IFC Arts Fest celebrating 10 years of empowering BIPOC artists

In Full Color is celebrating a decade of empowering women, TGNC folx and other marginalized BIPOC artists!

Join us for the first In Full Color Arts Fest on Saturday, June 7 from 6 pm to 10 pm at the Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne St., Jersey City, NJ.

Ticketholders are free to come and go as they please through the night!

Guests will enjoy:

• Pop-up performances by music, dance, poetry and theater artists of color from 6:30 to 8:30

• Dance party featuring DJ Lee Walker to close the evening

• Delicious light bites by local vendors like Stella's Empanadas and Sincerely Sweet Confections

• Cash bar (beer and wine only; must be 21+ to consume alcohol) and more.

• Zinemaking by Bodega Flower and crafts by RescuePoetix from 6 to 8

Learn more about the show. Or, if you're super excited already, grab tickets here!

FEATURING

in chronological order

PARLOR

6:30: LILIANE WOLF

Theater: Patchwork

Liliane brings to life a new piece by Mexican immigrant writer Yarineth Peña Vargas. Liliane (they/ them/ she/ her) is an indigenous Zapotec artist from Mexico. She is a member of the Artistic Council for ReThink Theatrical and a co-founder of 68 Productions, a theater company for people of color. An alumna of the Governor’s School of the Arts for Theater, she made her Off-Broadway debut with Keen Company while attending Jersey City Arts High School. Liliane has directed/ performed in various productions throughout NY, NJ, and CT; she is a writer, a fight coordinator for stage/ film, and has over a decade of experience with tightlacing and corsetry. Find her on Instagram/ Twitter: @LilianeWolf

6:50: SURATI FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Dance: Dances of Shakti

Surati for Performing Arts is an award winning, tax exempt nonprofit performance arts organization whose mission is to promote Indian art and culture, educate and enrich the community primarily through performances of dance, music, theater, folklore and musicals, visual arts and community festivals. Surati, based in Jersey City, New Jersey, brings to its audience high caliber stage productions, diverse and multicultural performances, eclectic events and experiences, arts-in-education projects, classes, lectures and workshops.

Rimli Roy is an artiste, dancer, choreographer, producer, director, thespian and visionary who is also the Founder-Artistic Director of Surati for Performing Arts, She has received several accolades for her work including an Individual Artist Fellowship Award and a Folk Arts award from the NJ State Council on the Arts, a Dance Advancement Fund award from Dance NYC and a U.S Artists International award. Her work has also been featured in Vogue. Her original production Ramaavan - A Musical has received a National Endowment for the Arts award for Musical Theatre. Ramaavan toured multiple cities in India in 2024 - invited by the Government of India (ICCR).

Rimli will be performing with Harsha Harikumar and Vidhya Dinesh.

7:00: FLORENTINE

Music: Karma and baggage

We're excited to be featuring the debut of Florentine's next single 'Baggage'! Florentine is a musician and poet from Jersey City, NJ. Their music is experimental, often blending poetry with elements from different genres such as pop, hip-hop, R&B. Their EPs 'Colors of Venus' and 'Flokai,' along with their IFC song and other singles, can be found on all streaming platforms. @Florentine07305

7:20: RESCUEPOETIX

Poetry: Radical Joy In Color

IFC alumna and board member RescuePoetix shares a brand new piece written to commemorate this special occasion! She will also be leading a crafts activity in the theater from 6 to 8.

RescuePoetix™ is the former Poet Laureate of Jersey City. She is a New Jersey native with deep family roots in Puerto Rico. Writing since she could remember, she found her performance voice and fell in love with Jersey City’s underground Arts diversity. She has over fifty original works recorded and developed collaborations from all corners of the world. Releases are available at a variety of online portals. RescuePoetix™ poetry is motivational, uplifting and empowering; designed to connect on a level far deeper than what the eye can perceive. Spinning verses in Spanish and English, her words weave stories of strength, growth, experience and love in its many evolving forms. @rescuepoetix https://linktr.ee/rescuepoetix

7:40: SHELLEY 'SMOOCHES' TAYLOR

Poetry: Where is the War?

Smooches is making her IFC mainstage debut after years of sharing her brilliant writing and performance skills in our writing group Revising Out Loud! Shelley “Smooches” Taylor is a lecturer, performer, and local community writer with a strong sense of cultural roots and even stronger sense of humor. Smooches loves to connect with local writers and creatives to collaborate, share, and build empowering communities of tribes committed to community engagement. Many years of teaching writing paired with participation in writing and expressive groups such as In Full Color’s Revising Out Loud, NJ Nami’s Expressive Cafe and Say More Poetic Society have served as a creative and mental health outlet for Smooches to develop compassion and passion for diverse writers and alternative genres. In order to help aspiring writers amplify their voice Shelley “Smooches” Taylor is currently the organizer and facilitator of Say More Poetic Society’s Open Mic at Irvington Public Library every first Thursday of the month at no cost. Her organization M.E.R.K.A.B.A. MTS, LLC. assists students, veterans, and women in accessing job training, mental health support, and educational opportunities, as well, as serving as a writing professor for Montclair State University and Passaic County Community College.

7:50: SUMMER DAWN

Director's Speech

In Full Color founder/director Summer Dawn will reflect on the past 10 years and look into the next decade. She will share advice for artists, art organizers and others looking to use their creativity to activate social change.

