Ilkur Ozgur, Founder of Artstillery

Friday, Nov. 6, Artstillery, the experimental performance collective, presents its monthly installment of ArtCultivation, an eclectic variety show that showcases performers and artists of color in an outdoor venue.

Ozgur founded Artstillery about four years ago when she realized not enough stories from black and brown communities were being told.

Alegre Ballet Folklorico performs at ArtCultivation. Photo: Artstillery/Alisa Eykilis

“So I thought, why couldn’t we take those narratives and create an immersive performance where people could actually get to experience what people have gone through. But done in a performance atmosphere because it’s non-confrontational and so the audience walks in to be entertained so their minds are open to learn new things from a humanistic perspective on what people in our community have really gone through.”

The idea of the ArtCultivation program grew out a desire to give back to the community, especially the arts community, which includes some of the groups hit hardest by the pandemic. Beside providing a platform for their talents, performers get all the money from ticket sales.

Musician Poppy Xander performs. Photo: Artstillery/Alisa Eykilis

“We provide a platform for those that can’t do it on their own. We’ve become a support system,” said Ozgur. “We realized that we have the ability to help each other and we did not want to be selfish about our resources, so ArtCultivation was born out of space of saying, “Why can’t we share this?” This is how you build a community by sharing what you have and letting your ego be put aside. That’s a big deal to us.”

Photo: Artstillery/Alisa Eykilis

The event takes place in an outdoor venue in West Dallas. Patrons reserve tables which allow for ample social distancing.

Here are some of the acts on the bill for the Nov. 6th show:

• Alegre Ballet Folklorico
• Poet, Caazena Hunter
• Fire Spinners, Bobby Garcia, Robert Guy, and Raquel Zamora
• Danielle Georgiou Dance Group
• Electronic Harpist, Jess Garland
• Musician, Poppy Xander
• Sergio Garcia from Big Thought and performance artist Rafael Tamayo host the evening

“It’s the people’s arts and culture,” said Ozcur. “Dance, performance arts, poetry, live music, diverse artists from the underbelly of our local arts scene.”

Got a tip? Email Therese Powell at tpowell@kera.org. You can follow her on Twitter @TheresePowell13

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