Colored Criticism

A fresh take on art.

William Ramirez

Colored Criticism Holiday Party 2022

Hi friend! 

Join the Colored Criticism family for our first in-person event since 2020! We’re celebrating the holidays and our continued community with a holiday party. And it’s free thanks to funding from NYSCA and a space grant from Gibney!

We’ll be hosting Passion Fruit Dance Company, a trio featuring choreographer Tatiana Desardouin and dancers Mai Lê Hô and Lauriane Ogay.

In Dance Within Your Dance, Tatiana invites you to connect with the techniques, rhythms and essence of hip-hop and house dance. The performance piece is followed by a lecture/Q&A about race, using “an introspective seed” – a tool designed by Tatiana to start an introspective anti-racist work.

I am *so* excited to see y’all in a few weeks. Spread the word and bring a friend. Let’s get holiday season started off right!

The Aug Edit: On Vacation!

Friends, it’s been a minute!

Our newsletter has been on break this summer. While there have been arts happenings of note, there have also been tectonic shifts that absorbed a lot of everyone’s energy. We put our communications on hold knowing that there were other rapid-response messages going out from our activist and journalist partners. You can only read so many emails a day, right?

Yes, we all need a vacation. I get the feeling that everyone is sneaking away based on the out of office messages and Instagram feeds from this month. Folks are taking some time off, whether it’s a staycation, long weekend, or a long-overdue trip abroad. Borders are open, vaccines are flowing, and tickets are booked. This little respite is a luxury, but one that we’re finding a way to include.

As we head into the long weekend, I have a few suggestions if you are looking for a vacation read. All of these novels have protagonists I love and big arts energy!

Yours in summer sun,
Tiffany

Required Reading

The Mar Edit: More Than A Party!

Image Credit: We started the Carnival Queens project in 2017, the 50th anniversary of the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. Although we love working with institutions, we adore the chance to talk with our friends at Pagwah Mas and other bands. See you on the Parkway!

Hi friend,

True story: art is about people! 

Carnival season is unfolding in the Americas – from the Caribbean to New Orleans (hey Mardi Gras!) But it’s more than just a party. Carnival culture shows how mutual aid has sustained people of color.

Mutual aid is a crucial path for groups locked out of mainstream power and participation. These communities have banded together to create something out of nothing – isn’t that the definition of art? There’s a natural overlap with different women’s organizations – for example the sororities of the Divine Nine, or social clubs based on hometowns and heritage. 

Dr. Tyesha Maddox has researched mutual aid societies of Caribbean immigrants in the United States back to the 1900s. The West Indian Day Parade ties the legacy of early Black migration to our current culture. This video explainer gives a broad view of how Asian American, Black, Chicano, and LGBTQ+ communities have leveraged mutual aid to build resilient networks. 

And our documentary project, Carnival Queens, is screening this month online for Women’s History Month. We’re excited to share the story of Black immigrant women gathering, celebrating, and thriving. Along with the Baby Dolls of New Orleans’ Carnival, women artists shine at the intersection of creativity and community.

Yours in creative solidarity,
Tiffany.

Required Reading

Altermiese Bradley

Altermiese Bradley is an educational leader who retired from the New York City Department of Education as an Assistant Principal. She has over 40 years of experience in management, administration, and classroom teaching in racially and linguistically diverse communities across New York State. She was an Assistant Principal in District 75, which serves only special education students in multiple sites across New York City.

Her career in education began as a teacher of grades 6-12, teaching Language Arts, Reading, Math and other subjects when there was a need. She was also a Crisis Intervention Teacher and a Site Coordinator supervising teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff. Working with severely emotionally disturbed middle school students, she learned how to deal with all kinds of extreme behaviors and situations. She also taught Preschool and Adult Education. Prior to teaching, Altermiese was a computer programmer, an Assistant Team Supervisor for machine operators and a file clerk. Skills acquired in these positions were useful in her future as a leader.

As an Assistant Principal, Altermiese supervised special education teachers who taught severely emotionally disturbed and autistic students. She managed the redesign of a low performing school under NY State Review, supervised schools off site, and developed scripts and lesson designs to meet NYC instructional standards. She created a functional curriculum along with academic subjects for pregnant adolescents; conducted staff conferences on Literacy and Math, and conducted study cycles for teachers and administrators.

