The University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of the Arts and the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) welcome Porsha Olayiwola and Eve L. Ewing as the spring 2023 Interdisciplinary Artists-in-Residence.
An academic year-long partnership between the Division of the Arts and OMAI, the collaboration presents a series of short-term residencies with interdisciplinary artists. Launching in October 2022 with artist-collaborators Jay Adana and Zeniba Now, each artist-in-residence in the series represents the three pillars of OMAI: academics, arts and activism. Each residency also includes presentations and conversations in partnership with arts departments on campus.
Writer, performer and playwright Porsha Olayiwola will be on campus February 24–March 4, 2023. Olayiwola’s residency will include participation as a performer in the annual “Moonshine – A Black History Month tradition” presented by the Dance Department, and a panelist at the Division of the Arts’ February Arts Together event on Friday, February 24. Olayiwola will also be interviewed on Badger Talks Live on Tuesday, February 28 and appear as the featured artist at OMAI’s Just Bust! Open Mic on Friday, March 3 and Workshop on Saturday, March 4.
Writer, scholar and cultural organizer Dr. Eve L. Ewing will be on campus March 29–April 1. As part of the residency, Ewing will be the featured performer at the annual Line Breaks Festival, and engage in public conversations with UW–Madison faculty.
Public Events: Porsha Olayiwola
Friday, February 24 | 3:30 p.m.
Moonshine – A Black History Month tradition
Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall (1050 University Avenue)
“Moonshine” is a traditional performance gathering in celebration of Black History Month featuring dance, spoken word and experimental contemporary performance.
Friday, February 24 | time TBD
Arts Together with the Dance Department
Virginia Harrison Parlor, Lathrop Hall (1050 University Avenue)
Following “Moonshine – A Black History Month tradition,” join the Division of the Arts for Arts Together, a reception and panel discussion with Interdisciplinary Artist-in-Residence Porsha Olayiwola and others. Arts Together events bring faculty and staff together to meet each other, share in collaborative ideas and explore opportunities for funding creative research as we celebrate the arts on campus.
Tuesday, February 28 | 12 p.m.
Badger Talks LIVE Quick Picks: The Impact of Interdisciplinary Arts
Live on Facebook
A short-form (15 min) virtual talk series featuring talent from the University of Wisconsin-Madison which brings exciting happenings, resources and talent to the people of Wisconsin and beyond. This Black History Month, the Division will highlight the various ways in which the arts create and activate spaces of belonging at UW–Madison, and in turn, improve individual wellbeing through conversations with arts faculty and staff, guest artists, and students. In this talk, learn about the Arts Residency Programs and the impact of interdisciplinary arts at UW–Madison through a conversation with Black, queer performing artist Shasparay Irvin and Black writer, performer, playwright and current Interdisciplinary Artist-in-Residence Porsha Olayiwola.
Friday, March 3 | 8–10 p.m.
Just Bust! Open Mic
Wisconsin Historical Society (816 State Street)
Madison’s long-running, all-ages open mic, Just Bust! Open Mic, includes community performances, First Wave and alumni spotlight performance and a performance by Interdisciplinary Artist-in-Residence Porsha Olayiwola. Interested in performing during the open mic portion of the event? Sign up (in-person) begins at 8 p.m. and goes on throughout the night until all slots are filled. Make sure to arrive early to guarantee a spot in the lineup! Free, all ages and open to the public.
Saturday, March 4 | 1–3 p.m.
Just Bust! Workshop
The Bubbler at Madison Public Library (201 W. Mifflin Street)
An artistic workshop led by Interdisciplinary Artist-in-Residence Porsha Olayiwola.
About the Artists
Porsha Olayiwola is a native of Chicago who writes, lives and loves in Boston. Olayiwola is a writer, performer, educator and curator who uses Afrofuturism and surrealism to examine historical and current issues in the Black, woman and queer diasporas. She is an Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the founder of the Roxbury Poetry Festival. Olayiwola is Brown University’s 2019 Heimark Artist-In-Residence as well as the 2021 Artist-in-Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She is a 2020 Poet Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets. Olayiwola earned her MFA in poetry from Emerson College and is the author of “i shimmer sometimes, too.” Olayiwola is the current Poet Laureate for the city of Boston. Her work can be found in or forthcoming from with “TriQuarterly Magazine,” “Black Warrior Review,” “The Boston Globe,” “Essence Magazine,” Redivider, The Academy of American Poets, Netflix, Wildness Press, The Museum of Fine Arts and elsewhere.
Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a Chicago-based sociologist of education. She is the award-winning author of four books, including a book for young readers, “Maya and the Robot;” the poetry collection “1919,” the nonfiction work “Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side” and her first book, the poetry collection “Electric Arches,” which was named one of the year’s best books by NPR and the “Chicago Tribune.” She is the co-author (with Nate Marshall, assistant professor of English at UW–Madison) of the play “No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks.” She also wrote the Ironheart series and the Champions series for Marvel Comics. Ewing is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.