JOMA Arts supports independent and collaborative efforts to create quality artistic productions or events that reflect the experiences of our increasingly diverse communities.
Walkin’
Walkin’”—formerly Walking’ to be Free“– is a script (by Washington, DC based writers Kenneth Carroll with Jennifer Nelson, (and including a final adaption by Charlotte/LA writer Stacy Rose) is adapted from the book, “Voices of Freedom”. It is a travelogue and/or a memory book of some of those voices who used the darkness of racism to define the light of freedom. Told through the voices of actual of some of the participants, and inspired by the Henry Hampton documentary “Eyes on the Prize”, the award-winning PBS film (circa 1989). “Walkin’ …” is grounded in grounded in contemporary times and in a specific time period of the Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968, particularly in Winston Salem. NC) and weaves the viewer through a tapestry of situations ending in current times, as seen – and told, with a hip-hop flavor – through the eyes – and voice – of Emmett Till.
The Noble Cause (A component of JOMA) provides programs, education and assistance to services and resources for East Winston community in Winston-Salem. It also provides arts-focused programs to acknowledge cultural identity.
COLORBLIND
(working title): Using the creative arts in conjunction with AR gaming we have created a game centered around local race, class, culture and power issues. In the game, the Playable Virtual Universe (PRV) is void of color because the virtual inhabitants cannot cooperate long enough or reach the required consensus to maintain color within the playable world. The 1st Person game is navigated by an avatar that represents the real-world player who is immersed within a stratified PRV featuring various levels and locations that portray diverse communities and places. By providing incentives to explore the surrounding community through in-game rewards, players will learn about local cultural diversity. The game is designed to ultimately unite the players and community as one.
Our plan is to use Winston-Salem, NC as the pilot city for the development of this experience and eventually be able to roll it out as a tool to be used in cities across the country and possibly worldwide. We’d like to explore the possibility of making this a web-accessible multi-player game experience.
We can create virtual worlds of places in Winston-Salem that have cultural/historical significance. With advances in technology since we first started this project, we can make this a fully augmented reality game that merges digital and physical environments. Using the iOS ARKit and the Android ARCore, we can implement flat surfaces from the real world to create a progressive and dynamic experience for users.
As a community-focused project that has the ability to be scalable and monetized it is important to us, that it is used as a tool to engage, educate and empower community members to be empathetic to others and to encourage communication with those outside of their immediate circle. We have held two salons where stakeholders in the community shared feedback on the demo. We are all looking forward to the project’s evolution and then exploring how it can be used by the community.
I Once Was Lost
