The annual Black History Month event will broadcast its performances online via Facebook each week.
February 2, 2021
AshLee Baskin, known as “PsyWrn Simone” onstage, performing at last year’s Art and Soul.Photo by Wildstyle Paschall
Denise Herd has fond memories of the first-ever Art & Soul event — an Indy-based, arts-centric celebration of Black History Month that first took place at the Artsgarden back in 1996.
“I remember one of the events that kept me up the most was when we did a panel on the evolution of rap music and hip-hop, because that is so tied to the Black community, and it’s a form of artistry because it’s spoken word,” says Herd, who worked with the festival that year as a consultant and community partner. “We had a panel discussion, we had performances, and I remember the Artsgarden being standing room only that day.”