OZ Arts Nashville And The Porch to Present 7th Annual Art Wire Reading

Contemporary arts center OZ Arts Nashville will host the annual celebratory reading of their ongoing Art Wire fellows program, a unique, cross-disciplinary collaboration with prominent literary nonprofit The Porch. Throughout the dynamic 2024/25 Season at OZ Arts, 10 Art Wire Fellows of diverse backgrounds and ages experienced world-class productions from five continents, encountering experimental performance work from artists based in South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the United States. The free Art Wire reading will be held in the lovely indoor/outdoor patio and lounge at OZ Arts on Tuesday, June 3rd at 6:30pm, and includes a mix of poetry and prose writing from the 10 fellows.

Now concluding its 7th year, Art Wire has been an instrumental collaboration between OZ Arts and The Porch, annually selecting a talented cohort of teen and adult writers to share their literary responses to the season's presentations with deeply personal, playful, and engaging writing. The fellows work in many literary genres, including poetry, prose, and spoken word. Featured writers in the 2024/25 cohort include Kenieha Boren, Alder Brandon, Sandra Crouch, Carson Elliot, Kelly Cass Falzone, Patricia Mitchell, Marcus Robinson, ArJae "Sensei" Thompson, Tsurah Waire, and Lizzie Wimberly.

This year, the writers drew inspiration from local, national, and international performance pieces from changemaking artists in contemporary performance. Fellows created ekphrastic writings in response to performances by legendary avant-garde theatrical collective The Wooster Group, London-based Hip-hop dance company Far From the Norm led by choreographer Botis Seva, brilliant Congolese performance artist and choreographer Faustin Linyekula, and South Korea's acclaimed Bereishit Dance Company. The cohort also engaged with the US premiere of a new work by Sydney-based dancer/choreographer Emma Sandall and Nashville Ballet's former artistic director Paul Vasterling, plus the world premiere of Nashville Story Garden's sensational immersive theatre performance Human Resources written by Nate Eppler and directed by Lauren Shouse. Many of the fellows were also able to experience Faye Driscoll's unforgettable performance Weathering and cheer on the all-local slate of artists premiering four original projects in the Brave New Works Lab 2025.

"We love seeing how this unique collaboration with The Porch and local writers opens up creative response to the high-impact work of international and local artists who are changing the field," said Mark Murphy, OZ Arts Executive and Artistic Director. "This year's season took our adventurous audiences and the Art Wire fellows on inspiring journeys from some of the most cutting-edge and avant-garde artists creating performance today anywhere in the world. We are so grateful to The Porch team for their partnership and to mentors Ciona Rouse and Joe Kane who support the writing fellows and emphasize the power of art in our community."

The Art Wire partnership with The Porch furthers OZ's mission to connect local creatives with leading contemporary artists from around the world. It also opens the floor to passionate members of the Nashville community to safely share personal reflections and generate entirely new written works that meaningfully engage with the programming OZ brings to the city. This year's group was mentored by acclaimed poet Ciona Rouse, who oversaw the adult writing cohort, alongside Joe Kane, a lauded member of the arts community who serves as director of The Porch's youth programs and has been involved with the Art Wire program since its inception. The Art Wire program has served as a creative home for over 70 writers since it began in 2018.

"The final celebratory reading for the Art Wire program is one of our favorite nights of the year, looking back on the riveting contemporary programming at OZ Arts and highlighting some incredible new work from the 2025 Fellows who are so inspired by these world-class performances," said Susannah Felts, co-founder of The Porch. "The poetry and prose they prepare remind us how contemporary art affects us all in profound ways, and we're thrilled to share how our Fellows were transformed through their encounters at OZ Arts this year."

Art Wire is a free event, but ticket reservations are encouraged with an optional "pay what you can" donation. Tickets and more information about the Art Wire collaboration between OZ Arts and The Porch can be found at: https://artwire.ozartsnashville.org/

Applications for the 2025/26 cohort of Art Wire fellows will be open on June 3 - August 19. Adult and teen writers of all experience levels are encouraged to apply.

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