Squeaky Wheel has moved to the Tri-Main Center!
2023-01-01 - 2023-12-31 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Squeaky Wheel has found a new home at the Tri-Main Center! Our new, larger space offers more flexibility to adapt to communities’ needs, new partnerships with neighboring organizations, and greater accessibility for students, artists, and friends. The possibilities are endless!
Stay tuned for our re-opening date, and see our updated visit, transportation, and accessibility information below and on our Visit page.
Squeaky Wheel is located in the Tri-Main Center on 2495 Main Street, Suite 310. You can enter the Tri-Main Center from its main entrance on Halbert Street, parallel to Main Street. We are located in Suite 310, which you can find by taking the elevator in the lobby to the 3rd floor and walking left and following the signage on the walls.
Parking is available for visitors across from the Halbert Street entrance. The Tri-Main Center can be reached by taking the #8 bus, the Filmore-Hertel Bus, #23 Fillmore-Hertel bus, or via rail to the Amherst Station.
The Tri-Main Center has automated doors and lever handles. There is a dedicated lift for wheelchair users on the left when you enter, so you may avoid the stairs and continue to the elevator.
Right outside of Squeaky Wheel’s suite are gender-segregated restrooms with accessible stalls. Inside Squeaky Wheel is a gender-inclusive restroom.
Please see individual program pages for additional access information, including virtual attendance options, ASL interpretation, CART, and more.
ArtsAccess Pass holders can gain free entry and request accessible transportation to and from Squeaky Wheel for events. Find out more about the ArtsAccess program, and how you can sign up, by clicking here. Note you must make transportation requests at least two weeks in advance. Click here to request transportation. You can also sign up to be an ArtsAccess pass holder at Squeaky Wheel. ArtsAccess is a program offered by Arts Services Initiative, and Squeaky Wheel is not responsible for the ArtsAccess program.
We expect all visitors, students, artists, instructors, staff, board members, and community members to abide by Squeaky Wheel’s Community Guidelines.

Image: Tri-Main Center – fmr Ford Motor Company assembly plant, Trico Plant No. 2 – Buffalo, New York – 20200624 by Andre Carrotflower, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. A photograph of the Tri-Main Center during the day. You can see four stories with large glass windows on each floor.

Afternoon Filmmaking Workshop: Dreams, Gestures, and Memoir
2023-02-14 13:00 - 2023-03-09 15:00 (America/New_York) | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
February 14 – March 9, 2023 (8 sessions)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1–3 pm
$20 members/$55 nonmembers
Click here to register
We are excited to announce this inaugural weekday afternoon workshop for older adults. The workshop is open to students of all levels, no experience necessary.
In this playful and experimental video workshop for older adults (ages 55+), participants will create short films about dreams and memories. Participants will work individually and collaboratively to conduct interviews, record and edit sound and video, and learn technical skills while exploring the artistic potential of free association, repetition, lighting, and layering. The instructor will guide students of all levels in using digital cameras, audio recorders, iPads, and Adobe Premiere editing software. The resulting short films may question the line between dream and memory or lead to a narrative story. The workshop will end with a screening and celebration of the finished work. No experience necessary, beginners welcome! All equipment provided. Space limited to 8 participants.
Register here or contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Avye Alexandres (www.avye.art)
Avye Alexandres is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work bridges film, photography, experimental media, sculpture and performance. She has produced and exhibited her work nationally since 2005, including in Squeaky Wheel’s 2018 Workspace Residency at Silo City. She received her MFA from The University at Buffalo and a BFA from Southern Methodist University.

This Afternoon Filmmaking Workshop is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This activity is made possible by a grant provided by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in partnership with E.A. Michelson Philanthropy and supported by Lifetime Arts.

Banner image: A photograph of the shadows of two people on a wall.

Intro to Choice-Based Game Design
2023-02-21 18:00 - 2023-03-02 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
February 21 – March 2, 2023
Total price for all 4 sessions:
$135 members/$175 non-members
Click here to register
Learn how to make interactive games! Using the free Inky engine, build a scalable text-based game that takes into account player choices when progressing its narrative. Inky is a very simple narrative scripting language for games that can stand alone in web browsers and be integrated into game production engines like Unity. No experience necessary, beginners welcome! All equipment provided.
Class limited to 8 participants. Members receive a discounted rate. Not a member? Click here to sign up!
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Famous Clark
Famous Clark is a current MFA student at the University at Buffalo’s Media Study program. His specific field of study is an interweaving of mythology and folklore, queer and feminist scholarship, and interactivity and portrayal within games. Famous’s research and projects to date aim to develop queer allegories of being, utilizing tropes of fantastical narratives in folklore and fairytales. These allegories, in turn, are injected into game mediums, facilitating the embodiment, interactivity, and portrayal of non-heteronormative realities.
Image: A screenshot of a computer coding environment, with white text on a black screen. The text is readable as a conversation.

Exhalations: Films by Kalpana Subramanian
2023-03-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
***New date: Friday, March 3, 2023, 7 pm ET***
In-person @ Journey’s End Refugee Services, and online
Free or suggested donation
Click here to register
For over 20 years, Kalpana Subramanian has created a remarkable body of work spanning films, media art, children’s books, scholarship, and curatorial work. Her recent work is invested in a cinema of breath: a framework for radical cinema grounded in intersectional-feminist and decolonial thought, alternative approaches to embodiment, and what Achille Mbembe calls “the universal right to breathe.” This solo screening by the celebrated film and media practitioner brings together recent and older short films from 2002 to the present day, including the entirety of her Light Mediated series. The filmmaker will be present for a Q&A following the screening.
This online and event will take place in the theater of Journey’s End Refugee Services, located at the 5th floor of Tri-Main Center. Please note that the online event will only have the films, not the Q&A with the artist. The online films will be available for 24 hours. Squeaky Wheel members will receive extended access for 72 hours.
Program
Total duration: 54 minutes. Please note that woolgathering contains flickering imagery.
The Maze of Lanes (SD, 6 min, Sound, Color, 2002)
Incantation (HD, 8 min 37 sec, sound, color, 2021)
woolgathering (HD, 3 min 10 sec, sound, color, 2020)
Tattva (HD, 4.34 min, Sound, Color, 2018)
Light Mediated Series
Liquid is Light (8mm transferred to Digital, 4 min 2 sec, sound, B&W, 2016)
Empyrean (HD, 6 min 20 sec min, silent, color, 2016)
Light Rooms (HD, 1 min 45 sec, silent, color, 2016)
Prismatic Resonance (HD, 12 min 46 sec, sound, color, 2016)
A Dialogue of Dissonance (HD, 6 min 23 sec, Sound, Color, 2016)
Bio
Kalpana Subramanian is an artist-filmmaker and scholar of experimental film and media. Her current research investigates the poetics of breath in experimental film using a transcultural and interdisciplinary approach. Her work has been supported by grants including a Humanities Institute Advanced PhD Fellowship (University at Buffalo, 2022-23), the UK Environmental Film Fellowship (2006) and the Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship (University of Colorado Boulder, 2015-16). Her films have been presented at venues including the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin, National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai, India), UNESCO (France), Antimatter Media Arts (Canada), Asia Society, Union Docs and Flaherty NYC Seminar (USA) among others. She has received awards for her films at the Documentary Festival of History and Archeology (Perugia, Italy, 2015), Montana CINE International Film Festival (2003, 2005) and CMS Vatavaran (2008). Her curated film programs have been screened at the Alternative cinema series (Colgate University, USA), Bristol Experimental Expanded Film (UK) and Simon Fraser University (Canada) among others. She is presently a doctoral candidate and an adjunct lecturer at the Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo.
Special thank you to Kathy Spillman and Journey’s End Refugee Services.
Banner image: Kalpana Subramanian, Incantation (2021). A photograph depicting multiple images projected on a surface. The shadows of what look like two young people, arms on each other’s shoulders, standing under an arched gateway to a historic building in Delhi, India. Upon this image is an extended hand, palm open. It looks like the young people are in the palm.

