SAVANNAH, Georgia—Deep Center will host “Go Back and Fetch It,” a performance and art exhibit of its Block by Block program, featuring some of Savannah’s most fearless high-school authors, on Saturday, June 23rd at 1:30 p.m. at the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts.
“Go Back and Fetch It” marks the culmination of a year-long process of research and creative production by youth and adult artists focused on the past and present stories of Savannah’s Gullah Geechee community. The showcase will feature performance, creative writing, and visual art works inspired by Sankofa, a Twi word from the Akan people in Ghana that translates to “go back and fetch it.” The array of work represented explores Savannah’s past and present stories, addressing injustices and envisioning a future full of community healing and restoration.
“Go Back and Fetch It” is a collaboration between Deep Center’s young artists and Jerome Meadows, critically acclaimed artist and creator of Blank Page Poetry: Drums and Shadows, a performance series featuring the dynamic interplay of spoken word, visual art, and performance.
Doors open at 1:00 p.m. and seating is limited. The Jepson Center for the Arts is located at 207 W York St, Savannah, GA 31401. At the event, Deep will release this year’s full-color, 200-page anthology featuring the writing and artwork of the participants in the Block by Block program. The books will be available at the event for a $25 suggested donation. All proceeds will benefit Deep Center.
Following the performance, attendees will witness the unveiling of the young artists’ Sankofa Bird paintings, while enjoying Gullah Geechee-inspired food crafted by award-winning chef Mashama Bailey of The Grey.
“Deep’s “Go Back and Fetch It” represents a year’s worth of research, creativity, and community activism by a team of Savannah’s brightest young people, as well as artists, parents, scholars from the University of Georgia, and many community leaders,” explained Dare Dukes, Deep Center’s executive director. “The creative work on display will serve to remind Savannah of how much there is to celebrate and interrogate about Savannah’s past and present stories.”
“In many ways, my art has always been about perceiving, understanding, and conveying the rich and complicated truths that communities celebrate and sometimes hide, and my Blank Page Poetry events have centered this work,” said artist Jerome Meadows. “Because of this I am delighted to have collaborated with Deep Center’s young authors on this very special edition of Blank Page Poetry.”
In addition to recruiting Jerome Meadows for this year’s dynamic performance, Deep partnered with local artist Cara Griffin to work with young artists to create paintings re-envisioning and embodying the Sankofa Bird, an underlying theme of exploration in this year’s program.
About Deep
Deep Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that empowers Savannah’s young people to thrive as learners, community leaders, and agents of change. Through creative writing, cultural production, and art, Deep creates platforms for the city’s youth and the village of support around them, including their families and adult allies, to share stories, engage in debates, and make Savannah a more just and equitable place.
Supporters
Deep Center is funded in part by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Chatham Foundation, the City of Savannah, the Ford Foundation, the Courtney Knight Gaines Foundation, the Georgia Council for the Arts, Georgia Power, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, the Hodge Foundation, International Paper, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Writing Project, Publix Super Markets Charities, the Savannah Community Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the United Way of the Coastal Empire, and many generous institutions and individuals.
This event is presented in partnership with Telfair Museums.