ANNC: COMING UP ON KVIE ARTS SHOWCASE... WE CELEBRATE THE ART, CULTURES, TRADITIONS, AND EXPRESSIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS.

AN ARTIST ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO CARRY OUT THEIR LITERARY DREAMS Terry: I am just trying to reach out and make a difference.

I wanna be able to encourage them not to give up.

ANNC: WEARABLE ART Virgil: Most of the stuff that inspires me, um, comes out of the ancient Middle East.

That's kinda why I call it the ancient craft.

ANNC: AN INNOVATIVE ARTIST COLLECTIVE Siri: We don'’t take training for this, we literally just know what we want to do, we invite other people to do it with us, and we all figure it out together and we just get better together.

ANNC: COLORFUL TEXTILE CREATIONS Cynthia: What's always in my work is the, is the attitude of hope and, and, and joy and unlimited possibilities of, of being able to be free and to be yourself.

"” ANNC: THE CRAFT OF THE BARBER Darrail: Barbering is in fact the art of defining someone's inner personality and their outer physical being.

Um, and by doing that, you actually build someone's self awareness and their self confidence.

ANNC: IT'’S ALL UP NEXT ON KVIE ARTS SHOWCASE.... ♪♪ ♪♪ ANNC: SACRAMENTO ARTIST TERRY ONEAL IS A POET, AUTHOR, SCREENWRITER AND EDUCATOR.

WITH EVERY DYNAMIC WORD SHE EXPRESSES, SHE IS HOPING TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO SEE THEIR POSSIBILITIES AND THEN REACH FARTHER.

♪♪ Terry: Light shines upon you, grace is your name.

You give me hope to do the same.

To be a face with a name in this boundless place.

Confidence, strength and intelligence are just a few of many of your endless qualities.

My mother had exposed me to arts literature and culture at such a young age.

And at the early age of six years old, I met one of the greatest voices in African American literature, the late Dr. Maya Angelou.

Even though I was too young to appreciate it, I carried it with me for the rest of my life and it has contributed to the writer, the poet, the artist, the woman I am today.

I would have never guessed, though, that I would be a published writer.

Well, I was in my second year at Cosumnes River College and I had a professor who- we had a paper to write, and I wrote the essay and I was inspired to write a poem.

So I submitted my paper, incorporated a poem, and I got my paper back.

In red ink, it said, "Nice poem.

If this is the work of another author, please state the author's name and where you found it."

And I was like, "Wow, he thinks that I'm good enough.

My writing is good enough to be the work of another author, a real-life author."

It was really that defining moment where I said, "I can do this," and I took those steps to publish my first book.

That first book, Motion Sickness, was released in 1999 and after it was published I was really, really eager, motivated- eager to see it in stores, on bookshelves and in libraries.

The knowledge from your tongue brings excitement to my ears even though I fail to comprehend every word...

I praise you, falling to my knees at the very site of you I roll out the red carpet and I bow.

Early on in my career, I will say the feedback wasn't great as a new poet, a black poet.

There was a lot of criticism, a lot of rejection, that I dealt with for many, many years.

It was difficult, but it did give me tough skin.

My second book was different.

I will say the writing kind evolved.

It started to pick up, the publicity and the positive comments about my work, when I reach 'The Poet Speaks in Black' by 2001, and then I start adventuring down another road.

I spend a lot of time in the schools, that's the majority of the events and presentations I give is in the school system; I'm just tryin' to reach out and make a difference in the lives of the young people, and that's rewarding; they inspire me.

I wanna be able to encourage them not to give up, not to quit, and just to follow their dreams.

As cliché as it sounds, knowledge is power, it really is.

And enlightening other people, I mean it's been over fifteen years since I've been writing and sharing my work with the world.

If I can make a difference in the life of somebody else who reads my work, then it- it was all worth it for me.

What a noble prize, a dream come true.

I wish one day to become as great a person.

To be respected by all, to touch many souls, to grow old and be known as phenomenal.

♪♪ ANNC: WE HEAD TO DETROIT, MICHIGAN, TO MEET VIRGIL TAYLOR, AN ARTIST WHO CREATES WEARABLE ART.

♪♪ Virgil: I play with fire.

I zone out on working with metal.

It has, it spoke to me.

♪♪ I'm an artist.

I'm not a jeweler.

And there is a difference.

I have friends that are jewelers that are brilliant.

Some of the stuff they do I could never do.

I don't have the patience nor the temperament for it because materials talk to me.

♪♪ I grew up in Detroit, around Central High School.

My mom was a huge art fan.

And so it was also, when I think back about it now, like nothing in our house ever went unused.

We were always creating stuff.

And so I guess I was, I had a natural aptitude for it.

