The Ikouii Creative is excited to announce the lineup of amazing performers for our book event in Atlanta! If you are near the Atlanta area, please join us as we celebrate the launch of our 2nd book from the Ikouii Book Project. The event will be on Saturday, October 1st, 2022 from 1PM-3PM at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art. Read further to learn more about each performer.

Bay Area native, Antoine Hunter aka Purple Fire Crow is an award-winning Internationally-known African-American, Indigenous, Deaf, Disabled, choreographer, dancer, actor, instructor, speaker, producer and Deaf advocate. He creates opportunities for Disabled, Deaf and hearing artists, produces Deaf-friendly events, and founded the Urban Jazz Dance Company (UJDC) and Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival (BAIDDF.) Antoine has received numerous grants and awards including the inaugural Jeanette Lomujo Bremond Award for Humanity, the Dance Teacher Award, 2019 National Dance/USA Fellowship, Isadora Duncan (Izzie) for the BAIDDF, and SF King of Carnaval. He founded #DeafWoke, a virtual consciousness-raising online talk show. Created in response to Covid-19 in July 2020, #DeafWoke is a platform to amplify Black and Indigenous Deaf and Disabled stories as a force for cultural change and collective liberation.

Jessica Blinkhorn is an Atlanta-based Artist and Performance Artist. Blinkhorn’s work advocates for the Disabled, Aging, and LGBTQ+ communities. Blinkhorn, who uses a powerchair, focuses her work on acceptance through acknowledgement of difference, body positivity, disability education through experience and exposure, human sexuality, and story-telling. Blinkhorn, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1, at 19 months and was given the life expectancy of 3 years.  She began drawing at 3 years old as a way to understand the physical ability that was being taken from her. She has been awarded numerous grants including the Artist Relief Grant, Mayor’s Office Artist Grant, and Invest Atlanta. When Blinkhorn is not pursuing her own creative endeavors, she focuses on being the best Arts Educator possible. She has been an Adjunct, Part-Time, and Full-Time Instructor at Georgia State University for 13 years and has been an Arts Instructor at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center for 6 years.

April Williams is an emerging poet and co-founder of the innovative April Love Foundation which seeks to provide development, guidance, and career creating opportunities to differently abled children and adults pursuing a career in the arts. Born in Bad Constantt, West Germany to two veterans, April was given 18 years to live after being diagnosed with cerebral palsy and scoliosis at age 7. Fourteen surgeries later, and at the age of 36, April is full of life and determined to help others like her. No formal training, and limited access to a liberal arts education built for people with disabilities, April turned to music. She leaned heavily into her love of rhythm and blues to create the structure for her work. Often called a sponge, April writes as if she’s been handed the pen of a seasoned poet. She makes poetry sound like a song and dance while using imagery that feels nostalgic, vivid and fleshly.

Adare (they/them) fell in love with oil painting when they were 6 years old. They have Hyper-mobility Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), a collagen disorder that impacts the body in all kinds of ways. Adare is an motivational speaker who shares the healing power of art, and advocates for differently abled artists. They have been a guest speaker at the Long Island Institute of Sex Therapy, the Hawai’i Museum Associated Conference, the Mental Health America of Hawai’i and many more. They were an awardee for EveryLife Foundation’s 2021 Rare Artist exhibit, and recently received the Juror’s Choice and Staff Choice award at the Art is Healing Showcase, in Kona. Adare founded the Kīpaipai Art Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing art classes to both adults and differently abled children.  Inclusion is the forefront of Adare’s art and social advocacy. They are an avid storyteller who loves painting the noble and passionate side of their models.

INSIDE THEIR STUDIO: Deaf & Disabled Artists Reshaping the Arts is available for sale.

BOOK READING & SIGNING:

Saturday, October 1, 2022 from 1PM-3PM

Oglethorpe University Museum of Art

Upstairs, Lowry Hall
4484 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30319

FREE Event.

RSVP HERE

Plan Your Visit to OUMA

Art for All – Accessibility at OUMA