YRdC6qM?si=ada62b4e87b74077] or Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-story-lab/id1576432620] Podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast You can check out Bill Gaskin's website. billgaskins.com [http://www.billgaskins.com/] For more information on the Photography+ Media and Society [https://www.mica.edu/graduate-programs/photography-media-society-mfa/], program at MICA,  Follow him on Instagram: @billgaaskins [https://www.instagram.com/billgaaskins/] Books: Good & Bad Hair [https://www.amazon.com/Good-Bad-Hair-Bill-Gaskins/dp/081352475X/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1654711121&refinements=p_27%3ABill+Gaskins&s=books&sr=1-2]: Photographs by Bill Gaskins, Publisher Rutgers University Press short film The Meaning of Hope Exhibitions: His work has been featured at these major institutions:  Crocker Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, and The Smithsonian Institution Writings: Working Together: Lou Draper and the Kamionge Workshop [https://www.dukeupress.edu/working-together], published by Duke University Press,  Out of Place, contributor Bill Gaskins [https://punctumbooks.com/people/bill-gaskins/] You can also find many of his essays in these publications: NKA; Journal of Contemporary African Art, Artsy, Aperture, Nature, and The New Yorker Magazine Talks:  Art X Activism: Myra Greene X Bill Gaskins [https://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/education/art-x-activism/myra-greene-x-bill-gaskins] Kamionge at the Schomburg  [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bill+Gaskins++Kamionge] Black Portraiture (V): Memory & the Archive Past [https://www.blackportraitures.info/bp5/?person=bill-gaskins]

Kelly Walters: Building New Forms of Knowledge Part 1

We’re doing a book give away. All you need to do is leave us a review on Apple Podcast, share what you learned from listening to Kellys’ chat with me, then take a screenshot of your review, and email us at curiousstory21@gmail.com [curiousstory21@gmail.com]. From this pool we will randomly select two winners, for Black, Brown, Latinx Design Educators. Please don’t just say I like this book, we need you to share more in your review. And this is a great book. In Part 1 of our two part episode, Building New Forms of Knowledge, I chat with Kelly Walters. A designer, curator, writer and educator, she is currently a Professor at Parsons the New School in New York City, where she teaches Graphic Design, and Visual Culture. Walters takes a deep dive, sharing her critical voice on the intersection of visual culture, design and race, plus a look at her curatorial practice. Sponsors Poster House Museum [https://posterhouse.org/], the only museum devoted entirely to preserving Posters.  Add in middle of Episode Find more on Curious Story Lab Website: Curiousstorylab.com [https://curiousstorylab.com/] Twitter: @curiousstorylab [https://twitter.com/curiousstorylab] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/]: @curiousstorylab [https://www.instagram.com/curioustorylab/] Email me: curiousstory21@gmail.com [curiousstory21@gmail.com] Credits: Creator & Host: Michele Y. Washington Producer: Alicia Ajayi @aliciaoajayi Editor: Angelina Bruno Sound Engineer + Music: Joanna Samuels Follow us on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5LSb4VVXBNDrD07YRdC6qM?si=ada62b4e87b74077] or Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-story-lab/id1576432620] Podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast Credits:: For our more on Kelly Walters:  Bright Polka Dot [http://brightpolkadot.com/] BlackExperienceinDesign.com [https://blackexperienceindesign.com/] Instagram: Bright Polk Dot [https://www.instagram.com/brightpolkadot/] Black Visual Cultural [https://www.instagram.com/blackvisualculture/] Twitter: @brightpolkadot [https://twitter.com/brightpolkadot] Books: Black, Brown, Latinx Design Educators: Conversations on Design and Race [https://www.amazon.com/Black-Brown-Latinx-Design-Educators/dp/1616899972],  (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021) Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression + Reflection [https://www.amazon.com/Black-Experience-Design-Expression-Reflection/dp/1621537854/ref=pd_sbs_1_sccl_1/146-1155739-5744231?pd_rd_w=zymq4&pf_rd_p=4b6b5072-e9bd-4f30-a3af-a1f5d52978ec&pf_rd_r=DE1ZQ0HP3631TJXM4GMM&pd_rd_r=0f3ef1d3-eb8a-4ef4-8635-3dc6aa93dbd6&pd_rd_wg=XWrO0&pd_rd_i=1621537854&psc=1], Co-Editor (Allsworth Press, 2022) Exhibitions:  Cast of Colored Stars, Parsons the New School [https://event.newschool.edu/withacastofcoloredstars#:~:text=Underworld%20(1937).-,Among%20some%20of%20the%20many%20phrases%20displayed%20in%20these%20posters,during%20the%20early%2020th%20century.], January 24 -March 01, 2022  Writings: Open Dialogue: Artists + Designers of Afro-Caribbean Descent [https://opendialogueexhibition.com/] On Breaking Down Power Structures, Navigating Tokenism + Building Community in Design Education [https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/from-students-to-educators-a-conversation-on-breaking-power-structures-navigating-nepotism-building-community-in-design-education/] , Co-Authored with Anoushka Khandwala