Conversation #4: A Matter of Public Inspiration
With Naila Opiangah, Walter Cruz, Hank Willis Thomas, Jerald Cooper, Kaneza Schaal. Moderated by Niama Safia Sandy.
A Matter of Public Inspiration invited a cross-section of those leading the charge to bring social justice to their communities to reflect on the landscape of their cities. At their best, monuments and public art installations can become part of a community’s psyche, acting as extensions of ourselves and our hopes and dreams. Together the panelists shared about the fixtures in their communities that have shaped and inspired them and functioned in their life.
About the speakers:
Naila Opiangah is an architectural designer and artist based in New York City. She moved to the US from Gabon seven years ago to study architecture and developed multiple interests throughout her time in college. From social advocacy, politics, art and business, Naila has explored ways through which architecture could engage other disciplines. She's worked in various reputable design offices and her experience led her to find the “Architecture Is Complicit”- movement.
Walter Cruz is a creative collaborator exploring the intersections of art, design and architecture to better understand how Black and brown bodies activate and take up space. Cruz has completed residencies and fellowships with The Laundromat Project and NurtureArt Gallery amongst others. As well as shown work in galleries and museums including The Museum of the City of New York, the Center for Political Graphics Los Angeles, Syracuse University and Longwood Gallery in The Bronx. Most of all, Walter is dedicated to learning from and being with the people. Cruz serves as the graphic designer for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), he is currently part of the creative collective Axel NYC, which creates interactive art installations nationally and the creative director and co-founder for Zeal; a Black worker-owned company that focuses on creating spaces for Black multidisciplinary artists to thrive. Walter is an MFA candidate at the Maryland Institute College of Art's Mount Royal School of Art and earned his B.A in Architecture from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Ultimately, in a world that is constantly telling Black and brown folks not to be themselves, Cruz's goal is to create work that inspires and informs those very people.
Hank Willis Thomas is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. His collaborative projects include Question Bridge: Black Males, In Search of The Truth (The Truth Booth), Writing on the Wall, and the artist-run initiative for art and civic engagement For Freedoms. Thomas is a recipient of the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship (2018), Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (2018), Art for Justice Grant (2018), AIMIA | AGO Photography Prize (2017), Soros Equality Fellowship (2017), and is a former member of the New York City Public Design Commission.
Jerald “Coop” Cooper, a creative director and talent manager who has lived in Los Angeles, New York and London over the past 10 years, started his Instagram account @hoodmidcenturymodern in November of 2019 as a vision to share the beauty and history of mid-century homes in neighborhoods similar to the one he grew up in, Cincinnati’s College Hill. Hood Century is on a mission to make architecture, and in turn preservation, more relevant to more people, essentially making connections between modern architecture and black culture. Cooper’s feed highlights the unique designs of mid-century buildings in Black neighborhoods across America, from iconic structures to the more mundane buildings that define the everyday built environment.
Kaneza Schaal is a New York City based theater artist. Her recent work JACK & showed in BAM’s 2018 Next Wave Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and with its co-commissioners Walker Arts Center, REDCAT, On The Boards, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Schaal received a 2019 United States Artists Fellowship, SOROS Art Migration and Public Space Fellowship, 2018 Ford Foundation Art For Justice Bearing Witness Award, 2017 MAP Fund Award, 2016 Creative Capital Award, and was an Aetna New Voices Fellow at Hartford Stage. Her last project, GO FORTH, premiered at Performance Space 122 and then showed at the Genocide Memorial Amphitheater in Kigali, Rwanda; Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans; Cairo International Contemporary Theater Festival in Egypt; and at her alma mater Wesleyan University, CT. Schaal’s piece CARTOGRAPHY premiered at The Kennedy Center in January 2019 and was workshopped through New Victory Theater Lab and NYU Abu Dhabi. Most recently, she directed Bryce Dessner’s Triptych (Eyes of One on Another), which premiered at LA Philharmonic, The Power Center in Ann Arbor, MI, BAM Opera House and Holland Festival. In July 2019 she premiered a new dance work, MAZE, at The Shed in NYC. Her work has also been supported by Baryshnikov Arts Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Theater Communications Group, and a Princess Grace George C. Wolfe Award.
Marking Absences – Shifting Narratives, organized by curator Niama Safia Sandy, takes place in multiple formats including a digital conversation series, an interactive installation, and more.
Leading up to the events: A People’s Manifesto
1014 and the Goethe-Institut New York asked New Yorkers how they believe monuments and public art should function. In October, their answers will be displayed on the Goethe-Institut’s storefront at 30 Irving Place. Visit bit.ly/publicartmanifesto to contribute.
Marking Absences – Shifting Narratives is presented by the Goethe-Institut New York and 1014 as part of Shaping the Past, a project of the Goethe-Institut, Monument Lab, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Shaping the Past connects memory workers across Canada, Mexico, the US, and Germany who have piloted new approaches to shape the past in their own local contexts. Visit www.goethe.de/shapingthepast for more information on the project and all related events.
Photo: Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs, 2020