Season 2 of Processing… continues to give us insight into how creative makers work through periods of intense political and personal uncertainty. Today, our five creatives take us through some of the struggles they faced while transitioning into the new normal of 2020. This season features the stories of Hannah Eko (MFA in writing graduate), Craig Hayes (undergraduate student), Oronde Sharif (Department of Africana Studies faculty), Ivette Spradlin (Studio Arts faculty), and Tahirah Walker (former staff, Center for Teaching and Learning). Hosted by Shannon Fink (Center for Creativity Operations Manager).

In this episode of Processing..., we hear from each creative about if and how creativity helped to sustain them through painful shared experiences like pandemics and protests, and through intensely intimate ones like the death of a loved one. Tahirah recounts how she uses her past experiences of grief to help push her forward in her creative journey. Ivette describes how she has used photography to form connections between neighbors and between pandemics, as well as talking about a personal experience of loss this year. Oronde details the difficulties in how we are able to continue performance traditions in the face of public safety, in order to give people a familiar creative harbor to return to. Hannah talks of how writing has given her an anchor to hold onto in the midst of unimaginable chaos. Meanwhile, Craig describes how the impact of both the pandemic and the back-to-back cases of police brutality in the spring caused a shift in the way he writes that helps him connect to others feeling the same way. 

“I think that, it's funny, like that's how I actually think of writing is like, it helps me to make sense of, and also even just to kind of record my own confusion. I think in the midst of a crisis, it's really about the same.” - Hannah Eko 

Processing... is a production of the Center for Creativity at the University of Pittsburgh. The team includes Jasmine Green, Mike Campbell, Nancy Kirkwood, Kit Ayars, Erik Schuckers, Chad Brown and Shannon Fink. For more information, visit us online @ creative.pitt.edu. Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions. 

Links to topics we discussed: 

• Tahirah Walker: Panels of Emotion  
• Tahirah Walker: Dear Mr. Wonder article 
• Stevie Wonder, “As”, (1976) 
• Ivette Spradlin: Pitt professor captures pandemic through a camera lens 
• Greater Pittsburgh Arts council pivots its existing emergency funds to coronavirus relief 
• Black Nativity play at Pitt  
• Recount of events surrounding George Floyd  
• Recount of events surrounding Breonna Taylor  
• Overview of police brutality cases in 2020 
• Craig’s Alakazam series 
• Recount of events surrounding Oluwatoyin Salau