Give Yourself Permission
An Interview with Gaye Shannon Burnett
"It doesn't matter who tells you that you can't have access. You go and you see... 'Can I get in here?' And maybe not today, but tomorrow you can try again. I think it's important for women to give themselves permission."
In this episode, we sat down with Gaye Shannon Burnett - local artist, activist and co-founder of the Azubuike African American Council for the Arts.
Gaye has been active in the local community with art and drama programs for young people for over 20 years. She is an artist with studio space at Bucktown Center for the Arts. She uses intense colors and compelling interpretations in her work to help create a different conversation regarding "abstract expression" in African American art. As an artist of the Black Diaspora, her work explores colors, motion, social commentary, and influences taken from her life experiences.
As co-founder of Azubuike, Gaye reconciles the racial divides that exist in our community by giving at-risk youth a voice to express themselves, to be heard without bias, and to spark a much larger conversation about race relations in the Quad Cities through the arts. Gay's vision is to use the arts to understand the past and help shape our future while telling a compelling story about why our lives matter.
She is a force for good in the world and we are here to hold space for everything she has to share.⠀