A colorful moment from The Art of Me with Merrick. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Artists from Upstream Arts and Merrick collaborated on an original Art of Me performance on Thursday, February 28 at 4pm. After 18 weeks or working together, building ensemble, experimenting in the creative process, and expressing who they are through multiple artistic disciplines, the cast shared an incredible show. As one audience member put it, “It was great to see all of the people expressing themselves in their own ways, and the joy each person had.”
Here are some highlights through photos:
“The Art of Me: Friends, Family, Us.” The name of the show captured the spirit of connection and conviviality that ran throughout the evening. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Performers sang together, mirroring each other’s songs and rhythms. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Performers introduced a Pirate dance as part of a scene involving the high seas. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
One of the performers sang Amazing Grace, accompanied by the guitar. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Two performers conversed through rhythm and drums, one of the recurring themes of the evening. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Two performers enjoyed collaborating on an improvised song, moving through melody together. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Performers danced their way one by one to a canvas, where they collaboratively painted the music. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Each performer chose a color and added their interpretation of music, movement, and moment to the canvas.
The entire ensemble simultaneously created two very different paintings to the same song and motivation.
The show ended with a grand finale of song: The sound of music makes me laugh. Photo by Jason Bucklin.
Thank you to everyone who came out to witness the show and celebrate the talents of this remarkable cast!
Click here to see a video of the entire Art of Me performance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Thank you to the staff at Merrick, Inc. whose grantwriting secured this funding.
You can also be part of making groundbreaking work like this possible! Click here to invest in future events and performances with Upstream Arts.