Artist Spotlight #6: LEYYA MONA TAWIL
Sustainability Network member profiles feature artists who are engaged within their communities and committed to creating space for more sustainable careers (both their own and their peers'). LEYYA MONA TAWIL is not only making work internationally, she has been supporting her community for nearly 20 years by running the Temescal Arts Center in Oakland, California (where she used to be based).
Hey Leyya! Tell us, what all do you do in the world?
Hi Allison! So happy to be involved in the Rhizomatic Arts community. I am an artist involved in dance and music practices. I've also programmed and produced performances all over the world, with a long record of work in Oakland, Detroit and Berlin. DANCE ELIXIR is the 501c3 that contains all this, and also operates a space in Oakland called TAC: Temescal Art Center.
Tell us a little about TAC. What is its role in the community? How might our members and readers want to get involved, or use it as a resource?
TAC is our tree house! Or a unicorn... depending who you talk to... TAC serves an increasingly significant role in the bay area community - particularly now that the area is suffering from yet another round of severe gentrification. It is primarily a place to experiment and study your work. TAC acts in two ways - to support artists/practitioners on an ongoing basis through performance, class and rehearsal rentals; and to present the work of experimental artists from Oakland and beyond.
TAC is available for subsidized rental, which is the primary way to get involved and share your work with us. I also curate and produce a small number of artists and programs annually; each one of those projects takes its own shape. Since 1997, the TAC family has grown into a beautiful collection of rigorous, inspired artists. For instance, our ongoing events include Shapeshifters Cinema, Jacob Felix Heule's Doors that Only Open In Silence, Magic Jester Theater Improv, Friday Dance Experiments and so on... We are all holding it down in Oakland best way we can!
Temescal Arts Center, Oakland, CA
As you mentioned, it's clear that the Bay Area has (once again) become a very difficult place for artists to live and work. What kinds of adaptations have you witnessed out in your community?
Best to read this article [Artist Residencies as Homes for Community-building and Risk-taking] by Kate Mattingly.
What's coming up next for you?
I'm working on a new conceptual opera, which calls to task everything at once: music, movement and now voice as well. Its an awesome playing field.
In November I head back to Russia for a residency at Pushkinskaya-10 Art Centre. I will be creating work with dancers from Work.Stage and musicians from DUB DEPT. This will in fact be a phase of development for the new opera, so I'm really excited to see how it goes.
I'll be presenting work at TAC in January as well - check our TAC facebook for more info as the time approaches!
