During the Fall of 2020, I joined RICH in Music and the Hope Choir of Nations (a program of Asylee Women’s Enterprise) for a special “Storytelling and Art” virtual workshop series.

In part a response to the pandemic, this workshop series provided a virtual platform in which three different artistic disciplines - music, visual art, and performance - were utilized as avenues for personal storytelling.

The series culminated in a virtual Winter Concert where choir members (many of whom are humanitarian migrants to the Baltimore area), along with teaching artists and interpreters, shared stories of personal, cultural, and collective significance through song, visual art, and performative storytelling.

As the teaching artist for the visual art workshops, I led community members in creating ceramic vessels. Working with clay allowed community members of all abilities to access the creative process. The vessels created during these workshops are storytelling objects that honor and memorialize loved ones, share cultural traditions, and preserve cherished memories.

For a limited time, you may view the full recording of RICH in Music’s virtual 2020 Winter Concert on their website: www.richinmusic.org

This excerpt from the RICH in Music virtual Winter Concert displays ceramic vessels created by the Hope Choir of Nations throughout this workshop series. The song is also performed by the choir and was recorded and mixed virtually.