ART WIRE Event Set For Next Month

Contemporary arts center OZ Arts Nashville announced it will present a special reading from fellows in the Art Wire program, a unique, cross-disciplinary collaboration with prominent literary nonprofit The Porch. The free event, set for Wednesday, June 12 at 7 pm, invites ten Art Wire Fellows of diverse backgrounds and ages to the OZ Arts stage to share a mix of poetry and prose influenced by the 2023-24 OZ Arts season, which saw extraordinary performers and impactful explorations of contemporary artforms.

Over the last six years, Art Wire has been an instrumental collaboration between OZ Arts and The Porch, selecting a talented cohort of teen and adult writers to share their literary responses to the season's presentations with deeply personal, playful and engaging writing. The Art Wire Fellows' works highlight many literary genres, including poetry, prose, hybrid forms and spoken word. Featured writers in the 2023-24 cohort include Isa Aguilera, Sally Amkoa, Noah Cappellino, Asif ElAmri-Brantley, Kyoko Eng, Ami` Hanna-Huff, Nat Martinez-White, Sarah Page-McCaw, JR Robles and Aaron Shapiro.

This year, the writers drew inspiration from local, national and international performance pieces that left audiences in awe and wonder. Performances from American artists such as Rennie Harris' Rome and Jewels, Geoff Sobelle's FOOD and Shamel Pitts' BLACK HOLE - Trilogy and Triathlon showcased the diversity of expressions happening in dance, theater and multimedia across the nation, and OZ's incredible slate of international performances, including Compagnie Käfig's Pixel, Little Amal Walks Across America, and Mazelfreten's Rave Lucid displayed the breadth of movement and theatrical work from across the globe. OZ's sensational 11th season of programming closes with Northern Irish choreographer Oona Doherty's groundbreaking work Navy Blue from May 30 - June 1.

"We're excited to host this year's cohort of talented and passionate writers to hear firsthand how the 2023-24 OZ Arts programming season resonated with members of our creative community," said Mark Murphy, OZ Arts Executive and Artistic Director. "This year's season was as ambitious as ever and brought in an impressive slate of creative minds from across the world, celebrating humanity, heritage and everything that makes us as people unique. As always, we are extremely grateful to The Porch team for their partnership to provide mentorship to writers of all ages and backgrounds as we celebrate the power of art and writing in our community."

OZ Arts celebrated its 10th anniversary in April and is proud to continue presenting critical works by a diverse group of artists from around the world. The partnership with The Porch furthers the OZ mission and opens the floor to passionate members of the Nashville community to safely share personal reflections that playfully yet meaningfully engage with the programming OZ brings to the city. This year's group was mentored by acclaimed poet Ciona Rouse, who oversaw the adult writing cohort, alongside Joe Kane, a lauded member of the arts community who serves as director of The Porch's youth programs and has been involved with the Art Wire program since its inception. The Art Wire program has served as a creative home for over 60 writers since it began in 2018.

"We're looking forward to this year's installment of Art Wire as we celebrate a riveting year of contemporary arts programming at OZ, and the 2024 Fellows are looking forward to engaging with the community to share how this season inspired them through incredible performances," said Susannah Felts, co-founder of The Porch. "The writings they prepare give us a beautiful look into how contemporary art affects us all differently, and we're thrilled to share how our Fellows reflected on such a robust crop of performances when we come together for the evening of literary celebration."

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