Cooperation Jackson presents the Seven Days Community Arts Festival

Cooperation Jackson is proud to announce that we will hosting our first Seven Days Community Art Festival Thursday, April 11th through Thursday, April 18th. The Community Arts Festival is being held in preparation and observation of our five year anniversary, which is May Day (May 1st) 2019.

We will be hosting our 5 year anniversary celebrations between Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th. Please stay tuned for future announcements regarding those plans.

Festival Objectives The primary objective of the Community Arts Festival is to beautify the commercial and residential property holdings of our community land trust, the Fannie Lou Hamer Community Land Trust, for the purpose of revitalizing our community from the ground up. The secondary purpose is to help us combat gentrification and displacement in West Jackson by creating an environment that reflects and upholds the collective history, aspirations, and struggles of the Black working class that constitute its majority.

Festival Theme(s) The Seven Days Community Arts Festival is open to any and all local, national and international graffiti artists willing to work within the framework of the libertory theme we are promoting for our first festival. Our Theme(s) for 2019 are: The intersections of New Afrikan/Black Liberation, Indigenous Resistance and Sovereignty, International Solidarity and Struggle and Afro-Futurism.

Submission Process and Timeline To participate in the Seven Days Community Arts Festival, we ask all interested artists to send in full-color sketches and renditions of the mural you would like to paint in line with our stated theme. We ask that all artists send high quality, high resolution pictures of previous murals they have worked on as work samples for quality control. All sketches, renditions, and work samples should be submitted via email to CooperationJackson@gmail.com by Friday, March 1st.

The Community Arts Festival Host Committee will make final decisions on which murals we will accept by Friday, March 8th. We will be informing all artists of our acceptance by Friday, March 15th. Following the 15th we will work out all logistical arrangements with prospective artists. We will request that all artists arrive no later than Friday, April 12th to participate in the festival with ample time to complete your mural (weather permitting).

Schedule

Thursday, April 11th: Welcoming Dinner Event in the evening at the Balagoon Center

Friday, April 12th: BBQ Lunch and Tour of Jackson (for out town guests)

Saturday, April 13th: All Day BBQ, Kids/Family Art Set-Up at the Balagoon Center and Evening Party at the Balagoon Center

Sunday, April 14th: Breakfast, Kids/Family Art Set-Up at the Balagoon Center and Tour of Jackson (for out of town guests)

Monday, April 15th: Breakfast and Lunch and Movie Festival Day #1

Tuesday, April 16th: Breakfast and Lunch and Movie Festival Day #2

Wednesday, April 17th: Breakfast and Lunch and Movie Festival Day #3

Thursday, April 18th: Breakfast and Lunch and Movie Festival Day #4, and Closing Celebration at the Balagoon Center

Film Festival Selections

Monday, April 15th: Style Wars and Floyd Norman, An Animated Life

Tuesday, April 16th: 5 African American Artists and Images of Dignity

Wednesday, April 17th: Blurred Lines and Black Is, Black Ain’t

Thursday, April 18th: The Land Where the Blues Began and Against the Odds

Coordination and Logistics Cooperation Jackson is looking to provide the following to all of the artists that participate in the festival: a small commission, air travel (for potential national and international guests), accommodations, and ground transportation. We will also provide collective meals once a day.

It should be noted however, that Cooperation Jackson is still in the process of raising funds for this festival to expand its overall budget. We therefore are not in a position to say how much of a commission, if any, we will be able to provide artists. Nor are we in a position to guarantee accommodations and flights to national and international artists.

Our intention is to cover as many of these expenses as possible. But, our resource limitations will be a very decisive factor in determining if we will be able support national and international artists joining us.

Contact and Donate Information If you would like to participate in this Festival please email us at CooperationJackson@gmail.com and list “Community Arts Festival” in the email title.

If you are inspired by this effort and would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the festival you can make a contribution online at https://cooperationjackson.org/donate/ or mail us a check or money order made out to Cooperation Jackson, with Arts Festival in the For line. Mail the check or money order P. O. Box 1932, Jackson, MS 392015.