TruArtSpeaks

Re-Verb Open Mic
2023-04-20 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-04-13 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-04-06 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-16 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-09 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-02 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-01-26 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-01-19 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) and 17 more dates | Flava Coffee & Cafe, 623 University Ave W, St Paul, 55104, United States
A free, all-ages space for creatives to share, engage in critical dialogue, and build community with one another; Re-Verb Open Mic takes place every Thursday evening from 6:00-8:00 pm at Flava Coffee & Cafe. Many of our favorite hometown and National artists have stopped into Re-Verb Open mic to share a song, a poem, some comedy, or music with us— we hope you do too!
The sign-up process is first-come, first serve, and we average about 15 available slots per evening. For more information on Re-Verb Open Mic, to know more about the culture of the space, or to inquire about being a feature, please head to our contact page and leave a note!
For more information on Re-Verb Open Mic, to know more about the culture of the space, or to inquire about being a feature, don’t hesitate to contact info@truartspeaks.org.
*Dj JUST NINE will be present every first Thursday as a feature.

The Endowment: Fundraiser & Dance Party
2023-04-15 20:00 - 23:55 | Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55123, United States
Returning for the first time since the pandemic, The Endowment is TruArtSpeaks’ annual fundraiser & dance party. This year, scheduled for April 15th, 2023, will feature Thomasina Petrus as the headlining act, with sets from Desdamona, BdotCroc, and Danami.
Hosted by Tish Jones with DJ Just Nine on the 1s’ & 2’s, this year’s event is billed as a very special birthday celebration for long-time TruArtSpeaks Program Staff and Poetry Ambassador Desdamona, who will be turning 50 years old alongside Hip Hop, the culture which the organization is founded upon.
Please join us to celebrate and uplift the work of this great organization, the people who power it, and the culture they uphold on April 15th, 2023, at Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN. Doors open at 8:00p; the show starts at 9:00p. Expect door prizes, raffles, and much more!
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Level Up: Grant Writing 101 with Saymoukda Vongsay
2022-12-12 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom, Online
Saymoukda Vongsay will provide beginning grant writers with the knowledge and tools to write their grants.

About Workshop Presenter
Saymoukda is a Lao poet, playwright, social practitioner, and cultural producer. She’s the author of the children’s book WHEN EVERYTHING WAS EVERYTHING and is best known for her award-winning play KUNG FU ZOMBIES VS CANNIBALS.
Her plays have been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (NY), Theater Mu (MN), Lower Depth Theater (LA), Asian Improv Arts (IL), and elsewhere. Her awards include grants/fellowships from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Bush Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, MAP Fund, Playwrights’ Center, Forecast Public Art, MRAC, MSAB, and 30-ish more.
Saymoukda is an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at Theater Mu, a McKnight Foundation Fellow in Community-Engaged Practice Art, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in playwriting; and serves on the City of Saint Paul’s Cultural STAR Board.
Register via Eventbrite

General Program Overview
Level Up is an affordable professional development series for artists, organizers, and community leaders. Facilitated by artists, arts leaders, and professionals from within the TruArtSpeaks network, there will be a new lead facilitator and topic each session. Please visit the website for the full schedule and come as you need/desire. If you are an artist, organizer, or anything in between and are looking to gain skills in grant writing, lesson planning, using social media to shift the narrative about your community, or if you are seeking to learn best practices as a community organizer or more— this space is for you.

Sliding scale admission is available; please pay what you can and join us as we invest in our community.

