Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie

In Act 2 of Episode 68: “Pockets of Light,” Courtney continues her conversation with multidisciplinary artist Jerron Herman. What sticks from Act 1 of this episode are the internal themes of personal and professional growth, and disability justice through disability artistry. What’s new and exciting about Act 2 is Courtney and Jerron’s deep discussions centered on art-making by and about disabled communities through a disability justice lens; Jerron’s invitation to identify one’s authentic curiosity about this work and considering ways one might enter deep conversations that explore disability justice; what solidarity means in the context of building bridges from one community to the next; and we have been indoctrinated to believe that capitalism (an oppressive presence in our lives) is the only way to exist and how, together, we can move toward a more liberated society, deeper thinking and move beautiful art-making.

Our newest episode, Episode 68: "Pockets of Light,” features multidisciplinary artist Jerron Herman. In their conversation, Courtney and her guest discuss their time together at New Victory, when Jerron was just starting out in the arts world. The episode continues by exploring Jerron’s position at the intersection(s) at which his artistry currently lives and continues to evolve. This leads Courtney and Jerron to discuss personal and professional growth and their respective trajectories into their current positions/careers—for Jerron, this is an emphasis on disability justice through disability artistry.

In Act 2 of Episode 67: “The Power of Queer Joy!,” Courtney continues her conversation with guest Lindz Amer. Their chat pivots in tone and substance from Act 1, which was focused on what it means to be a child that is free to explore and to keep that inner child alive as an adult. Act 2 focuses in on Lindz’s work as a content creator and the myriad differences between creating and distributing online content, and creating their longform, non-fiction book, “Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies.” One (of many) interesting parts of this conversation is centered around Lindz’s journey away from and back to programming for young audiences, and realizing the importance of feeling and expressing Queer joy in spaces and through content that have not traditionally held space for that joy or narrative.

You know what they say: New year, new episode! In Episode 67: “The Power of Queer Joy!” Courtney sits down with guest Lindz Amer, whose impressive list of credits spans stage performance, author, musician and educator. This discussion focuses on a number of Lindz Amer’s creative projects ranging from their award-winning web series Queer Kid Stuff, a viral TedTalk on gender and sexuality, and their recently-published book, Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies. The heart of this episode is a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a kid with opportunities to experiment with a range of ideas and experience the wide spectrum of human emotions, and what it means to be an adult while trying to keep one’s inner child alive in a world that wants adults to just grow up. This thoughtful, introspective episode is one you won’t want to miss.

In Act 2 of Episode 66: “For Vocal Girls…,” Carmen Kelly tells of her 22-year history with Creative Arts Team (CAT) and her 40-year career as a teaching artist! This inspiring conclusion to our four-episode arc discussion delves into Carmen’s work with high school-aged kids and what it was like developing strategies for talking to them about HIV/AIDS at a time when nobody else had the courage to do so. Carmen also takes time to speak about what it was like to be present within the evolution of teaching artistry. And, in a thoughtfully candid moment, she takes time to highlight the transferable skill sets that made her transition from teaching artistry to a more programmatic leadership role.

In Episode 66: “For Vocal Girls…,” Courtney continues her conversation with guest Carmen Kelly. This thoughtful discussion focuses on Carmen’s journey from artist, to office temp, to teaching artist, and everything in between! As Courtney and Carmen weave through their chat, Carmen offers intriguing stories about her stint in the national tour of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf, the many “under fives” she played on soap operas, how camping out in the Drama Book Shop led to her first commercial spot, and how grad school helped her connect theory to practice.