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Composing Acts of Resistance

  • Opalka Gallery 140 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY, 12208 United States (map)

Free and Open to the Public

Join us for a panel discussion facilitated by composer Joel Thompson, artist/poet D. Colin, and artist Josh MacPhee about oppression, activism, and how they are using their chosen art forms to faciliate conversations and change. Then, explore the Opalka Gallery and Josh MacPhee’s exhibit Graphic Liberation before creating your own screenprinted poster!


Joel Thompson, composer

Joel Thompson (b.1988) is an Atlanta-based composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, best known for the choral work, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, which was premiered November 2015 by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and Dr. Eugene Rogers and won the 2018 American Prize for Choral Composition. His pieces have been performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Master Chorale, Los Angeles Master Chorale, EXIGENCE, and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

D. Colin, artist & poet

D. Colin is a Haitian American multidisciplinary artist with an educational background in English & Africana Studies. She is a self-published author, a dynamic performer, a self-taught painter & maker of pretty things that make bold statements. Her mantra is Be inspired. Then inspire.

Josh MacPhee, artist

Josh MacPhee is a designer, artist, and archivist. He is a founding member of both the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative and Interference Archive, a public collection of cultural materials produced by social movements based in Brooklyn, NY (InterferenceArchive.org). MacPhee is the author and editor of numerous publications, including Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now and Signal: A Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture. He has organized the Celebrate People's History poster series since 1998 and has been designing book covers for many publishers for the past decade (AntumbraDesign.org).

Earlier Event: October 5
Thrive & Survive - West African Drumming
Later Event: October 8
Opening Night: Tchaikovsky's Fifth