I've had a very interesting life, but I wasn't doing my craft all the time.

I'd come back to it, I'’d do it.

And then this particular facility, the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, I was in my thirties when I discovered this place.

And so I start, this place started getting me back into it.

I have an affinity for certain types of jewelry.

Most of the stuff that inspires me, um, comes out of the ancient Middle East.

That's kinda why I call it the ancient craft.

Uh, ancient Africa or African nations, Middle Eastern nations.

My inspiration tends to be around those regions, those processes.

I have an affinity for ancient techniques.

Uh, I went to Africa last year and spent time with the Maasai.

I was really honored to do that and fascinated by their processes because they're so raw.

I mean, when you have people making, like, annealing metal over dung ovens, which is pretty fascinating to watch.

♪♪ I do a lot of really organic stuff.

I'm very fond of happy accidents.

You know, a lot of times other people will go for refining something.

I'’m like, no, no, no, no, no.

That's perfect.

Leave it just like that.

It works for me.

So I don't strive to make art that is real refined.

♪♪ I have a ring that I'm working on now I had no clue when I started with this ring what I was going to do.

And I ended up with a stone that I had no idea I was going to get.

But it just kind of all evolved and the final touches are this evening on that piece ♪♪ I have a client that's Ecuadorian.

I did some pieces for, I did a bangle bracelet for him that was really interesting and the design ended up being my interpretation of an ancient Ecuadorian palatial aqueduct.

And so it, it was filled with a blue resin.

It was done in, um, copper, 18 karat gold and sterling silver.

And so the resin that I used in it is blue, so it looked like it was a pool at the top and it looked like there was blue running through the veins because I cracked it open.

I recently have been doing some bracelets.

They're African, there were in different parts of Africa, but they'’re currency jewelry, what they would call wearable currency jewelry.

Some people get a little miffed because when they see them, a lot of times they, they see it as representing slavery.

But the reality of it with those, those bracelets though was that, yes, they sometimes were involved in slave trading, but the people that were using those bracelets and this wearable jewelry, that had little or nothing to do with slave trade.

Um, that was a method of people, currency wearing it because they didn't have pockets and things.

And so they would wear these things and sometimes it would be a display of wealth.

People would barter with them.

So it would be the equivalent of us wearing dollar bills or $100 bills on our wrists.

So I've been doing some of those recently.

I've been casting those.

I guess it always resonates with me that like why, why are we attracted to jewelry?

Just like, why do we sing?

Why do we dance?

You know, what, why do we, why do some things make us happy?

And wearable art or jewelry for me is, is just part of that is beautification.

Traditionally, humans like to embellish.

They like to, to beautify themselves, whether it be with paint, if you go back and look at old cave drawings, people would paint themselves with mud or whatever, and then they would adorn themselves with bones or, or beads or rocks or whatever that they found feathers that they found that were, were beautiful.

So there's something to me that resonates with us as humans about beauty, about the embracing of beauty.

For me I think it's a reflection of our psyche, our desire to always embrace the beautiful.

And so jewelry, wearable art, is just another component or aspect of that.

♪♪ ♪♪ ANNC: BASED IN CINCINNATI, OHIO, TRIIIBE IS A COLLECTIVE OF ARTISTS DEDICATED TO ART AND ACTIVISM.

THIS TALENTED GROUP BRINGS TOGETHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY THROUGH MUSIC AND EVENTS.

♪♪ Look at the stars.

I guess they'’re really not that far.

Siri: Well, we were originally called Black Seeds Tribe, so tribe has always been here.

But once we changed our name from Black Seeds Tribe, we wanted to keep tribe '‘cause tribe is just that whole inclusive family feel, and that'’s what we always want to bring to the city.

But then it'’s an acronym as well, so we mapped it out as True Representation of Intellectual Individuals Invoking Black Excellence.

Three '‘i'’s in there, three of us, of course, which is symbolic.

And then TRIIIBE overall, like that'’s just our staple.

We operate as a tribe, you know, and we reach out to people and look to make them our tribe, so.

Aziza: I think what surprises people most from my perspective is that we haven'’t been together for a long time.

We'’ve only been doing this for, honestly, a year as TRIIIBE and only two years of us really knowing each other, diving into what it means to create.

PXVCE: I think the dynamic of us, like, being one male, two women, showing how we can work together, I think that'’s not always often seen, so people are not surprised, but yeah, they are surprised when they are able to see how fluid we are able to work because you really don'’t often see it that much.

[harmonizing] Siri: We'’re not professionals at all, we don'’t take training for this, we literally just know what we want to do, we invite other people to do it with us, and we all figure it out together and we just get better together.

And that'’s powerful for people to see, just to know how easily attainable it is to make your community better.