Cinematography: Unleash the Power of Your DSLR Camera!
2023-03-07 18:00 - 2023-03-16 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
March 7 – March 16, 2023
Total price for all 4 sessions:
$135 members/$175 non-members
Click here to register

Do you want to learn how to make beautiful videos and tell compelling stories with your DSLR camera? Then you are interested in cinematography, the art of moving images!
Our workshop is designed for adults who are interested in learning the fundamentals of cinematography. You’ll learn how to compose a shot, use lighting to create mood and atmosphere, and tell compelling stories through the lens. The workshop will also cover detailed camera setup and settings, lighting setups and techniques, and how to work with a tripod. Learn with Squeaky’s Canon and Sony DSLR cameras, or bring your own!
Participants will have the opportunity to work on practical exercises, shooting short scenes or interviews and experimenting with different lighting setups. You will receive individual feedback and guidance from your instructor, and collaborate with other participants to develop your skills and creativity.
Whether you want to pursue a career in filmmaking or simply want to improve your skills for personal projects or social media, this workshop will give you the tools and confidence to take your videos to the next level.
No experience necessary, beginners welcome! All equipment provided.
Class limited to 8 participants. Members receive a discounted rate. Not a member? Click here to sign up!
***If you would like to use your own DSLR camera for this workshop, please contact Caroline to confirm that yours will be a good fit.***
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Joseph Wachowski

Image: Smiling woman in profile, using a black Dslr camera.

Building Virtual Worlds: An Introduction to Virtual Reality
2023-03-21 18:00 - 2023-03-30 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
March 21 – March 30, 2023
Total price for all 4 sessions: $135 members/$175 non-members
Click here to register

In this workshop, you will learn how to create immersive and interactive virtual worlds using A-Frame, a free, web-based tool for building virtual reality experiences. It is easy to use for beginners, and powerful enough to create complex projects as your skills progress. You’ll leave with the skills to make games and/or experimental websites.
Throughout the workshop, you will be introduced to the basics of virtual reality, including coding with HTML, creating three-dimensional objects and environments, and adding interactive elements such as animations and sounds. You will also learn the various features of A-Frame, including how to easily add interactivity and functionality to your projects.
You’ll be guided through each step of the process, from creating your first scene to building a more complex environment. You’ll have time to experiment and get creative with your project, with feedback from the instructor and your classmates.
By the end of the workshop, you will have created your own virtual world that can be viewed on a VR headset, or on any device with a web browser – smartphones, tablets, computers, etc. You will have a solid understanding of A-Frame and the basics of virtual reality, making it easy for you to continue exploring and creating your own immersive experiences.
No coding experience necessary, beginners welcome! All equipment provided, including Oculus Quest headsets for use during class.
Class limited to 8 participants. Members receive a discounted rate. Not a member? Click here to sign up!
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
See one of your instructor’s A-Frame projects here
See other examples of projects made with A-Frame here
Instructor: Ashley Peresie
Ashley Peresie is a new media artist and self taught scientist from Buffalo, NY. Working with electronics, code, and other earthly materials, they aim to reshape technological narratives of control into ones of feeling, listening, intuiting, and having faith. Their work usually involves sound and video installation, objects and instruments.

Image: Three people seated in rolling office chairs, wearing white VR headsets.

hiba ali | oceans we carry: rough as silk
2023-03-24 - 2023-05-20 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
On view March 24–May 20, 2023
Free and open to the public
Squeaky Wheel presents a solo exhibition by artist hiba ali that utilizes videos, music, textiles, amongst other media. Through storytelling, oceans we carry: rough as silk explores the figure of the silk worm through visualizing the history and continued presence of African-descent communities from the Swahili-Indian ocean. They map the relationships between the Swahili coast of East Africa, South India and the Arab world.
The geographic location of the Indian Ocean contains the history of trade, that includes enslaved people, gold, spices, and many other cultural aspects that continue to be present in the lives of its people and diasporas. ali’s work activates the healing modalities of music, sound and storytelling as offering points of dialogue and contextualization. Their work anchors audiences in discussions of global anti-Blackness, colorism, and colonialism, broadening our understanding of these topics beyond the US.
Marking Squeaky Wheel’s first exhibition at our new space in the Tri-Main Center, the opening of the exhibition will feature remarks with the artist in person. A newly commissioned essay co-authored by Beheroze Shroff and Zavier Wingham on hiba ali’s work will be available at the opening, and made available online.
The exhibition is on view Tuesdays through Fridays, 12–5 pm and by appointment. Click here for visit, transportation, and access information for our new location. To make an appointment or inquire about group tours, email ekrem@squeaky.org .
ali, who was selected as Squeaky Wheel’s pilot Artist & Mentor residency program in Fall 2020, will also participate in several public programs taking place in Buffalo and our region. Special thank you to Claire Schneider and Jean-Michel Reed, Lindsey Lodhie and the Alternative Cinema Series at Colgate University, and Paige Sarlin and the PLASMA Speaker Series at the University at Buffalo. See more information below.
Public programs
Friday, March 24, 6–8 pm @ Squeaky Wheel
Opening of the exhibition with brief remarks by the artist
Monday, March 27, 6:30 pm @ University at Buffalo North Campus, CFA 112
hiba ali at the PLASMA Speaker Series, presented by the Department of Media Study. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, March 28, 6:30 pm @ Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
hiba ali at the Alternative Cinema Series. Click here for more information.
Friday, July 21, 11:30 am ET @ online
In conversation: hiba ali, with Beheroze Shroff and Zavier Wingham. Click here for more information.
Brochure and Mix Tapes
Click here to download a PDF of the brochure, featuring a newly commissioned essay by Beheroze Shroff and Zavier Wingham.
Below, you can find the soundcloud embeds to the mixtapes that accompany the indian ocean mixes vinyl installation (2020-2023)
sparkle nation · silent reading hour w/ H1BA (Hiba Ali)_ep7
H 1 B A · indian ocean mix II: music as ritual w/ nada sayed @houseoflolia, montez press radio, nov 19th, 2020

