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Building on the successful "Let's Talk Art " panel session on race\, culture and art in March 2023\, Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL)\, the Museum of Creative Human Art (MOCHA)\, and Ass embly for the Arts invite you to join us for a celebration of spoken word. Learn from the experiences and perspectives of our panelists - Ho ney Bell-Bey\, Jennifer Coleman\, Siaara Freeman\, Calil Gage\, Wesley (Wallstre et Wes) Robinson - in an engaging dialogue moderated by D eidre McPherson\, Chief Community Officer for the Assembly for th e Arts. Brief reception and spoken word performance immediately following. \;
\nJenni
fer Coleman
Coleman is the Foundation&rsquo\;s prog ram director for Creative Culture and Arts. Prior to joining the Foundatio n\, Coleman\, an architect\, was president of her own design firm\, Jennif er Coleman Creative. Earlier in her career\, she practiced architecture at several local architecture firms. She also founded CityProwl.com\, a comp any that produced audio walking tours of Cleveland that highlight the dist inctive history and architecture of Cleveland. \;Among her many civic endeavors\, Jennifer has served as chair of the Cleveland Landmarks Commis sion\, the Downtown/Flats Design Review Committee and the Group Plan Commi ssion. She also has been a member of the board of trustees of many local a rts and cultural organizations. Coleman received a Bachelor of Architectur e degree from Cornell University.
\nHoney Bell-Bey& nbsp\;
\nHoney Bell-Bey holds a BA in Broadcast Production Technology from Bethune-Cookman University. A motivational poet\, writer\, educator and community advocate\, Bell-Bey is an Ohio Certified Preventio n Specialist \;and the \;founder and director for The Internationa l\, Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word\, a character based performance troupe for adolescent males \;who perform on topics of disparities an d social injustices. She \;has performed\, directed\, and choreographe d Spoken Word performances internationally and has received numerous award s and accommodations for her service and activism utilizing poetry as a to ol to unite communities around issues in social justice and equity. She wa s appointed the poet laureate of Cuyahoga County in January 2020\, the fir st poet in sixteen years to hold the position.
\nSiaara Freema
n
Siaara is a 2023 Room in the House fellow with Karmau
Theater and a 2022 Catapult fellow with Cleveland Public Theater. She is a
2021 Premier Playwright fellow recipient withCleveland Public theater. Sh
e is a 2020 WateringHole Manuscript fellow\, 2018 Poetry Foundation incuba
tor fellow and a four time nominee for the pushcart prize. Her work appear
s in The Journal\, Josephine Quarterly\, Cleveland M
agazine and elsewhere. She has had multiple poems go viral and has to
ured both nationally and internationally. Her first full length manuscript
Urbanshee is available with Button Poetry and is a 2023 finalist
for the Audre Lorde Award as well as a 2023 Silver Award winner for the B
enjamin Franklin IPBA award for Poetry. \; \;
Cal
il Gage \;
Calil &ldquo\;JUST C.O.S.&rdquo\; Cage is
a poet\, speaker\, educator\, and two-time author. He is the founder of a
nd currently serves as the Executive Director of The Sparrow&rsquo\;s Fort
une. Born in Chicago\, and raised in Columbus\, OH\, Calil currently resid
es in Cleveland\, OH. He gained his Bachelor of Science degree in Human De
velopment and Family Studies at Kent State University. Recently\, he was a
warded the Helping Hands Award by the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board\, becau
se of the communal nature of his work in the poetry world. His poetry and
spoken word most often highlight the Black community\, trauma resilience\,
hope\, healing\, spiritual principles\, and more. &ldquo\;C.O.S.&rdquo\;\
, pronounced &ldquo\;cause&rdquo\;\, stands for Collection of Seeds. He se
es his words as &ldquo\;just a collection of seeds&rdquo\; planted into th
e hearts of those who listen. He hopes to continue honoring this moniker a
nd planting \;seeds of impact in every community he visits.
Wesley (Wallstreet Wes) Robinson
Wesley Robinson was given the moniker\, &ldquo\;Wallstreet&rdquo\; because of how he genui nely invests in the lives of others. At the age of 21 years old Wallstreet he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for two counts of aggravated ro bbery. A crime Wallstreet has taken full accountability for. \;
\n< p>During his tenure in prison\, Wes was often mentored by men serving life or more years than a man can live\, who encouraged him to embrace his pri son experience as a life lesson. With this knowledge\, at the age of 24 ye ars old Wallstreet began to pour that same wisdom onto the other young mal es who were serving long stints like him. After awhile the administration of the prison threatened to place Wes in solitary confinement if he kept o n impacting the population in a positive way. These threats only encourage d him and led him to informally form an organization called &ldquo\;Diggin g Diamonds from Dirt&rdquo\;\, where he educated himself and others on bla ck history and poetry so that they could express themselves to elders who only judged them as wild and young instead of youth in need of guidance.\nIn 2012\, Wallstreet Wes was transferred to a minimum level securit y prison where he was able to truly find himself creatively. \;
\n< h2>About the moderator \;\nDeidre McPherson\, Chief Community Officer at the Assembly for the Arts\, is a creative producer and entrepre neurial strategist dedicated to bridging the gap between artists\, communi ties\, and institutions. Her passion for recognizing the creative talent i n her community and connecting artists to the public through cultural even ts and opportunities has been at the core of her work. Her advocacy for Bl ack and Brown and LGBTQ+ creatives enables her to be a prominent force in the collective shift towards equity in Northeast Ohio.
\nOver the ye ars\, Deidre has held leadership roles at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa). At both institutions\, sh e was responsible for curating and managing events designed to make the mu seum a vibrant\, socially relevant\, and welcoming destination. Similarly\ , as Director of Artistic and Community Initiatives for FRONT Internationa l Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art\, she introduced community enga gement practices that focused on amplifying Black and Brown creatives. Thr ough her consulting practice\, she has worked on projects for clients incl uding the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF)\, Studio West 117\, Karamu House\, Dance Cleveland and the Saint Luke&rsquo\;s Foundation. De idre earned a Bachelor's degree from Miami University (with minors in Viol in Performance and Arts Administration) and an MBA from the University of Maryland.
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