[bouncy piano music] - In this edition of WLIW Arts Beat an innovative artists collective - We don't take training for this.

We literally just know what we wanna to do.

We invite other people to do it with us and we all figure it out together and we just get better together.

[upbeat piano music] - [Host] The therapeutic power of art.

- [Woman] A lot of times art can be a way, a bridge to access those wounds that we have inside of us and be able to access the unconscious.

- [Host] An interactive puppet installation.

- I think a work of art needs to be open-ended.

Not everyone comes in knowing precisely the concept of the work.

[upbeat music] - [Host] Painting outdoors.

- I've lived in Tahoe 23 years, and I, I still get blown away with the colors and the beauty of the lake.

It never gets old.

[upbeat banjo music] - [Host] It's all ahead on this edition of WLIW Arts Beat.

Funding for WLIW Arts Beat was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

- Welcome to WLIW Arts Beat.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Tribe is a collective of artists dedicated to art and activism.

Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, this talented group brings together members of the community through music and events.

Have a listen.

[actual lyrics captioned] ♪ Look at the stars ♪ ♪ I guess they're really not that far ♪ - Well.

Um, we were originally called Black City Tribes.

So Tribe has always been here, but once we changed our name from Black City Tribe, we wanted to keep Tribe 'cause Tribe is just that whole inclusive family feel.

And that's what we always want to bring in the city but then it's an acronym as well.

So we mapped it out as, True Representation of Intellectual Individuals Invoking Black Excellence.

It's three I's in there, three of us of course which is symbolic.

And then Tribe overall, like that's, that's just our staple.

We operate as a tribe, you know, and we reach out to people and look to make them our tribe, so.

- I think what surprises people most, from my perspective is that we haven't been together for a long time.

We've only been doing this for honestly a year, um, as Tribe and only two years of us really knowing each other dialing into what it means to create.

- I think the dynamic of us, like, being one male, two women showing how we could work together.

I think that that's not always often seen so people are not surprised, but yeah they are surprised when they are able to see like how fluid we are able to work because you really don't often see it that much.

[soulful music] - We're not professionals at all.

Uh, we don't take training for this.

We literally just know what we want to do.

We invite other people to do it with us and we all figure it out together and we just get better together, um, and that's powerful for people to see.

Just to know how easily attainable it is to make your community better.

[actual lyrics captioned] ♪ Big hearts ♪ ♪ Take big bank every time ♪ ♪ Big hearts ♪ ♪ Take big bank every time ♪ ♪ Big hearts ♪ - There's a book club, there's Every First Monday.

- There's an event called Indigo Vibe and Flow.

And it's for like, like an intergenerational group of people that are interested in learning how to communicate.

There's also Solstice, which is yoga, meditation, mindfulness mixed with food.

- We got Raising the Bars every first and third Thursday, that's downtown.

You know, we talked to the children in the Cincinnati public library and we are challenging them to, you know express themselves and be able to put it in a different way.

- What else?

There's Potluck for the People every last Sunday of the month.

- Urban gardening classes, fitness classes - Oh yeah, we have fitness classes on Sunday.

We teamed up with Daniel from Burst out Workout.

Fitness is a part of Cincinnati peace movement as well.

- [Aziza] Seeing all the different kinds of people that come out to the different kinds of things that we do.

There's this range, wide range of ages, wide range of backgrounds that comes out to speak their truth.

- So over here, this is the art academy of Cincinnati.

Students got together and decided to be a part of this event by giving people the opportunity to express themselves through art.

I believe that this is a awesome thing that they're doing because as you can see, people get a chance to not just eat and get clothing and stuff like that.

It's a fellowshipping and getting to know people, getting to know your neighbors, getting to know the community, people in the community.

You know, we're not all bad people, you know what I mean?

So I think it's a good thing.

[heavy bass music] - We wanted to drop a album for about two years now, so, um, and then we had to- we created our sound.

We wouldn't say we had to- - We recorded like 40 songs.

- I mean- - There's like so many songs that haven't even made it.

- It was almost 22 tracks- - Right.

- There are songs that we've even forgotten, that aren't coming to mind right now that, that sure we've recorded.

That we're going to be on this album.

- But it started off as just us writing a ton of material, us recording a ton of material, different places, looking for the right sound- - Right.

- Uh, with different people.

