2017!
Hello Everyone. Hoping you all had restful holidays, surrounded by loved ones. And chocolate.
We’re back in swing as of today: if you need an immediate fix, please have a listen to the latest iteration of Night Scene. Organized by Open Space managing editor Gordon Faylor, this winter solstice series (which concludes next week) pairs images and recordings by Bay Area musicians. I think it’s a really beautiful collection.
And there will be much more in the coming weeks. It’s a great pleasure to announce that Taylor Renee Aldridge and Jessica Lynne are the guest editors for the fifth issue of our magazine, which launches in two weeks. Jessica and Taylor are the amazing women behind ARTS.BLACK, the Detroit and NYC-based journal of arts criticism from Black perspectives. We share their belief that diversity of perspective is of deep, urgent importance, and we’re thrilled that they’ll be helming the magazine.
Meanwhile, there’s the Lost and Found series, which examines the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS on artistic communities in the Bay Area and New York, and is organized by yours truly in collaboration with CounterPulse and Danspace Project. Check back Thursday for the next addition, and SAVE THE DATE for February 4th, when Open Space is honored to present an afternoon of discussions and performative events at CounterPulse. with Annie Danger, Xandra Ibarra, Monique Jenkinson, Rhodessa Jones, Keith Hennessy, Brontez Purnell, Helen Shumaker, and Amara Tabor-Smith. Tickets are free and can be reserved here (seating is limited!); in lieu of payment we are encouraging donations to The Shanti Project to support crucial efforts to help those with terminal, life-threatening, or disabling illnesses.
Finally, I would like to introduce our three newest columnists in residence: curator, writer, and artist Aaron Harbour; visual and performance artist Clifford Hengst; and dancer and writer Sophia Wang. Over the next four months, they will publish on a rotating basis; what they choose to address, and how, is up to them. And once their official tenure is over, they will retain lifelong publishing rights, joining an ever-growing cohort of alumni columnists. We welcome them, and you, to Open Space in 2017.