Exhibition Documentation
About the artist and contributors
hiba ali is a producer of moving images, sounds, garments and words. they reside in many time zones: chicago, toronto and eugene. born in karachi, pakistan, they belong to east african, south asian and arab diasporas. they are a practitioner and (re)learner of swahili, urdu, arabic and spanish languages. they work on two long term art and publication projects: the first being an art-based phd project that examines womyn of colour’s labour, and architecture of surveillance as it exists within the monopoly of amazon (corp.) and the second being a series of works that addresses music, cloth and ritual practices that connect east africa, south asia and the arabian peninsula in the swahili-indian ocean region.
they are an assistant professor at the college of design in the art & technology program at the university of oregon in eugene and they teach on decolonial, feminist, anti-racist frameworks in digital art pedagogies. currently, they are a phd candidate in cultural studies at queens university in kingston, ontario. their work has been presented in chicago, stockholm, vienna, berlin, toronto, new york, istanbul, são paulo, detroit, windsor, dubai, austin, vancouver, and portland. they have written for the following magazines: “c”, the seen, newcity chicago, art chicago, art dubai, the state, medium’s zora, rtv, and topical cream.
note: the profile picture indicates the need to not be perceived by all carceral, surveillant and monitoring systems including the corporeal, digital and virtual. the use of lowercase on this site denotes a turn away from egotism embedded in the english language (danah michele boyd) and towards ideas of the collective (bell hooks) and reminds us of the many realities, names and glyphs that cannot be said in such a colonial language.
Beheroze Shroff teaches in the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Irvine. A long-time scholar of Siddis, Indians of African descent in Gujarat, Shroff has published widely in several journals and anthologies, and documented on film different aspects of contemporary Siddi life, in Gujarat. Most recently, in 2020, Shroff co-edited a three-volume publication titled Afro-South Asia in the Global African Diaspora, which explores the ways in which Africans and people of African descent have shaped and have been shaped by histories, cultures, and societies of South Asia. Her documentaries have been shown in public and academic venues: at Monsoons and Migrations: Unleashing Dhow Synergies– Conference in Association with the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF); The African Diaspora in Asia conference (TADIA) Goa; Samosa Arts and Culture Festival (Nairobi); Max Planck Institute (Halle); School of Oriental and African Studies and Institute of Commonwealth Studies University of London; Schomburg Library and Museum of Black Culture (New York); Malcolm X Library (San Diego, California) and Pan African Film Festivals (Los Angeles), among others.
Zavier Wingham (he/they) is a writer, editor, and PhD candidate in the joint program for History and Middle East and Islamic Studies at New York University, with an additional concentration in the history of the African Diaspora. Their dissertation research explores how changing Ottoman elite conceptions of race, slavery, and blackness in the Ottoman Empire contributed to new forms of racialization of enslaved and manumitted Africans between the 1840s and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, as well as how Africans in the Ottoman empire experienced these processes of racialization and sought to create new kinds of community and ways of living. Their work has been supported by Fulbright, ARIT, and Koç University’s ANAMED. More of their work can be found at zavierwingham.com

This project was made possible through support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Banner image: hiba ali, in the cyclone (rough as silk). Three green curly haired beings, with brown skin and tan highlights, big green eyes, round nose, pink lips, are swirling in three separate spirals on top of a shiny green silk fabric with ripples in the background.

Animation on Paper with Miranda Javid
2023-04-04 18:00 - 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 6–8 pm
Free or suggested donation
Click here to register
Come to Squeaky Wheel for a special animation workshop with visiting artist Miranda Javid! Based on the artists own way of working using translucent paper, participants will learn how they can quickly and intuitively create their own animations with a smartphone, a free app, some tracing paper, and drawing materials. This workshop is intended for participants 16 and up, and is open to all experience levels.
Participants can bring their own smartphones or request an iPad from Squeaky Wheel. You can download the Stopmotion app to be utilized in the class here.
Bio of the instructor
Miranda Javid is an animator, curator, and art-educator with a Masters in Fine Art from the University of California Irvine and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her animations describe topics like cognitive experience, human bias, and the relationship between individuals and their communities. These films have shown nationally and internationally at festivals like the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Eyeworks Film Festival, Slamdance, the Flaherty Seminar, and Malt Adult. She is a Kenan Fellow, a Denniston Hill resident, a Sherman Fairchild grantee, and a recipient of the Nancy Harrigan Prize, given through the Baker Artist Fund. Her drawings have been shown at Commune1 in Cape Town, S Africa, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Mint Museum of Art in North Carolina, and Vox Populi in Philadelphia, PA. Currently, she lives in unceded Munsee territory also known as the Hudson Valley in New York State.
Squeaky Wheel’s Workspace Residency is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, County of Erie and County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of Governor and the New York State Legislature, and individual members, businesses, and supporters. Learn more about the program here.
Image courtesy of Miranda Javid. Black ink on crinkly paper. The image is a drawing of a loosely drawn hand holding onto a leaf. Previous frames or past moments of the movement fading in a trail behind the hand.

Visual Media for Poets with Laura Jaramillo
2023-04-05 18:00 - 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 6–8 pm
Free or suggested donation
Click here to register

Intended for all audiences, visiting poet and researcher Laura Jaramillo will lead Visual Media for Poets, on how to use visual media to write poetry, even for people who have never written it.
While many assume poetry is incomprehensible or not for them, almost everyone has a favorite television show or movie that makes them feel things. This workshop takes those feelings as the material of the poem.
Participants will look at and discuss samples of written poetry that are in dialogue with the moving image such as Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee and Tisa Bryant’s Unexplained Presence. We will pay special attention to how these writers use movement between image and text to draw out questions of biography and identity.
Squeaky Wheel will provide journals and writing tools; bring your laptops, but laptops can also be requested from Squeaky Wheel. Just bring yourselves!
Bio of the instructor
Laura Jaramillo is a critic and poet working at the intersection of film and media theory, lyrical poetry, and essay. She received her PhD in critical theory from Duke University where she wrote her dissertation on avant-garde Latin American and Spanish cinema. She is the author of two books of poetry, Material Girl (subpress, 2012) and Making Water (Futurepoem, 2022). Her writings on film and contemporary media have appeared in JumpCut, Feminist Media Histories, and IndyWeek. She is currently at work on a book of essays about the death and rebirth of Colombian cinema during the neoliberal era.
Squeaky Wheel’s Workspace Residency is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, County of Erie and County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of Governor and the New York State Legislature, and individual members, businesses, and supporters. Learn more about the program here.
Image: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Other Things Seen, Other Things Heard (Ailleurs), 1978, documentation of performance (rehearsal) at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1978. A woman is seen with her back turned against us, holding two rope like objects going down to the floor. In front of her is a wall with a projection on it that says “Redemption.”