Bluff: A Reading and Audience Edit of New Work by Danez Smith
2022-12-02 19:00 - 21:00 | The Loft Literary Cener, 1011 S. Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, 55415, United States
Bluff: A Reading and Audience Edit of New Work by Danez Smith is powered by TruArtSpeaks and extends the feedback loop between artist and audience akin to how our open mic series Reverb works, but this time with a focus on one artist and one project. Danez Smith’s upcoming collection of poems, Bluff, deals with many intersections of home and language, be that home in the body, amongst their immediate family, or in the occupied land known as the Twin Cities. For one evening, Danez will share work from their upcoming collection and have an open editing session and conversation with the audience aka the local community who populates those poems, seeking to get their neighbors opinions on poems that very much exist and breathe here. “For me, it feels impossible to finish this collection without the necessary collaborators in the communities embodied in these poems” said Smith, a Saint Paul native and internationally renowned writer. Come, get a glimpse of Danez’s new work, and add your voice to the editing of their next collection.
Danez Smith’s forthcoming collection Bluff is slated for September 2024

Danez Smith is the author of three collections including Homie and Don’t Call Us Dead. For their work, Danez was won the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and have been a finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry, the National Book Critic Circle Award, and the National Book Award. Danez’s poetry and prose has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New Yorker, GQ, Best American Poetry and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Danez is a member of the Dark Noise Collective. Former co-host of the Webby nominated podcast VS (Versus), they live in Minneapolis near their people.
Sliding scale admission is available; please pay what you can and join us for this innovative approach to engaging with new work.
For questions or more information, please email info@truartspeask.org
Purchase Tickets Here!

Level Up: Financial Literacy 101 with Rich Berkley
2022-11-14 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom, Online
Join us for a workshop with Rich Berkley to boost your financial literacy.
About Workshop Presenter
Rich Berkley is a financial professional with Principal Financial. Originally from Liberia, he was adopted at the age of 10. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing from the University of Jamestown. He plans on bringing financial literacy to underserved communities.

Principal Financial Group® as the company and add this disclosure to the end Insurance products issued by Principal National Life Insurance Company(except in NY), Principal Life Insurance Company®, and the companies available through the Preferred Product Network, Inc.Securities and advisory products offered through Principal Securities, Inc., Member SIPC. Referenced companies are members of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392. Rich Berkley, Principal National and Principal Life Financial Representative, Principal Securities Registered Representative, Investment Adviser Representative, and a member of the Principal® Financial Network. TruArtSpeaks and Level Up are not affiliates of any company of the Principal Financial Group. 2579577-112022
Register via Eventbrite

General Program Overview
Level Up is an affordable professional development series for artists, organizers, and community leaders. Facilitated by artists, arts leaders, and professionals from within the TruArtSpeaks network, there will be a new lead facilitator and topic each session. Please visit the website for the full schedule and come as you need/desire. If you are an artist, organizer, or anything in between and are looking to gain skills in grant writing, lesson planning, using social media to shift the narrative about your community, or if you are seeking to learn best practices as a community organizer or more— this space is for you.

Sliding scale admission is available; please pay what you can and join us as we invest in our community.

Level Up: Poetry Workshop With Michael Kleber-Diggs
2022-10-10 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom, Online
Join us for another writing workshop designed to guide you through creating a new work of poetry. Facilitated by the prolific and award-winning author Michael Kleber-Diggs, this workshop will be fun, profoundly interactive, and thought-provoking.
About Workshop Presenter
Michael Kleber-Diggs (KLEE-burr digs) (he/him / his) is a poet, essayist, literary critic, and arts educator. His debut poetry collection, Worldly Things (Milkweed Editions 2021), won the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and is a finalist for the 2022 Minnesota Book Award. His poems and essays appear in numerous journals and anthologies. Michael is married to Karen Kleber-Diggs, a tropical horticulturist and orchid specialist. Karen and Michael have a daughter pursuing a BFA in Dance Performance at SUNY Purchase.
Register via Eventbrite

General Program Overview
Level Up is an affordable professional development series for artists, organizers, and community leaders. Facilitated by artists, arts leaders, and professionals from within the TruArtSpeaks network, there will be a new lead facilitator and topic each session. Please visit the website for the full schedule and come as you need/desire. If you are an artist, organizer, or anything in between and are looking to gain skills in grant writing, lesson planning, using social media to shift the narrative about your community, or if you are seeking to learn best practices as a community organizer or more— this space is for you.

Sliding scale admission is available; please pay what you can and join us as we invest in our community.
