t a l k i n g p i c t u r e s

When the donation-based Angel Yoga shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Angels Kitchen (@angelskitchenpv) was born from the heart of Sam Cress (@sam_cress) and her socio, Gilberto. What began as a mobile soup kitchen serving 20 basic hot meals quickly transformed into a full-on operation serving approximately 160 men and women a hearty burrito, a piece of fruit, water, and a pastry. Every. Single. Day. This short doc was made for social media, especially Instagram. Apologies for the verticality.

DONRICO HAWKINS, JR.: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

DonRico Hawkins, Jr. is a seventh-grade student in Focus: HOPE's Excel Photography program in Detroit. In this short video, Hawkins discusses a few of his pictures and why he loves photography. To learn more about Focus: HOPE and the robust organization's Excel Photography program, a longtime NEA arts education grantee, please listen to this audio story with Hawkins and a current mentor (and previous graduate of the program), Kristian Varano. Produced for the quarterly magazine of the National Endowment for the Arts.

ENDURANCE DRAWINGS

Tony Orrico is a visual artist, performer, and choreographer. He's created his own unique style of "endurance drawings" that draw upon his years of experience as a dancer. These "Penwald Drawings" have been presented and exhibited internationally, attracting attention from prominent collectors and institutions. Here, he discusses his mesmerizing process as you, the viewer, get to watch him work. Produced for the quarterly magazine of the National Endowment for the Arts.

vishal marapon on his geometric photos

In the eyes of photographer Vishal Marapon, mundane objects—fire hydrants, stairwells, street corners—become sublime paintings of the everyday. Through his thoughtful use of light, shadow, and composition, he calls attention to the "geometry of urban design", injecting new life into ordinary rectangular steps, square window frames, and cylindrical railings. It’s hard to believe that some of his pictures are not paintings. Then, of course, there's the element that first drew me to his images on Instagram (he took over The New Yorker’s feed for a week in early 2017)---the stark combination of bold and muted colors. There’s something arresting about the mélange of soft pinks, shadowy grays, and beachy turquoise blues. Many of his images, no matter how ostensibly pedestrian, have a way of transporting you to some serene, washed out part of what could be Miami, Los Angeles, or Rio de Janeiro. In this audio slideshow, listen to him discuss his work as you look at his off-kilter take of the world. Whether it’s with his iPhone or a high-end medium format camera, Marapon can transform the side of a building into a work of art.

FAIL BETTER

Nichole Canuso has always danced. Now, as artistic director of her Philadelphia-based non-profit, Nichole Canuso Dance Company (NCDC), she also fundraises, secures venues, and choreographs, creating pieces that are part theater, part improv, and part interactive light and sound show. In this ambitious piece, The Garden (2013), Canuso allowed for just six audience members, who followed cues issued through headphones, all but erasing the line between audience and performer. Six people meant almost no revenue. What if there was a sound glitch and participants become lost? The risk was tremendous. The takeaway? Make the art no matter what. Produced for the quarterly magazine of the National Endowment for the Arts.

TEMPORARILY FREE

Community can mean something different to everyone. To some, community is their place of worship, and to others, it’s their local theater troupe or intramural softball team. One segment of the population that is excluded from the term “community” is the inmates in our area jails and correctional facilities. This video explores the positive impact of a very popular djembe drumming class in the Youthful Offender Unit at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. The eight-week course is taught by Ghanaian Master Drummers Kofi Dennis and Kwame Ansah-Brew, and facilitated by Director of Project Youth ArtReach Claire Schwadron. Produced for the quarterly magazine of the National Endowment for the Arts.  

MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

Before he passed at age 94, Vollis Simpson was a lifelong machinist and art maker. He didn't know he was an artist until someone came out to his workshop in rural North Carolina, and told him so. His creative tinkering dates back to World War II, when he built a wind-powered machine that allowed fellow soldiers to dry their clothes. For decades, Simpson used scrap materials to create machinery, including a motorcycle, wreckers from old tanks, and kinetic works of art known as "whirligigs." Vollis preferred to call these awe-inspiring creations by a simpler term: windmills. Produced for the quarterly magazine of the National Endowment for the Arts.