Meet the Residents!
2023-04-07 19:00 - 21:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Friday, April 7, 2023, 7 pm ET
Online + in-person @ Squeaky Wheel
Free or suggested donation. ASL interpretation provided.
Click here for tickets
Squeaky Wheel is pleased to present this virtual artist talk with our Spring 2023 Workspace Residents! Dena Kopolovich (Flushing, NY), Elenie Chung (Los Angeles, CA), Laura Jaramillo (Durham, NC), and Miranda Javid (Port Ewen, NY) will be presenting and speaking to their previous and current projects, and engage in a Q&A moderated by curator Ekrem Serdar.
During time with Squeaky Wheel, the residents will be working on a variety of projects including animations, hybrid works, lyrical essays on cinema, and non-fiction films. Dena Kopolovich will be working towards the completion of her upcoming short film Container Film, an experimental essay film created in a hybrid 16mm and digital format, that engages with Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay, “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”. Elenie Chung will be assembling All the Films in My Grandfather’s Closet a planned hybrid docu-fiction, telling the tale of Chung’s grandfather, a Chinese Trinidadian whose life had been defined by an early marriage, resistance to cultural customs and the changing times in Trinidad and Tobago from the 1930s to 2020s. Laura Jaramillo will be developing a book of lyrical essays investigating the fraught history of Colombian national cinema during the War on Drugs and global neoliberalization, interwoven with her own biography as a diasporic Colombian and her family’s history. Miranda Javid will continue animating, sound recording, and editing Human Behavior, a three-minute hand-drawn film drawn with sumi ink on tracing paper, which asks viewers how even small gestures can impact others.
In-person attendees can find information on how to get to Squeaky Wheel’s new location at Tri-Main Center here. The event will be available to register and view for 24 hours. SW members will have access to the event for 72 hours.
To find out more about the Workspace Residency, click here.
Biographies of the residents

Dena Kopolovich (b.1991) is a multimedia artist & filmmaker from New York. Her recent work uses past and present aesthetics to investigate the origin and continuity of meaning. She is interested in using cinematic forms to explore the derivation of instinctive human rituals & objects. In 2022 she completed a fellowship at LABA Laboratory for Jewish Culture, where she spent a year creatively interrogating ancient mythological texts. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College and a Teaching Artist at the cinema-arts non-profit Mono No Aware. Dena received her education from the Purchase College Conservatory of Theater Arts, with a concentration in Directing and the Integrated Media Arts MFA at Hunter College.
Elenie Chung is a filmmaker and artist, born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, currently based in Los Angeles, CA. She is interested in using female relationships as a method of illustrating cultural disconnection and ancestral amnesia. Her films have screened in international festivals and art exhibitions. Since attending the University of California, Los Angeles to achieve an MFA in Film Directing/Production, she has been working remotely at Women Make Movies, a non-profit feminist media arts organization based in New York City and has been contributing to film organizations in Los Angeles to amplify under-recognised films by women, international and non-white filmmakers.
Laura Jaramillo is a critic and poet working at the intersection of film and media theory, lyrical poetry, and essay. She received her PhD in critical theory from Duke University where she wrote her dissertation on avant-garde Latin American and Spanish cinema. She is the author of two books of poetry Material Girl (subpress, 2012) and Making Water (Futurepoem, 2022). Her writings on film and contemporary media have appeared in JumpCut, Feminist Media Histories, and IndyWeek. She is currently at work on a book of essays about the death and rebirth of Colombian cinema during the neoliberal era.
Miranda Javid is an animator, curator, and art-educator with a Masters in Fine Art from the University of California Irvine and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her animations describe topics like cognitive experience, human bias, and the relationship between individuals and their communities. These films have shown nationally and internationally at festivals like the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Eyeworks Film Festival, Slamdance, the Flaherty Seminar, and Malt Adult. She is a Kenan Fellow, a Denniston Hill resident, a Sherman Fairchild grantee, and a recipient of the Nancy Harrigan Prize, given through the Baker Artist Fund. Her drawings have been shown at Commune1 in Cape Town, S Africa, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Mint Museum of Art in North Carolina, and Vox Populi in Philadelphia, PA. Currently, she lives in unceded Munsee territory also known as the Hudson Valley in New York State.
Workspace Residency is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Image description: Four photographs against a graphic background. Left to right and top to bottom are: a portrait of Dena Kopolovich, gazing off to the left and smiling, wearing a light brown turtleneck, with curly long auburn hair that is styled down. The background is a brick wall painted two different shades of red; A close up of Elenie Chung, a young woman of East Asian descent wearing glasses and with short black hair. She is wearing a green and pink checkered wool scarf; Laura Jaramillo, a woman in a black dress stares off to the right of the frame. There are trees and foliage behind her; and Miranda Javid, a femme iranian woman in her mid-thirties stands in front of lush trees.

16mm Camera-Less Filmmaking with Dena Kopolovich
2023-04-11 18:00 - 21:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 6–9 pm
Free or suggested donation
Click here to register
Join visiting artist Dena Kopolovich for a special workshop on cameraless filmmaking with 16mm film! Intended for ages 16 and up, participants will learn about motion picture film, and manipulate the surface of film using a variety of camera-less techniques: painting, scratching, masking, and tape-lifting to create an original, collective experimental film on 16mm. The workshop will culminate with a screening at Squeaky Wheel where we’ll watch the film on loop. A light dinner will be provided; you can indicate dietary restrictions during checkout.
Bio of the instructor
Dena Kopolovich (b.1991) is a multimedia artist & filmmaker from New York. Her recent work uses past and present aesthetics to investigate the origin and continuity of meaning. She is interested in using cinematic forms to explore the derivation of instinctive human rituals & objects. In 2022 she completed a fellowship at LABA Laboratory for Jewish Culture, where she spent a year creatively interrogating ancient mythological texts. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College and a Teaching Artist at the cinema-arts non-profit Mono No Aware. Dena received her education from the Purchase College Conservatory of Theater Arts, with a concentration in Directing and the Integrated Media Arts MFA at Hunter College.
Squeaky Wheel’s Workspace Residency is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, County of Erie and County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of Governor and the New York State Legislature, and individual members, businesses, and supporters. Learn more about the program here.
Image courtesy of Dena Kopolovich. Several strips of 16mm film against a lighttable. Some are in color and some are in black and white. Some of the films have hand scratched lettering on their emulsion.

