Part 1: 

My interview with Felicia Holman begins in the spirit and alignment of holistic care, as she is still applying her toner at the start of our conversation. It’s the perfect segue into our discussion and a tender intimate window into her world. 

Felicia, a lifelong Chicago resident, addresses the impact of her local experience within her art practice, particularly during the pandemic. Her interdisciplinary approach encompasses performance, writing, and public speaking. Focusing on themes of autonomy, agency, and mobility for Black women artists, the challenges of navigating gentrification in her neighborhood, Bucktown, alongside the performative allyship observed during social movements like Black Lives Matter, her expansive interdisciplinary practice serves as a guiding anchor for community action and solidarity.

One of the first things I gather about Felicia is her lively and passionate nature. We find synergy in our sharing of various astrological placements in Gemini. In true air sign fashion, our conversation is filled with enriching substance and communication.

F:  “Where I’ve been living basically the last 30 years (Bucktown) is, one of the hyper-gentrifying neighborhoods of the city. And I’ve definitely been here through the waves of  gentrification.Yet to be in this space where you know that on paper, it’s this overwhelmingly blue voting district, but then look around and some of my neighbors are flying “Thin Blue Line” flags (in allegiance of Blue Lives Matter).

Although having lived in Bucktown for over 20 years, Felicia notes that her artistic practice has often taken her outside of her neighborhood due to a lack of suitable spaces for interdisciplinary work. She draws parallels between the effects of segregation and gentrification in neighborhoods and the broader art world, addressing issues such as performative allyship, erasure, and colonialist mindsets that permeate various institutions. 

Despite the disorientation of the pandemic, her fellowship at Threewalls provided a crucial lifeline for introspection and creative exploration, allowing her to infuse these experiences into her art practice. Holman reflects on the valuable support received from the program directors, particularly Jeffreen Hayes during her fellowship. Emphasizing the program’s role as a laboratory and incubator, it allowed her to slow down and engage intimately within the art process, especially amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. Transitioning from a career sabbatical and collaborative work to focusing on her solo practice, the timing of the fellowship aligned perfectly for Felicia. Her project, “Welcome to Bucktown,” explores the nuances of living in a gentrifying neighborhood like Bucktown as a long-term renter, highlighting the importance of community solidarity and unity. She also touches on the disparities exposed by the pandemic, particularly in terms of racial inequities in healthcare and its corresponding societal response.

F: “ (Bucktown) was a tongue in cheek reference. Because as I just described, [I’m] living here in this hyper gentrified neighborhood, over the last 30 years, but then still feeling like I’m living under the radar. My living in Bucktown this long without owning a multimillion dollar home, being a renter— in this area,  is only because of a fostered solidarity. The building that I live in is a family owned building. My landlord (who is Puerto Rican) inherited the building from his father. Bucktown used to have a large Puerto Rican population when I moved in 30 years ago. There is a very practical / tangible Black & Brown solidarity  that has kept me in the building & neighborhood. I’ve been here since I was 20. I turned 50 in June. So, it’s like having, you know, de facto rent control, frankly because of the relationship that I had with being a long term tenant. They know I always pay and never had a problem with me paying my rent. I don’t bring bs to the building. So having that understanding  has enabled me to stay in town despite the waves of gentrification. Knowing that, and then grappling with what’s right outside my door- it’s a lot of shit I’ll never forget.”

The performative nature of niceness and allyship she observed in her neighborhood, particularly during the protests following Breonna Taylor’s death, alongside the virtue signaling of her neighbors who openly displayed Black Lives Matter signs while also showcasing patriotic symbols, highlighted the cognitive dissonance and lack of genuine engagement within the issues at hand. Felicia questions the authenticity of these gestures and emphasized to me the more pressing importance of meaningful dialogue and action.

She reveals to me on a personal level her own experiences during the pandemic and the journey to finding solace and connection through her art practice, despite the upheaval of her plans for extensive travel in 2020. She states that the fellowship she participated in at Threewalls served as a crucial lifeline during this time of utter disorder .

She expressed her exasperation with the lack of support for grassroots, community-based art initiatives, and the challenges of relying solely on project-based grants for funding. Through critique of the professionalization and credentialization of the art world, Felicia notes how fundamental radical ideas and practices are often appropriated and co-opted by those seeking to appear progressive. This erasure of genuine radical imagination and practice frustrates her, even leading her to contemplate leaving Chicago in search of a more supportive environment for their artistic endeavors. Threewalls role comes as an oasis amidst an entropic contemporary art climate. I am brought back to a previous one on one conversation I had with the executive director Jeffreen. She described Threewalls as a maroon society within this ecosystem of the arts. Upon hearing this I began to reflect on my own experiences within art institutions. The realization that an organization thriving  on such defining principles could and does exist brought me to tears alongside  a coinciding wave of comfort concerning the future of the arts. 

Felicia’s experience affirmed this as she began to speak about the significant shifts in her creative practice since joining her respective program at Threewalls. The transition from performing in intimate, non-linear spaces to navigating virtual platforms due to the pandemic, highlighted the  importance of accessibility in terms of pricing, scheduling, and language. While her practice has always focused on expressing pertinent messages rather than catering solely to an audience perspective, existing in the COVID era has catalyzed her to to emphasize those life-giving messages even more. 

F: “I’m not a journalist, right? Like, all I can do is express my perspective. [Threewalls] really encouraged me to lean into that, and let that be really like my North Star”

She continues, “It’s their integrity-  like actual care starts with consideration. Like, if you imagine considering others, that’s the whole golden rule, like treat others as you would have someone, you know, how would you want to be treated?” 

Click here to read Part 2. 

Related Sources

• Video: “Welcome To Bucktown: A Year with Felicia Holman (2020-2021)”
• Video: “Transition To Power – Episode 1: Felicia Holman”
• Essay: “Sign O’ The (Quarantine) Times” (March 2020; Public Media Institute)
  https://quarantinetimes.org/news/sign-o-the-quarantine-times