dat Black Mermaid Man Lady
Sharon Bridgforth is writer and theater artist who uses her practice as a vehicle for social justice.
Artist BioCentered in African-American artistic and cultural traditions, dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home supports the creation of spaces that activate communal wisdom and self-determination. dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home partnered with the Minneapolis based City of Lakes Community Land Trust and the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association to provide mentorship to a cohort of five to seven Minneapolis based emerging artists of color. The cohort received guidance on how to navigate the lending process with their income streams, and worked closely with the City of Lakes Community Land Trust to learn about the Land Trust model as they move toward home ownership. Work happened in May and June of 2018 during the world premiere of dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Show at Pillsbury House Theatre in Powderhorn Park. Sharon shared excerpts from dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Performance Installation in a tiny house in Powderhorn Park.
Sharon Bridgforth presents “dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home” at the 2016 Creative Capital Retreat
From the Journal
Centered in African-American artistic and cultural traditions, Sharon Bridgforth’s constantly evolving Creative Capital Project dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home supports the creation of spaces that activate communal wisdom and self-determination. Most recently, Sharon heads to Minneapolis at the Pillsbury House + Theatre will premiere dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/The Show June 1-24, 2018. At the same time, she will work with a cohort of seven local emerging artists of color, the City of Lakes Land Trust, and the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association to help the artists move toward home ownership. Sharon told us more about the event and her work with the emerging artists.
Sharon Bridgforth
Los Angeles, CA
Sharon Bridgforth is writer and performing artist raised by African-American Southerners who migrated to Los Angeles looking for a better life. Mentored by artists who use art as a vehicle for social justice, in the nineties she became a community organizer working to bring HIV services and testing to local communities. Interested in collaborating with actors, singers, dancers and visual artists in what Aishah Rahman called theatrical jazz, Bridgforth brings it all together in life-encompassing works, like in her Creative Capital project dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home, which, like her own upbringing, has traveled the country.
Widely published, Bridgforth is a Duke Performing Artist and has received awards from MAP Fund, and the National Performance Network Creation Fund. Her work has been presented by Links Hall, Pillsbury House Theatre, The New Black Fest, and New York SummerStage Festival.