♪♪ Big heart, take big bank every time.

Big heart, take big bank every time.

Big heart, take big bank every time.

There'’s a book club, that'’s every first Monday.

Aziza: There'’s an event called Indigo Vibe & Flow and it'’s for like an intergenerational group of people that are interested in learning how to communicate.

There'’s also Soulstice, which is a yoga meditation, mindfulness mixed with food.

PXVCE: We got Raising the Barz every first and third Thursday.

That'’s downtown, and we talk to the children in the Cincinnati Public Library and we are challenging them to express themselves and be able to put it in a different way.

Aziza: what else?

There'’s Potluck for the People every last Sunday of the month.

Siri: Urban gardening classes, fitness classes... PXVCE: Oh yeah, we have fitness classes on Sundays.

We teamed up with Daniel from Burst Out workout fitness who'’s a part of Cincinnati peace movement as well.

Aziza: Seeing all the different kinds of people that come to out to the different kind of things that we do, there'’s this range, wide range of ages, wide range of backgrounds that comes out to speak their truth.

(woman on street) So over here, this is the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Students got together and decided to be a part of this event by giving people the opportunity to express themselves through art.

I believe that this is an awesome thing that they'’re doing because as you can see, people get a chance to not just eat and get clothing and stuff like that, it'’s fellowshipping and getting to know people, getting to know your neighbors, getting to know the community, people in the community.

♪♪ Everything is everything the universe touch Everything is everything the universe touch Siri: We take on roles like really well.

PXVCE is a muscle man.

He gets it done, like he'’ an executioner I already know that.

Z, honestly, keeps us going.

She maintains us.

And then, again, I'’m just kind of bossy, so yeah.

But we all, like, we do have these personality traits that makes it easy for us, no, I won'’t say easy.

It makes it possible for us to stay organized.

Aziza: We have many things that we'’re good at, and to utilize, like, how to really come together, that has been like a huge, huge phase of growth.

We'’re always evolving and figuring out how best to work with one another.

Not just in this three that we have, but all over the city.

(woman on screen) To have known TRIIIBE as three separate beings and for them to just coagulate into this super being of a group, it gives me chills.

The impact they have on the community is phenomenal.

And it'’s glorious and it'’s something you want to hear, you need to hear, to follow through with living a good life Or just being a better person.

They have set a bar without even trying.

They paved the way for people to follow.

And that'’s just that.

♪♪ Siri: Our message and our music is not the usual music and sound that you would hear or at least advertise now.

And that'’s cool '‘cause it is what it is and we are who we are, and I think that'’s important to make that statement, it'’s rebellious even, just saying like at the end of the day, with all this influence around us, this is who we are.

I am what I am, and then you just kind of have to deal with that.

♪♪ ANNC: CINCINNATI, OHIO ARTIST CYNTHIA LOCKHART'’S QUILTS, TELL A STORY.

THROUGH LAYERING, PAINTING, SILK SCREEN, EMBELLISHMENT, AND MORE, SHE CREATES IMAGES FULL OF POWER AND HOPE.

♪♪ Ellen and Ann from The Taft called me up one day and said, ""We'd be interested in coming over to look at your artwork.

The Taft is interested in you.""

So I prepared the visit for them.

They came by, they looked at my artwork in the house, visited my studio, and then probably about a month later I get a call with an invitation to do a show.

Obviously the title of the show and the design and depicting of the show was up to me to come up with.

And so that journey to be associated with the Taft started.

'Journey to Freedom' is a quilt that I did years ago, but it's really at the heart of a story that I believe in.

I believe in a story of people who were slaves.

A people who were brought to this country, unbeknownst to what would happen to them, left their history, came here and over a series of 400 years became a vibrant and exciting part of this America.

[drilling hole in wall] I am so impressed with the story that The Taft has with Robert Duncanson.

I'm very proud of the history of The Taft being able to embrace an African American artist and also being involved in abolitionist movement, and the integrity of The Taft to still continue to have a program in place that will support the African American community with their Duncanson.

Again, I had to research the Duncanson murals and you have to select a piece of art in The Taft, and I looked vigorously for many things and I was attracted to many things, but you had to narrow it down.

So in looking at Duncanson's work, he does a phenomenal depiction of this environment that just looks like a place that you want to be, that you could just walk into this place.

And so that's critical for an artist, that the viewer actually can feel that.

And then he did something very whimsical was to put a trompe l'oeil frame around the artwork.

And I thought that resonated with me.

That's sort of playing tricks with things.

I can be a trickster with artwork.

So I said, with that whimsy and with those beautiful color muted tones that he used.

I could work with that.

So what I decided when I started sketching was that in Duncanson's murals, I found an area where I felt a slave could have passed through one of his murals.