Altermiese wrote and received a Peer Mediation Grant and a NYS Grant for improved school services for Limited English Proficient Students. As an educator, she created Leadership Coaching and Mentoring of administrators, writing a specialized staff manual. After retiring from the New York City Board of Education, she worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor, teaching Graduate Certification courses to teachers.

Altermiese obtained a B.A. in English from Pace University, an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from Antioch College, an M.S. in Special Education from Adelphi University. She completed Certification Courses in Administration/Supervision from Iona College and the College of New Rochelle. She holds multiple New York City Licenses, and New York State Certification in the areas of School District Administration and School Administration and Supervision

The Feb Edit: Black Mom Magic

Image Credit: Faith Ringgold (right) and Michele Wallace (middle) at Art Workers Coalition Protest, Whitney Museum, 1971. Digital C-print. Copyright of Jan van Raay, Portland, OR.

Hi friend,

February is wrapping up, but it’s always time for Black History! I’ve been reading Anna Malaika Tubbs’ history “The Three Mothers” this month. Her book braids together the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. Her hot take? It’s all about the Black moms.

Lifting up Berdis Baldwin, Alberta King, and Louise Little, Tubbs sets the stage for the political engagement of their sons. Her original scholarship claps back on stereotypes of Black families as apathetic at best and criminal at worst. Their strategic parenting nurtured the vision that we call the modern Civil Rights Movement. It’s a stark reminder that Black women have consistently overdelivered for the United States.

Those blockbuster mothers set me to thinking about Faith Ringgold and Emma Amos. These cool art moms have been celebrated in recent retrospectives. “Faith Ringgold: American People” and “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey” display their shared focus on bodies in active, affirming motion. As I read more about both of these artists, their imprint on following generations is as striking as their work. Amos passed away just before her retrospective opened, but the love for her is evident in the essays accompanying the show.

Which is all to say, there are so many facets to our shared history. Here’s to Black heroines, whether we find them In the library, gallery, or real life!

Looking forward,
Tiffany.

“Faith Ringgold: American People” is at The New Museum, NY through June 2022. “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey” is archived online at The Georgia Museum of Art, GA.

Required Reading

5+1 Birthday Timeline

2015

Colored Criticism launches as a home for people of color to be seen and heard in the arts.

[Video] Release of Digital Natives, the first episode in our signature series on YouTube. Our coverage of Indigenous art is filmed on location at Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[Event] Release of Free Blacks, the next episode of our signature series, with a conversation around African diasporic dance at Brooklyn Community Foundation.

[Video] Release of Museum of Impact episode, first media partnership.

2016-2018

Colored Criticism becomes a fiscally sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA.)

[presidential election]

[Video] Release of Colored Criticism trailer to celebrate the first season of our signature series.

[Media] Principal photography begins on Carnival Queens, our first documentary. The long-form project explores Caribbean cultural heritage and art through the West Indian Day Parade.

2019

Event] First Work-in-Progress screening of Carnival Queens at Guild Hall, along with panel discussion on Caribbean history.

[Video] Whitney Biennial episode launches on YouTube, the last production before the pandemic.

[Event] First events held for college students at Multicultural Resource Center and Mead Art Museum, Amherst.

2020

[Pandemic]

[Event] Black History Month program at Grace Church White Plains is our first faith-based partnership, and last event before “NY State on Pause” closes non-essential businesses.

5 year birthday of Colored Criticism. No celebration.

[Media] Launch of Art Off Pause, our livestream conversation series in response to the disruption of the pandemic.

[presidential election]

2021

5+1 Birthday! Celebrating five years of Colored Criticism plus pandemic!

Colored Criticism welcomes new Board members.

[Event] Discussion with Middle East Librarians Association program links academics on multiple continents.

[Media] Launch of new Colored Criticism website!

→ Next: a bright future!

We’ve got big dreams for our future.

This year, Colored Criticism is celebrating our 5+1 Birthday! That means that we’ve worked through five years and one pandemic to center people of color in the arts.

Last year was not celebratory for obvious reasons (COVID-19, we’re looking at you!) So this year, we’re looking back and dreaming forward.

From now until Thanksgiving, we’ll be revisiting and sharing some of our favorite highlights of the past 5+1 years, and asking for your support as we grow!

To kick off our celebration, here’s a timeline of our progression over our first six years.

Yours in 5+1 birthday fun,
Tiffany.

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