monthly workshops
@ Chicago Art Dept.
-Sept 19
-Oct 17
-Nov 21
-Dec 19
workshops will be held in the evenings from 6-9.
missed the news?
i'm a resident
artist at Chicago
Art Dept. for
the next year i'll be spending my time creating new work, sharing the space with some of chicago's finest visual artist, conducting very serious very professional office hours and more.
i approach teaching as a humble act of giving. it is releasing my ego, releasing my preconceived notions on what i know, what i like, what i think is right to provide a safe and welcoming space. i want participants to grow. to leave feeling as if they have discovered something new about themselves. i want to push perceptions of movement, burlesque, healing, appropriateness and more. this time isn't about what i know. it's about what can we share? what can we build and experience TOGETHER.
taken a class with me? share your experience below!
past students : o.snap!, mona cherie, ramona rattlesnake, double dixon & shirley blazen. photo x jennifer coffrey
past student: o! mama
photo x mc newman
first
edition
the stunning artwork featured in holy is by none other than my sis, Andy Bellomo.
the second edition of the brown pages are HERE. explore. INTERACT. SHARE 'em. GET 'em. but mostly. ENJOY 'EM!
now this is some late
ass news. given that
the video for LSD just
dropped
last summer. during a
major life shift i
found jamila wood's music. heavn. a black girl's ode. bold and vulnerable. water.
among spirals of depression. heavn would echo from my bathroom sink. (cheapest speaker to date)
behind a closed door. with two sweaty pbrs. cigarettes. a joint and glowing orange candles.
i reclaimed my time while jamila reaffirmed my existence. my voice.
self care as ritual.
i think of this time as the "keep an eye on jenn" days. when the widest of arms held me. supported by andy b and sarbear. sam bailey. emily and molly. jordan and vince. emily and parker. jeezy. tiff. those that showed up for me. circled parks. packed bowls. played a single song on repeat for an entire evening. built fires. laughed on porches. stared at moons.
family.
reminded me of tomorrow.
"Ye, the bad days may come
The lover may leave
The winter may not
Hey, the map of your palms
The temple you be
You're all that you got" (lyrics from holy)
prayer. manifesting courage. self love.
dancing in jamila's video for holy felt...right. surrounded by family and some of chicago's dopest artist. it felt like those rare moments where you feel like everything is in its place. like the universe was whispering, "you made it! through all of it sis. through every spiral. every morning you woke with tears warming your cheeks. through ever fear. block. you are HERE! appreciate this..."* it felt like freedom.
it seems hokey. but fuck it. it has been over a year since the "keep an eye on jenn" days. to talk about it openly. feels like an uncomfortable healing.
my family gifted me strength. re-imagined. it is a strength that doesn't always require me to push through or leave the house despite my cracking insides. a strength that doesn't have to put on a strong face. mask my depression. it is a strength that can sit still. that can take the time to examine cycles and spirals. an opening. widening strength. a protect your glow kinda strength. a strength that invites weakness into the room, that finds joy amongst heartache and disappointment.
a holy strength.
photo x greg stephen reigh
photo x greg stephen reigh
yEs
ed. ii vol. i
first time reading the brown pages?
naw
ayyee. gold star for you! welcome back!
you be sayin' no,no,no,no,no when it's really...
if you don't click on this book and get on over to the first edition!
photo x kriss abigial
registration for workshops will be available in the 3rd edition of the brown pages!
have you seen the LATEST jamila wood's video for LSD? directed by sam bailey and vincent martell. this VAM production is a beautiful ode to Chicago + Lake Shore Drive. You can catch me dancing to Chance's verse!
enjoying the brown pages? sign up to know EXACTLY when the newest edition is published.
photo x greg stephen reigh
there are so many brilliant folks behind this image. styled by whitney middlton, tiger lily and sal ention. i am wearing a chicago queer fashion designer: Cole Durke.
photo x amanda trumbull photograhy
*remember that lone asterisk?
because the juke joint is a magical show where dreams of sharing the stage with jamila woods become reality. (jj '17)
countdown 'til the 3rd edition!
i was 48 hours late on this one. did ya'll even notice tho'?
thank you to everyone who came to witness
dynamite.
the juke joint hits the road. stopping at st. louis on sept 8th and then making our way to nashville on the 9th for 2 shows!
