Kemi's Art Fund
Donation protected
Hello everyone!
My name is Kemi Layeni. I am from Hampton, Virginia and I am in my final year at the University of Virginia. At UVA, I’m a double major in English & Studio Art with a minor in African & African American Studies. I am also in the Distinguished Majors Program for Studio Art working on my thesis project. My greatest passion in life is storytelling and I love to tell stories through my art, no matter what the medium is. Whether it is writing, music, film, or photography I feel most fulfilled when I am creating. As I enter into my final year of college I know that there are big decisions on the horizon coming my way in regards to my path as an artist. Regardless of the decision I choose to make, one thing holds these possibilities in common, I need to continue to create a large body of work of high quality.
The Mission
During my third year, I became more serious about my art and devoted most of my time to it. Specifically, this past semester I became more focused and committed to my dreams. I balanced a full course load, my volunteer & extracurricular activities and two jobs, all while spending very long hours in the studio working on my art projects and applying for over 10 grants to fund my upcoming art projects. Although I’ve been blessed with some money from my grants to fund my projects, I soon realized that I needed more.
During this summer I will be spending my time doing research, traveling, and making art. None of these things can come to fruition unless I have more money to create. In the words of my favorite artists, Carrie Mae Weems, “Art is a demanding mistress.”
I will be working on three main projects this summer along with some smaller projects on the side.
Projects
1. Louisiana
During the month of July, I will be traveling through the South to New Orleans, Louisiana and its surrounding areas to do a photography and film project on the spatiotemporal complexities of slavery, commercialization, and hauntings. I will be spending most of my time on plantations doing my projects. One of the techniques I will be using is wet plate collodion photography. This technique dates back to the 1850s and is the same process used for Civil War photography. I had the opportunity of learning this technique through a workshop and I’m excited to push the boundaries of my photography. In order to do this, I will need to purchase a large-format camera, sheet film, a portable darkroom, and chemicals.
2. Nigeria
During August, I will be traveling to Nigeria to work on my thesis project for my Art major. My thesis project is called “Bamidele: Locating Home in the African Diaspora”. Bamidele (pronounced bah-mee-day-lay) is Yoruba for “follow me home”. My project will be semi-autobiographical and deal with my personal experiences being the American-born daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Yoruba culture, history and folklore, as well as dealing with British colonialism in Nigeria and post-colonial African identities. I will be in Nigeria shooting a short film as well as taking pictures, and participating in art workshops. I need funds to cover airfare, class fees, a medium-format camera, film, and any extra supplies I may need to purchase in Nigeria.
3. Magnolia
This is my passion project and has been an idea in my mind since my second year when I took a class called, Slavery in the Literary Imagination, and read Kindred by Octavia Butler. This short film will follow a modern black woman who travels back in time to life in the antebellum South where she meets an enslaved woman and their destinies soon become intertwined. This film will give me the opportunity to expand my skills as a filmmaker working in narrative film as well as pursuing topics that are of interest to me: Afrofuturism, slavery, and science fiction. This film will also give me the opportunity to expand the narrow language that Hollywood has used when telling stories about enslaved people by giving the narrative space to enslaved black women and their experiences. I will need funds to cover production and post-production fees.
In Closing…
My art and storytelling primarily deals with histories, stories, and experiences of people of the African diaspora and I’m interested in revealing things in new ways and taking large themes within history and placing it in the hands of the people whose voices were never privileged. I’m interested in fighting photography with photography and fighting film with film. In other words, I’m interested in using these artistic tools that have either erased or negatively portrayed people of color and turning them on their heads. Writer and poet Audre Lorde said that the master’s tools can never dismantle the master’s house, but I believe that I can use these tools to set the house on fire.
I’m stepping out in faith and believing that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion. So if you believe in me, my art, and my ideas, let’s step out in faith together. I hope to raise the money I need and more within a month. Any little bit that you can donate helps! And even if you cannot donate, please share this with your friends, your parents, your co-workers, and everyone in between. If you’d like to keep up with me and see some of my past work, please visit www.keepingupwithkemi.com and www.kemilayeni.com
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!