- For this album, I feel like we spent almost, probably like a solid, a year and probably spending three days out the week.

We were doing something with the album, whether it was writing something together, whether listening to something together, whether it's playing something.

Even if that was being played and it wasn't on the album just us getting together, building that chemistry it all started to create everything that we was doing - The concept for 'I am what I am', was all that we are.

All that we are right now.

Truth, speaking that truth, storytelling.

- Your truth- - Yeah.

- Like, I am, what I am like, take that, everybody just not like as Tribe, like as a listener, you are who you are.

[rap music] - We took a [indistinct] like really well.

Peace is a muscle man.

He gets it done like he's a executioner.

I already know that Z honestly keeps us going.

She maintains us.

And then again, I'm just kinda bossy, but we all like, we do have these personality traits that makes it easy for us not, I won't say easy, it makes it possible for us to stay organized.

- We have many things that we're good at and to utilize like how to really like come together.

That has been like a huge, huge phase of growth.

We're always evolving and figuring out how best to work with one another, not just in this three that we have but all over the city.

- We have not always had the platform or pull that we have now, so when we first started it was just three young adults trying to figure out the best way to make something happen.

And a lot of people, we would not be here right now if it weren't for a lot of people giving us chances, investing their time, energy- - Showing up at all the shows.

- Showing up, yeah all of that- - Sharing- - Taking us places, letting us use their cars- - Our visibility is huge.

And that's something that comes directly from the community.

- To have known Tribe as three separate beings, and for them to just coagulate into this super being of a group, it gives me chills.

The impact that they have on the community is phenomenal and it's glorious.

And it's something you want to hear, you need to hear, to follow through with living a good life or just being a better person.

They have set a bar without even trying.

They paved the way for people to follow.

And that's just that.

- Tribe.

- Tri-i-ibe.

- ♪ Tri-ya-ya-ya-yaaa.

♪ - Tribe.

Tribe.

Tribe.

[phone buzzes] [soft bass] - [Siri] Our message in our music is not the usual music and sound that you would hear or at least advertise now, and that's cool cause it is what it is and we are who we are.

And I think that's important to make that statement as rebellious even, just saying like, at the end of the day, with all this influence around us, this is who we are.

I am what I am.

And then you just kind of had to deal with that.

- [Host] Listen to more of the group's music at facebook.com/triiibe worldwide.

♪ Every time ♪ And now, the artist quote of the week.

[joyful music] - [Host] For veteran James Eby, art is a way to heal trauma and suffering.

In this segment, we had to New Mexico to sit in on a mask making workshop and learn more about the therapeutic benefits of creativity.

[fire crackling] - Well, art therapy is a brain-based intervention to help in the healing of trauma.

So, um, it actually activates all different areas of your brain when you're making art.

[brushing sound] If there's anything that you really want to talk about while you're doing this, or if you notice things coming up we can talk about that while you work too.

- Um, most of the time when I'm doing any of my art or I'm creating something.

If I'm making a knife handle or something, I go with darker colors.

- Mhm.

- I feel like the green is just something I don't usually, uh, go towards.

- Mhm.

- And brown, I'm usually not a brown person.

Just doesn't something- - Yeah.

- It's not something that's, uh, attractive to me, but it works, so.

- I tend to notice that when I'm working with vets, a lot of times greens and browns are used.

- [James] Camouflage?

- Mhm.

Yeah.

A lot of times, art can be a way, a bridge to access those wounds that we have inside of us and be able to access the unconscious.

What are you noticing?

- Um, if I'm having some sort of issue, if I'm, not being able to cope well in a situation, I just either shut down and don't say what I, what I should, or I just, uh, just don't say anything.

- Mhm.

- I just kind of close off.

- I noticed the lock up there.

- [James] Yeah.

Um, 'cause, I think, [nervous laughter] um, but I think that would probably represent like, I keep everybody out of my head.

Try to make sure that nobody can get in and probably again, the defense mechanism, mess with my head basically.

So I kind of keep it locked out so nobody else can get in.

- And do you feel like your head was messed with before?

- [James] Oh absolutely.

- Yeah.

Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

- Um.

I mean, just relationships and different things how, I was manipulated, and maybe it wasn't the other person's intention but it happened.

And I feel like it was a place of weakness for me.

- Yeah.

- [James] And, that's probably why everybody's locked out now.

