[upbeat jazz music] [upbeat jazz music continues] - In this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat," visualizing poetry.

- I always describe the exhibit as an opportunity to walk with me as a poet, as a practitioner, as an artist, and as an entrepreneur.

- [Diane] Our regional dance festival.

- Dancers will typically come to a festival and be completely wide-eyed.

- It's not about being the best dancer.

It's about getting something out of the class.

[relaxed classical music] - [Diane] A screen printed poster show.

- [John] To be able to put a poster from a local business by a local artist on your wall is something that's pretty unique.

[upbeat music] - 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.

[upbeat jazz music] - Welcome to "WLIW Arts Beat."

I'm Diane Masciale.

Walking with Words is a collaborative exhibition in which humanity, community, inclusivity, and diversity are celebrated.

Graphic design students from the University of Dayton got together to visualize the poetry of artist Sierra Leone.

We head to Ohio for the story.

[gentle music] - [Sierra] Walk with me through a city within a city.

Walls holding a cornucopia of heritage.

Passageways and corridors filled with antique joy and treasured wisdom.

[gentle music continues] - The Hub is really designed to be an immersive, experiential learning platform for students, as well as a space for startups to really develop and grow.

The Hub is a joint venture between the University of Dayton and Dayton's Entrepreneur Center, and it really creates this unique blend of active businesses who are there every day working and students coming in to take class on a daily basis and making those connections.

We want The Hub to be a space for everybody.

So the idea of a community artist in residence really seemed like a natural fit.

- Sierra Leone is the first artist in residence for The Hub, and so we were talking to Sierra about doing a piece for us for the opening.

Sierra's work also speaks directly to the city of Dayton.

A lot of her poems, all of the things that she does, really talks about space and place, but also can speak to the vision of what we hope the space to become, not just where we are now, but where we see the space growing into.

- My vision was to write the commission poem, [laughs] but the vision that was a much greater vision was the commission of a body of work, was to work with students, was to form alliances in spaces that I had never been in.

- Luckily, Sierra, as that first artist in residence, she has also had experience on her own working in education settings.

And so we thought that that would be a great opportunity for her to come in and kind of work directly with the students on the things that they're learning in class, but also just her life experience as an artist.

- The first charge for the students was to create a 24 by 36 poster.

There's a lot more at stake when you are visualizing someone's poetry, someone's like inner feelings [laughs] and life's work.

- This whole process for me has felt very vulnerable.

I think anytime a poet is going to put themselves on display, you are so vulnerable.

You are saying to the world, I'm healed enough for you to look at me fully, completely, and to judge that.

- I gave the students the whole body of work over a weekend, and I said, "You're gonna read all of these, "and then Sierra will come in "and tell you the background story "and then do a spoken word reading of that chosen poem."

So I feel like that connection for them with her and then getting all that background information is just great research for the designer 'cause they're thinking about image making.

They're thinking about inflection.

When did you audibly hear her get louder?

When did she get softer?

When did she feel abrupt?

When could you see a punctuation or a shift and a line break?

So typographically speaking, the whole time, they're trying to think about, is that bold?

Does a color come to mind?

And then they had the larger installations as group projects.

So they had to learn what it was like to design independently, but as a whole because your work is gonna affect everyone else's work when you're exhibiting it together, and then what it's like to have to come together under the same pressures and now design this whole new thing with this material that's gigantic, that's more environmental.

She also had a whole nother layer with QR code.

So if you were walking up to the piece, you could hear her deliver it and do her spoken word of the poetry, and I think it just gave it a whole different dimension of experience.

Walking with Words, it's like, oh, how do we move the body through?

How can you use type and language to move someone through a space?

Extracting those moments, being playful with it in this space was really exciting.

- You think of poetry, you think of book.

You think of page.

You think of something that's very flat, but this overall exhibit really heightens that to a new level of adding in audio, adding in visual.

You can sense it and you can touch it in ways that you don't typically think about when you think about poetry.

- I want you to imagine giving someone [gentle quirky music] a Word document, and this is what you get in return.

I always describe the exhibit as an opportunity to walk with me as a poet, as a practitioner, as an artist, and as an entrepreneur.

It's my perspective.

