Building on the successful "Let's Talk Art" panel session on race,
culture and art in March 2023, Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL),
the Museum of Creative Human Art (MOCHA), and Assembly for the Arts
invite you to join us for a celebration of spoken word. Learn from the
experiences and perspectives of our panelists - Honey Bell-Bey, Jennifer Coleman, Siaara Freeman, Calil Gage, Wesley (Wallstreet Wes) Robinson - in an engaging dialogue moderated by Deidre McPherson, Chief Community Officer for the Assembly for the Arts. Brief reception and spoken word performance immediately following.
Panelists
Jennifer Coleman
Coleman is the Foundation’s program director for Creative Culture and
Arts. Prior to joining the Foundation, Coleman, an architect, was
president of her own design firm, Jennifer Coleman Creative. Earlier in
her career, she practiced architecture at several local architecture
firms. She also founded CityProwl.com, a company that produced audio
walking tours of Cleveland that highlight the distinctive history and
architecture of Cleveland. Among her many civic endeavors, Jennifer has
served as chair of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission, the
Downtown/Flats Design Review Committee and the Group Plan Commission.
She also has been a member of the board of trustees of many local arts
and cultural organizations. Coleman received a Bachelor of Architecture
degree from Cornell University.
Honey Bell-Bey
Honey Bell-Bey holds a BA in Broadcast Production Technology from
Bethune-Cookman University. A motivational poet, writer, educator and
community advocate, Bell-Bey is an Ohio Certified Prevention
Specialist and the founder and director for The International,
Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word, a character based performance
troupe for adolescent males who perform on topics of disparities and
social injustices. She has performed, directed, and choreographed Spoken
Word performances internationally and has received numerous awards and
accommodations for her service and activism utilizing poetry as a tool
to unite communities around issues in social justice and equity. She was
appointed the poet laureate of Cuyahoga County in January 2020, the
first poet in sixteen years to hold the position.
Siaara Freeman
Siaara
is a 2023 Room in the House fellow with Karmau Theater and a 2022
Catapult fellow with Cleveland Public Theater. She is a 2021 Premier
Playwright fellow recipient withCleveland Public theater. She is a 2020
WateringHole Manuscript fellow, 2018 Poetry Foundation incubator fellow
and a four time nominee for the pushcart prize. Her work appears in The Journal, Josephine Quarterly, Cleveland Magazine
and elsewhere. She has had multiple poems go viral and has toured both
nationally and internationally. Her first full length manuscript Urbanshee
is available with Button Poetry and is a 2023 finalist for the Audre
Lorde Award as well as a 2023 Silver Award winner for the Benjamin
Franklin IPBA award for Poetry.
Calil Gage
Calil
“JUST C.O.S.” Cage is a poet, speaker, educator, and two-time author.
He is the founder of and currently serves as the Executive Director of
The Sparrow’s Fortune. Born in Chicago, and raised in Columbus, OH,
Calil currently resides in Cleveland, OH. He gained his Bachelor of
Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Kent State
University. Recently, he was awarded the Helping Hands Award by the
Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board, because of the communal nature of his work
in the poetry world. His poetry and spoken word most often highlight
the Black community, trauma resilience, hope, healing, spiritual
principles, and more. “C.O.S.”, pronounced “cause”, stands for
Collection of Seeds. He sees his words as “just a collection of seeds”
planted into the hearts of those who listen. He hopes to continue
honoring this moniker and planting seeds of impact in every community he
visits.
Wesley (Wallstreet Wes) Robinson
Wesley Robinson was given the moniker, “Wallstreet” because of how he
genuinely invests in the lives of others. At the age of 21 years old
Wallstreet he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for two counts of
aggravated robbery. A crime Wallstreet has taken full accountability
for.
During his tenure in prison, Wes was often mentored by men serving
life or more years than a man can live, who encouraged him to embrace
his prison experience as a life lesson. With this knowledge, at the age
of 24 years old Wallstreet began to pour that same wisdom onto the other
young males who were serving long stints like him. After awhile the
administration of the prison threatened to place Wes in solitary
confinement if he kept on impacting the population in a positive way.
These threats only encouraged him and led him to informally form an
organization called “Digging Diamonds from Dirt”, where he educated
himself and others on black history and poetry so that they could
express themselves to elders who only judged them as wild and young
instead of youth in need of guidance.
In 2012, Wallstreet Wes was transferred to a minimum level security prison where he was able to truly find himself creatively.
About the moderator
Deidre McPherson, Chief Community Officer at the Assembly for the
Arts, is a creative producer and entrepreneurial strategist dedicated to
bridging the gap between artists, communities, and institutions. Her
passion for recognizing the creative talent in her community and
connecting artists to the public through cultural events and
opportunities has been at the core of her work. Her advocacy for Black
and Brown and LGBTQ+ creatives enables her to be a prominent force in
the collective shift towards equity in Northeast Ohio.
Over the years, Deidre has held leadership roles at the Cleveland
Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa). At
both institutions, she was responsible for curating and managing events
designed to make the museum a vibrant, socially relevant, and welcoming
destination. Similarly, as Director of Artistic and Community
Initiatives for FRONT International Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary
Art, she introduced community engagement practices that focused on
amplifying Black and Brown creatives. Through her consulting practice,
she has worked on projects for clients including the Cleveland
International Film Festival (CIFF), Studio West 117, Karamu House, Dance
Cleveland and the Saint Luke’s Foundation. Deidre earned a Bachelor's
degree from Miami University (with minors in Violin Performance and Arts
Administration) and an MBA from the University of Maryland.
Meet the authors of the Poem for Cleveland Anthology
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