It was just 'cause I don't want to feel weak again.

I don't want to be manipulated again.

I'll discuss, what's going well, I'll discuss business.

I'll discuss, um, personal triumphs, different things like that.

But anything else?

I don't talk about it.

Um, so the lock, basically no one can hurt me if they can't get in.

And if my mind is locked, it's safe and secure.

The stitches is, uh, the more I share, the more hurts.

And then if they can't, if they can't use it against me if they don't know or if I don't tell them.

- Right.

- So it was, a male, it comes to the same thing.

- And I'm curious how, um, how you feel about yourself.

Do you have self-love?

- Um, Yeah.

And in some cases almost too much.

Um, I can be self, self centered and I mean selfish, I mean, we're, we're humans, It's what we are.

That's just kind of our nature.

But, um, and then other times, I just- nothing.

[nervous giggle] - But then again, the word selfish and love, they don't really mean the same thing.

- [James] Right.

No, not at all.

- And anything that we want more of, when we're able to give more of that, it helps us receive more in our life.

- Yeah.

That's something that I have a hard time with.

- Yeah.

- I don't know, I'm just one of those persons that didn't believe in instant results.

- Well, and processes like this sometimes take time to unfold.

[fire crackling] [upbeat music] - [Host] Now here's a look at this month's fun fact.

[upbeat music] - [Host] Up next, we take a trip to the Pompano Beach cultural center in Florida to experience an interactive puppet installation.

Artists Aurora Molina and Julian Pardo collaborated on this special project that reflects on the elderly in our society.

[joyful music] - Basically, when I saw like the high ceilings, I was like what can I do here?

Like, what if I do like a box of puppets?

It's pretty much like a puppeteer show.

My name is Julian Pardo.

I'm a guest curator here at Pompano Beach Cultural Center.

- And I'm Aurora Molina.

I'm an artist from Miami.

Julian called me and he said, there's this space And you know, I'm very open to always collaborate.

He's a dear friend of mine so, we said, okay, let's, let's tell me about the space.

We consider that we wanted to do an interactive installation.

[elegant acoustic guitar] - [Aurora] My grandma was a seamstress, so my craft, all that attachment to the thread also brought in part of the, you know, the making of the work.

So I think it comes from a personal exploration to dealing with my grandparents.

Um, I started to do a photography series sort of like capturing their daily routine.

And then I left to Spain to do my masters.

And I sort of like, started to pay attention since I was away.

And they were 90, 92.

And I think I was getting ready to sort of let go.

My family had been very conscious about taking care of them.

So they were with us at home and you know, very involved.

And when I left, I think I had the longings, you know like they were left behind.

And I remember just, you know, looking around and having these moment where I was realizing how detached we were.

Then I was traveling to other places and I kept paying attention to the elder.

- I connect with her as well.

I live with my grandpa for like 10 years in my house.

So all that, like connections makes everything like, okay, let's do something that we can show the people to look out for the elders.

[joyful music] - [Julian] My idea was like to create this pulley system to where they can move each one of the hands.

So like a group of hands.

So it's more collaborative.

It's more like connecting the family, the connecting, the like the, the elders with your dad or your mom, just looking at you or just play with you in each one of them.

- And also the fact that you make them come alive.

Like we have this idea.

There's two components to a puppet.

There is a puppeteer and the puppet.

The puppet does not come to life unless, a puppeteer plays a role into it.

So it was part of like creating that connection.

In general the idea of the whole show, the whole concept, wanted to create that interactive approach.

And I'm bringing them to life and second, it's to keep the conversation going.

Conceptually it's like instead of looking at them, you have to look up to them.

'Cause that was a purpose of making them eight feet tall.

So you literally are looking up to them.

- I started to study like, uh, what kind of population is around the center?

Most likely it is Haitian people, Latin America.

And like they speak like different languages.

So one of my ideas is to reach more to those communities.

I translated to like Spanish and English and Creole.

So that's why I would have like the text on those three languages.

- But I think the text and the simplicity of the graphics and the simplicity of, of the walls, like at the eye level also makes you like a little gap and pay more attention.

- And just wonder, I mean, it's, it's also the softness of the fabric.

That tenderness of something that's, that we'll have a relationship to.

We all are covered with fabric so, that was also important.

I think a work of art needs to be, open-ended.