It's my lived experiences and voice.

So it is a piece of me every single step of the way.

- I think the additional beauty of the exhibit is that it's not just in The Hub.

It flows beyond the walls, and it impacts the rest of the Dayton community.

- Walk with me.

Walk with my words.

[gentle classical music] Walk as the spirit of a flyer.

And from that space, you leave, and if you wanna visit the Levitt and continue to walk with the words, they can stop by the library and take in how we've gathered, our gathering space as a community.

And from that space, you're traveling over to the Wright Dunbar District in the Greater West Dayton Incubator.

And from that space, we close the exhibit right in a beautiful space where the art ends, but it begins again with Papa Bing Davis.

[gentle classical music continues] And so for me it is a walk with me, a walk with my lived experiences.

[gentle classical music continues] - [Diane] Learn more at mssierraleonethewriter.com.

[upbeat jazz music] And now, the artist quote of the week.

[upbeat jazz music continues] [upbeat jazz music continues] The organization, Regional Dance America, supports the future of dance by giving dancers the opportunity to excel.

In 2022, they selected Reno, Nevada to host their Pacific Festival, which welcomed dancers from various regional companies and included programming that inspired.

[gentle classical music] - Ballet reaches your heart and your soul.

And it's not something that you can put words to.

There are no words.

It's just from one to another, and everybody interprets it their own way.

- There's the saying where words fail, dance can express.

It's so beautiful just what the human body can do.

- Dancing connects you with emotions that are in your body and gives you a way to express your emotions to relate to others on a very human level.

My name is Erika Davis.

I'm the CEO of Regional Dance America.

[gentle music] Regional Dance America is a national organization of pre-professional companies, dance ensembles, troupes, guilds, and studios throughout the country.

The majority of our dancers are between the ages of about 11 years old and 18 years old.

- When Regional Dance America says pre-professional, that's the dancer that is on a training track to a professional career.

They're submitting themselves to a certain level of training.

So that's a daily ballet class or a modern class or a jazz class.

These dancers hope to earn a spot in a prestigious university program or a professional company.

- RDA has five regional organizations, the Northeast, Mid States, Southeast, Southwest, and our newest Pacific region.

We selected Reno, Nevada as the location of our first inaugural Pacific Festival to bring the opportunities that RDA offers the rest of the country to this part as well.

[gentle music continues] The 2022 RDA Pacific Festival is happening at the Silver Legacy Resort here in Reno.

An RDA festival is multiple days.

Dancers are programmed into three master classes a day with nationally acclaimed teachers and choreographers.

The dancers partake in classes of all different styles of dance, be that ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, commercial dance.

We have it all.

- One and two.

- The one teacher for hip hop, he was so inspiring because he was just like telling us to look at our own artistry and just being ourselves.

[upbeat music] - [Dancer] I love the hip hop class.

That made my day.

- This festival means that I can take a step up in my career that I wanna take.

- It was really honestly amazing just being able to share that in amazing environment with all the amazing dancers, and being able to feed off of what they're doing and get inspired by them as well was really cool.

- Dancers also have the opportunity to experience workshops and seminars that are in dance related topics.

So we have seminars happening in, say, foot and ankle injury prevention, nutrition for dancers, overall wellbeing, how to construct a resume.

- [Joy] We always say to our dancers, you are learning so much more in the studio than just dance steps.

You're really learning life skills.

[gentle music] - Not everybody's gonna be a ballet dancer, but what that work ethic that ballet creates and also the discipline, the determination you have to have in order to improve, all of that serves young people so well in adult lives, and that's why I promote the art of ballet so much.

- We seek out highly esteemed professionals in the field of dance.

The adjudicator, it's like RDA's secret sauce.

- [Erika] Rosine Bena, as well as her daughter, Ananda Bena-Weber, both of Sierra Nevada Ballet are adjudicators for Regional Dance America.

They work with our member companies on an annual basis to help those companies elevate their training.

[gentle music continues] - When I was part of RDA as a young person, I remember thinking how I felt so proud of my community, of my company, and I think it helps our community to say, wow I'm proud of Reno, I'm proud of where I'm from.

So, that's an important thing for our community.