Soon-rye Yim's 와이키키 브라더스 (Waikiki Brothers), with Molly Hyo Kim
2023-04-13 18:00 - 21:00 | Journey’s End Refugee Services, 2495 Main Street, Suite #530, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Thursday, April 13, 2023, 6–9 pm
@ Journey’s End Refugee Services (2495 Main Street, Suite #530)
Free or suggested donation
Presented as the opening of the symposium Genre, Gender and Language in Korean Film and Drama, Soon-rye Yim’s 와이키키 브라더스 (Waikiki Brothers, 109 min, 2001) is about high school friends who form a band and struggle to find success, relationships and happiness. The screening will be followed by a lecture by Molly Kim of Hanyang University about the film’s writer and director, Soon-rye Yim. The lecture, “Korean Cinema and The Single Woman: Korean Women Filmmakers through Yim Soon-rye,” will be the opening keynote lecture of UB Asia Research Institute’s Korean studies symposium, followed by a Q&A with Margaret Rhee, assistant professor of Media Studies at SUNY Buffalo and The New School, and Ekrem Serdar, curator at Squeaky Wheel. Special thank you to Kathy Spillman and Journey’s End Refugee Services.
Molly Hyo Kim is Adjunct Professor of the College of Humanities at Hanyang University. She earned a Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, an M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University, and a B.A. in Communication and Culture from Indiana University at Bloomington. She has published her works in Acta Koreana, the Journal of Cultural Studies, the International Journal of Korean History, and more.
Margaret Rhee is a poet, scholar and new media artist. Rhee’s debut poetry collection, “Love, Robot,” was published in 2017 and has been named a 2017 Best Book of Poetry by Entropy Magazine and awarded a 2018 Elgin Award by the Science Fiction Poetry Association and the 2019 Best Book Award in Poetry by the Asian American Studies Association.
As a new media artist, her project The Kimchi Poetry Machine is exhibited at the Electronic Literature Review Volume III and included in the anthology Art as Social Practice: Technologies for Change(Routledge, 2022). From 2008 – 2018, with collaborators from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, she co-lead the participatory project From the Center which focused on digital storytelling, women of color, and HIV/AIDS education in the San Francisco Jail.
Rhee is an assistant professor at The New School in the School of Media Studies. Prior to The New School, Rhee held a faculty appointments at the University at Buffalo-SUNY, Harvard, and University of Oregon. Rhee earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in ethnic studies with a Designated Emphasis in new media studies, and her B.A. in Creative Writing/English from the University of Southern California.
This symposium Genre, Gender and Language in Korean Film and Drama will feature scholars from the U.S, Asia and Europe examining a wide range of topics in Korean film and television, including sexuality, LGBTQ representation, translation, violence, and popular productions like Squid Game and Parasite. This event is sponsored by the UB Asia Research Institute, Academy of Korean Studies, and Squeaky Wheel. Cosponsors include the UB Departments of Media Study, English, Global Gender and Sexuality Studies, Art, and Linguistics, UB Asian Studies Program, Global Film Studies Minor Program, and Gender Institute.
Image: A still from Waikiki Brothers. Four young people looking off to the side of the camera lens on a sunny day.

Intro to Video Editing with Adobe Premiere
2023-04-18 18:00 - 2023-04-27 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
April 18 – April 27, 2023
Total price for all 4 sessions:
$135 members/$175 non-members
Click here to register
Learn to manipulate story and meaning with the art of editing. In this workshop you’ll learn how to take raw footage and assemble it into a narrative, whether for short films, documentaries, interviews, promotional videos, or experimental films. You’ll learn important foundational skills and best practices in Adobe Premiere, and also develop your personal editing style.
No experience necessary, beginners welcome! All equipment provided.
Class limited to 8 participants. Members receive a discounted rate. Not a member? Click here to sign up!
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Joseph Scordo
Joseph Scordo is a local video editor and production assistant who has worked on projects such as “Movin’ On,” an upcoming music video by Drea D’nur, and interned on “Niagara,” a PBS Nature documentary premiering in March. Joseph double majored in media production and public relations and advertising at SUNY Buffalo State University. He is currently a production assistant at Buffalo Toronto Public Media, where he previously held an editing-focused digital media production internship.

Image: An angled, over the shoulder shot of a computer screen showing a work in progress on the Adobe Premiere editing timeline.

Equipment Orientation
2023-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Saturday, May 20, 12 pm
Free
Join us Saturday, May 20 at noon for our first equipment orientation of the year. We’ll briefly preview Squeaky’s rental inventory and discuss how to get started with basic functions, handling, and operations of each piece of equipment. It’s a great time to come with your questions and find out how renting from Squeaky Wheel can support your creative moving image visions!

Now hiring: Communications and Development Manager
2023-05-31 - 2023-06-15 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Compensation: $40,000, plus benefits, including health insurance and retirement contribution.
Start date: July 1, 2023; however, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Deadline to apply: Submit cover letter and résumé by June 15, 2023 to jobs@squeaky.org
Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center is looking for a creative and experienced Communications and Development Manager to join the team. The Communications and Development Manager will be responsible for developing and implementing a communications strategy that supports Squeaky Wheel’s activities and mission and spreads awareness of our impact to a wide variety of audiences. This role will also support development efforts in collaboration with the Executive Director to drive fundraising goals and communicate the organization’s mission to potential supporters, grantmakers, and other key stakeholders.
Communications Responsibilities:

Assists in developing the organization’s internal and external communication strategies in partnership with the Executive Director and Marketing & Communications Committee.
Build on these communication strategies and the organization’s history and mission to create a style guide to support the brand identity of the organization.
Coordinates production and/or produces content in support of programs (education, exhibitions, events, and equipment access) in collaboration with interns and staff for all communications platforms including web content, e-newsletters, brochures, and any other supporting materials.
Monitors web and social media content to ensure program descriptions are current and comments are responded to.
Coordinates production and/or produces content for communications to promote the organization’s mission, membership, and fund development.
Prepares reports, marketing, and event-related materials for Marketing & Communications Committee
Designs or adapts graphics, images, and videos for a range of formats (website, social media, print materials)
Manages social media updates, including, but not limited to, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
Creates and distributes press releases, media advisories, and press kits, and develops relationships with local and national media.

