Dear friends, colleagues and art supporters,
I have the privilege of writing to you as Chair of the upcoming event - folkFUNDS Dinner + Show. This promises to be an amazing evening of performance, food, drink and community. The event includes an extraordinary four course meal with drinks and curated performances included, crafted by some of the Pittsburgh best - all in support of fully funding folkLAB's July/August show "Mija: one woman's show."
The event will take place on June 25th in the evening. SAVE THE DATE!!
Here is the link to purchase tickets: https://folklab.ticketleap.com/folkfunds/
100% of your $175 ticket goes into the project's budget and you get a seat at the table for this exclusive event as well as a ticket to the show itself.
Please join me in supporting this event that promises to be physically, creatively, intellectually and aesthetically pleasing.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Best regards,
Abigail Lis-Perlis, Artistic Director and Founder of folkLAB
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Candace Skibba, PhD
FolkFunds Event Chairperson
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of Modern Languages
Carnegie Mellon University
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From Candace:
Some of you may be familiar with folkLAB. For those of you who are not, please allow me a moment to share with you my thoughts. I truly believe in the work being done by folkLAB – work that is facilitating our understanding of the world around us. Work that isn't being done in as much depth and with as much integrity as it being done by folkLAB. Work that is necessary in order to understand the common misperceptions that create misunderstandings and divide us.
Below, I have included an introduction to folkLAB, a brief history provided by thefounder and Artistic Director, Abigail Lis- Perlis.
https://www.folklab.net/
ABOUT folkLAB
Every folkLAB production aims to create a new canon of American folklore through the voices of the historically and culturally under- or misrepresented. The primary goals at the core of folkLAB are equitable representation and fair compensation in the arts. We are committed to radical inclusivity that allows artists to not only survive but thrive.
Our next show Mija: one woman's show is part of our miniMythologies artist residency where a resident artist is challenged to create a near work that explores identity and mythology in whatever way they see fit.
Current resident artist Nicole Gallagher holds many identities: Latina, biracial, woman, queer, labor organizer, sex worker and sex positivity activist, service industry professional, improviser, sketch comedy creator, storyteller + more. Nicole is creating her first ever one-woman show in Mija and is collaborating with director Ayne Terceira (Uncumber Theatrics) and video artist Julie Mallis to bring it to life.
We believe the work that we are doing is imperative in bettering the Pittsburgh arts and culture scene through focusing on building community, sharing skills and resources and commiting to profit-sharing with every artist to provide fair compensation for their work.
From Abigail:
My name is Abigail Lis-Perlis and I am the founder and Artistic Director of folkLAB, a performance art project that aims to marry change-making + social justice with art-making.
Since I moved to Pittsburgh in 2010, I've participated in over 20 local productions. Bill O'Driscoll, the Arts and Culture editor for WESA, has described my work as "memorable, ambitious, and visionary" and in September 2018 I was honored to be named one of The Incline's "Who's Next: Art" as an emerging artists under 40 for my work with folkLAB.
I created folkLAB because my sense of justice and equity demanded that I engage more holistically with issues of identity and marginalization. folkLAB started as a dream rooted in building community, creating opportunities and giving voice to those too often silenced in our cultural landscape. In just under two years it has grown into a reality thanks to the generous support of our community of artists and audience members.
