The Black Arts Matter Festival will be returning to Madison next month and along with it, a new Youth Talent Competition, which will be held at MYArts on 1055 E. Mifflin St. on Nov. 12 from 2-4 p.m.
The Black Arts Matter Festival was founded by artist, actor, and award-winning poet Shasparay Irvin. For Irvin, the addition of a youth event based in the community was something that stood out as an important part in extending the reach and engagement the festival has.
“I really wanted to do this event, because I did similar competitions when I was young,” Irvin told Madison365. “I used to do competitions while I was in Austin, and it was really motivating. It kept me interested in getting good grades so that I could go out and compete in poetry slams and youth competitions. It also provided me with things like a laptop. I was able to go to college and apply to colleges on that laptop that I won with the NAACP ACT-SO award. Lots of going back to my roots, and in that way, I wanted to engage the youth.”
Events for the first four days of the festival will be held amongst spaces in the Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus where Irvin earned their undergraduate degree in Theater. It was Irvin’s time at UW-Madison that led to the eventual development of the first Black Arts Matter Festival after a lack of Black cultural events led to pursuing grants to establish something in Madison.
“On campus, there was nothing to do that I enjoyed. All of what I would call urban or contemporary Black arts, none of that was really present. I was always leaving somewhere else, going to Philly or Chicago or somewhere to get that culture,” said Irvin, who was then compelled through stage management and producing classes in the Theater Department to undertake developing her own festival ideas.
“It was the catalyst for me thinking maybe I’m not just an artist, I can also organize. I’ve been to so many festivals where I was like, ‘Oh, I hate that. Oh, love that.’ All of that was information and learning for me. Taking that class really led to me thinking maybe I can do this.”
While Irvin appreciated what has been possible so far in past years, the new additional MYArts Youth Talent Competition event on Nov. 12 is part of trying to bridge different areas of Madison when the university campus is not always accessible. Irvin discussed making it a point to engage and reach out to the Black community, so that people feel encouraged to show up for events made to bring the Black community together.
“Personally, I try to be radically accessible,” Irvin said. “I’m working on accessibility as much as I can, for every festival. I was offered spaces for free, but they weren’t mobility accessible, so I said no. I’ve constantly done that, so I’m trying to take that a step further. MYArts has a parking garage, and it’s along bus routes, so trying to make it more accessible for the community. I think having it in that location is going to be better, especially as we’re engaging youth. I’m trying to get the community even more involved, but specifically reaching out to the Black community in Madison.”
The Youth Talent Competition will have age groups of elementary, middle, and high school-aged children and will have cash prizes for each age group winner. All youth with any talent are invited to apply here. Talents can include anything that can be presented in front of a panel of judges, so talents such as baking and painting also are encouraged for submission.
A full list of Black Arts Matter Festival events can be found here, notably with comedian Jerrod Carmichael coming to the Wisconsin Union Theater on Nov. 9. Irvin is hopeful that listening to feedback and engaging on a community level results in continued support and turnout for what is shaping up to be multiple days of exciting events.
Constant reimagining and developing around ways to bring people in such as reduced ticket prices and the new MYArts location for the Nov. 12 Art Market are pieces to what Irvin looks forward to resulting in a successful and fulfilling five days.
“Trying to make things as accessible as possible from multiple levels, listening to people that I’ve gotten feedback from has been important to me, and then also, I’m open to more collaborations with people in the community,” said Irvin in closing. “I’ve had several meetings about the vendor market and the art market, because that’s something I’m wanting to do, too. An issue with being in the Union was that some of the poets weren’t able to sell their merch, and this is a solution to that. Not only can you sell your merch in this MYArts space, you can have a whole table setup, and we’re gonna get multiple tables.”
More information and applications for the Young, Gifted & Black Talent Competition can be found on the Black Arts Matter Festival site here.
