March Artist News
published: Feb. 28, 2024
Pooja Pittie, Only in Dark the Light
CHRISTINE PASCUAL (2018 3Arts/Lakeside Bank Awardee)
Now through March 24, audiences can witness “the powerful stories of 19 individuals fighting to overcome and transform America’s education and criminal justice systems” in Notes from the Field at Timeline Theatre. Christine designed the costumes for this Chicago premiere.
LEYDA “LADYSOL” GARCIA (2018 3Arts/Restoration Hardware Awardee) and MEIDA MCNEAL (2017 3Arts Awardee)
On March 1—3, Leyda will be among the jurors for the B-Series dance battle as part of a weekend devoted to B-Long: Honoring and Examining Lineage, Legacy, and Belonging in Hip-Hop and Street Dance Culture at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. On March 2 at 3:30pm, Meida will moderate at panel discussing “Why Should We Be Documenting Black Social Culture, Now?”. Registration is free and open to the public for all events.
WINIFRED HAUN (2022 3Arts/Walder Foundation Awardee) and SARITA SMITH CHILDS (2022 3Arts/Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Awardee)
On March 1—3, Winifred Haun Dance company presents First Draft, a series devoted to sharing new dances by Chicago dancemakers. Performances will take place over three days at Links Hall. Among those presenting new works are Winifred herself and fellow awardee Sarita Smith Childs.
J’SUN HOWARD (2020 3Arts/Restoration Hardware Awardee)
On March 5, J’Sun presents new work in a free Open Studio event as one of nine local artists selected for the 2024 Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio Residency. This will be a work-in-progress showing of take carefully, “a dance about how we care for each other when the world is falling apart around us.”
REGIN IGLORIA (2023 Next Level Awardee)
Opening March 7 (and continuing through April 26), Regin will present Seven Skins, a solo exhibition at Columbia College Chicago’s Glass Curtain Gallery. “The title Seven Skins is derived from the theory that all the cells in a human body get replaced over seven years. Some take this to mean an individual becomes a new person every seven years. Igloria employs this framework in his exhibition, having gone through seven skins at forty- nine years of age. This show serves as a mid-life re-evaluation, reflecting on past interests, identities, and fascinations while determining the emergence of themes and preoccupations that remain prevalent in his work.” During the exhibition, Regin will offer two bookbinding workshops: March 21 at 6:00pm and April 4 at 6:00pm.
A.J. MCCLENON (2022 Next Level Awardee)
On March 10, A.J. is among the featured performers in L’sGA: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, “a program of commissioned works by Black artists that interrogate and engage with American notions of liberty and equality.”
BENJI HART (2015 3Arts/Irene Siragusa Phelps Awardee)
Throughout this month, Benji will premiere their new movement and spoken word performance piece, World After This One, which examines how Black people have historically reclaimed the materials of empire to construct portals to impossible futures. “Looking through the lenses of three Black art forms—the queer street style of vogue, the Afro-Boricua dance and drumming tradition of bomba, and gospel music—World After This One blurs the lines between the secular and the sacred, celebration and mourning, the past and the yet-to-pass, imagining Black liberation not as a metaphor, but a possibility.” Two free performances take place on March 8 at La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón and March 14 at Green Line Performing Arts Center. On March 22-23, Benji performs at Steppenwolf Theatre Company as part of their LookOut Series (tickets required, includes talk back on 3/22 and closing reception on 3/23).
WILL LIVERMAN (2017 3Arts/Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Awardee)
On March 8, Will releases Show Me The Way, his second recording with Cedille Records, an album he notes as a “passion project” that honors women in classical music, past and present. Featuring Will’s longtime recital partner and pianist, Jonathan King, the record includes works by celebrated American female composers of the 20th century. It also presents the first recorded duet with Will and his mother, gospel singer Terry Liverman, with their own arrangement of Alma Bazel Androzzo’s cherished hymn “If I Can Help Somebody.”
NEJLA YATKIN (2012 3Arts Awardee)
On March 8–10, Nejla celebrates International Women’s Day at Links Hall with the world premiere of Ouroboros, an “interactive, evening-length solo dance-theatre performance that takes the audience on a transformative journey.” Set in the round, the performance features original composition, ASL translation, and a fusion of dance styles, including contemporary and Middle Eastern dance. “The piece draws inspiration from the ancient snake dances of the Middle East and centers around the powerful symbol of Ouroboros.” Visit LinksHall.org for ticketing information for all three dates.
SELVA APARICIO (2023 3Arts/HMS Fund Awardee)
Opening March 14 (and continuing through August 4), Selva presents her first solo museum exhibition at the DePaul Art Museum. Entitled In Memory Of, the exhibition will feature new site-specific works as well as remakes of previous iterations focusing on memory, death, intimacy, and mourning. Selva will transform each of the Museum’s first floor gallery spaces into a domestic setting by way of careful excavation of her life and memories. “The exhibition aims to project—from the point of view of children and women—domestic life in an apparently common space, but once observed from close proximity, different pieces and messages are revealed.”
ALANA ARENAS (2008 3Arts Awardee)
Opening on March 14 (and continuing through April 21), Alana stars in Purpose a play by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. “Spirited, hilarious, and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama—a long-awaited world premiere from one of the country’s most celebrated voices.”
VERSHAWN SANDERS-WARD (2013 3Arts/Southwest Airlines Awardee)
On March 16, Vershawn presents the world premiere of her choreographic work, Unconditional Conditions, as part of a weekend-long celebration of women in the Black/African Diaspora. Vershawn’s new work will be part of dynamic showcase entitle, “La Femme Dance Festival” at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. The evening will also feature a new work by New Orleans native, Michelle Gibson, created to a live original score by Grammy-Award-winning Composer, Adonis Rose.
T. AYO ALSTON (2018 3Arts/Southwest Airlines Awardee)
On March 17, Ayo and her colleagues celebrate 15 years of Ayodele Drum & Dance with an evening of dinner and performances. Ticket proceeds will help support the organization’s work to empower and educate young women in the rituals, music, and dances of African culture. The 15th Anniversary Gala takes place at Biagio (4242 N. Central Avenue) from 3:00pm to 7:00pm CT.
POOJA PITTIE (2022 Next Level Awardee)
From March 21 through May 10, Pooja presents new work in a solo show at McCormick Gallery in the West Loop. The gallery will host a special opening reception on Thursday, March 21 from 5:00 – 7:00pm CT.
ANNA MARTINE WHITEHEAD (2018 3Arts Awardee) and AYANNA WOODS (2017 Make a Wave Awardee)
On March 28—30, Martine’s 3AP funded-project, FORCE! will be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. “FORCE! features a live band that blends gospel, folk, pop, and jazz, with experimental dance, song, and the spoken word. As the work unfolds, characters reveal layered interiors creating a strange sisterhood with the power to disintegrate walls that blooms in the shadows of the prison industrial complex. As the artists manifest the free worlds of which they dream on stage, their voices resound with collective power.” The performance features composition by Ayanna. On March 30, the performance will include CART captioning and Audio Description.