Damon Locks / Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant Recipient
Recipient Information
Location
Chicago, Illinois
Year of Award
2021
Grant or Fellowship
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant
Grant Amount
$40,000
About the Project
Locks with Ben LaMar Gay and Arif Smith, will present a series of performances by the Black Monument Ensemble with partner, the Big Ears Festival. The ensemble will work through a pair of Black monument sites in East Tennessee - the Children's Defense Fund's Alex Haley Farm and the Highlander Research and Education Center. The ensemble will visit Black artist groups and youth organizations focused on vulnerable communities for workshops. A final performance will be presented during the Big Ears Festival.
Residency location
Knoxville, TN
About the Artist
Damon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist/musician, and deejay. He attended The Art Institute in Chicago where he received his BFA in Fine Arts. He teaches with art as a part of Prison and Neighborhood Arts/Education Project. Damon has done sound design for theater as a part of Free Street Theater. He has worked with dancer/educator Onye Ozuzu’s Project Tool and extensively with dancer Martine Whitehead as a sound designer for dance. He is a 2015 recipient of the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Achievement Award in the Arts and participated in The New Quorum music residency in New Orleans. He was a 2016 MAKER Grant awardee and a 2017 Soros Justice Fellowship recipient. He is an artist in residence with the SPACE program through the Museum of Contemporary Arts, introducing civically engaged art into the curriculum at the Chicago Public School, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. His group, Black Monument Ensemble has performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Garfield Park Conservatory, The South Shore Cultural Center, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Cultural Center.
MUSIC RELEASES
Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble: Where Future Unfolds (International Anthem 2019), Now (International Anthem 2021)
The Eternals: Espiritu Zombi lp (New Atlantis/Submarine, 2016), Approaching the Energy Field lp(Addenda/Submarine 2011), Heavy International lp (Aesthetics, 2007), Rawar Style lp (Aesthetics, 2004), The Eternals s/t lp (Desoto/Aesthetics, 2000)
Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra: Galactic Parables Vol. 1 lp (Cuneiform, 2015), Matter Anti-Matter cd (Rogue Art, 2003), Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra lp (Thrill Jockey, 2008)
Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Electro Acoustic Ensemble: The Space Between, cd/dvd (Delmark, 2013)
Trenchmouth: More Action: A Collection cd (Thick Records, 2003), The Broadcasting System lp (Skene, 1996), Trenchmouth VS the Light of the Sun lp (East West/Skene, 1994), Volumes, Amplifiers, Equalizers cd (Runt, 1994), Inside the Future lp (Skene, 1993), Construction of New Action, Volume 1: First There Was Movement lp (Skene, 1991)