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The Black Artist Talk, facilitated by Olujimi Dance Collective founder and Deering Estate Artist-in-Residence Michelle Grant-Murray, is a series of conversations where members of the South Florida African Diaspora community collectively come together to generate awareness and explore strategic practices around social justice issues of restorative healing practices, the ecology of economic growth and sustainability, access to resources, education, building creative genius, and viable practices of being human. It serves as a platform and meeting ground to explore, enhance, engage, empower, and cultivate the Black Communities in South Florida. Black Artist Talk is committed to strengthening the fundamental core of South Florida’s Black Communities by taking steps to build community awareness and utilizing the power of the Arts to synthesize and nurture cultural understanding. This education will generate knowledge and a sense of place, provide progressive and contemporary programming, as well as encourage and support collaborative work ethics.
This iteration of the program is a joyful celebration of the liberated body through movement, memory, myth, and fantasy. This special Juneteenth event features performances by Olujimi Dance Collective, a film showing Afterlife: How colonization changed Nigeria’s cultural and spiritual identity, and dialogue that honors the preservation of Black artistry, history, and imagination. Experience powerful dance, rich conversation, and the vibrant spirit of freedom.
This free event takes place at the Deering Estate’s Visitor Center Theater on Saturday, June 21, 2025 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP online.
The Black Artist Talk is program developed by Michelle Grant Murray. The program is dedicated to engaging conversations with Black artists to discuss current events, the arts, dance making, pedagogy, social justice, his/hers-tory, futurism, and the here and now. The Black Artist Talk was first developed by Michelle Grant-Murray in 2016, as an Artist-in-Residence at the historic Deering Estate.
About the Artist-in-Residence:
Michelle Grant Murray, curator, choreographer, educator, author, scholar, performer and Artistic Director of Olujimi Dance Collective, earned a BS degree in Dance Education (Jacksonville University), MA degree in African Studies (Florida International University) and MFA degree in Choreography (Jacksonville University). Michelle has presented work throughout Europe, Asia, South America, the United States and the Caribbean. She is Associate Professor Sr. and Coordinator of Dance at Miami Dade College, Artistic Director of Jubilation Dance Ensemble. She is the founder and host of The Black Artist Talk, Founder and Executive Director of the Artistry In Rhythm (A.I.R.) Dance Conference, Co-Founder of Florida Black Dance Artists Organization and author of Beyond the Surface: An Inclusive American Dance History. Her artistic practice centers cultural traditions and evolution of the African Diaspora around Olujimi Dance Technique, She explores corporeality of the moving body with intentionality, individuality, and intersections of contemporary and traditional modern dance styles infused with elements of African Diaspora Dance Movement forms. Michelle has developed a unique choreographic process, Ancestral Dance Movement Memory (ADMM), a movement exploration that seeks to go beyond the collective memory of the present physical body and utilize the ecology of spirituality and the environment to reveal the essence of humanities intersections with nature. She is a Knights Arts Champion, a recipient of the Miami Individual Arts Grant, and Artists-in-Residence at Deering Estates. Currently, Michelle is researching the performative intersections of Eco-feminism, Ecology, and Sustainability of the Black Female Body.
About the Deering Estate:
Deering Estate, located at 16701 SW 72 Ave. in Miami, is a 21st Century house museum, cultural and ecological field station, and a national landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, owned by the State of Florida and managed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. Deering Estate is designated as one of seven Miami-Dade County “Heritage Parks” which have a vital role in our community’s history, environment and in providing recreational and cultural experiences.
Cultural Arts Programming at the Deering Estate is made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. Programming in the Deering Estate theater is also possible thanks to The Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation.
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This family-owned media company publishes more than a dozen neighborhood publications, magazines, special sections on their websites, newsletters, as well as distributing them in print throughout Miami Dade County from Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, South Miami, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Homestead. Each online publication and print editions provide comprehensive coverage of local news, events, business updates, lifestyle features, and local initiatives within its respective community.
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If you have any questions, feel free to email Michael@communitynewspapers.com or Grant@communitynewspapers.com
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