Sixty Search Dropdown Menu

CANJE in Peoria: Reflections from a 2-day event

·

, ,

A look at two CANJE events this summer through the photography of Alexa Cary with reflections from the organizers.

Image: Autumn Angelize sits and writes notes/feedback for the participating artists of at CANJE Session 1: The Art of Critique. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Autumn Angelize sits and writes notes/feedback for the participating artists of at CANJE Session 1: The Art of Critique. Photo by Alexa Cary.

This summer, Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA) reimagined Sixty’s CANJE project by looking at it through the lens of collaboration through art-making, exhibition-making, and self-reflection in community with others. The result was two incredible events on June 10 and 17th at the Sunbeam Building (923 N. Sheridan Road) in Peoria, Illinois. These experimental events challenged and reshaped how audiences can interact with exhibitions, fused together different art genres (sound and visual art), an created opportunities for both artist and community member to be in direct dialogue.

In the spirit of last year’s CANJE, we would like to share with you some of thoughts from PGOBA members about this meaningful experience as well as a look at these two dynamic events through the lens of photographer and PGOBA member Alexa Cary.

Congratulations to PGOBA on these incredible events–and thank you to everyone who joined us!


The Art of Critique

June 10th, 1-4pm
An open studio night and public critique session where visual artists, writers, and musicians presented work for discussion and written response. This day featured artists Autumn Angelize, Hannah Offutt, Ezra Collom, Rose Feral, Alexander Martin, Alexa Cary, and Fatema Salem.

Image: Brenda Gentry writes her feedback for works in the exhibition The Art of Critique. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Brenda Pagan writes her feedback for works in the exhibition The Art of Critique. Photo by Alexa Cary.

Thoughts from PGOBA artist, poet, and organizer Brenda Pagan…

“As someone who has always struggled with expressing myself verbally, ‘critique’ was always scary to me. Not because of a fear of feedback from others—but when it comes to presenting, I am already slow to find and piece together my words, even when I’m not standing in front of room of people with all eyes on me. Also, receiving and responding to even the best of feedback while standing in front of everyone is is nerve-wracking, and trying to compose meaningful verbal feedback for others on the spot? I’m not even going to attempt.

I was excited by the idea of creating events that invited us to rethink the format of critique. It was extremely important to me that we created events that recognize and accommodate different communication styles and struggles. For instance, having the visual exhibition along with verbal presentations and spoken word. We also invited thoughtful conversation through questions and answers after each presentation and then had quiet time to compose written critique for each artist after they returned to their seats. 

Also, a lot of us in the guild don’t have a bachelors or masters degree in art, so in an effort to build confidence as far as composing critique for others, we created a handout of prompts and questions to aid in giving supportive feedback. I know for me personally, the process of trying to focus my attention and compose feedback for others in a social setting—of just quietly standing in front of each piece and asking the questions (that I helped to write)—definitely stretched me and made me rethink the way I normally visit exhibitions (and how much time I don’t normally give myself to just be still and quiet and reflect on a piece). 

Getting home and reading my envelope of feedback from others allowed me to just smile and appreciate the words without the nervousness of how to respond. Though I also received some very meaningful and full feedback through personal conversations during the event!”

“Having an exhibition that explored collaboration as critique was also really important to me, because collaboration can be such an effective active, informal, and connected form of critique. It allows for technical, conceptual, casual, active, and visual feedback to meet in a very candid and laid-back process. We had a such a thoughtful, fantastic group of artists involved and participating in this project, and I’m so proud to have been a part of it!”

Brenda Pagan
Image: Autumn Angelize speaks into a mic in front of an audience at CANJE Session 1: The Art of Critique.
Image: Autumn Angelize speaks into a mic in front of an audience at CANJE Session 1: The Art of Critique.

