In 2019, I collaborated with sports scholar Dr. Akilah Carter-Francique and San José State’s Institute for the Study of Sport, Society & Social Change to build Wall of Song's second collaborative project, FEELING GOOD. This participatory, durational project invited hundreds of fans to sing 'Feeling Good'—the song made famous by Nina Simone—as a series of collaborative and participatory art and live half-time performances dedicated to amplifying voices in women's sports' search for equity, joy and more inclusive community—particularly for BIPOC, non-binary, and transgender athletes.

The project grew over several years together and expanded to include over two dozen campus, community, and cultural affinity partners and a series of evolving video installations, limited edition prints, sculptures, and photo-based works (examples below).

Thanks to all who added their voices and made this project possible! For more information on our events, collaborators, and calls-to-action, please visit www.wallofsongproject.com.

An evolving video and choral ensemble and performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah
Organized by artists Mel Day & Michael Namkung
wallofsongproject.com

Originally co-founded by artists Mel Day and Michael Namkung, Wall of Song Project began as a participatory, evolving video installation and live singing event that invited people—no matter their ability to carry a tune—to record themselves singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Hundreds of participants’ faces were layered together into a growing democratic chorus and video installation—such that no one voice or face stood out. In this time of great unknowing and uncertainty, this was a more permeable kind of wall that brought people together.

Launched on Inauguration Day (2017) in Washington, D.C. and at San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Wall of Song has been shared widely, recently with over 500 live and virtually present voices at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, with support from multiple organizations, donors and participants. Thank you for supporting Wall of Song!

Moir’s Series is a posthumous collaboration with my grandmother (Nan), Moir Clements (1924-2015). She was a British artist, a Warden in London during World War II, and my grandmother. She painted scenes from all parts of the British Isles, always in oil paint, and often from the front of her motor caravan. Early in her career she became discouraged after her work was repeatedly rejected from exhibitions. She never felt justified calling herself an artist, and, indeed, developed an acerbic disdain for the contemporary British art establishment.

Alongside personal and artistic insecurities and longings (she lost both parents at a young age), her greatest loss was her failing sight. Moir, as she liked to be called, collaborated with her grandson, my cousin Laurence Upton, to create a series of paintings. He painted them, according to her verbal instructions and visual memory—using yellow heavily as the color she could see most clearly. At Root Division, lying by one of these collaborative paintings is a photograph of Moir’s worn-down fuchsia Staedtler pencil. She was the last person to use this pencil until I used it to sign her name posthumously. She was always an artist and is deeply loved.

Following “Moir’s Pencil” in 2017, I created the second work in this series, “Moir’s Lipstick” in 2022. I was inspired by my published conversation with performance theorist and feminist scholar, Peggy Phelan for Danish artist Nanna Lysholt Hanson’s Dura Mater book.

The Young Artists' Fellowship at Djerassi, is an experimental design and social engagement project born out of close collaboration with OpenIDEO, an online, global platform for social and environmental good, and the support of Djerassi Resident Artist Program. Our initiative was awarded by IDEO and YMCA challenge sponsors in 2013, and we are now excited to announce that our Pilot Youth Fellowship at Djerassi Resident Artists Program launches this fall with high school students from East Palo Alto School, Eastside College Prep, Palo Alto's Gunn High school, and our inaugural artist, Melissa Wyman.

We are honored to have our pilot residency supported by Djerassi Resident Artist Program, The Lava Thomas and Peter Danzig Fellowship and the Silicon Valley Creative Impact & Audience Engagement Grant by the Applied Materials Foundation. For more info and updates, check out the new website for the pilot program at Djerassi with resident artist, Melissa Wyman: http://youngartistsfellowship.tumblr.com

"Linda Mary Montano Art / Life Counseling." Journal of the Performing Arts: On Time, Volume 19, No.3 (June 2014), Published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Edited by Branislav Jakovljevic & Lindsey Mantoan

Art / Life Counseling with Linda Mary Montano describes my extraordinary experience with Linda Mary Montano's work at Stanford's PSi conference. It was originally published as part of the PSI Performance Blog. You can also read the piece here on Linda Mary Montano's blog.

The piece was originally written while I was a participating artist in the Performance Research International Conference: NOW THEN: PERFORMANCE & TEMPORALITY, at Stanford University.