My Calendar

August 21, 2021

Book Launch and Book Signing for Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender (or how I became a punk rock lawyer) by Juanita E. Mantz, Esq.

Book Launch and Book Signing for Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender (or how I became a punk rock lawyer) by Juanita E. Mantz, Esq.


August 21, 2021

Saturday, August 21, 2021 (1:00-4:00 PM)

Inlandia Institute Book Launch and Book Signing for

Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender (or how I became a punk rock lawyer) by Juanita E. Mantz, Esq.

In person at Riverside Art Museum (masks required)

4178 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501

Open to the public with admission to RAM $5 adults/$3 seniors & students

On Saturday, August 21, 2021, from 1:00-4:00 PM, join Inlandia Institute at Riverside Art Museum for a one-of-a kind book launch for a one-of-a kind book. Writer, performer, podcaster – and attorney – Juanita E. Mantz, Esq. will be reading and signing her just-released chapbook from Bamboo Dart Press, Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender (or how I became a punk rock lawyer) accompanied by – what else? – punk music! DJ Eser will be jockeying disks in the atrium, and Bamboo Dart writers Romaine Washington and Allan Callaci will join Juanita in the literary mosh pit for some additional readings. Don’t miss it!

Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender by Juanita E. Mantz, Esq. is a multi-genre chapbook containing memoir pieces, social justice essays and poetry. It describes the author’s love of punk rock and her quest to challenge the system of mass incarceration as a deputy public defender and the intersection between punk rock and public defense.

Juanita E. Mantz (“JEM”) is a deputy public defender, writer, performer and podcaster, one who believes that stories have the power to change the world. She graduated from UCR in 1999 with a Bachelor's in English Literature and received her J.D. from USC Law in 2002. She is in the low residency MFA creative writing program at The University of New Orleans. Juanita has been with the Law Offices of the Public Defender in Riverside County for over a decade. She specializes in representing incompetent clients under PC Section 1368 and has taken many serious felony cases to trial on their mental health issues.

BLACKLANDIA How to Write About Black Art: An Introductory Course with Richard Allen May III and Natasha Gural

BLACKLANDIA How to Write About Black Art: An Introductory Course with Richard Allen May III and Natasha Gural


August 21, 2021

Saturdays, August 14, 21 & 28, 2021 (4:00-5:30 PM)

Inlandia Institute’s Blacklandia Event Series Presents

How to Write About Black Art: An Introductory Course with Richard Allen May III and Natasha Gural

THREE Virtual Workshops on Zoom

FREE and open to the public but registration is required.

To register: https://tinyurl.com/BlacklandiaEvents

Workshop 1

This workshop will address general questions, such as: What is art criticism? What is its value? What are its approaches and evolution as it correlates to African American art? Participants will be introduced to the historical challenges of approaching the practice of describing, interpreting, critically analyzing, and unpacking Black art for the reader/viewer. Participants will begin journals that contain brief (one-page) descriptions and interpretations of African American art, as viewed in person or online.

Workshop 2

The second workshop will briefly discuss the traditional approaches to writing about Black art that have saturated this practice – along with the significance and impact of Alain Locke as it pertains to his influence as a theorist, writer, and key strategist of the Harlem Renaissance. Through this workshop, participants will understand the role and challenges faced by art writers who “unpack” Black art.

Workshop 3

The final workshop in this series will introduce students to additional approaches to writing about art, the “language” of describing art, and the guidelines for interpreting it. Additionally, participants will be introduced to criteria for judging art – and to individuals, whose writing on Black art was, and still is, significant. Students will keep a diverse file of Black art exhibition reviews to understand the various approaches by writers to make the art accessible for viewers.

Artist and educator, Richard Allen May III comes with a wealth of knowledge about the AfriCOBRA Movement, having written the forward to AfriCOBRA: Experimental Art Toward a School of Thought, published by Duke University, 2020. He is a staff writer at Artillery magazine and his work has been displayed in art galleries throughout the Inland Empire, as well as exhibits throughout the United States. May has taught courses in community colleges, universities, and prisons and will discuss his artwork in the context of community.  https://richardmayart.com/

This program made possible with funding by Inland Empire Community Foundation through Arts for IE, a joint project of Riverside Arts Council and Arts Connection.