P.S.- If you'd like to pass on any valuable information, donate any equipment, or be involved in any of the projects in any way, you can email me at [email redacted]
-Kemi Layeni
My name is Kemi Layeni. I am from Hampton, Virginia and I am in my final year at the University of Virginia. At UVA, I’m a double major in English & Studio Art with a minor in African & African American Studies. I am also in the Distinguished Majors Program for Studio Art working on my thesis project. My greatest passion in life is storytelling and I love to tell stories through my art, no matter what the medium is. Whether it is writing, music, film, or photography I feel most fulfilled when I am creating. As I enter into my final year of college I know that there are big decisions on the horizon coming my way in regards to my path as an artist. Regardless of the decision I choose to make, one thing holds these possibilities in common, I need to continue to create a large body of work of high quality.
The Mission
During my third year, I became more serious about my art and devoted most of my time to it. Specifically, this past semester I became more focused and committed to my dreams. I balanced a full course load, my volunteer & extracurricular activities and two jobs, all while spending very long hours in the studio working on my art projects and applying for over 10 grants to fund my upcoming art projects. Although I’ve been blessed with some money from my grants to fund my projects, I soon realized that I needed more.
During this summer I will be spending my time doing research, traveling, and making art. None of these things can come to fruition unless I have more money to create. In the words of my favorite artists, Carrie Mae Weems, “Art is a demanding mistress.”
I will be working on three main projects this summer along with some smaller projects on the side.
Projects
1. Louisiana
During the month of July, I will be traveling through the South to New Orleans, Louisiana and its surrounding areas to do a photography and film project on the spatiotemporal complexities of slavery, commercialization, and hauntings. I will be spending most of my time on plantations doing my projects. One of the techniques I will be using is wet plate collodion photography. This technique dates back to the 1850s and is the same process used for Civil War photography. I had the opportunity of learning this technique through a workshop and I’m excited to push the boundaries of my photography. In order to do this, I will need to purchase a large-format camera, sheet film, a portable darkroom, and chemicals.
2. Nigeria
During August, I will be traveling to Nigeria to work on my thesis project for my Art major. My thesis project is called “Bamidele: Locating Home in the African Diaspora”. Bamidele (pronounced bah-mee-day-lay) is Yoruba for “follow me home”. My project will be semi-autobiographical and deal with my personal experiences being the American-born daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Yoruba culture, history and folklore, as well as dealing with British colonialism in Nigeria and post-colonial African identities. I will be in Nigeria shooting a short film as well as taking pictures, and participating in art workshops. I need funds to cover airfare, class fees, a medium-format camera, film, and any extra supplies I may need to purchase in Nigeria.
3. Magnolia
This is my passion project and has been an idea in my mind since my second year when I took a class called, Slavery in the Literary Imagination, and read Kindred by Octavia Butler. This short film will follow a modern black woman who travels back in time to life in the antebellum South where she meets an enslaved woman and their destinies soon become intertwined. This film will give me the opportunity to expand my skills as a filmmaker working in narrative film as well as pursuing topics that are of interest to me: Afrofuturism, slavery, and science fiction. This film will also give me the opportunity to expand the narrow language that Hollywood has used when telling stories about enslaved people by giving the narrative space to enslaved black women and their experiences. I will need funds to cover production and post-production fees.
In Closing…
My art and storytelling primarily deals with histories, stories, and experiences of people of the African diaspora and I’m interested in revealing things in new ways and taking large themes within history and placing it in the hands of the people whose voices were never privileged. I’m interested in fighting photography with photography and fighting film with film. In other words, I’m interested in using these artistic tools that have either erased or negatively portrayed people of color and turning them on their heads. Writer and poet Audre Lorde said that the master’s tools can never dismantle the master’s house, but I believe that I can use these tools to set the house on fire.
I’m stepping out in faith and believing that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion. So if you believe in me, my art, and my ideas, let’s step out in faith together. I hope to raise the money I need and more within a month. Any little bit that you can donate helps! And even if you cannot donate, please share this with your friends, your parents, your co-workers, and everyone in between. If you’d like to keep up with me and see some of my past work, please visit www.keepingupwithkemi.com and www.kemilayeni.com
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!
P.S.- If you'd like to pass on any valuable information, donate any equipment, or be involved in any of the projects in any way, you can email me at [email redacted]
-Kemi Layeni
Organizer
Kemi Layeni
Organizer
Hampton, VA
Inspired to help? Start a fundraiser for someone you know
