ACES // Artists of Color Expo & Symposium 2023: Full Schedule

ACES // Artists of Color Expo & Symposium is a BIPOC-led, community-curated program featuring art exhibits, live performances, presentations, workshops, film screenings, artist talks, artist opportunity tables and art market. We are coming together with intentionality to value our work and see one another as resources, while focusing on the challenges and solutions we face as artists of color in the Pacific Northwest.

ACES 2023 is a hybrid event, presented online and in person.

Dates
May 20 + 21, 2023

Time
12 pm - 7 pm

Locations
VIRTUAL

ACES is FREE to attend, with a suggested donation of $10.

ASL interpreters are available on-site and via Zoom.

Free childcare is provided on-site.

ACES is presented by Shunpike, in collaboration with 4Culture, Artist Trust, Arts Corps, ArtsWA, CD Forum, Golden Bricks Events, Ground Zero Radio, Langston Seattle, Northwest Film Forum, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Refuge Outdoor Festival, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle Restored, Black Rock Spirits, Spokane Arts, The Vera Project, and Totem Star.

2:10pm PDT

Spoken Word Performance: Garfield Hillson

I am a self taught writer specializing in performance poetry raised in South Florida and now living in Seattle. As a Queer Black artist, my stories often exist in opposition to a world that places little value on the intersections that are my life. Therefore, I often spend my time investigating the many hues of traumas and oppressions my communities and myself experience. I guess I wonder about where I am able to just exist. My work is about family and community- my kin and skinfolk. Our dreams. Our defeats. It is also a hallowed place for me to quiet the generational trauma and oppressions that live in my skin, and to imagine a world of liberation and freedom where healing is happening in abundance.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Garfield Hillson

Originally from South Florida, Garfield Hillson is a Black-Queer poet, warrior, organizer, and educator working in Seattle. He believes in the beauty of words and the power of story-sharing. He believes in trauma-informed social justice healing and that art and education are the building... Read More →

Saturday May 20, 2023 2:10pm - 2:30pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

2:35pm PDT

Verses and Voices for Peace

My art is my desire to creatively and powerfully express and reflect thoughts and feelings through poetry, spoken word, and as a playwright. It is not enough for me to write a piece about a topic or subject that has been written or performed many times before with only a slight twist, but to ensure it is entirely unique or has a completely different approach. I am only satisfied when I know I have created and given my best.

30 minute spoken word performance about peace, accompanied by an a cappella vocalist.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

CHRISTINE ROBINSON

Christine is a phenomenal human being and phenomenal vocalist. Don’t let her quiet, humble, and shy nature fool you. She has performed in choirs, various programs/ events at King County Superior Court, and at the theater on 18th & Union as part of Four Black Women Talking.When... Read More →

Jaye Ware

Jacqueline Ware, often referred to as Jaye, works in the legal system, but has buttered her bread, breaded her fish, and seasoned her greens on poetry, spoken word, and as a playwright.Jaye is a long-standing member of the African American Writers’ Alliance. She has presented at... Read More →

Saturday May 20, 2023 2:35pm - 2:55pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

3:00pm PDT

Eduardo Mendonça - Sounds from an African South-American

Eduardo Mendonça performs peculiarities on his guitar exploring his African-Brazilian roots and creativity on arrangements for standards and his own compositions.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Eduardo Mendonça

Director, Show Brazil Productions

Last name pronunciation: (menDONsa) Eduardo Mendonça has played, composed, and directed various genres of Brazilian popular music in the US, Canada, Nepal, and Brazil. A native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, has performed for many notable personalities, including the 14th Dalai Lama... Read More →

Saturday May 20, 2023 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

6:00pm PDT

Musical Performance by Mariah Roberson

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Mariah Roberson

Saturday May 20, 2023 6:00pm - 6:30pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

12:30pm PDT

Musical & Spoken Word Performance by Aleyanna Grae

Aleyanna Grae (They/Them) is a singer, songwriter and spoken word poet in Seattle. A mix of dream pop and rnb elements, paired with introspective and authentic lyricism, Aleyanna Grae has managed to curate a unique sound. Their work is for everyone who thinks in paragraphs and feels too much, and they hope their art can inspire others to tell their own stories. You can find them on all streaming platforms as Aleyanna Grae, IG as @grae.dreamer, and you can look forward to their debut album coming June 2023.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Aleyanna Grae

