photo by Mansa K. Mussa
(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit presents the work of artist Mansa K. Mussa on display in the Oakes Center lobby through the end of November. The artwork of Mansa K. Mussa is presented in collaboration with the Montclair Art Museum's Yard School of Art, where Mussa is an instructor.
Mansa K. Mussa is a visual artist, arts educator, curator, and arts consultant. A native of Newark, New Jersey, he has used the camera to document “the unfolding of human events” in the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, Central America, and Europe for the past forty-six years. During his career in the arts, he has worked professionally as a photographer, dancer, graphic artist, writer, fabric artist, and iPadologist. He earned a BA in Media Arts/Television Production from New Jersey City University, and studied visual art there with Professor Emeritus Ben Jones.
Mussa is best known as a documentary photographer, collagist, and mixed media artist. His photographs and collages have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibits, both nationally and internationally. They have also been published in several books, including the landmark Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present.
He is currently an instructor of photography and visual arts at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, the Montclair Art Museum, Arts for Kids, and Arts Horizons.
The instructors at the Yard School of Art are New Jersey-based professional artists who have exhibited their work across the country. Vivid Stage is proud to showcase the work of local artists and to highlight the talent and vibrancy of the New Jersey arts community. The Yard School of Art is part of MAM's Vance Wall Art Education Center, offering classes, camps, and workshops for kids, teens, and adults. To learn more about their educational offerings, click here.
The art exhibit coincides with the world premiere of Grief at High Tide by Richard Willett, which runs from October 5 through 15. In the play, when struggling New York photographer Jennifer Evers tells her husband Christopher that the photo she took of him by his mother’s deathbed—the one he never gave her permission to take and asked her not to show anyone—was secretly entered in a very prestigious competition, it doesn’t go well. To try to investigate the role that art plays in real-life relationships, Jennifer goes out on assignment to California, to create a piece on a Pulitzer Prize−winning photograph, Grief at High Tide, which changed the lives of everyone involved.
Grief at High Tide will appear at Vivid Stage at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit from October 5 through 15. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm. A talkback will follow the October 15 matinée performance. Before the October 15 matinée, guests Andrea Stein, author, and Lisa Brown, artist, will speak on the topic: “Truth Be Told: Whose Story Is It?,” which will investigate who has the right to tell private stories, and whether they can harm, heal, or both.
Tickets range from $25 to $42, with special rates for subscribers and groups. Tickets are available for purchase online. Season passes, which offer patrons a 20% discount, are available through October 15. For more information, call 908-514-9654. The theatre at Oakes Center is wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices are available at all performances. The parking lot is accessible from Ashwood Avenue, behind the theatre
Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Their work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. They expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. They deepen the experience of all their patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs. The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.
Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
Vivid Stage’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Union County Department of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