Collaboration as Critique

June 17th, 4:30-9:30pm
New works created between PGOBA and other Peoria-based artists and musicians were revealed through an interactive exhibition, titled Collaboration as Critique: An Exhibition, and open mic (hosted by Cami Proctor). This night feature dartists Ezra Collom, David Jennings, Tafi Brown, Camryn Proctor, Maria Lavender, Brenda Pagan, Knyame Maison, Krystopher Dudley-Brown, and Alexa Cary.

Collaboration as Critique: An Exhibition featured the work of seven audio and visual artists. All pieces were created with the theme of “self-reflection based on others’ perspectives,” and explored the idea of collaboration as a form of active critique. To listen to these collaborations, click here.

Image: Maria Lavender is smiling toward a crowd of people while standing in front of a collaborative painting. The painting depicts a distinct and impressionistic world made up of various shades of blues, violets, and yellows within large circles surrounded by natural environments. The work on display is part of a collaborative exhibition put on by PGOBA as part of CANJE. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Maria Lavender is smiling toward a crowd of people while standing in front of a collaborative painting. The work on display is part of Collaboration as Critique: An Exhibition, organized by PGOBA as part of CANJE. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Maria Lavender stands with an audience member in front of a series of three colorful collaborative paintings.  Each painting depicts distinct and impressionistic worlds made up of various shades of blues, violets, and yellows within large circles surrounded by natural environments. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Maria Lavender stands with an audience member in front of a series of three colorful collaborative paintings. Photo by Alexa Cary.

“The CANJE sessions allowed me to explore a different side of my creativity through close collaboration with other artists. We each shared a bit of our heART and the feedback from the community was genuinely uplifting and helpful. It was a fun challenge to cultivate such a supportive and inspiring environment for myself and other artists!”

PGOBA Artist Maria Lavender
Image: Cami Proctor performs (sings and plays guitar) at the open mic they hosted as part of the second session of CANJE. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Cami Proctor performs (sings and plays guitar) at the open mic they hosted as part of the second session of CANJE. Photo by Alexa Cary.

Thoughts from guitar player, songwriter, and producer Cami Proctor…

“I absolutely loved working on the CANJE committee. It was such a special and novel experience creating a song with two artists who i’d never collaborated with before. It was amazing to see their unique skillsets shine through, and I learned a lot by studying their strengths and listening to their critiques.

Hosting the open mic was very special as well. Despite having attended many open mics over the years, I have never been the host of one, and it was very wonderful to help platform so many phenomenal community artists and hear their pieces. I also loved how intimate and communal it felt out there on the patio.”

I had many friends of mine who were in attendance tell me how special it was for them as well, and I do believe the experience left a positive impact on the artists and listeners alike.

Cami Proctor
Image: Ezra Collom hugs a member of the crowd after singing as part of the CANJE open mic. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: Ezra Collom hugs a member of the crowd after singing as part of the CANJE open mic. Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: A close up of two hands: one holding a pencil and the other holding a piece of paper for writing their feedback to the performances. The piece of paper says, "Brenda! Thank you for sharing with us! Your talent is limitless. Keep being yourself & making art." Photo by Alexa Cary.
Image: A close up of two hands: one holding a pencil and the other holding a piece of paper for writing their feedback to the performances. The piece of paper says, “Brenda! Thank you for sharing with us! Your talent is limitless. Keep being yourself & making art.” Photo by Alexa Cary.

CANJE is an exploration in cultural criticism with the intention to apply Sixty’s values and ethos to an in-person dialogue, engaging artists directly to form a deeper relationship.

Logo by Kiki Lechuga-Dupont.

Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA) is a group of Black creatives from within the Peoria, IL community. Their mission is to bring the Black creative community together, uplift one another, advocate and provide a platform for Black folks in the Peoria arts community. They strive to provide resources and educational materials to our community in an accessible manner. You can learn more about them and read their manifesto here.

Support PGOBA’s work by donating here.

This iteration of CANJE was created by the Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA) with support from the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

More by This Author

Related Articles