Development Responsibilities:

Implement annual fund development plans, including the annual giving campaign, fundraising events, membership management, and grant applications.
Develop, manage and grow relationships with community stakeholders, donors and prospective donors
Manage the donor management tracking system
Manage all special events, including sponsorship and in-kind solicitations
Oversee the organization’s membership program
Contribute to writing grant proposals
Work closely with Development Committee to coordinate organization-wide fundraising activities.
With the Executive Director, establish measurable outcomes for all development activities and create dashboards to communicate progress

Skills & Experience:

Bachelor’s degree and 2+ years of experience in a marketing or communications role, or equivalent relevant experience
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to work effectively both independently as a part of a team
Highly organized
Exemplary people skills
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite
Proficiency in Microsoft Office
Skilled in photography and graphic design
Comfortable with social media platforms
Experience and interest with databases or CRMs; Salesforce knowledge a plus.
Demonstrated success in developing and implementing communications strategies for small nonprofits that utilize limited resources for maximum impact.
Ideal candidates also have experience implementing an existing identity framework to inform marketing and design decisions

Compensation
$40,000/year plus benefits, including health insurance and retirement contribution.
How to apply
To apply for this position, submit cover letter and résumé by May 31, 2023 to jobs@squeaky.org
The goal start date for this position is July 1, 2023; however, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Squeaky Wheel is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship.
About Squeaky Wheel | Buffalo Media Resources:
Squeaky Wheel is the only organization in Western New York with programming entirely dedicated to media arts. We collaborate with other cultural organizations, institutions, and schools throughout the city. The organization’s long-standing history of providing community-based media art related programs has established an expansive network of national and international artists, scholars, and media arts practitioners. Our mission continues a legacy of innovation in media arts through access, education, and exhibition.
We center diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in the work we do and the people we serve. This commitment is reflected in our hiring practices, board recruitment, programming, and the communities with which we work. We strive to listen to those impacted by racial, economic, and environmental injustice, in order to learn how we might help support our communities better.

Now Hiring: Lead Teaching Artist, West Side Studios
2023-06-19 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Arts Center is seeking a media arts instructor for our Summer 2023 West Side Studios program.

2023 Summer Program dates:
July 10 – August 18, 2023 (6 weeks)
Monday – Friday
10am – 2pm
Contract includes paid prep time in addition to teaching hours.
Competitive hourly rate, based on experience.
Apply by Monday June 19; interviews to be held June 20-23.

West Side Studios (est.2015) is a media arts education and workforce development program partnership between Squeaky Wheel and PUSH Buffalo that provides year-round, quality out-of-school opportunities for West Side residents ages 13-19. This unique program centers hands-on experience in video production and digital filmmaking and fine-tunes skills to create a pipeline to secondary education and employment.
Candidates for the Lead Teaching Artist position should have strong experience in camera operations and audio recording; video editing and audio mixing; knowledge of art history, film, and contemporary media art. Experience in screenwriting, cinematography, documentary filmmaking, audio/radio production, digital storytelling, and/or experimental film/video are all relevant to this position. Industry experience is also welcome.
Candidates should be able to organize, plan, and teach a dynamic, hands-on, project-based curriculum for a group of 10-12 young people, ages 13-19. Must be able to communicate, collaborate, and share responsibilities with a Teaching Assistant. Must be confident creating structure within an informal classroom environment. Must be comfortable maintaining relationships with community partner organizations. Candidates must also possess a positive attitude, a sense of humor, and a willingness to learn from students and Teaching Assistants.

Minimum required skill sets include:

Video Production & Post-Production

proficiency in prosumer level DSLR camera operations, lighting, file handling, and software including Premiere, Final Cut Pro

Audio Production & Post-Production

proficiency in prosumer level audio recording with devices like Zoom or Tascam audio recorders, external microphones, and software like ProTools, Audacity, or Adobe Audition

Experience teaching and inspiring groups of middle/high school age youth and/or young adults
Ability to guide students in the process of generating ideas, developing a project, and following through to completion and presentation of work.

Ideal qualifications (but not required)

New media production skills (motion graphics, animation, coding, etc)

Preference will be given to those who demonstrate cultural competence and a genuine desire to produce student-led work on a range of topics, from playful narrative fiction to complex social issues.
This call is specific to the 2023 WSS Summer Program. For the right candidate, this opportunity may extend into the school year, with the possibility of year round part-time employment.
To apply, please send a letter of intent and resume to caroline@squeaky.org. Your letter should tell us about you as a teacher and as an artist, and should explain what skills and experience you have to share, and why you want to teach in this program.

Squeaky Wheel is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship.

Video Production: DIY Special Effects
2023-07-10 09:00 - 12:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 1A
July 10 – July 14
Monday – Friday
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Open to all levels
Ages 11-15
Before computers, filmmakers used practical effects to create incredible illusions, all done on set and in the camera during filming. In this workshop, you will learn to create your own amazing DIY effects! You will also learn or improve your camera skills, write a short script based on a favorite film, and learn or improve your editing skills with Adobe Premiere. You’ll finish the week with a completed short film!
Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Joan Nobile

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Video Production: Live Stream Experiments - Be a Video DJ!
2023-07-10 13:00 - 16:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 1B
July 10 – July 14
Monday – Friday
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Open to all levels
Ages 11-15
This workshop is about working with real–time video effects to create a live performance! Students will learn new methods of video production that are different from the standard approach of shooting and editing films. Using both analog and digital technologies, we will create interactive video performances!
During the first half of the session, we will learn about the tools and processes used to make interactive video performances. Then, during the second half of the session, students will break into groups to plan and design their own live stream video set. On the last day, we will perform our work live!
No prior knowledge of video or programming is required.

Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Michael Chernoff

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Interactive Musical Instruments
2023-07-17 09:00 - 12:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 2A
July 17 – July 21
Monday – Friday
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Open to all levels.
Ages 11-15
In this workshop, students will work together to create an interactive musical instrument. Using Arduino devices and basic coding, we will learn how to connect and activate electronic components to react to inputs like sound, touch, or motion. Ordinary objects and materials will gain extraordinary properties!
Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Bello Bello

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Video Production: Color and Light
2023-07-17 13:00 - 16:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 2B
July 17 – July 21
Monday – Friday
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Open to all levels
Ages 11-15
In this workshop, students will learn the fundamentals of production design: the art of creating the overall aesthetic, or look, of a film. We will create simple sets, and learn how to use color and lighting to make them feel vibrant and alive. We will also learn or improve camera and video editing skills, and create a short film together!
Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Avye Alexandres

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away.

