Black Hippie Art X ICA Philadelphia Sketch Club Recap
ICA Philadelphia x Black Hippie Art June Meetup Recap
On June 10th 2023, I had the pleasure of hosting a sketch club meetup at ICA Philadelphia. For those who don’t know anything about ICA Philadelphia, its a local Philadelphia gallery space that focuses on contemporary works from artists of all kind. This an art space that is free for all and is apart of the University of Pennsylvania. If you have never visited the space, I definitely recommend that you do.
Our still life display inspired by the SWARM exhibit
For this past visit, we were able to sketch a still life subject inspired by their current exhibition, SWARM, by Terrance Nance and curated by Maori Holmes of Blackstar Film Festival. It was such an amazing afternoon of food, art-marking and connections. The best part of this meetup was not only being able to see the exhibition at the end of the meetup but being sponsored by Blick Art Materials. They provided us with their amazing sketchbooks and some drawing penical trail sets.
Special thanks to Blick Art Materials for the sponsorship!
All in all, everyone had such an amazing time sharing their creative processes and taking the time to relax with some sketching in a beautiful art space.
Check out more photos from the ICA Philadelphia sketch club meet up!
AfroPunk Festival 2017 Recap
After months of emails, interviews and a little bit of stalking, I was able to finally get my way to attend the AFROPunk festival for free….as a volunteer. Now, at first I was worried that being a volunteer, I would miss all the fun but in fact I made it work. Plus, I had a couple of surprises happen to me along the way. Here is my experience as a AFROPunk volunteer.
Every year I make a summer bucket list with exciting adventures I want to have, sights I want to see and things I desperately want to do. While I managed to sometimes do some of the smaller tasks, the bigger tasks always seem to fall through. Attending the AFROPunk Festival has been something on my bucket list for years and for some reason I could never manage to go. Whether it was a money issue or because I had to go back to school, it was always something in the way.
Art demonstration with artist Laolu
This year I wanted it to be different, I proclaim this year in January the “just do it” year. If I wanted something badly, I was going to go for it. That is exactly what I did. After months of emails, interviews and a little bit of stalking, I was able to finally get my way to attend the AFROPunk festival for free….as a volunteer. Now, at first I was worried that being a volunteer, I would miss all the fun but in fact I made it work. Plus, I had a couple of surprises happen to me along the way. Here is my experience as a AFROPunk volunteer.
AfroPunk Festival Street Style
“I must say the fashion blogs don’t do justice to how much beauty, love and style is really in the crowd.”
Firstly, I must say even though I was able to get to the AFROPunk Festival this year which had always been a big goal for me, I was only able to do one day (next year will be different!). As soon as I touched down in Brooklyn, I was super excited to start everything. I was super early so no one was really there except for the staff who were running around making sure everything was right for the upcoming huge event they were hosting. I waited around for 2 hours until I was finally able to check in and start my shift. At first, things were a bit confusing which worried me. As “go with the flow” I think I am, I know I’m a very plan ahead type of gal. So, when no one really knew what I should be doing or where I should be going I was concerned it would be like this for the whole day. As things started to pick up and we were all finally put in our right stations, I was excited for everything to start. I was positioned to be a volunteer for the “Guest Services” team.
I was there all of 20 minutes before I was pushed up to be the “VIP Guest” volunteer. My role was to basically make sure that our VIP’s had great service in the VIP area and to check people in. For most of my shift, I was able to watch some of the shows to see artists such as Courtnee Roze (The Culture), DJ Jasmine Solano and Shabaka & The Ancestors, all who were really dope. I then took the time to take some cool style photos and I must say the fashion blogs don’t do justice to how much beauty, love and style is really in the crowd. There was even a moment I thought I would tear up, that’s how amazing it was.
After my lunch break, I was moved to VIP Check In to check in all of our VIP guests. I was there all of 30 minutes when R&B singer Miguel (who is one of my favorite entertainers ) walked in. As starstruck as I was on the inside I didn’t let it stop me from greeting him like any other guest. In return he turned to me and said thank you with a smile and kept it pushing. Even though the exchange happened in a total of 5 seconds, it was still a moment that made me smile. Other cool moments were serving Macy Grey during my volunteer shift in the catering section. Once again, instead of letting my inner excitement come running out of my body I kept it pretty cool. By mid way of the festival I was able to look around and soak in all of the amazement around me. I took more style photos, met some cool creatives and wandered the cool SpinThrift Market they had.
There was even a cool art demonstration with artist Laolu and activist Deray. By the end of the night, I was tired and drained but I also had a really good time. The staff and volunteers were cool to work with and I got a really cool goodie bag too. Even though I wasn’t able to see a lot of the performances, I would still say I had a good time just being there and feeling the energy. Next year I know it will be bigger and better and I can’t wait to be there.