Where Creativity Speaks Louder Than Silence
October 22, 4:30 – 7:30pm
Sojourner Truth Library Courtard
What needs to be said right now?
What do we all need to hear?
How might we practice radical care?
How will our creative acts meet this moment?
How should the heart of our campus beat?
We experienced another moving, joyful, and festive Sound Your Truth event this year. We heard students speak from their hearts, creatively sharing about their experiences, challenges, accomplishments, dreams, and heartbreaks. They showed their incredible resilience in the face of hardship and suffering, enacting mutual aid and sharing their abundant care and love for life and for each other.
Co-hosts:
Educational Opportunity Program
Future Teachers of Color
Scholars’ Mentorship Program
Involved Student, Clubs, Tabeling:
Qomunidad; Zine Collective; M.U.S.E.; Fahri-Libertad; Justice is Global; Henry Gage Jr with Build Green Now; Kaylah Phillips
Student Lead Organizers, Involved Classes, Special Contributors:
Lucas Peterka (lead student organizer), Omar Graves (MC), Joanis Arthur (MC), Heather Bissett (planning, clay table) Raeanna Hoskinson (planning collaborator), Jaci Yong (planning, playlist), Cara Breitenbach (food coordination), Ripley Butterfield (planning), Kaylah Phillips (project contribution), alumna Jennifer Poroye (original song)
Mayor of Newburgh Torrence Harvey presented a poem
Jackie’s Latin Kitchen in Middletown (empanadas)
Rox Etheridge (event preparation, circle keeping), Zach Bowman (sound, planning), Joel Oppenheimer (planning), Dalton Jones (planning)
Black Studies students / Professor Anthony Dandridge
Sculpture students / Professors Emily Puthoff and Michael Asbill
Printmaking students / Professors Emilie Houssart and Aurora De Armendi
Foundations students / Professor Suzanne Stokes
Photography students / Professor Andrea Frank
English students / Professors Sarah Wyman
Music students / Professor Kathleen Murphy
Values for the event defined by our students:
Authenticity, Truth, Honesty, Integrity
Love, Empathy, Unity, Open-mindedness
Vulnerability, Openness, Community, Respect, Solidarity, Listening, Curiosity
Community Agreements:
Speak from your own experience. Be authentic.
Creative process as discovery and communication
Active listening
Respect for all voices
Learning & exploration
Honor experiential and cultural differences
Time to process for ourselves and others
Curiosity not judgment
Remember everyone’s story is their own
Sponsors/Collaborators:
The Black Student Union
The Student Art Alliance
The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art
The Department of Black Studies
The Black Lives Matter @ School Collective
The Faculty Development Center
The Art Department
The Student Association
The Educational Opportunity Program
The Scholars’ Mentorship Program
The Future Teachers of Color
The Environmental Task Force
The event was followed by an exhibition of sculpture, printmaking and photography artwork created by students for or during the Sound Your Truth event in the Fine Arts Building Rotunda Gallery (through 10/29).
Invite post for Sound Your Truth, 2024 here.