Tales from the Porch Performance and Panel Discussion

Auditorium 

Aitina Fareed-Cooke developed the Tales from the Porch project in 2019 under Get Fokus’d Productions as an opportunity to amplify the stories and the voices of members of the Buffalo, NY community. In 2022 the Tales from the Porch project focused on seven black community leaders positively impacting the city despite the pandemic and the tragedy that occurred at the Tops Market on May 14, 2022. An abridged version of Tales from the Porch is currently on view in the Sharing Our View: 25th Anniversary exhibition. 

In partnership with Buffalo Arts Studio and with funding support from Creatives Rebuild New York’s Artist Employment Program, Fareed-Cooke extended Tales from the Porch in order to invest in the next generation of creatives. Fareed-Cooke developed a creative arts apprenticeship called Fokus’d Kreatives as an opportunity to support emerging artists as they develop their artistic craft within the creative arts field. 

Fareed-Cooke guided a cohort of five Fokus’d Kreatives as they responded to the 2022 Tales from the Porch project. Emerging artists Isaac Fareed, Stephen Forman Jr., Tallulah Gordon, Kaitlyn Lowe, and Mykiss Washington were also given paid opportunities to add to their resumes and support their art production. The end result is Tales from the Porch Extensions, an exhibition of new work in a range of media including photography, illustration, mixed media, poetry and performance. 

Join us on Sunday, May 21st for the Tales from the Porch Extensions Panel Discussion and performance by A.I. The Anomaly. Aitina Fareed-Cooke will share the origin story of Tales from the porch and her creative strategy to merge mediums in order to build community. Emerging artists will share their journey into their art forms, how they became connected to Aitina, and how they utilized their art to share their perspectives of the porch.