Redesign Workshop, ROOTS Week Dates, and a Rhizome Challenge

Posted on by Melisa Cardona Posted in Blog

In This Issue: 

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Meet the SoulCenter Team + Join the Workshop on Tuesday May 23 

Caption: The SoulCenter team leading the ROOTS Rebrand/Redesign, L-R from Top: Erin Washington, Jaamal Benjamin, Jazmine Johnson, Toran X. Moore, and Christian Henderson. 

Alternate ROOTS is redesigning our website, iconography – including the logo – and visual communication! That effort is being led by SoulCenter: a community and design studio at the intersection of BlkArts and innovation. They are a team of Blk creatives in theatre, design, film, music, tech and producing. Please join us for a Rebrand/Redesign Workshop on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. You will meet the full design team and learn more about the process, timeline, and dreams!

Rebrand/Redesign Workshop for Members 

Tuesday, May 23 at 6pm ET

Register HERE. 

ROOTS Members are also invited to complete THIS SURVEY about the current and future visual iconography of Alternate ROOTS. So excited to have your participation in this process!

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Roots Weekend: Jacksonville. Photo Credit: Melisa Cardona 

Are You READY for ROOTS Week? Registration Opens May 24!

Mark your calendars! Members-only ROOTS Week registration runs

Wednesday, May 24- Friday, June 2, 2023. 

We anticipate tickets will go fast for this one-of-a-kind gathering – especially because it will be held at Lutheridge Conference Center for the first time since 2019!

Six days of performances, art and organizing workshops, UpROOTing Oppressions sessions, visual art exhibitions, our famous Late Night cabarets, and ROOTS’ annual business meeting – all in the mountains of North Carolina.

We hope you’ll join us!

ROOTS Week Artists Retreat & Annual Meeting
Tuesday, August 8-Sunday, August 13, 2023
Lutheridge Conference Center
Arden, NC

Mark Your Calendars!
Members-only registration: Wednesday, May 24-Friday, June 2, 2023

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News from Members

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We want to spotlight you and your work in our monthly Member News!

Member News goes out the 3rd Monday of each month. Deadline for submissions for that month’s Member News is the 1st Monday of the month, via this form.

Rhizome Challenge

Greetings! The Atlanta-area ROOTers are getting all tingly about the prospects of gathering again at ROOTS Week in August. We’ve been apart for nearly three years, and more ROOTers are in our circle now, so we know it’ll be a challenge to connect & reconnect in our short time together. So we’re meeting that challenge with another challenge!

We (the Atlanta-area ROOTers) are planning THREE Rhizome get-togethers over the summer (see below for more details). We feel that this will give us time and space to begin to re-knit our fabric of community, and we CHALLENGE you to join us! Start your own Rhizome and get a jump-start on the networking that happens at ROOTS Week. A Rhizome can be initiated by any current member with an active member profile, and there’s support, financial (up to $250 – rent, food, honoraria, etc.) and ancillary support to make it a success. Who’s up to meet our challenge?

More info on hosting a Rhizome here.

What’s a Rhizome? Rhizome events are a cornerstone activity of the ROOTS Membership, a tool for members to network, connect, and build relationships.

A Rhizome Invitation to ATL Area ROOTERS

Calling all Atlanta Area ROOTers! There will be three opportunities for Atlanta-area ROOTers (and their friends) to gather in person this spring/summer. We hope to meet each other again (or for the first time) to reconnect prior to ROOTS Week – we want to get a jump on making personal contact, sharing our stories and talking about ROOTS and its values. Plan to attend one (or all!) of these free gatherings:

  • Saturday, May 13, 11am -1pm at Beacon Dance: 1272 Murphy Avenue SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, hosted by Patton White
  • Saturday, June 24, 11am -1pm at the ArtsXchange: 2148 Newnan St, East Point 30344, hosted by Marquetta Dupree and Kathie deNobriga
  • Wednesday, July 12, 7:30pm at No Tomorrow in Underground Atlanta: 50 Upper Alabama St. 30303, hosted by Priscilla Smith

You have one more chance to join long time ROOTer Elise Witt & Gayanne Geurin for this beautiful workshop to connect with music, land, water, and one another.

Singing the Inspiration of Eastern Shore MD

with Elise Witt & Gayanne Geurin

June 1-4, 2023

More information & registration HERE

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News from Staff

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Zaid Hameed (Cyde Effect) is a Muslim Poet and Community Organizer born and raised in East St. Louis, IL; currently residing in Atlanta, GA. Zaid has been writing poetry since 2015 and recently published his first poetry book titled If You Only Knew. If You Only Knew was self published with the aid of staff professional development support which funded a 6 week self publishing hands-on curriculum with Zaid’s mentor & favorite poet Brandon Alexander Williams. If You Only Knew is an anthology of poems intended to inspire excellence within individuals and communities of all demographics by showcasing the excellence of Qur’anic language within artistic and personal expression. You may purchase If You Only Knew here.

 

 

 

 

Michelle Ramos (Executive Director) was invited to attend the Ford Foundation’s BUILD cohort retreat last month in Senegal. BUILD recipients from around the world gathered to think together about the longitudinal evaluation’s learning questions which focus on mission impact, organizational resilience, and the contribution of BUILD-like support to the sustainability of both.

 

 

 

 

 

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Opportunities

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Artist Communities Alliance (ACA) currently has three fully-remote, full-time positions open. Artist Communities Alliance (ACA) is an international association of artist residencies.ACA supports the people who power the field of artist residencies — administrators, artists, culture bearers, creatives, volunteers, neighbors and community members — the organizations and programs that provide time, space and resources for artists to advance their creative practice. Artists and artist residencies are at the center of our work.

Alternate ROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in communities of place, tradition or spirit. We are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world together. As Alternate ROOTS, we call for social and economic justice and are working to dismantle all forms of oppression—everywhere.