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August 8, 2021
August 9, 2021
August 10, 2021
August 11, 2021(1 event)

6:00 pm: BLACKLANDIA Virtual Ekphrasis Writing Workshop with James Coats


August 11, 2021

Wednesdays, August 11 and 18, 2021 (6:00-8:00 PM)

Inlandia Institute’s Blacklandia Event Series Presents

Virtual Ekphrasis Writing Workshop with James Coats

On Zoom. FREE and open to the public but registration is required.

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

Please join Inlandia Institute for a virtual art and poetry workshop with James Coats, poet and founder of Lift Our Voices Education. This two-session workshop will explore how visual arts can expound and inform written text. We will discuss the shared connection between art and poetry, and how both mediums have been used as tools for change. Participants will be prompted to create their own Ekphrastic poetry – poetry written in response to art. Paintings from artists past and present will be investigated for iconography, imagery, narrative, movement, and context. We will consider how form can be used and broken to develop connection with the viewer or reader.

James Coats is an author, poet, and spoken word artist. He received his Masters from CSU San Bernardino, and after graduate school began writing and performing his poetry. With a passion for all things creative, he strives to capture authentic self-expression through his work. He completed his debut poetry book, If I Had Lived, in April 2018 and completed his second poetry book, All The Ways You Are Wonderful, in February 2020. He believes that poetry has the ability to bring diverse groups together, and offers a way to connect through our shared challenges, achievements, and experiences.

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.

August 12, 2021(2 events)

10:00 am: Redlands Creative Writing Workshop for Seniors with Mae Wagner Marinello


August 12, 2021

Virtual Winter Workshops on Zoom

Registration required. 

Our Redlands workshop is ongoing for participants 50+. They meet every Thursday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Zoom links will be sent by the workshop leader after registration confirmation.

In partnership with the Joslyn Senior Center and the City of Redlands. To register: https://tinyurl.com/Spring2021CWW.

3:30 pm: Writing Workshop for Teens with Nia Campbell


August 12, 2021

Thursdays, August 5, 12, 19, 26, 2021 (3:30-5:00PM)

Inlandia Institute Presents

Writing Workshop for Teens with Nia Campbell

FREE and in person at the NEW Main Riverside Public Library, Innovation Center (upstairs)

3900 Mission Inn Ave

Riverside, CA 92501

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

 Designed for teens, this creative writing class will focus on expressive writing in many forms. Students will have the opportunity to explore several different types of poetry and prose styles – while discovering their writing voice and learning new ways to express themselves freely through fun-filled writing exercises. Strategies to avoid writer’s block and uncover ideas for writing will be studied. Most of all, teens are encouraged come ready to have fun and unleash their writing and creativity! This is a safe space for individuals to be unapologetically who they are.

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.

Nia Sharron Campbell is a performance poet and honors English major at Riverside City College. When she was 15 years old, she attended her first Inlandia class. Miss Campbell was awarded a bronze medal for representing the NAACP’s Riverside Branch in a national competition. Grateful for Inlandia mentors Celena Diana Bumpus, Matthew Nadelson, and Nikia Chaney, Miss Campbell writes poetry, plays, short stories, books, and screenplays. In addition to this, she uses her talent for written expression to bring awareness to important issues such as mental health, race, sexual orientation, and humanity. She is currently working on the first novel in her book series, and her goal is to pursue a career writing fantasy, sci-fi, and action books.

August 13, 2021
August 14, 2021(1 event)

4:00 pm: BLACKLANDIA How to Write About Black Art: An Introductory Course with Richard Allen May III and Natasha Gural


August 14, 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.