- We are helping society to remember to remember.

But we as artists also I believe, have to be truthsayers.

And those are critical things that I believe that becomes part of our role.

And that's how I see this intersection in this work that we're doing.

- Nine is a multimedia production and it's a commemorative piece honoring the Little Rock Nine and their triumphs as they desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In 1957, I was inspired by Carlotta Wall's Lanier's story, 'cause she was 14, what she went through and whether or not I would have stepped up to the plate.

I mean, I like to have thought that I would have, but I'm not sure.

And then I reached out to Steve and asked him if I could use his print called Nine Little Indians.

- 1954 was Brown versus Board of Education, but many of the schools all across the nation held their ground and refused to change until it was a presidential order to make that happen.

And at that moment, we were a nation divided.

So I created this piece that showcased all those subtleties and those nuances.

And then Leah called upon me to use that image as a projection as part of the first piece that she did.

- When I sent him the video, he was like, oh, I wanna paint a costume.

I'm like, sure, that'd be great.

Yeah.

And then that grew into, we need to tell the story of all nine.

I really focused on those stories that I didn't read about in the history books.

I didn't see as many photos of the everyday trauma that they went through.

You'll see that I use this idea of kinesthetic empathy, how we gain a greater understanding of another person's experience by observing their movement.

And so I use this as a tool that speaks to audiences and allows the stories to be told in such a way that it resonates physically.

- I'm not a stage craft person, but I'm an artist.

And I looked at it through the lens of design And I say, oh, how wonderful would it be if I were to take some the vocabulary from nine Little Indians and I would basically put it onto the dress.

And then once I saw the piece and painted the dress and I thought of another wrinkle, you can see that she's being beaten down by the system.

And then by the end of that cycle at a dance, you literally see her stand strong and proud.

And I believe she just basically took on that armor of God and she put it onto her body.

We standing upon the shoulders of generations of people who laid it all on the line.

And so therefore, it's so important for us to tell these stories, to make some works that remember those people and what they did, but also it is also pushing us into the space that we need to understand how many of these things are being repeated.

How many things are being rolled back right now?

So a piece like nine, you said, well, that was about 1957.

What is the relevance does it have for us today?

It has every bit of relevance because the fights that our parents fought that we thought we won, we're fighting them all over again.

- It touches on both the Little Rock nines point of view as well as the point of view of the white students.

And what we're hoping that will do is provide art that forces us to be mindful, but also provide an opportunity for us to build community, to see my work through his eyes, and then for me to say, oh, well this is what I see in a piece of visual art is exciting to have that exchange.

- We as artists, when we create something, we are the recipients of the first fruit of whatever comes out.

We shed the first tears of the work.

And that's another beautiful thing that's so cathartic and transformative.

- We have so much respect for each other and so much respect for each other's work.

And so we're constantly learning from each other and constantly pushing each other.

- Can we use art as a tool to help people grapple with these deeper things that are embedded in us?

Can the artwork be a balm for healing and restoration?

- The hope is that the art will always be a catalyst for authentic conversations around difficult terrain.

Yeah.