Aitina Fareed-Cooke is one of the most dynamic creators that you will ever come across. A musician, a photographer, a videographer, and a poet, Fareed-Cooke recently added the title of curator to her resume—at least officially—as one half of the guest curatorial duo behind the special exhibition In These Truths, which closed its run at Albright-Knox Northland on June 5, 2022. We asked her about her thoughts on the exhibition and the exciting new project she has recently unveiled: Tales from the Porch. 

In April, Kelly Marie Wofford, the founder of Front Seat Life, spoke with the curators of In These Truths, Aitina Fareed-Cooke and Edreys Wajed, about mental health in the arts. In Part 1 of our interview Wofford sat down with us to talk about her story of healing from trauma and reaching out to help others. In Part 2, Wofford answers our questions about mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and healing from the trauma of the May 14 shooting in Buffalo.

Poet Marquis Burton, aka Ten Thousand, has had a long association with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, extending back to his youth. From site-specific performances for Swoon: Seven Contemplations to the workshop series Explore Your Truths he led in association with the special exhibition In These Truths, Burton's poetry may only exist in the moment of his freestyle improvisations, but it is making an indelible impression on our memories. We spoke to Burton about his work and life.

BLACKMAU is an artistic collaboration with deep ties to Buffalo. In Part 1 of this interview we spoke to Kamau Grantham and Stacey Robinson about the goals of their collaboration; in Part II, we ask them about art and Black mental health and the role that institutions like the Albright-Knox can play in promoting a future in which Black art and Black people live and thrive.

We spoke with Kamau Grantham and Stacey Robinson about their collaboration BLACKMAU—whose work was featured in the recent exhibition In These Truths—about their work together, their goals as art- and music-makers, and the role that institutions like the Albright-Knox can play in promoting a future in which Black art and Black people live and thrive.