The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - 30

Arts & Culture
introduced a series of open calls, too, from a
self-portrait project that attracted many newer
artists, to more than 30 " Art Matters " grants,
awarded to projects that advocated for community
wellness, justice and inclusion.
" Those open calls are so important because
they're paid; that's such a huge hurdle for
[emerging] artists to go through, " says painter
Maggie Perrin-Key, selected as the 2023
Emerging Artist of the Year by Open Studios
Roanoke.
Perrin-Key knows a thing or two about life
as a burgeoning artist. When she first started
out, she says she lived in her family home to
afford her studio space - something she sees
as critical to her progress. " The biggest [challenge]
is affordable art studios, " she says. " We
need them, and they need to be subsidized. "
To help emerging creatives begin tackling
the monetary aspects of their work, Katherine
Devine - artist-in-residence for Roanoke
Valley Sister Cities - hosted a series of free
community workshops. Attendees could learn
about grants, meet counselors from the Small
Business Development Center and even sketch
out visual business plans. " There are cultural
myths that are obstacles to artists, and one is
that to sell your artwork is 'selling out,' " says
Devine, who credits the SBDC with helping
her carve out a living through her artwork. " If
you're selling your art, you're a business owner,
and there are resources to help you. "
And in the past year, new artists began to
tap into them.
TACKLING TOUGH
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
On a quiet Tuesday morning, Bryan
Hancock hunches over the table at a favorite
local coffee shop, Little Green Hive. As usual,
he's wearing chunky, noise-cancelling headphones,
and he's accompanied by a notebook
for scribbling. Hancock has spent years holed
up in cafes like this one, grinding away at various
creative projects - from his work with hiphop
ensemble Harvest Blaque, to his efforts at
leading Soul Sessions, an open-mic space for
spoken-word poets.
Lately, however, he's been creating something
new - a Youth Poet Laureate program
he's helping to establish alongside the City of
Roanoke and Soul Sessions.
" It's all about legacy, " explains Hancock, who
hopes this new project will generate changes
that echo beyond his own lifetime. Hancock
says he can remember being bullied as a child,
but finding healthy outlets for his emotions
through the encouragement of several adults.
He's particularly grateful to an English teacher
who nudged him toward writing.
Now, he's attempting to pass on those gifts.
All summer long, he's met with students at
Melrose Library, where they workshop new writing.
These efforts will culminate in a community
poetry festival in October, when Roanoke's first
Youth Poet Laureate will be revealed. And while
the writers are young, Hancock says, the topics
they explore are often quite serious. And perhaps
that's exactly the point.
" We're looking at a culture full of things we
don't have answers about ...Violence is leaking
into everything, " says Hancock. " [So] we're
giving them a format to have those tough conversations
through poetry or creative writing. "
Hancock's efforts are just one way that
Roanoke artists are proving their willingness
- and sometimes even their hunger - to enter
into important conversations through art. Take
the work of artist Bryce Cobbs, who collaborated
with sculptor Larry Bechtel to design a
downtown statue honoring Henrietta Lacks -
a Roanoke native and a Black woman whose
HeLa cells, taken without her permission, have
since proved invaluable to medical research.
The statue, created as part of the Roanoke
Hidden Histories initiative, is scheduled for
unveiling this autumn.
" Being a young Black artist, I live in this
world all the time, " Cobbs says. " [So] I didn't
realize how many people didn't even know
about Henrietta Lacks. I'm educating myself
on what others don't know, and what I don't
know. "
Meanwhile, as an Art Matters grantee,
Cobbs designed a large-scale mural for the
side of the Berglund Center as part of its
Heart of Gainsboro initiative - a highly collaborative
project. The building was once the
site of a thriving community in the Gainsboro
neighborhood - home to many talented Black
creatives, entrepreneurs and activists during
segregation. To capture the stories of residents
pushed out by urban renewal projects, Cobbs
interviewed community members alongside
historian-in-residence Jordan Bell, then
painted a series of colorful, layered portraits
of community elders, which he layered into a
single piece.
Cobbs' projects have attracted national
media attention, with coverage in NPR and
" The New York Times. " Still, he says, he meets
many Roanokers who have never heard of the
historic injustices affecting the Gainsboro
neighborhood.
" We want to talk about the great things
that happened, but we need to talk about these
things, too, " he says. " It's a duty of mine to help
tell the story through the artwork. "
The artist says that, in engaging in these
conversations, he's felt a certain burden begin
to lift, however slowly.
" It's a relief, " he says. " Art is a common
ground for people to come together on ...
It makes people want to take initiative and
acknowledge things, and that's a step in the
right direction. "
If the past year is a sign of what's to come,
then it's safe to say that Roanoke's creatives
fully intend to keep stepping. I
30
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
TheRoanoker.com
COURTESY OF LAURA WHITE / COURTESY OF I HEART SE
http://www.TheRoanoker.com
The Roanoker Sept/October 2023

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