Sunday May 21, 2023 12:30pm - 1:00pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

1:30pm PDT

Mercedes Nicole Jazz

I believe Music is a conduit for harmony. Music can bring people together, and unit them in one cause. It can soothe and heal broken hearts, and really speaks to the should of what makes us human. That is why I sing. Music is beauty in sound and touches lives in a way simple knowledge cannot...it is through the arts, Music, Song, Dance, Poetry, Painting and sculpture that we are realize we are one.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Mercedes Nicole

Mercedes Nicole been singing 12 years, Winner 2018 Female Composer Award, Allied Arts Foundation. Grew up West Coast, Singer, Song Writer, Composer, Sings Jazz, Blues, Produced Jazz Concerts for Your Sister's House, Grandparents raising Grandchildren, Women of Color Symposium, Seattle... Read More →

Sunday May 21, 2023 1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

2:15pm PDT

Musical Performance by Jed

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Jed

Sunday May 21, 2023 2:15pm - 2:30pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

2:55pm PDT

Irkanni, Homeland: Being Nubian-American

In this performance, I will share a script excerpt from a play I wrote, then two original poems. All pieces of this performance deal with Nubian language, being a part of a diasporic culture, and being mixed race. The attachment is from last year's performance with ACES. I would like to do this performance again to reaxch a wider audience, and have in-person audiences. I also intend to write another poem integrating the Nubian language for the ACES performance in 2023.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Nabra Nelson

Nabra Nelson is a community organizer, EDI consultant, and theatre creator from Egypt, Nubia, and California. She has worked with theaters, universities, non-profits, corporations, and community organizations across the nation to strengthen community and amplify under-heard voices... Read More →

Sunday May 21, 2023 2:55pm - 3:05pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

3:30pm PDT

Kitty Junk: Junk Punk

Glam-grunge duo project of Angie Dane and Ryan Lee.

The band formed in response to many sexist encounters within the music industry. The band aims to make the rock world a gender-inclusive and POC-friendly space. The duo works to empower their female listeners through their heavy, hard-hitting tracks. The female duo is only adding more ammunition to their collection of undeniably catchy tracks.

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Kitty Junk

Kitty Junk is a POC/LGBT glam grunge duo from Seattle. We work with multiple charities in town to empower marginalized women through art and music. www.instagram.com/kittyjunkgirls... Read More →

Sunday May 21, 2023 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

4:30pm PDT

Rock out with Theory of Change

Our name comes from our collective background as social activists seeking change for the good, at the intersection of music and social activism. Our music and video content extends a keen message of change and growth — both in our society and individually. We believe in building better societal structures that allow everyone to have access to prosperity, and not just those with wealth and privilege.

But this is also a story of personal growth, as resiliency makes us stronger and we grow from our experiences along the way. Resiliency has been a tremendous theme in Ben’s life, as he has survived a battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and a raging apartment fire.

“Music is a powerful thing,” Ben says. “Music can heal. It can bring people together. It can spur difficult but needed conversations. I still believe music and truly change the world.”

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Theory of Change

Theory of Change is a socially conscious folksy indie-rock ensemble producing pensive but powerful, thoughtful, and melodic songs about societal and personal growth. We are comprised of Ben Henry, songwriter/singer/guitarist formerly of The Crud (Honolulu, HI) and Grim Smiley (Seattle... Read More →

Sunday May 21, 2023 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

5:30pm PDT

Musical Performance: PUSHFORLOVE

Presenting & Performing Artist...

PUSHFORLOVE

Push for Love is a Seattle, WA based band. Melanie Granger is the Lead Singer with Xavier Salinas as Lead Guitarist. The two are often accompanied by special guest artists on the drums and the bass. Over the past 10 years of playing music together, Melanie and Xavier have created... Read More →

Sunday May 21, 2023 5:30pm - 6:00pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance

6:20pm PDT

Closing Night Performance: Chong the Nomad

Presenting & Performing Artist...

Chong the Nomad

Chong The Nomad (real name Alda Agustiano) is a 26-year-old Indonesian-American producer, DJ and artist based in Seattle. She's already a strong presence in the sync world with spots for Singapore Airlines, Apple, and Universal Audio, as well as placements with Maybelline (broadcast... Read More →

Sunday May 21, 2023 6:20pm - 7:00pm PDT
Pratt Fine Arts Center - Outdoor Stage

Performance