Alisha Wormsley
ancient futurism, black witches, and time travel
TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2021
ABOUT THE LECTURE
Alisha B. Wormsley is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural producer. Her work is about collective memory and the synchronicity of time, specifically through the stories of women of color, more specifically, Black Women in America. For her World Building Artist Talk Wormsley will share the way all of her artistic projects invite an exploration of dreams, ancient-future technologies, and ritual. In addition to her artist talk, Wormsley will also have a solo exhibition installed in RMCAD’s Philip J. Steel Gallery from March 1 – March 30, 2021. Learn more here.
Blending past, present, and future, Alisha Wormsley’s works bring attention to the power and limitlessness of the Black American experience – an experience that was intended to be perpetually bound. All of her work lives in an archive of her creation, “Children of NAN,” based on the mythological and historical survival of Black women. She is the creator of the ongoing “There Are Black People In The Future” project, which sparked controversy when the text was displayed and removed by developers. Since then, the billboard has been replicated with a built in structure to support communities and local Black and Indigenous artists in Detroit, Charlotte, New York City, Kansas City, Houston, and London. The text, which Wormsley encourages others to use freely, has since been used in protest, critical art theory, essays, song, testimony, and collective dreaming. Most recently Wormsley has created Sibyls Shrine, a new artist residency program for Black women, womxn, trans women, and femmes who are mothers and identify as artists, creatives, and/or activists in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
For her World Building Artist Talk Wormsley will share the way all of these artistic projects invite an exploration of dreams, ancient-future technologies, and ritual.
ABOUT THE LECTURER
Alisha B. Wormsley is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural producer. Her work is about collective memory and the synchronicity of time, specifically through the stories of women of color, more specifically Black Women in America. Wormsley is an artist who has worked in communities around the world, helping to develop artistic ideas, celebrate identities, and organize public art initiatives for national and international audiences. Wormsley’s work has received a number of awards and grants to support programs namely the Children of NAN film series and archive, and There Are Black People In The Future. Her work has exhibited globally. Over the last few years, Wormsley has designed several public art initiatives including Streaming Space, a 24 foot pyramid with video and sound installed in Pittsburgh’s downtown Market Square, and AWxAW, a multimedia interactive installation and film commission at the Andy Warhol Museum. Wormsley created a public program out of her work, “There Are Black People In the Future”, which gives mini-grants to open up discourse around displacement and gentrification and was also awarded a fellowship with Monument Lab and the Goethe Institute. In 2020, Wormsley launched an art residency for Black creative mothers called Sibyls Shrine, which has received two years of support from the Heinz Endowments. Wormsley has an MFA in Film and Video from Bard College and currently is a Presidential Post Doctoral Research Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University to research and create work around the resurgence of matriarchal energy (defined as witchcraft by white supremacy) in the African-American community.
Wormsley lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA.
Private events for the rmcad community
Collective Dreaming Workshop with Alisha Wormsley
Wednesday, March 17, 2020
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. MST
*Deadline for students to sign up is March 8, 2021
In this time of uprisings, political strife, and global reckoning of white supremacy, we see monuments fall and ideas form. How can we make the change needed to move forward without time to collectively dream? Multi-disciplinary artist Alisha Wormsley will introduce students to a practice of collective community dreaming as a means to shape the past by daring to sculpt the future. The virtual discussion and mini-workshop will focus on healing and dreaming work as an artistic and activist practice to strengthen communities and as a revolutionary act to bring about societal change.
Next Day Q+A
Wednesday, March 17, 2020
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. MST
Join us for a casual Q+A session and insightful conversation with visiting artist Alisha Wormsley. Take this opportunity to ask questions about her artwork, career, and get professional advice from an accomplished contemporary artist. We’ll provide the artist, you bring the curiosity.
Not sure if this is right for you? Have more questions? Please contact Gretchen Schaefer at gmschaefer@rmcad.edu and we’ll get you prepared for this special opportunity for artistic growth.
Recommendation List
Sanctified Church by Zora Neale Hurston
Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code by Ruha Benjamin
Recovering The Sacred by Winona LaDuke
The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images – Taschen
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Black Futures by Kimberley Drew and Jenna Wortham
A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None by Kathryn Yusoff
Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro – Dover *VERY RACIST ANTHROPOLogical practice – so much to self edit to get to the important information.
The Context by Alexandro Segade
Lovecraft Country – HBO series
The Dark Crystal – Film AND Series on Netflix
Skawennati – Thanksgiving Address (film)
For questions about accessibility or to request accommodations for this event, please contact Gretchen Marie Schaefer at gmschaefer@rmcad.edu or 303-995-8353. Requests should be made as soon as possible but no less than 5 business days prior to the scheduled event.