AfroSolo presents 'The Arts: A Medium For Peace,' 7/29

AfroSolo presents 'The Arts: A Medium For Peace' in Colloboation with The Commonwealth Club of CA on Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 5:30 pm (Reception) and 6 pm (Panel) in The Commonwealth Club of CA - 595 Market Street, SF. Admission: $8 Members, $20 Non-members For tickets visit: http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=2&shcode=1804.

Moderator:
Jewelle Gomez is a writer and community activist. She is the author of the double Lambda Award-winning novel The Gilda Stories, and her fiction, essays, criticisms, and poetry have appeared in publications including San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, The Village Voice, Ms. Magazine, ESSENCE, The Advocate, Callaloo, and Black Scholar. Her books include Don't Explain, a collection of short fiction and Forty-three Septembers, a book of personal and political essays.

Panelists:

Peter Carpou is a muralist and the Art Program Manager at Larkin Street Youth Services. He has an extensive history of painting murals. As the Art Program Manager of Larkin Street's Youth Art Program, he oversees a comprehensive arts education program that provides a variety of hands-on visual and performance art activities for the youth they serve. The program also features artistic and cultural outings to Bay Area theaters, museums, galleries, and community centers, as well as, collaborative arts projects with San Francisco's noted arts institutions.

Brad EricksonBrad Erickson is the Executive Director of Theatre Bay Area. He president of California Arts Advocates and is active in a number of other state and national committees and task forces designed to promote and strengthen the role of the arts in society. Erickson is a playwright, and has a number of performances to his credit.

Arisika RazakArisika Razak is a dancer, choreographer, and performance artist. Her performance art is equally grounded in the cross-cultural tradition of spiritual dance and her 25-year study of African, Asian, Native American and Neo-Pagan religious systems. She appears nationally and internationally as a guest lecturer and workshop leader on women's issues and is the Program Chair of the Women's Spirituality Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Michael MorganMichael Morgan, conductor, Oakland East Bay Symphony, also fills key roles with the Oakland Youth Orchestra, Sacramento Philharmonic, Festival Opera in Walnut Creek and the Peoria, Illinois, Symphony, and teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He began his conducting career at the age of 12 in the public schools of Washington, D.C. and has been a guest conductor with many of America's major orchestras and a number of major opera companies. He is known as a champion of arts education and minority access to the arts.