Kulture Klub - Crystal Birkman - 3 hours
This week past week felt like 100 mph. At MCAD, a group of students and I started installing Monday in gallery 148 for an art reception on Friday. I spoke to Melodee Strong from Franklin and asked if I could take Friday off, which she nicely gave. I did however go to Kulture Klub to finalize plans for the upcoming lesson plan, which I can talk about a bit later.
I went to Kulture Klub this past Thursday where they were scheduled to have an open mic for the night--it was so much fun! I associate open mic's with poetry or spoken word performances from my experience going to a few open mics throughout the years, but this different in a great way. Youth from Kulture Klub performed everything from song covers, heavy metal vocals, original music, poetry, rap performances, etc. This was by far the widest sampling of talent I have ever seen in one space. This experience made me realize how diverse the youth at Kulture Klub are but also have a huge bond among themselves. No matter what someone played or did in front of the mic, everyone else show enormous support for the artist.
At MCAD I have been exposed to some of the open mic culture in the Twin Cities through my Introduction to Poetry class, but having this experience has widened my view on what is possible in a safe space where people can express themselves without fearing criticism. I did not manage to put my name on the list of participants because I did not know what to expect at the time but think about doing so the next time around!