
PREMIERES THURSDAY, JAN. 30 at 8:00 PM
Host Jennifer Wallace Fields uncovers Birmingham’s underground art scene in the latest episode of Monograph, premiering Thursday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. on APT.
This episode explores two community-driven organizations that tap into the city’s unique history of experimental art and reimagine what creative expression can look like.
InToto Creative Arts offers community to people experiencing housing insecurity, recent incarceration and other hardships. The program provides space for healing through creative movement and expression.
Sweet Wreath is an ongoing artistic experiment led by local artist and musician Jasper Lee that draws on Birmingham's experimental and DIY history.
“It's community-minded,” Monograph producer Matt Whitson said. “It's exactly the sort of stuff that we’re looking for… And with Sweet Wreath, that is [a segment] I've been trying to do since we started the show.”
The episode also delves into Birmingham’s DIY musical legacy. A legacy that began with native figures like Sun Ra, a legendary composer and bandleader who created experimental music, and which, according to Whitson, musicians and artists like Jasper Lee of Sweet Wreath are now inheriting.
“The strength of the community that exists here is rare for [a city this size]...,” Whitson said. “There's this weird little flaming hot core of wild creativity that exists in the underground community. For as long as I've been experiencing the kind of music community here, that's always sort of been there.”
Though their approaches differ, both InToto and Sweet Wreath are united in the understanding that creative expression is for everyone.
Watch the clip below and catch the full episode this Thursday on APT or on the PBS App.
Follow Us