the thirteen
Photo by Angel Clark
The Morlan Gallery presents The Thirteen, a visual art exhibition and live musical/spoken word performance paying homage to thirteen black women and girls who were lynched or otherwise violently murdered in Kentucky.
The Thirteen seeks to enshrine the shared history of the thirteen women and girls and will feature photographs and video by Angel Clark as well as pieces by Bianca Spriggs including original poetry, pen and ink drawings, and resin skulls. Images from the exhibition may be found here.
The Thirteen production took place on January 23, 7:30-9 p.m. in the Carrick Theater, located in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center at Transylvania University. Made possible in part by the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women, The Thirteen featured performances by an ensemble of thirteen Kentucky musicians and vocalists paired with spoken word poetry by Bianca Spriggs. The short film "A Noosed Life" created for the performance may be seen here.
The Thirteen seeks to enshrine the shared history of the thirteen women and girls and will feature photographs and video by Angel Clark as well as pieces by Bianca Spriggs including original poetry, pen and ink drawings, and resin skulls. Images from the exhibition may be found here.
The Thirteen production took place on January 23, 7:30-9 p.m. in the Carrick Theater, located in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center at Transylvania University. Made possible in part by the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women, The Thirteen featured performances by an ensemble of thirteen Kentucky musicians and vocalists paired with spoken word poetry by Bianca Spriggs. The short film "A Noosed Life" created for the performance may be seen here.
the lexington tattoo project
The poet's left foot.
Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova are beginning a new artwork: the Lexington Tattoo Project, "The shortest description we've been able to come up with is this: a poem to Lexington written--as permanent tattoos--on the bodies of Lexington. All tattoos will be FREE. We will take photographs of each tattoo and use these photographs to create a video that animates the poem--read by its author, Bianca Spriggs."
You can find out more about the project, its creators, and participants at the following links:
CNN
Inked Magazine
Lexington Herald-Leader (Rich Copley)
Lexington Herald-Leader (Scott Shive)
Kentucky Arts Council
The Lexington Tattoo Project
You can read about how Bianca wrote the poem and the actual poem itself below!
You can find out more about the project, its creators, and participants at the following links:
CNN
Inked Magazine
Lexington Herald-Leader (Rich Copley)
Lexington Herald-Leader (Scott Shive)
Kentucky Arts Council
The Lexington Tattoo Project
You can read about how Bianca wrote the poem and the actual poem itself below!
cave art: pen & ink drawings
the swallowtale project: creative writing for incarcerated women
Cover art by Cricket Press/Cover design by Carly Schnur
The SwallowTale Project began in 2011 in partnership with the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association. The brainchild of KDVA advocate, Letonia A. Jones, MSW, and Bianca Spriggs, this creative writing workshop is designed primarily for incarcerated women, many of whom have a history of being the victims of domestic violence.
The SwallowTale Project also incorporates the contributions of interns, Emily Underwood, Santana Berry, and is documented by photographer/filmmaker, Angel Clark.
In the Spring of 2012, a choreopoem of the same name, written by Spriggs based on her experiences in detention centers and prisons in Kentucky, debuted in a formal reading at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
In the Fall of 2012, The SwallowTale Project, a publication of Spriggs's writing exercises and Clark's photos revolving around the workshops will be released through parkour! Media Design and made available to other prison writing workshop facilitators in PDF format through KDVA's website.
The SwallowTale Project also incorporates the contributions of interns, Emily Underwood, Santana Berry, and is documented by photographer/filmmaker, Angel Clark.
In the Spring of 2012, a choreopoem of the same name, written by Spriggs based on her experiences in detention centers and prisons in Kentucky, debuted in a formal reading at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
In the Fall of 2012, The SwallowTale Project, a publication of Spriggs's writing exercises and Clark's photos revolving around the workshops will be released through parkour! Media Design and made available to other prison writing workshop facilitators in PDF format through KDVA's website.
2012 transylvania university commencement
On Saturday, May 26, 2012, Bianca Spriggs delivered an address to the graduating class of Transylvania University. The address features an original poem entitled, "Memory Jar" written by Spriggs. She is accompanied by an original piano arrangement composed by graduating senior, Caleb Ritchie. Below is the recorded version of the poem along with the text.
Photo used in video taken by Emily Evans on 6/26/12