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

In conversation: hiba ali with Beheroze Shroff and Zavier Wingham
2023-07-21 11:30 - 12:30 | Virtual, NY, United States
Friday, July 21, 2023, 11:30 am ET
@ online and viewable for 24 hours
Free or suggested donation
Click here to register
Join us for a virtual event celebrating the closing of hiba ali’s solo exhibition, oceans we carry: rough as silk. hiba ali will be joined by Beheroze Shroff and Zavier Wingham to have a conversation on the histories, themes of their exhibition, followed by a brief Q&A. The exhibition utilizes videos, music, textiles, amongst other media. Through storytelling, oceans we carry: rough as silk explores the figure of the silk worm through visualizing the history and continued presence of African-descent communities from the Swahili-Indian ocean. They map the relationships between the Swahili coast of East Africa, South India and the Arab world.
Audiences are invited to join live, or can view the event for 24 hours. Squeaky Wheel members will receive a code to view the event for 72 hours.
You will see the Zoom link after you checkout and receive it in your email inbox within 24 hours. If you have issues registering, please email ekrem@squeaky.org
Read more about hiba ali’s exhibition at Squeaky Wheel here.
Biographies
hiba ali is a producer of moving images, sounds, garments and words. they reside in many time zones: chicago, toronto and eugene. born in karachi, pakistan, they belong to east african, south asian and arab diasporas. they are a practitioner and (re)learner of swahili, urdu, arabic and spanish languages. they work on two long term art and publication projects: the first being an art-based phd project that examines womyn of colour’s labour, and architecture of surveillance as it exists within the monopoly of amazon (corp.) and the second being a series of works that addresses music, cloth and ritual practices that connect east africa, south asia and the arabian peninsula in the swahili-indian ocean region.
they are an assistant professor at the college of design in the art & technology program at the university of oregon in eugene and they teach on decolonial, feminist, anti-racist frameworks in digital art pedagogies. currently, they are a phd candidate in cultural studies at queens university in kingston, ontario. their work has been presented in chicago, stockholm, vienna, berlin, toronto, new york, istanbul, são paulo, detroit, windsor, dubai, austin, vancouver, and portland. they have written for the following magazines: “c”, the seen, newcity chicago, art chicago, art dubai, the state, medium’s zora, rtv, and topical cream.
note: the profile picture indicates the need to not be perceived by all carceral, surveillant and monitoring systems including the corporeal, digital and virtual. the use of lowercase on this site denotes a turn away from egotism embedded in the english language (danah michele boyd) and towards ideas of the collective (bell hooks) and reminds us of the many realities, names and glyphs that cannot be said in such a colonial language.
Beheroze Shroff teaches in the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Irvine. A long-time scholar of Siddis, Indians of African descent in Gujarat, Shroff has published widely in several journals and anthologies, and documented on film different aspects of contemporary Siddi life, in Gujarat. Most recently, in 2020, Shroff co-edited a three-volume publication titled Afro-South Asia in the Global African Diaspora, which explores the ways in which Africans and people of African descent have shaped and have been shaped by histories, cultures, and societies of South Asia. Her documentaries have been shown in public and academic venues: at Monsoons and Migrations: Unleashing Dhow Synergies– Conference in Association with the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF); The African Diaspora in Asia conference (TADIA) Goa; Samosa Arts and Culture Festival (Nairobi); Max Planck Institute (Halle); School of Oriental and African Studies and Institute of Commonwealth Studies University of London; Schomburg Library and Museum of Black Culture (New York); Malcolm X Library (San Diego, California) and Pan African Film Festivals (Los Angeles), among others.
Zavier Wingham (he/they) is a writer, editor, and PhD candidate in the joint program for History and Middle East and Islamic Studies at New York University, with an additional concentration in the history of the African Diaspora. Their dissertation research explores how changing Ottoman elite conceptions of race, slavery, and blackness in the Ottoman Empire contributed to new forms of racialization of enslaved and manumitted Africans between the 1840s and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, as well as how Africans in the Ottoman empire experienced these processes of racialization and sought to create new kinds of community and ways of living. Their work has been supported by Fulbright, ARIT, and Koç University’s ANAMED. More of their work can be found at zavierwingham.com
This project was made possible through support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Banner image: documentation of hiba ali, oceans we carry: rough as silk. The video in the cyclone (rough as silk) is projected on a wall; a green wavelike video is projected on a canvas on the floor. There are two green chairs facing the wall.

Interesting Decisions: Choice Based Game Design
2023-07-24 09:00 - 12:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 3A
July 24 – July 28
Monday – Friday
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Open to all levels.
Ages 11-15
Learn how to make interactive games! Using the free Inky engine, you will build a text-based game that takes into account player choices when progressing its narrative – like a choose your own adventure. Design characters, write stories, and develop all the action! Inky is a very simple tool for building games that can be played in a web browser or integrated into other programs, like Unity. You’ll leave the class with your own playable game!
Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Famous Clark
Famous Clark is a current MFA student at the University at Buffalo’s Media Study program. His specific field of study is an interweaving of mythology and folklore, queer and feminist scholarship, and interactivity and portrayal within games. Famous’s research and projects to date aim to develop queer allegories of being, utilizing tropes of fantastical narratives in folklore and fairytales. These allegories, in turn, are injected into game mediums, facilitating the embodiment, interactivity, and portrayal of non-heteronormative realities.

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Believe it or not: Hoax Photography
2023-07-24 13:00 - 16:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 3B
July 24 – July 28
Monday – Friday
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Open to all levels.
Ages 11-15
What does it mean for an image to be “real”? Students will consider this question as they investigate the cultural implications of hoaxes. Beginning with a survey of UFO photography, we will make physical models and create photographs of UFOs, and then use Photoshop to remove any signs of trickery from the images. Students will build media literacy skills as they learn about AI and other new developments in image generating technology.
Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Robert George

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Call for submissions: Squeaky Wheel's 20th Animation Fest!
2023-07-28 - 2023-08-28 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Deadline: August 28, 2023, 11:59 PM
Notification Date: October 1, 2023
Squeaky Wheel announces the call for submissions for our annual Animation Fest! Celebrating its 20th year, we are proud to continue a festival showcasing artworks made in a diverse variety of animation techniques such as stop-motion, claymation, 3D animation, hand-painted film, special effects, and motion graphics. Past festivals have showcased work from both rising artists as well as established artists.
The 20th Animation Fest will be held online and in-person on Friday, November 3, 2022, an in-person screening at the Buffalo AKG Museum and a virtual screening through Squeaky Wheel. Films in the virtual program will be accessible for 24 hours thereafter for general audiences, and 72 hours for Squeaky Wheel members. If selected, you will be asked for a downloadable copy of your film.
Each individual submission should not exceed ~10 minutes.
There is no submission fee.
All selected artists will receive a screening fee of $100 per selected film. (International applicants must have a Paypal account to receive their screening fee).
All selected artists will receive a one year membership to Squeaky Wheel.
Multiple submissions per artist are accepted. Multiple submissions per artist are accepted. Artists who are African/Black, Indigenous / Native / Aboriginal, POC, creatives with disabilities, women, 2SLGBTQIA+, and artists who face systemic and structural barriers are highly encouraged to apply.
Click here to submit
Please direct any questions about the application process and your submissions to Ekrem Serdar at ekrem@squeaky.org
Banner image: An illustration of a red film projector against a starry backdrop.

