UW-Madison’s Division of the Arts welcomes Ben Barson and Gizelxanath Rodriguez as the spring 2020 Interdisciplinary Artists-in-Residence.
Both Barson and Roodriguez are musicians, artivists (artists and activists), environmentalists, and co-founders of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective.
Together, they will teach the course “Artivism: Intercultural Solidarity & Decolonizing Performance.” Students will investigate the theory, practice, multidisciplinary, and intercultural concepts connected with the recent jazz opera, “Mirror Butterfly: The Migrant Liberation Movement Suite.” Barson and Rodriguez will guide and inspire students to participate in the construction of a new performance module of the jazz opera.
To supplement the residency, Barson and Rodriguez will present at various events and collaborate with guest artists Nejma Nefertiti and Charlotte Hill O’Neal, aka Mama C.
The spring 2020 Interdisciplinary Artists-in-Residence program (IARP) is presented by the Division of the Arts, and hosted by the Asian American Studies program, with Associate Professor Peggy Choy of the School of Education’s Dance Department as lead faculty. Co-sponsors include the Dance Department, the Mead Witter School of Music, and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Some of the residency events are also part of the Nelson Institute’s Earth Day@50 – Arts Initiative.
The IARP brings innovative artists to campus to teach semester-long, interdepartmental courses and to publicly present their work for campus and community audiences. The program is funded through the university’s Office of the Provost.
All residency events are free. Visit the events section at this website for more details.