Vision-Into-Art
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Impact Lab, a collaborative initiative between National Sawdust and VisionIntoArt, is envisioned as a Research & Development (R&D) Lab to explore new models for creating interdisciplinary music and arts projects - with a particular focus on works which are committed to driving social change and equity in the arts.
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Major interdisciplinary music and arts projects, driven by world-class artists, exploring socially-engaged themes and committed to centering equity in all aspects of the work - artistic methods; narratives, storytelling and aesthetics; creative production; audience experience; funding models; etc.
A research, arts and technology project, aiming to expand the possibilities for the creative expression of voice - cocreating with disabled artists to develop new artistic voice technologies and an interactive installation, driven by the NYU Ability Project and Arup.
Poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s landmark, 975-line poem Primero Sueño was first published in 1692 and is one of the greatest literary works of the Hispanic Baroque. Now, it appears for the first time in operatic form.
We Were Fridays will be Jeffrey Zeigler’s fifth solo album, an exploration of a deeply personal family history following the Griot tradition of West Africa and traveling to South Carolina by way of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The VIA:LAB Fellows are visionary artist-scholars, arts researchers or creative producers who will serve as key through lines and thought leaders across each Impact Lab project - leading the research + development process and serving as core members of the project/artist producing team.
Kari Setsuko Love is a Brooklyn-based artist who makes tech-enabled mixed media pieces that demystify technology and ask the question “Who does technology belong to?” Drawing on her wide ranging professional experiences her projects engage all 5 senses and sometimes even become a part of the user. Costuming has been central to her career for over 20 years, and the Spider-man costume she led the team to build for the Broadway production of "Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark," was inducted into the Smithsonian collection. As a puppet costumer and builder she has worked on productions such as Sesame Street and Helpsters. With the space suit company Final Frontier Design, Kari served as a technical expert on 5 NASA research contracts. She co-wrote the book "Soft Robotics: A DIY Introduction to Squishy, Stretchy, and Flexible Robots."
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Yuriria Fanjul is a Lecoq-trained Stage Creator from Mexico City. With a 14 year-long career in theatre and opera, Fanjul has created many original shows throughout Europe, USA and Mexico, and directed in important opera houses such as Opera de Bellas Artes, Festival Internacional Cervantino, Festival del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México and CulturaUNAM, amongst others. In 2022 she debuted as an Immersive Librettist and Virtual Reality Director with Stay in Mexico Ópera 360º, an original contemporary opera featuring 30 refugees street dancing at the US-Mexico border. Her particular interest in Baroque music led her to found the Theatre and Opera Company STAGE of the ARTS - Mexico, a company with which she produces original theatre and opera productions in professional stages, as well as in communities.
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Tendaji Bailey is a Gullah Geechee native of Port Royal & St Helena Island, SC in Beaufort County. He is a 2015 graduate of Morehouse College and former middle school math teacher and community organizer. He is an Artist and the founder of the Gullah Geechee Futures Project. He helps to develop programs and events to educate the public about the rich history and culture of Gullah Geechee communities throughout the coastal south east and beyond through the Mellon Morehouse Movement, Memory, & Justice Project. He is also a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association of Interpreters. As an emerging artist he transforms into a Griot, a traditional Stroyteller, by singing, song writing, and curating immersive experiences through his most recent work, “SEEKING|SOARING: Gullah Resilience Songs”.
As a disabled person with Cerebral Palsy, the intersection of opera and disability is a cornerstone of Greg’s work. This perspective informs his role as co-founder and artistic director of OperaPraktikos. New York City's first disability affirmative Opera Company. He serves as Assistant to the Librettists for Touch, an opera by Carla Lucero and Marianna Mott Newirth on the radical life of Helen Keller, commissioned by Opera Birmingham which premiered in 2024. Additionally, Greg is the Resident Musicologist for Divaria Productions, a New York City-based company dedicated to educating audiences about the historical circumstances surrounding classic works and watershed moments in operatic history.
As an artist, Camille builds worlds, and as a person, she builds communities. She believes that collaboration is needed to create a piece of theater and a community is needed to witness. To her, stories are what make us human. She hopes to tell socially relevant stories, amplify women’s voices, and the voices of those with disabilities, like herself. She honors people’s histories and individualities while creating characters and meticulously looks at character’s motivations and relationships to uncover truths. While tackling world issues and injustices, she maintains a hopeful outlook. Camille’s background in fine art is in service of this, solidifying clear visuals and artistic execution. Camille has designed plays, musicals, operas, and films, but particularly loves designing pieces connected to music. She holds a BFA in costume design and BA in art & design from the University of Michigan.