Therefore, I decided to have a runaway slave passing through the image of the inspiration of the Duncanson.

♪Swing low, sweet chariot♪ The title of it is 'Runaway: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot', which is an African American hymn, which depicts and guides the travelers to freedom.

So it was a song that was invented to give them instructions of where they would go to seek freedom.

And so with that then I said, okay, now I have to come up with some type of whimsy and some type of flight.

And I did that by using a figure that almost was like a camouflage figure that is escaping through the through the fields.

And again above him there are the three faces that are singing 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'.

I also created some orbs.

So the orb structures are just the round circles that you see in the work, are representative of travelers, representative of people who are no longer with us, but it's a way to remember them, the circles.

So inside the circle there is always a prayer.

It's always an aspiration.

And so the orbs surround the slave as the slave runs towards freedom.

What's always in my work is the, is the attitude of hope and, and, and joy and unlimited possibilities of, of being able to be free and to be yourself.

Freedom is a very precious thing.

And as a part of the show I said, whoa, I took on a big task.

This is my perspective about freedom.

'Journey to Freedom', depicted through my ancestors.

What does everybody else feel about freedom?""

And lots of writing, talking about freedom, lots of writing.

And then it dawned on me that, ""What do people think about freedom?""

It's a huge subject.

It's one of the most important subjects that we have, our individual rights as human beings to be free, to be treated free and equally.

♪Swing low, swing low sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.♪ me home.♪ ♪♪ ANNC: WE HEAD TO FLORIDA TO MEET TWO BARBERSHOP OWNERS WHO HAVE MASTERED THE ART OF CUTTING HAIR.

WITH THEIR CREATIVE SET OF TOOLS, THEY CREATE WORKS OF ART FOR EACH CUSTOMER ♪♪ ♪♪ My name's Darrail Abercrombie, I'm here today introducing my barbershop in Clearwater Florida, Edge it Up Hair Studios and what introduced me to barbering.

The reason why I started cutting hair is to pick up on a style and get out of the streets.

Barbering actually did change and save my life.

Now I own my own barbershop.

I've been in business for about three years.

I've been cutting for over 17 years.

This right here is my balding clipper, I use this just for setting my bald line.

These are, mostly I use for edging.

Gives you a real precise edge, real precise line up.

I have the curved shears and one cool trick about cutting is when you're cutting, use your thumb.

So this is your steel blade, this blade is not to move, you mostly just using your bobbing finger.

I'm a student at SPC working on my Associates in Architectural Design.

What brung me to actual being an architect is the art form of being a barber, the two go hand in hand.

The art form of being a barber relates back to like I said, being able to give a straight edge, to use a 90 degree angle, you'll be using 45 degree angles, a lot of math skills that go involve with cutting hair that transitions over to the geometry shapes.

The same thing goes for a rise and a run in building stairs.

So being a barber is just not about doing a good haircut but actually knowing forms, different angles, different styles.

And actually being able to present those styles on your client.

I know a lot of people don't think that barbering is an art.

But barbering is in fact the art of defining someone's inner personality and their outer physical being.

Um, and by doing that, you actually build someone's self awareness and their self confidence.

So where I'm trying to go in the next few years is just put my stamp on the world.

Show them that I am an artist in every form and that anybody can do anything that they put their mind to.

♪♪ - My name's Billy Werk, I'm the owner of the Werks Elite Barbershop.

I got into barbering probably when I was a kid.

So I grew up in the projects in New Jersey.

We were very poor.

We didn't have a lot at all and we definitely couldn't afford haircuts so what I did was started cutting hair myself.

So what I wound up doing is it led from cutting my own hair to some friends and cousins and my stepdad and my brother and it got to the point where they didn't want to go anywhere else because no one could cut someone's hair like me.

It led to me finally getting my barber degree and I decided to go to school and actually make it a career and it's probably the best thing I've ever done.

Once I got out, I had a goal, I had a five year goal to make my own, to have my own barbershop and I wound up within four years, I was ready to get out on my own.

I think it's the best career I ever had and then including like my art and stuff, I got started with art also at a very young age.

I was drawing people's names on their books for school, on their book covers.

Drawing their names and doing graffiti and then it just evolved from there.

I wound up having a show at the Dali Museum a few years ago that was really cool, we sold out.

Sold everything within an hour and a half.

Now I just, I'm still doing commissions and I'm trying to just go further in barbering and just putting everything as one.

They pretty much go hand in hand as far as art and barbering go.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >>EPISODES OF KVIE ARTS SHOWCASE, ALONG WITH OTHER KVIE PROGRAMS, ARE AVAILABLE TO WATCH ONLINE AT KVIE.ORG/VIDEO