[uplifting classical music] - [Erika] The dancers also have a performance opportunity with evening performances at the festival that are non-competitive.

- We finish the event off with a gala reception.

The dancers are awarded scholarships and recruitment opportunities to colleges throughout the country and also summer intensives and programs.

When young dancers, young people, when you're mentoring them and they're in the pursuit of excellence, it's a very noble pursuit.

They really are pushing themselves to be better, to be bigger, to go beyond, and to be extraordinary human beings, and to be a small part of that is very inspiring.

- The students are what make everything that we do worth it, so worthwhile, because we see their faces.

We see these opportunities that are provided.

We see the thousands and thousands of dollars of scholarships that are offered to these individuals, and to create a pathway for their dreams to come true, this is why I do what I do.

That's why RDA does what we do.

That's what this organization stands for.

[uplifting classical music continues] [audience applauds] - [Diane] To find out more, visit regionaldanceamerica.org.

[upbeat jazz music] Now here's a look at this month's fun fact.

[upbeat jazz music continues] [upbeat jazz music continues] Up next, we hear about the screen printed poster show, Prints & Pints.

This annual event in Ohio pairs 12 local artists with 12 breweries to create special posters that are then sold to members of the community.

Take a look.

[upbeat music] - We're here at Upright Press, independent screen printing shop in Columbus on the South Side, preparing for our fifth year of Prints & Pints.

[upbeat music continues] - Prints & Pints is a screen print poster fest.

It's a collaboration between the Daily Growler and Upright Press.

And then we bring in 12 breweries and 12 local artists to create unique posters.

- So the artists treat this project kinda like a gig poster where they have an idea for a beer that the brewery makes, and they work with the brewery on what that imagery will turn into, and I think it's worked out really well that the breweries have given a lot of artistic license to the artists, and that's why these posters have been so amazing.

[upbeat music continues] The posters are limited edition.

There's only 30, and they're numbered by the artist, 1 of 30, 2 of 30, so on and so forth, and that's it.

So, I think that's contributed a lot to the excitement about the event.

- Which it's just a one day event every year.

So, only available in person, no like online sales, and it's just a really special event for us and for the the community and the artists and the breweries.

- [Jess] Once they had agreed to it, then I let the artists choose which brewery they wanted to work with.

[upbeat music continues] - My name's Dustin Brinkman, and I'm working with Seventh Son Brewery, yeah, for Prints & Pints.

[chill music] I have a really kind of soft spot in my heart for Seventh Son because when I first moved here, I didn't know where anything was, and I was kind of a bit overwhelmed by like one-way street coming from a really small town.

So, I lived down the street from Seventh Son and had no idea it was there, and I stumbled upon it, and I would just go there every night after that.

[chill music continues] Loved their atmosphere that they kind of cultivate there, and the drinks and cocktails are always absolutely amazing.

But yeah, I think I just really wanted to kind of in some ways like give back to them like by working with them.

I wanted to kind of participate in that way because I had had such a warm experience there from the get-go.

[chill music continues] Talking with the brewery, it's not just Seventh Son, they have the two other breweries the Getaway, and then they have Antiques on High, and so I tried to take little components from each sort of location, taking the airplane from the Getaway 'cause it has this sort of like plane and travel theme to it, taking the Seventh Son cat, which is Horatio, also known as the assistant manager, the Antiques on High van, and all those sort of different things, really wanted to try and culminate all those different things into one poster that still centers around like that specific brewery, which is Seventh Son.

[chill music continues] Yeah my process, it feels like there is like a lot of steps in it, and it takes quite a bit of time.

So normally I start off with like a very, very generalized sort of like gesture sketch.

The digital collage comes from either photographs I'll personally take or things I'll find on the internet.

And then from there, I print it off at scale like the exact scale I want to print and carve that at.

Transfer that onto the linoleum block that's cut down to that exact scale as well, so that is fully at like the 18 by 24 like what our posters gonna be.

And then from there, it's just the sitting and the kind of process of carving, which usually takes quite some time.

And then I come in here, and I use the the presses that are just behind me, and then I'll pull that first relief proof.

Once that's dry, I'll scan that in, and then do a sort of photo merge in Photoshop, transfer that into Illustrator for a live trace, and then come back to Photoshop and do all my like brush work and tools and do all like the color layering and stuff like that.