She would like to dedicate this season of In Full Color to all 368 artists who have shared a little or a lot of themselves on our stages, in our workshops or our virtual rooms. In looking back, we also honor three people who may no longer physically be with us, but who gave us their creativity and spirit and live on in our art -- IFC17 writer, poet and performer Purvi Patel; longtime volunteer and supporter David Kostus; and technical director Lance A. Michel, who brought light into our lives in more ways than one.

THEATER

6:00 to 8:00: Zinemaking with Bodega Flower

A zinemaker, a craftswoman, a bestie and our Associate Producer -- Aurora Diaz of Bodega Flower is doing it all!

Aurora will be helping run the show while slinging zines and other art created by BIPOC artists and writers, and giving festivalgoers a chance to be creative and share their knowledge in a community zine project meant to strengthen us in these trying times.

Aurora Diaz is a multi-dimensional craftswoman and creative strategist born in and based out of the New York City Tri-state area. Aurora’s passion and curiosity for the arts is impressively expansive, from clay to art advocacy to curation. Aurora strives to forward the arts through her crafts work, like through her current project Bodega Flower, and innovative creative strategy. Aurora graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art-Ceramics from New Jersey City University, May 2020.

She is the founder, director and curator of The Bettys feminist art collective. Through this platform, Aurora has collaborated with over 250 creatives in innovative outlets virtually, online and in real life. The Bettys Zine, a collection of visual work of non-male artists which is single-handedly curated, published and produced by Aurora, is archived at the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Special Collections and University Archive Collections at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the John M. Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and other libraries and institutions committed to documenting significant contemporary feminist art projects and zines.

8:10: PORSHIA DERIVAL

Dance: Original Dance Piece

Porshia A. Derival is a first-generation Caribbean American born in Brooklyn, NYC. After college, she was single-handedly chosen out of her class to continue her studies at the world’s only conservatory for Hip-Hop dance. As a dance leader and advocate, Porshia has spearheaded creative affiliations for the dance community with corporations, including Coca-Cola, Target, Scotch Porter, Sirius XM x Pandora, MAC Cosmetics, Thinx, HOKA, Pastry Dance Sneakers, Trader Joe’s, and more.

She sits on the committee for the Arts & Education Roundtable Black Women’s Wellness Retreat, is the co-chair for the Board of Trustees for Ladies of Hip-Hop, has taught Hip-Hop dance education in over 25+ public schools, and was an esteemed guest instructor at her Alma Mater, Syracuse University. Porshia was the co-producer, honorary host, and producer for the 2022 Bessie Awards and hosted and directed the Bayonne Arts Festival in 2023. Her choreographic credits include Jadakiss, Step It Up 2023 and 2024, DatDancinKat Entertainment, Live Wire: Dance, NYC Street Style, and Hip-Hop 2023 @ The Apollo Theater, choreographer for the Off-Broadway Play, “Inseparable: The Vignettes,” premiering at the Puerto Rican Travelling Theatre in October 2024 during the Origins Festival, and the official host for the December 2024 Holiday Giveback for The Soapbox presents.

8:20: M. JOSEPHINE

Music: New Dawn and I AM WOMAN

IFC board member M. Josephine (know to many as Mary Sansait) brings her classic 'New Dawn' and an exciting cover of Emmy Meli's feminist anthem 'I Am Woman' to the stage! Mary is a Jersey City born and raised creative entrepreneur and mother of two. Growing up in a single mother household along with her love for music, inspired her to pursue a professional journey that would combine community upliftment and the arts. Mary worked with a local 501c3 Jersey City non-profit that assists entrepreneurs and small businesses. She is an accomplished singer and recording artist, who continues to use her talents to engage fellow creatives in the community. She has produced showcases and performed as M. Josephine alongside various underground heavy weights such as M1 of Dead Prez, Silent Knight, Rugged N Raw, John Robinson and The Band Called FUSE. She is the founder & president of Inspired Artist Movement, a platform for artists and creatives to move their career forward while empowering them to use their voice for positive social impact. She is also the founder of Goddess Ntwrk, a space and resource for womxn to heal their trauma and celebrate their inner goddess.

8:30 to 10: DJ LEE WALKER

DJ Set

We'll be closing our 10th anniversary with a dance party featuring music spun by DJ Lee Walker. Follow this Jersey City artist at @djleewalker on IG or on Soundcloud.

This program is supported by public funds from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund. The venue is fully ADA compliant. Tables and seating will be available for all. ASL interpretation will be available. For accessibility, dietary and other needs, email summer@infullcolor.org.

This production would not be possible without our incredible supporters:

Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund

Barrow Mansion

Special thanks to all these other incredible people who are coming together to make this festival happen! More info coming soon.

Executive Producer & Director: Summer Dawn

Associate Producer: Aurora Diaz/Bodega Flower

Advisory Board, Producers and Volunteers:

Susan Justiniano/RescuePoetix and Mary J. Sansait/M. Josephine

Advisory Board and Producers: Venida C. Rodman Jenkins and Amel Khalil

Production Assistant: Brendon Masters, Alina Hortillosa

ASL Interpretation: Thyson Halley

Videography: George Forchuk

Photography: Jennifer Brown on behalf of the City of Jersey City, Richard Ryals

Box Office Manager: Liliane Wolf

Poster Art: Shirin Vazir MacCormack

(This year's poster incorporates art from our 2017 graphic, best known as the cover of our First Five Years Anthology, designed by IFC15 alumna Shirin!)

Bar: Alicia Rivas, Kellie Magda

Catering: Sincerely Sweet Confections, Stella's Empanadas, Halaweyat Hala, GGG