The newest edition of Art Over Dinner will bring together three multidisciplinary artists promoting social justice with their creative projects in the Southeast. Guests will enjoy a multi-course meal by Homespun and dig into the ways we can impact change in our communities utilizing the arts.
Sunday, August 19
Cocktails + Artist Talk, 6pm
Dinner, 7pm
Tickets, $85
ABOUT SHANEQUA
Shanequa Gay, an Atlanta native, has drawn praise and critical acclaim for her current work art as advocacy projects which challenge the unyielding violence and injustices committed in America and across the globe against the black body.
Gay has exhibited her work at prestigious venues and events including the Chattanooga African American Museum, the Hammonds House Museum, the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, Emory University, Wofford College and the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Her work is among public and private collections including actor Samuel L. Jackson and the permanent collection for SCAD Hong Kong.
Gay’s accomplishments outside the exhibition space includes features in the Lions Gate film Addicted, the BET television series Being Mary Jane and Zoe Ever After, and the OWN series Greenleaf. She was chosen by The Congressional Club to be the illustrator for the First Lady’s Luncheon hostess gift where First Lady Michelle Obama and more than 1,800 attendees received the gift.
She is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and currently an MFA candidate at Georgia State University.
ABOUT MEREDITH
Meredith Kooi (b. 1985, Chicago, IL USA) is an artist, curator, educator, critic, and researcher based in southwest ATL. Driven by curiosity and an eagerness to understand the places where she is, Meredith uses performance, radio, audio, installation, drawing, writing, and the web, among other mediums to dig into the materials of history to uncover narratives that may have been concealed and unseat histories that had been grand. Leaving no stone unturned, Meredith’s projects are not satisfied with the status quo. When working collaboratively, Meredith lets the thoughts, motivations, and desires of others upend her own. Working independently, Meredith critically examines her own history and body with the realization that they are not selfsame discrete entities. Whether solo or collaborative, Meredith’s projects produce space for a multiplicity of conversations that may contradict each other, but work together to create a shared world.
Meredith was a recipient of the 2014-2015 Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Emerging Artist Award and is currently a WonderRoot Walthall Fellow. Meredith received her MA in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she received a Trustee Scholarship and graduating Fellowship. She is currently finishing her PhD at Emory University in The Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts where she has taught undergraduate courses in contemporary art, feminist theory, performance studies, and Southern Studies.
ABOUT WILLIAM
William Massey is a freelance artist, sculptor, creative entrepreneur, and a co-leader of art programs within social organizations and health facilities throughout the city of Atlanta, Ga.
William initially found his voice through art during his time at Valdosta State University, receiving his BFA in 2012. William arrived to Atlanta in 2013 to begin his art career consisting of outlets such as glassblowing, teaching art to homeless youth, and public art installations. He has gradually evolved into a force of creative connection in Atlanta – utilizing the power of art to unify communities, uplift public spaces, pursue social and racial reconciliation, and creatively comfort those in hardship.
William has traveled throughout the globe with his artwork, serves on the boards and leads art programs with several local organizations, founded ColorATL, and has a number of works exhibiting publicly around Atlanta, Ga.
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For more information, please email megan@serenbe.com
Art Over Dinner is a series of intimate gatherings with artists and the organizations that support their work. We collaborate with the chefs at HomespunATL and local farmers to bring a seasonal meal that showcases winemakers and brewers, and invite our guest artists to spark the conversation at one long farm table on the outdoor deck of The Art Farm at Serenbe.
Art Farm at Serenbe is a vibrant artist complex that provides a place for engagement and inspiration. It serves as Serenbe’s central place for artists, the arts and culture. This complex is deeply rooted in process, education and creating multiple platforms for creativity. Artists, practitioners and researchers come here to deepen their practice and broaden their creative connections.