Every year SSF has chosen a community organization that would benefit from arts programming as part of the Spoken Soul Festival SWAN Community Program. Past organizations include ASPIRA Muchachos & Muchahcas Conference, Boys & Girls Club, DASH Film Club, Miami Art Studio & Artoconecto, SafeSpace, and Little Haiti Cultural Center’s After School Program. To mark the 10th year of SSF, this year’s Community Program will serve the entire city.

We invite Miami to speak from their soul. Upon arriving to the SWAN Community Program, attendees will be ushered along an artistic, enclosed trail, which will include: 4 interactive art exhibits that are built to challenge our perception of one another and provide Miami’s multicultural and diverse community with a much needed platform to create a dialogue about people’s similarities versus their differences.

Installations include: “The Ballot Box”, an exploration of commonalities through opinion and age. Results revealed with an arts installation composed of oversized emojis and colorful pins. “Freedom of Speech”, an invitation to 60 seconds free of judgement and uninterrupted speech. Performing artist Monica Lynn will compassionately listen to participants vent about whatever issue they currently are worried about, a la and in homage to Marina Abramovic “The Artist Is Present”. “What’s Your Hash Tag”, a fun interactive photo booth with props where one is invited to share on social media their thoughts on the importance of the arts. “Think it, Feel it, Draw it, Post-it”, guests are asked to draw or write on a Post-It note what their thoughts are regarding the importance of women, art, and women artists to our world community. These Post-It notes will then become the feathers of our SWAN Day mural.

Upon exiting the exhibits patrons will arrive at the Swan “Call To Action” forum where various local non-profit organizations will be on hand to provide information and an invitation to civil engagement including: Borinquen Clinic providing FREE healthcare screening and information on healthcare for artists, No More Tears providing information on their services that protect abused women, Urgent Inc providing information about their various youth organization, and more! This uplifting event will culminate with a spoken word open mic, featuring past SSF alumni, Viking Freedom Writers, Urgent Inc Poets, and SSF alumni DJs rocking the house

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