Clark Hall Room 206, 11130 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106
Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Kyle Kidd is an artistic powerhouse with personal and aesthetic investments in local social justice movements. As a musician and multi-modal artist, they intend for their art in all its forms to serve as a tribal legacy, oriented toward 鈥渞epresentation, raw expression, and true freedom.鈥� An activist in Cleveland for Black and Queer communities, much of Kidd鈥檚 work focuses on strategies for reparative justice while honoring and celebrating difference.
In a conversation with CWRU Department of Music faculty Dr. A.J. Kluth, their talk will explore what it means to be an artist and community leader in Cleveland鈥檚 changing cultural landscape. In addition to their artistic pursuits, we will hear how Kidd鈥檚 multiple leadership positions in local social justice and representation-oriented organizations inform their perspective on how intersecting planes of identity positionality might affect one鈥檚 ability to meaningfully thrive in Northeast Ohio.
This talk may be beneficial for anyone interested in learning more about engagement with music, cultural expression, and social justice in Cleveland outside the bubble of the university campus and culturally dominant institutions. Responding to the present moment and emplaced in under-represented Cleveland communities, Kidd's work demonstrates that there鈥檚 something at stake and much to gain from making art in contested spaces of power.
This event is sponsored by the Center for Popular Music Studies, CWRU.