While in the midst of their strengths and struggles millennial and Gen Z artists of color have managed to continuously spin straw into gold. But, to what end? In this panel discussion, we will have a conversation about how an unstable economy and social upheaval have fostered  circumstances in which building a lasting career in the arts is full of risk with no guarantee of reward.

For rising generations of creatives, is the choice to be an artist a pathway to a thriving sustainable legacy or a continual uphill fight for legitimacy…or both? 

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This event is part of The Clarice’s BlackLight Summit. To interrogate this unique historical moment, the BlackLight Summit seeks to be a spark that ignites daring innovation and reveals the creativity within the dance ecosystem in America. The inaugural BlackLight Summit is a year-long dance initiative that investigates how time, people, possibility and hope can come together to examine legacy, citizenship and scholarship. The summit asks, through the practice of being socially responsible within the arts: How do we create traditions? How do we transform them into enduring legacies?

The peak of the BlackLight Summit is a virtual three-day convening that features roundtable conversations, movement labs and artistic presentations from BlackLight featured artists Micaela Taylor, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Candace Scarborough and Jamal Abrams. Our initiative aims to re-envision how dance can be a conduit to galvanize imagination, resilience, and inventiveness.