Banned Books Week Day 2 - Banning Art - In Person Pass

543 Indiana Ave,Indianapolis IN 46202

27 September, 2021

Description

Join us for a discussion from the Artist perspective on who and what define art and profane. The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library welcome you to join us for an interactive discussion on Freedom of Expression and censorship within the realm of visual art. Drew DeSimone, Brooklyn based actor and our Activist in Residence, will be moderating the discussion. Joining him will be Rebecca Robinson, Lady Pink, and Sam Van Aken. Award-winning mixed media artist, Rebecca Robinson studied fashion design in Atlanta, Ga., and continued her education at North Carolina Central University where she majored in Art/ Visual Communications and graduated with high honors. Her background also includes art history, photography, graphic design, film, and creative marketing/branding. Rebecca was mostly known for her fashion design company PSNOB (pronounced snob) which launched in 2001 but in recent years, has taken a new direction with her craft. In the spring of 2019, Rebecca began the initial stages of forming her nonprofit organization called “ONE ARRT ”, which will become the first black-owned art supply brand that specifically supports all artists, art organizations, art education, museums/galleries, and communities in need who would prosper with proper funding and resources. Rebecca has also contributed to several nonprofit organizations throughout the country by auctioning her one-of-a-kind handbags and fine art. Rebecca's artwork has been featured in dozens of media outlets including; Indianapolis Business Journal Podcast, WFYI, NUVO, Jezebel Magazine Atlanta, Pattern Magazine, Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Recorder, New York Examiner, WTHR 13, WISH-TV 8. RTV 6, FOX 59, Creative Mornings Indianapolis, Indianapolis Monthly Magazine, The National Endowment Of The Arts including the Black Creativity Exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and History of her painting of jazz legend Miles Davis In the summer of 2019, Rebecca was selected by the Arts Council of Indianapolis to showcase her work for the annual High Art Billboard project (2019-2020). Rebecca is also a self-published author of the book "Arts Honor". In 2018, Rebecca co-produced the award-winning documentary film "The Color of Medicine": The Story of Homer G. Phillips as a tribute to her father and grandfather. In honor of the historic documentary film, Rebecca received an official scroll from Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas from the county of Los Angeles for her contribution to preserving an important part of history and giving back to the community of St. Louis and beyond. In the summer of 2020, Rebecca became a member of the art collective "EIGHTEEN" who created the street mural Black Lives Matter on Historic Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis during the Black Lives Matter movement. Rebecca is a proud member of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum Planning Committee, The Indianapolis Black Documentary Film Festival Advisory Committee, and African American History Committee Advisory Board for the Indianapolis Public Library. Sam Van Aken is a contemporary artist who works beyond traditional modes of art making, crossing artistic genres and disciplines to develop new perspectives on such themes as communication, botany, agriculture, climatology, and the ever-increasing impact of technology. Van Aken’s interventions in the natural and public realm are seen as metaphors that serve as the basis of narrative, sites of place making, and in some cases even become the basis of scientific research. Sam Van Aken received his undergraduate education in Art and Communication Theory. Immediately following his studies, he lived in Poland and worked with dissident artists under the former communist regime through the auspices of the Andy Warhol Foundation and the United States Information Agency. Van Aken received his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and since this time his work has been exhibited and placed nationally and internationally. He has received numerous honors including a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, Association of International Curator’s of Art Award and a Creative Capital Grant. Most recently, his work has been presented as part of Nature-Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial with the Cube Design Museum, Netherlands. Sam Van Aken lives and works in Syracuse, New York, where he is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Art at Syracuse University. The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is a public-benefit, nonprofit organization championing the literary, artistic and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut. The library seeks to engage people in the written word — especially their own. We are in a brand new home in a historic building in downtown Indianapolis (543 Indiana Ave.), thanks to over 1,400 supporters. Learn more about us at Vonnegutlibrary.org.