Dail Chambers, Artist

Sankofa Honoring by Dail Chambers

Chambers exhibits nationally, engages in arts based community projects in the city, lectures and engages in creative writing. A visual artist, writer, lecturer and community activist, her artistic production is strongly influenced by the work of Zora Neale Hurston, Katherine Dun-ham and Alice Walker. Chambers focuses on the migration of American black women and cre-atives through ethnographic, genealogical and biographical research. As a certified Usui Reiki Master, Chambers also conducts workshops in Ethnobotany and healing. Her knowledge of nat-ural materials is also a key component in her creative process. Her sculptures are made of clay, bamboo, sand and found objects, and she often incorporates live plants into her installa-tions. She is the lead founder of Yeyo Arts Collective, a nonprofit in St. Louis, Missouri located in South City, dedicated to the creative empowerment of women and families. Yeyo Arts col-lective is a group-centered organization that operates a cooperative gallery and offers several programs including Girls Create, an empowerment program for young girls, and Rediscovering the Black Arts Movement, a look at the influence of a national cultural and political move-ment on St. Louis and the artists of the area. Chambers has won numerous awards during her arts career. She has participated in the Community Arts Training Institute, a fellowship pro-gram that focuses on artists and arts administrators, the Urban Bush Women Summer Leader-ship Institute, and Jobs with Justice Organizer Training. In the summer of 2014 she was ac-cepted into the Ella Baker Institute, an academic opportunity at University Illinois Chicago. All of these experiences cultivate an awareness of art and social justice. Articles on her work have been published in the St. Louis American, Art in America, and the St. Louis Beacon, and her work has been shown at The Woman Made Gallery, Chicago; Delta Axis @ Marshall Arts, Memphis, TN; Vaughn Cultural Center at The Urban League, St. Louis, MO; Nu Art Metropolitan Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO; and many other local and national galleries.

Chambers will lead a workshop on April 8th in which participants will investigate ancestry, landscape and local history. The workshop will include an artist led tour to Washington Park Cemetery and guided art studio session. Participants will select a topic and expand on their experience in visiting the site.