“Yemayá: Sista to the Distant, Yet Rising Star” by Camille Jones, ArtsWave “Truth & Healing” Artist

“I’m reclaiming my right to live how I want to live and to live fully.”

Camille Jones

2023 ArtsWave Black and Brown Artists Program

Creativity Squared is proud to support and partner with ArtsWave and to bring you this special interview series featuring the phenomenal artists and grant recipients selected for this year’s ArtsWave Black and Brown Artists Program.

Camille is a 2023 ArtsWave Black and Brown Artists Program Grant Recipient and “Truth & Healing” Artist.

The intention of these interviews is to give these talented and deserving artists another platform to share their art and truth expressed through it, as you never know what ripples will turn into waves. If you’re interested in working with, featuring, or supporting these artists, please don’t be shy about it.

We’ll be hearing from these artists whose films were shown in the ArtsWave “Truth & Healing” Showcase and Film Festivals. Part one of this series features the artists whose work is in the exhibition that is available for visiting at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH, through September 10. 

This year’s theme is “Truth & Healing” and Creativity Squared host Helen Todd had the great honor of interviewing the artists during the opening showcase to learn more about their work and what truth and healing means to them.

Meet Camille Jones

Camille Jones is a dancer with (CA)^2 (pronounced see-ay-squared), a creative street dance troupe founded by black women driven to uplift latent passion in all people through dance. (CA)^2 is an acronym for confidently creating active achievers. As teammates, Camille Jones, Chenelle Jones and Anaya Ni’Kole of (CA)^2 perform street dance, a fusion of authentic Hip Hop and contemporary original choreography/freestyle. 

“Yemayá”

This project elevates the artistic practices of dance and DJing as modes of storytelling. The three-part story utilizes the mythology of Yemaya to explore the journey and battle for self-acceptance faced by women of the African Diaspora. (CA)^2 Dance Crew will lead the audience through each part of the story through dynamic dance. Ultimately, the message is one of defiance and representative of Black Women reclaiming the right to live fully human existences free from confining standards, bigoted opinions and racist/sexist barriers that poison our sense of self-worth and hinder our spiritual ascension. 

ArtsWave 2023 Black and Brown Artists Program Cohort

This year’s Black and Brown Artists Program cohort reflects a vibrant collection of diverse art forms created by an equally diverse group of 18 artists. Their mediums include couture fashion, painting, and sculpture — along with film, musical composition, podcasts, theater, dance, and multidisciplinary works.

The projects not only represent the African American experience, but also the experiences of those with Mexican, Lebanese, Somali, Argentinian, Zimbabwean, Guatemalan, and Indigenous heritage.

Listen to the accompanying podcast episode which features Camille:

Connect with Camille

To learn more about her experience and check out (CA)^2’s other projects, follow both accounts on Instagram (@jones.camille) and (CA)^2’s (@ca2dancecrew).

Learn more about ArtsWave and why we proudly support the organization in episode 9 “Art Bridges Cultural Divides” with Janice Liebenberg, VP of Equitable Arts Advancement at ArtsWave: https://bit.ly/Ep9JaniceLiebenberg.

Creativity Squared is a proud partner of ArtsWave and because it’s important to support artists like Michael, 10% of all revenue Creativity Squared generates goes to ArtsWave and directly supports the Black and Brown Artists Program.

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