Not everyone comes in knowing precisely the concept of the work and understanding there's a narrative behind it or their dad being a pretty picture.

All of these ideas should spike your curiosity.

[upbeat music] - [Host] Find out more about the artist by visiting Auroramolina.com and julianpardoartist.com.

And here's a look at this week's art history.

[upbeat instrumental music] - [Host] As a plein air artist, Monica Piper-Johnson chooses to work outside.

With her palette knife and paint, the Lake Tahoe, Nevada region becomes her source of inspiration for vivid landscapes.

Here's the story.

[adventurous banjo music] - [Monica] I live in Incline Village, Nevada and I'm a plein air oil painter.

I love painting Aspen trees and I love the mountains.

I love big wide open meadows, scenes that have mountains in the distance.

[blissful music] Most of my plein air painting is around the Lake Tahoe area.

Some of my favorite places are up at the Mount Rose meadow.

Any of the East shore beaches that you can hike down to.

I also love the Mount Rose lookout because it's just easy.

You can pull right up, it's right there on the side of the road.

It's just a great vantage point in all different directions.

And it's never the same.

Some days the winds up in the lake's really blue, deep blue, and then sometimes it's calm and it's like the total glass reflection.

When I paint the lake, I wear polarized glasses so I can see the color more intense because I can see through the glare.

[joyful music] When you're painting outside on location, you know, obviously you're dealing with, you know the weather is doing its dance and the lights changing in the shadows are moving.

So you really have to work quickly.

So you've got to seize the moment, Carpe Diem.

Just get up.

You can't mess around.

And that lends itself to having kind of a looser painting because you're working under just a quick impression of it.

[happy music] The progression of my paintings normally is, I start from the back, or you know, work top to bottom or back to front.

I start with the thing that's the furthest away.

And then gradually get closer and closer.

And I like a spot where I can have something that's in the foreground and the middle ground and the distance.

'Cause one of the challenges of painting is getting that right relationship between the sky and those first couple of layers of mountains.

And then once I have that, I just kind of gradually keep getting darker and warmer and of course, bigger.

The mountains get bigger as they get closer.

And then the trees get bigger and the trees get greener and your eyes start to see color more and more as it gets closer.

And I'm always trying to get as much depth and the paint to kind of pull you in and make it feel like it's 3d.

Like it's actually going back.

[cheerful instrumental music] I paint with a palette knife and painting with the palette knife allows me to get texture in different ways that I use it.

It lends itself to the water and having moved me, you know, a more choppy.

And if I just don't smooth the paint as much and I'll leave the pain a little rougher it also makes the water look a little rougher.

And then, you know, putting little bits of white here and there also kind of helps it look like it has more movement to it.

[cheerful music] As long as I don't overwork it or over mix it.

If I just put it on and leave it, you know, it gets some really great texture marks so that the skill really to get the texture is to stop yourself.

It's kind of like if you're buttering your bread if you spend a lot of time it's going to be all perfectly spread.

But if you just put it on quick you're gonna to get lumps and chunks of butter.

[cheerful music] It lends itself to a looser, more impressionistic style.

It's hard to get too perfect.

I mean, I've managed to get some skill and some mastery so I can get a little more precise and some detail but you're never gonna be too perfect.

You know?

And so this just helps me to, I think, loosen up and I love thick paint.

[gleeful music] No one's gonna look at my paintings and wonder like, is that a print or is that a declare or is that like, it's a painting you, it has paint.

I feel like if you're gonna have- buy a painting you should have some paint.

[cheerful music] I've lived in Tahoe for 23 years and I, I still get blown away with the colors and the beauty of the lake.

It never gets old.

[cheerful music] Being out there painting on location, it just, it's, it's very relaxing.

It's very soothing.

It's very calming.

There's a the time flies by.

The closest thing I could maybe equate it to would be, maybe the experience some people get when they meditate, but there's the zone that you get into, connecting with nature.

And it does feel like a spiritual experience for me.

- [Host] To see more of Johnson's artwork, go to monikapiperjohnson.com.

That wraps it up for this edition of WLIW Arts Beat.

We'd like to hear what you think.

So like us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter and visit our webpage for features and to watch episodes of the show.

We hope to see you next time.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Thank you for watching WLIW Arts Beat.

Funding for WLIW Arts Beat was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

[upbeat outro music]