The Project : an Update Fall 2021
To Our Esteemed Gardeners: Over the last year, we have continued to realize our vision for 7NMS studios and our Satellite Residencies. In response to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve remained nimble and continue to shift and pivot as all of our lives were forever changed. Your generous investment in our vision facilitated our official opening of both ASIS and Saturn studios at our home campus in Pasadena last November. As a result, over the past year, we have supported: - Prophet Creative Residencies through: Abrons Arts Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Kelly Strayhorn Theatre, Lawrence University, and The Yard; - 7NMS Teaching Residencies with: Lehman College, The Peabody Institute of The John Hopkins University, and the University of Southern California; - and, most recently, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko for development on his new work, Chameleon, in April 2021. Shortly after Jaamil’s residency, Saturn’s structure was compromised due to weather damage.
We need your support to rebuild! We now must raise $5,000 to rebuild a weather-resistant roof to protect this new creative space. In collaboration with Forte Construction Services, we are drafting a blueprint to meet the evolving needs of the space (see reference pictures below):
For those able to donate $1,000 or more to this rebuilding effort, we will honor your investment by adding a gold “ring” plaque, with your name inscribed, to the raised foundation of the studio. Make a tax deductible donation here: http://igfn.us/form/kllvIA Our vision for this space remains committed to supporting multidisciplinary artists with access to a movement incubator, small stage with outdoor seating for both virtual and in-person showings of work in process, and on-site living accommodations. We are grateful to you for your continued support of our vision for 7NMS. Sincerely, Marjani & Everett 7NMS
A Note about The Collaboration of Marjani & Everett Saunders
The work centers composer Everett Saunders narratives, references, and sonic impulses as an Emcee and Sound designer to examine and exalt the lives of Hip Hop architects and Emcees. Everett is one of his names, yet as “Mental” he is also an Emcee. Marjani is serving as a choreographer and director in the project. This is an ongoing collaboration, that marks our eighth collaboration, with Everett serving as Composer and Sound Designer on all of Marjani’s choreographic works, dating back to Marjani’s first mainstage presentation of EGO, as part of Dance Theatre Workshop’s Fresh Tracks Performance Series and Artist Residency.
For Marjani’s trilogy of works examining the intersections mental illness, addiction, and systemic oppression, Everett received a New Music USA Grant to develop a 3-Dimensional aural experience for audiences during the performance. He continued this journey for a Sound Installation paired with video, at MoCADA Museum during Marjani’s Curatorial Residency and Exhibit “being Here… In Memory”. Our last work Memoirs of a… Unicorn received two NY Dance and Performance/Bessie Awards for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Visual Design. Inspired by the contemporary presence of friends and mentors, Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, 7 Names is our public emergence as a collaborative team, with both artists working at the visioning helm of this project.
Bailey’s Café (www.baileyscafe.org), a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn based non-profit is honored to serve as the fiscal sponsor for PROPHET and 7MNS. All donations to Bailey’s Café (501c3) are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.