Thursday, December 31, 2009

Top 10 Liberated Muse Highlights of 2009


This year for Liberated Muse Productions was one of many highs which I would like to take the time to share today on New Year's Eve. If you participated in any of the highlights mentioned, would love to read your feedback and comments. Thanks for being part of the LiberatedMuse.com community!
Cheers,

Moon of LiberatedMuse.com

(In Photos: The first live reading from the book Liberated Muse Volume I: How I Freed My Soul, at the Potter's House in Washington DC, featuring various artists from the LiberatedMuse.com community, including Margaux Delotte-Bennett, Stone/Wright, James Terrell, Quineice Clarkson, Gary Young and Anonamas)


Highlights of 2009- LiberatedMuse.com

10. Liberated Muse Joins the World of Facebook and Twitter!
In 2009, the LiberatedMuse.com expanded its realm of communication when Liberated Muse started a fan page and profile page on Facebook and began an online Twitter feed. The world of Facebook and Twitter has enabled members to interact more readily and determine more easily the level of connection they wish to have their community. Facebook has allowed more real time updates to reach members and is a great platform for members to tag photos of themselves and add photos from Liberated Muse events from their own Facebook photo albums. The Facebook fan page has already exceeded 800 members and continues to exceed the number of active members on the LiberatedMuse.com Ning network.
9. Liberated Muse members Dee Stone and Head-Roc are nominated for Washington Area Music Association (WAMMIE) Awards
We always love to broadcast good news about our members and this news was well-deserved. We wrote about it HERE in an earlier blog.

8. Liberated Muse Continues to Be Home to Some of the DC Area's Hottest Artist All-Stars
The caliber of talented folk on LiberatedMuse.com continue to be impressive. Award-winning doll artist Sherry Burton of Sankofa Doll Artistry, the talented LOVEthepoet, songstress Teisha Marie and hip-hop dynamo Substantial are just a glimpse into how rich the flavor of the membership is on LiberatedMuse.com. Contributing to forums, interacting with each other off and online, the Liberated Muse community continues to thrive and is one of the highlights we are most grateful for this year.

7. Liberated Muse (LM) Partners with the 2009 International Soul Music Summit (ISMS)
While in 2008 Liberated Muse co-founder Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman was a panelist in the International Soul Music Summit in Atlanta, GA, nothing could be more pleasing than seeing a partnership form between LM and the ISMS which entailed members receiving a discount to participate in the summit and members from the network actually performing at the event. Big ups to those Liberated Muse members who performed and participated, including Chaquis Maliq, Al Chestnut, and Colie Williams. Co-founder of LM, Maceo Thomas got to see first-hand some of the members doing their thang in Atlanta, an arts mecca for performers of color.
6. Liberated Muse's 2nd Annual Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest a Summer Hit Again
Featuring phenomenal performances by numerous acts from the nation's capital and beyond, the CHHSF was a hit, despite park renovations at the festival site and a scorching heat index. The event headliners included Bomani Armah, Head-Roc & GODISHEUS, Teisha Marie, Marcell & the Truth and other faves that were captured in photos you can check out on www.CapitalHipHopSoulFest.com. The fest led to our next highlight which was...
5. Liberated Muse's Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest featured in the Press
Appearing on FOX 5 with Gwen Tolbart to promote the Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest was definitely one of the livest press moments of the festival in 2009. Coverage was much appreciated this year, helping to garner the sponsorship by some of the 2009 sponsors of the fest including the US Census Bureau and State Farm Insurance. Festival director Maceo Thomas made rounds sharing the news of the fest, being featured in several print and online publications including National Geographic.com, The Afro, and Examiner.com. We can't begin to thank our media partners enough for their support, with special thanks to Capital Community News for their continued media sponsorship. Click HERE to read LM press coverage for 2009.
Liberated Muse members new and old contributed to this book anthology which features prose, poetry, visual art and essays that interpret the concept of the soul and this thing we call freedom. The book became the featured book in the Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest and sold over 100 copies in the first month and a half in print. The release of the first literary anthology produced and edited by Liberated Muse's Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman was a 2009 highlight that led to the following top three highlights...
3. A Musical Book Tour to Promote Liberated Muse Volume I: How I Freed My Soul
Putting a spin on the tradition book tour which features readings and author Q and A, the Liberated Muse book tour featured writers from the book and musical performances from performing artists who are members of the Liberated Muse network. The kick-off started at the Potter's House and included stops at the Artomatic and the art store ArtSpring in Silver Spring, MD. Special thanks to all those who were featured during the shows: Quineice Clarkson, Gary Young, Farah Lawal, Stone/Wright, James Terrell, Anonamas, Margaux Delotte-Bennett, Alan King, Ananda Leeke, Jade Andwele, Maureen Mulima, Ozara Ode, Colie Williams and to all of those who attended. All of our book tour shows at the Potter's House allowed us to raise money and have our next highlight...
2. Raising Money for Area Groups Serving Our Community
Our first book tour stop in June at the Potter's House allowed us to raise over $400 to assist students in the DC College Success Foundation's Acheivers Program. While the program assists students in paying for college tuition upon successful completion of high school requirements, the program did not assist with fees associated with room and board application fees, student activities fees, etc. The money raised helped four low-income students pay for these fees and begin school this past Fall 2009. Our show on September 11, 2009 raised funds for the arts collective The Saartjie Project and our last show on November 20, 2009 at the Potter's House raised funds for arts programming at Southeast Ministry, a nonprofit that helps adults earn their GED and fine-tune employment skills.

1. Transforming Places Into Art Spaces: Our First Art Exhibit
The Potter's House became the official brick and mortar home of Liberated Muse in 2009 when the wonderful bookstore, performance venue, restaurant, etc. became the art gallery home of our first art exhibit-- Celebration of Freedom, curated by Liberated Muse member Sharon Burton. The exhibit, inspired by the book Liberated Muse Volume I: How I Freed My Soul featured artists from the book and other artists from the Liberated Muse network, including Prudence Bonds, Stephan Cox, Keisha Cox, and other artists. Read our past blogs about this wonderful exhibit which ran from Sept. 11 to Dec. 1.







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