In celebration of Black History Month, performance artist Liz Miller will be showcasing a ritual live performance.

Liz Miller is a performance artist who engages in serious play to reconcile the past with the present. Her place-based rituals seek to realize a collective equitable future. Each spectator is invited to consider the history of the location as the ritual unfolds; cognitively forming their own intentions for the space. Additional props are employed at the moment of realization of the intentions as perceived by the facilitator/artist. The audio of this performance taps into the history of this site, sampling music from artists who would perform at Sis Tavern after their larger performances at the Howard Theatre. 

Brentwood, Maryland has a complicated history of segregation, discrimination, and substandard conditions for African Americans over the years. Like many places in the United States, there is a racially charged undercurrent that impacts and informs the present day’s moment. Liz Miller’s rituals employ ‘black joy’ and her black body to facilitate the repair and transformation of the energy embodied on-site. These events are a partnership between the artist as a facilitator and the spectators as participants with their intentions, in hopes that true black liberation can be manifested.

Marci Yankelov, a local Baltimore realtor, says “I was so enthralled by the dance, the costuming, and the power of a single performer. The performance made me consider the site more fully… Though personally, I loved the element of surprise in her work where colored smoke emerged out of nowhere!”

Liz Miller's live performance will take place during the Main & Lab Galleries Opening Reception, on Saturday, February 18th, at 6 pm.

Additional images are available upon request.