Embodying Activism

Brian J. Evans is a Citizen Artist, defined by the Aspen Institute Arts Program as:

Individuals who reimagine the traditional notions of art-making, and who contribute to society either through the transformative power of their artistic abilities, or through proactive social engagement with the arts in realms including education, community building, diplomacy and healthcare.

Mixing disciplines, mixing professions, and mixed race, Brian J. Evans unpacks the “moments of suspension” that reside in the spaces between spaces—convinced that connections exist between us all and that the Embodied Arts are best positioned to remind us to be holistically human, lest we forget. Courageous vulnerability and intentional equity keep him aloft as he finds ways to give back and add to the communities, mentors, and ancestors who blazed trails and continue to do so!

Busking 4 Reparations

Busking for Reparations is a powerful platform that encourages dialogue, amplifying the ongoing conversation about reparations as direct payments for American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) and the promise of sustainable repair.

Embodying Activism

A Mellon Foundation Award supported the development of a First Year Seminar course empowering student activists to determine what activism means to them. Student artists at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine shadowed local activists and turned their findings into the publication below.

ECHOES

A site-responsive composition project that endeavors to encapsulate the breath, sorrow, and beauty of Portland, Maine’s intricate history and its relationship with its Black community. With the iconic Abyssinian Meeting House as the focal point, E C H O E S was a collaborative project co-directed by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Brian J. Evans, and Moon Machar. Other artists include Samuel James, Veeva Banga, CC Paschal, and Maya Williams; co-presented by Portland Ovations and Indigo Arts Alliance.

Love Each Other

A series of youth videos to create a space to find that ever-elusive moment when I becomes we, and they become us. Commissioned by Church Anew, these videos were made amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the ccontinual collective efforts to find one another.

and yet, we persist: Bates Dance 253 a documentary

As we faced unprecedented circumstances across the globe, the Bates College Dance Program, adhering to CDC protocols to mitigate the spread of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, continued to provide creative spaces. From October 19th through December 1st of 2020, Dance 253, comprised of seven students and two artists (Assitant Professor Brian J. Evans and Kendra Ross), one in person and the other remote, supported by the dance program, decided to collaboratively create and perform two works that stayed in the house. The challenges were immense, and the outcomes uncertain: and yet, we persist.