BETHANY CLANCY
Staff Writer
Every year, the Marion International Fellowship, created by Cathy and Jesse Marion, helps support and fund an artistic journey through which a creative project is started. Those who are selected display outstanding potential to succeed in the arts. Fredonia participates alongside institutions spanning from Wyoming to Alberta to Egypt and beyond.
This year’s recipients were so good that they couldn’t pick just one: two projects and three artists were awarded the 2015-2016 Marion Fellowship award. Those awarded were Eve Beglarian, based in New York City, and the duo of Lynn Neuman and Joshua Davis, who are also based out of New York City.
On Oct. 20, the winners gave presentations on their work in Rosch Recital Hall.
Beglarian is a composer, performer and audio producer. She makes work based off of visionary artists, who are artists who get inspiration from a higher power. Beglarian is currently working on a multimedia music theatre piece called “Lighten Up,” based on Cleveland Turner, also known as Houston’s “Flower Man,” whose colorful “junk” art was the product of an alleged vision from God.
Juanita Leonard, another visionary artist that Beglarian was connected to, became a collaborator in “Lighten Up.” One of the segments Beglarian showed in Rosch was of all the parishioners who attended Leonard’s church. It showed that people of all ages, gender and race attended this church to feel welcomed somewhere. Other than “Lighten Up,” she has worked on projects that dealt with her innerself and depressive emotions at a certain point in her life and another that focused on two separate racial hate crimes.
Next, the duo of Davis, a bassist and dancer, and Neuman, a dancer and choreographer, talked about their project “TOSS.” “TOSS” is a comedic romp involving consumerism and compromised relationships. The main question that was left on the stage for the audience was “is there a connection between how we throw out trash and how we treat each other?” In simpler terms, do we throw away our valued friendships and relationships just like we throw away our day-to-day trash?
There are three key aspects in “TOSS”: personal connection, community connection and expansion. Their objective was to really connect with everyday people. They wanted to gather stories and perspectives from audience members and put their voices in the shows. The two are big advocates of working with social, political and environmental issues. Neuman created all of her set materials from recycled materials. She is currently trying to bring awareness to the fact that plastic bags aren’t needed.
Neuman and Davis performed a piece from “TOSS” titled “An Ode to Plastic Bags.” It started off with Neuman dancing with the plastic bags as if they were her partner, then placing them on display. As Davis played bass, she spoke the words of the ode as if they were a breakup letter. This was their closing piece, leaving many environmentally aware of how important recycling is.
These Marion Fellowship winners were very different from one another but together they brought up very important social and environmental issues.