On Saturday, February 21st at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, we gathered for the third annual That Art Thing We Do, to highlight local Black artists during Black History Month. This year, we were honored to be joined by three remarkable Evanston artists: Dejah Gomez, Melissa Blount, and Ben Blount. Many thanks to Tim Rhoze, artistic director of Fleetwood Jourdain Theatre for hosting and producing the evening.
To read more about this event, please check out the Evanston Round Table (
@evanstonroundtable ) article and The Daily Northwestern (
@thedailynu ) at the link in our bio!
Dejah shared her journey from singing in church choirs to performing with Stevie Wonder. She inspired the audience through her belief that, whether we are cognizant of it or not, creativity lives within everyone.
Melissa spoke about the new challenges and comforts she faced in her transition to Evanston from Detroit. She shared with us her journey towards creation, and noted the importance of having someone believe in you. In addition to the act of creation, Melissa reminded us that one must have a willingness to face upsetting considerations, and go to challenging places, for the purpose of earnest and impactful creation.
Ben shared the story of the time a colleague callously stated about MLK day “‘If we got a day off every time a black man got shot, we’d never go to work”. When Ben faces shocking and racist moments like this, he responds by making art. The way he responded to this moment was through the creation of a 2017 wall calendar which marked each day a Black man or boy was killed in Chicago in 2016 as a holiday. Evanston has been formative for Ben’s artistry, he stated “my arts beginnings are tied to evanston”.
Melissa and Ben attributed much of their inspiration and creative action to each other, as a married couple. An amazing reminder of the importance of having someone believe in you.
Saturday evening was wonderfully rich and inspiring, and it was a delight to share the space with such brilliant artists. Thank you to Dejah, Melissa, and Ben for their insight, vulnerability, laughter, and inspiration. Evanston is brighter because of your artistry.
