HILARITIES & UNREST: A Black Sonic Experience

Date: Friday, April 14, 2023

Doors: 5PM for Golden Hour

Showtime: 7PM 

FREE ADMISSION 

About: 

Join AMFM for HILARITIES & UNREST: A Black Sonic Experience during EXPO After Hours. This event catered to the Black experience will spotlight AMFM EXPO booth artist, Lola Ayisha Ogbara, and highlight her sound project, Hilarities & Unrest, mixed throughout DJ sets from FINDING IJEOMA, Duane Powell and DOUBLEDUTCH (Houston). We will invite everyone to dance with us to the sounds of our guest DJs alongside visual installations by Giiivens. AMFM’s booth at EXPO Chicago is centered around five emerging Black artists and sponsored by South Side Community Art Center, the first Black arts institution in the nation. The event is also in partnership with Black Art Gathering, an initiative to bring together Black artists, creatives and arts administrators.

About AMFM

AMFM is a Chicago based arts platform that supports and features emerging and established artists through our website, which includes content with local artists and creatives from all over the globe, and through our curated events, exhibitions, partnerships, and activations. Through programming, AMFM combines the arts to cultivate community, diversity, inclusivity, intergenerational engagement and of course, good vibes with a purpose, mission, or cause.

Website: http://amfm.life 

Lola Ayisha Ogbara

LOLA AYISHA OGBARA (cultural worker & artist) born and raised in Chicago, Illinois holds many talents under her belt, i.e. sculpture, sound, design, photography and installation art. “My practice explores the multifaceted implications and ramifications of being in regards to the Black experience. I work with clay as a material in order to emphasize a necessary fragility which symbolizes an essential contradiction implicit in empowerments”. Ogbara holds a Bachelor of Arts in Arts Entertainment & Media Management from Columbia College Chicago in 2013 and a MFA in Visual Arts from Washington University Sam Fox School of Art & Design. In 2017, Ogbara co-founded Artists in the Room, a collective of artists and scholars who host artists, emerging and established, in hopes of serving as a catalyst for artist development and networking. Ogbara has also received numerous fellowships and awards, including the Multicultural Fellowship sponsored by the NCECA 52nd Annual Conference, the Arts + Public Life and Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture Residency at the University of Chicago, and the Coney Family Fund Award hosted by the Chicago Artists Coalition. Ogbara has exhibited in art spaces across the country and is currently based in Chicago, Illinois. 

Website: https://lolaogbara.com/ 

DJS:

FINDING IJEOMA

FINDING IJEOMA is a creative platform dedicated to providing meaningful experiences for women and youth to thrive across art, music, and community. Established in 2015 by founder Alexandria Eregbu— FINDING IJEOMA offers DJ and curatorial services for exhibitions, events, and project consulting.

Duane Powell

Growing up immersed in the richness of Chicago's soul music scene of the 70s and early 80s, Duane Powell entered the world of street promotions in 1985 pounding the pavement promoting events for prominent DJs within Chicago's burgeoning house music scene starting with Lil Louis. By 1990, Duane had done street promotions and served as marketing manager and consultant for many clubs and DJs including the historic Powerhouse. As a DJ, he has spun, headlined and has held residencies at many of Chicago's most popular music venues, hot spots and festivals including Taste Of Chicago, SummerDance and Chicago House Festival. He has also been headliner at festivals throughout the U.S. including Arizona House Festival, Afro Disco Miami and shared the bill with the likes Francois K, Nicky Siano, Joe Claussell, Ron Trent, DJ Spinna, Ian Friday and many many more. In 2019, he was named Best House DJ by the Chicago Reader and most recently, recorded a live DJ set for the international TV network Boiler Room.

DOUBLEDUTCH

Amarie Cemone Gipson aka DOUBLEDUTCH is an art worker, DJ and creative director based in Houston, TX. She has held curatorial positions at The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Renaissance Society, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Contemporary Austin, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Independently, her writing has been published in several journals and magazines including Artforum, ARTNews, ARTS.BLACK, Cite, ESSENCE, Gulf Coast, Houstonia, and THE SEEN. Currently based in her hometown of Houston, she created an open format dance party called PHYSICAL THERAPY where she serves as creative lead and resident DJ. As a culmination of her decade-long journey through the realms of art, music and media, Gipson founded The Reading Room, a Black art reference library whose collection holds more than 300 publications and ephemera with an emphasis on Blackness, visual culture and the American South.

Featuring Virtual and Light Installations by GIIIVENS

GIIIVENS

GIIIVENS is an experiential designer and software developer armed with a BA in Fine Arts from St. Mary's College, and is on the precipice of completing a software development certification from Northwestern University. They create interactive and immersive experiences that consist of experimental light / architectural design, audio visual art, 3D animation, and full stack + augmented reality software development, in addition to music composition and artistic direction. Their work has been shown in various capacities, which include recently creating a permanent Installation at Pier Park in South Bend Indiana. Their work has also notably been shown for Redbull at SXSW, The LINE Hotel, and The Museum of Human Achievement in Austin, TX, Public Works Gallery in Chicago, and Bishop Arts Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Outside of their solo ventures they are the founder of GIIIVENS Studio, a chairman and executive board member at the South Bend Museum of Art board, and a board member of the the artist residency board for the ATX based non-profit Brown State of Mind.

Golden Hour at Epiphany:

Stop by Epiphany for our live music series concerts, and be sure to hit Golden Hour before-hand for drinks and lite-bites! Doors open at 5pm Wednesday - Saturday for Golden Hour with 1/2 priced bottles of wine and other specials!

Come early to EXPLORE and DISCOVER your own EPIPHANY… our art galleries are open and there is free entertainment before the show!

Full Concert Calendar Here

Golden Hour Menu + Music Schedule

Join us in the Cafe/Bar Wednesday thru Saturday starting at 5 PM - 8PM

Golden Hour at Epiphany Center for the Arts is accentuated by free live music with food and drink specials, and, good friends… creating a magical aura that will help you, our valued patron, wind down or up your day!

Live Music from Fiesta Cuba 6:30 - 10PM  (FREE ADMISSION)

Golden Hour Specials

- $4 craft beer

- ½ priced bottle of wine

- Delicious 2 for 1 lite bites

Golden Hour specials end at 8 PM but live music continues until 10 PM/10:30PM in the The Sanctuary 

(Check calendar for upcoming performances).

About the event: 

¡Bailar y Cumbanchar! Enjoy Cuban culture through music and dancing. Join us for a fun class and practice your new skills by dancing the night away to inviting rhythms. No experience or partner needed!  ¡A gozar!

Edson Leonardo Cabrera Veitia - Edson De Cuba

Born in Cuba and graduated from the highly regarded Escuela Nacional de Arte in Dance in 2005. During this training period at the National School of Art in Havana, he participated in the ITs Festival in the Netherlands under the direction of Feri de Geus and Noortje Bijvoets. Subsequently, he joined the Cuban dance company Ballet Rakatan, dancing as a soloist. In 2007, he became a member of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, participating in several international tours. Mr. Cabrera was made Principal Dancer in 2010.  Since arriving in Chicago, Mr. Cabrera has danced with Hedwig Dances, Kechari, Concert Dance and teaches Cuban dance classes in the Chicago area.