[chill music continues] I think what I'm gonna do for the poster like when we go layer wise is like start off with this like super intense very bright yellow that'll get like dulled down a little bit in the shadow areas and stuff.

Like this layer is just meant to only purposely be like for shadows to give stuff some depth.

Then red will go next with this sort of background sort of tone that like makes it not as just flat in there, and then the last color will be that blue that kind of transforms like all that yellow into a green.

I think by the end of this week, I'll be done, and I can send the images to Jess to get 'em ready for printing.

[relaxed acoustic music] [relaxed acoustic music continues] - I'm Natasha Wheeler, and I'm working with Yellow Springs Brewery.

I wanted to work with the Yellow Springs Brewery because I grew up in a neighboring city, so I was really familiar with the Yellow Springs area.

It was just a place we'd visit, you know, with my family.

As I got older, it was just like the place we'd drive to to, you know, hang out for an afternoon at the shops and things like that, lots of natural trails and hiking, and it's just one of the more unique spots in Ohio.

[relaxed acoustic music continues] When I was paired with Yellow Springs Brewery, they already knew they wanted to have a poster for a beer, and the beer is Creative Space, one of their, I think, NEIPAs.

Kind of had a few ideas about how we might represent Yellow Springs.

[relaxed acoustic music continues] My process for creating the print, I usually like to start with just a messy sketchy thumbnail to try and get out the idea and how I kind of want the eye to move throughout the piece.

And then once I kind of establish that flow, I like to bring the sketch to the iPad.

I wanted kind of a loose freehand approach to it.

So with the iPad I could really get in there and just touch up all those details.

And then, once I kind of have that really nice refined sketch, I'll bring it to the computer, and I'll use a program like Adobe Illustrator to actually separate out the colors into layers and really refine anything that didn't translate well.

[relaxed acoustic music continues] One of the ideas was representing this idea of a free spirit.

So, I wanted to use kind of like flowing lines 'cause you think beer, it flows, ideas flow, creativity flows to then help tie all these different scenes together, a lot of outdoor elements because the brewery itself is kind of a hub for outdoor enthusiasts.

Hiking, obviously the big one.

Cycling, the brewery itself is positioned right on a bike path.

I've got some repelling hidden in there.

There's skateboarding, kayaking.

There's a river.

Got somebody bird watching, butterflies, flowers, just more natural elements that you might see there.

[cars whoosh] I'd kind of say Jess is like a master printer.

I'm always really pleased and surprised when I see like the actual print.

It's really cool.

There's just something about that ink on paper and like the matte quality to it all when you've been looking at it through like an illuminated computer screen.

It's just so cool to see those colors and it come together.

[relaxed music] - What I see from people who come to the event and buy the posters is kind of just general excitement.

I think it speaks to people's relationship with the breweries themselves and the scene.

- This is a big beer city, you know, There's over 60 breweries in this city, so it's an important thing to people.

- [Dustin] People love beer and people love art, and so it's it's nice when they come together like that.

- I think it makes artwork kind of approachable.

You know, it's very affordable.

- [John] To be able to put a poster from a local business by a local artist on your wall is something that's pretty unique.

[relaxed music continues] - A lot of the artists that have done this have gone on to be kind of mainstays at that brewery, designing cans, t-shirts.

- Being able to participate in Prints & Pints has like really opened up my like sort of circle of artists and designers and things to work with, and I think being able to bring in those different types of artists within that community and see how everyone's kind of taking on these designs a little differently also broadens that horizon to like what poster printing is or what sort of graphic work and imagery kind of really can be through different sort of lenses.

- [Natasha] If you're into the local craft beer scene in Columbus, I definitely think it's an event worth checking out.

- Again, just like uniquely positive and good vibes about.

- [Dustin] It's the most relaxed sort of event art exhibition I've like been to in quite some time.

- I'm looking for five more years.

[relaxed music continues] - Discover more at uprightpress.com.

[upbeat jazz music] And here's a look at this week's art history.

[upbeat jazz music continues] [upbeat jazz music continues] 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."

[upbeat jazz music continues] Funding for "WLIW Arts Beat" was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

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