Animation Fest at 20: A Retrospective
2023-07-28 - 2023-09-30 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Opening Friday, July 28, 2023, 6–8 pm
On view through September 30, 2023, Tuesday–Friday, 12–5 pm and by appointment
Squeaky Wheel is pleased to announce an exhibition featuring five key works drawn from the history of our annual Animation Fest. Begun as an outdoor screening in 2004, the fest celebrates animation in all its forms. Often organized by emerging guest curators, the fest has featured hundreds of classic and cutting edge animated works from Buffalo and across the globe. In anticipation of the 20th edition of the Fest taking place this Fall, Squeaky Wheel presents a retrospective exhibition of the fest, featuring five artists who have screened in prior editions, interspersed with posters, program notes, documentation, and other ephemera from the Fest’s history.
Opening as our summer youth workshops are taking place, the exhibition intends to inspire generations young and old with the possibilities of the genre. All movies are, technically, physiologically, animation: film frames flicker, pixel turn on and off, our eyes create the movement between the frames. The moniker of “animation” is a Trojan horse for radical visions. The short films exhibited – by Adele Han Li, Ayoka Chenzira, Hannah R.W. Hamalian, Jazmyn Palermo, and Maria Ziaja – include works made by legendary figures and former Squeaky Wheel students, from Buffalo and beyond. They exemplify some of the Animation Fest’s promise and possibility: personal visions and experiments; surprising and poignant uses of tools and technologies; and social and political commitment and critique.
The exhibition will be open Tuesdays through Fridays 12–5 pm and by appointment. Click here for visit, transportation, and access information for our new location. To make an appointment, including fully masked visits, or inquire about group tours, email ekrem@squeaky.org.
Works in the exhibition
Access: See films with open captions below; written audio descriptions are provided for films without captions on their respective wall labels. The films in this exhibition are suitable for ages 13 and up.

Ayoka Chenzira, Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People, 10:26 min, 16mm film presented on digital video, sound on headphones, open captions, 1985.
“I was very concerned with the question of black women in this country and self-image aesthetics. If you look at all the commercials that come out and tell you how to fix yourself, they are all based on the idea that there is something wrong with you. And so, having a child, these things became very glaring, and I think that’s a part of Hairpiece. Hairpiece is funny, but it comes from a position of real anger.” – Ayoka Chenzira. Included in the 2004 edition of the Animation Fest, Hair Piece was one of the twenty-five films selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2018. The film received a 4K restoration by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation with funding from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, which is the version that is on view. Film courtesy of Kino Lorber and Milestone Films.
Maria Ziaja, One Speck in the Universe, 1 min, digital video on LCD monitor, sound on headphones, open captions, 2013.
Maria Ziaja, Flying Bird, 1 min, digital video on LCD monitor, sound on headphones, 2013.
Maria Ziaja created these two videos during her time taking a Stop-Motion Animation class as part of Squeaky Wheel’s Tech Arts for Girls program, taught by Alice Alexandrescu; the two films were included in the 2013 edition of the Animation Fest, programmed by Squeaky Wheel’s 2013 staff and interns, including Jax Deluca, Mark Longolucco, and Ryan Crowley.
Adele Han Li, Chella Drive, 3:29 min, digital video on projection, sound on speakers, 2016.
“A dreamlike memory of a teenager’s summer complacency and the luscious suburban environment that surrounds her. Made using hand drawn animations projected onto real life settings and rephotographed frame by frame.” – Adele Han Li. Chella Drive as included in the 2016 edition curated by Ekrem Serdar.
Jazmyn Palermo, Teenie Hams’ Adventures in Genderland, 9:54 min, digital video installed on CRT monitor, sound on headphones, 2018
“Teenie Hams’ Adventures in Genderland is a stop-motion animation that explores a transgender perspective of finding oneself. As Teenie enters a world of fairies, witches, creatures, ghouls and vampires, they find themself on an adventure in the world of people they have only heard of in scary stories. They find friends and helpful hands along the way on their adventure of exploration and self discovery.” – Jazmyn Palermo. Teenie Hams’ Adventures in Genderland was included in the 2020 edition, guest curated by Tabia Lewis.
Hannah R.W. Hamalian, The Golden Age, 9:58 min, digital video on LCD, sound on headphones, open captions, 2021
“An experimental documentary examining the traumatic history of being a woman at work in the animation industry. I put myself into conversation with a generation of women who experienced restricted creative opportunities in animation and a lack of acknowledgement as artists. Each manipulated frame is an ode to the disregarded labor of women, wielded to create films that told young girls to dream.” – Hannah R.W. Hamalian. The Golden Age was included in the 2022 edition, curated by Ekrem Serdar and Zainab Saleh; her work was previously included in the 2017 edition guest curated by Savion “Ineil Quaran” Mingo.

Stills

Biographies of the artists
Adele Han Li Working in painting, video, and installation, Adele Han Li explores creating immersive and evocative environments through mixing materials and colliding surfaces. Her work has been exhibited at festivals and galleries throughout the US and internationally. Beyond her own creative projects, Adele was previously programmer and festival manager of the Slamdance Film Festival, and is passionate about cultivating inclusive and nurturing spaces for fellow artists. She studied animation at CalArts and painting at Yale and is now playing with textiles, projectors and ceramics in her home studio just outside Los Angeles, California.
Ayoka Chenzira
Meet Ayoka Chenzira, the multi-talented and award-winning filmmaker, Emmy and NAACP nominated television director, and digital media artist.
As a child, Ayoka discovered her interest in storytelling while listening to women talk in her mother’s Philadelphia beauty parlor. With a background in modern dance, photography, and music, she discovered her passion for filmmaking after being taken to every age-inappropriate movie that her cinephile parent could find. Since then, Ayoka is known to work across a range of genres, including drama, science fiction, documentary, animation, and interactive cinema. As an actor’s director, able to work with various acting styles and degrees of experience, Ayoka’s visionary style of storytelling and character development takes center stage as does her ability to emotionally and visually elevate a story.
Ayoka’s indie films highlight stories about Black women and have been exhibited at international film festivals, around the world, and acquired by prestigious institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is one of the first African American women to write, produce and direct a 35mm feature film, Alma’s Rainbow, which was recently restored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, along with her short film collection. Set in Brooklyn, the comedy/drama follows the interior lives of a budding teenage girl, her no-nonsense mother and a glamorous globe-trotting aunt.
As a self-taught stop motion and digital media animator, Ayoka has used these techniques to explore American history and concepts related to identity and standards of beauty for Black women. In 2018, her animated film Hair Piece was one of twenty-five films inducted into the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress along with Jurassic Park, The Shining, and Brokeback Mountain. Her film, Zajota & the Boogie Spirit was one of the first to use frame-by-frame video and blend cell and computer animation, and for which she was honored with the Sony Innovator Award. As of 2022, Bowie State University’s first stop-motion animation studio now bears the name Studio Ayoka Chenzira.
In 2018, Ayoka’s television career took off when Ava DuVernay tapped her to direct episodes of OWN’s hit family drama Queen Sugar, starring Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lien Gardner and Kofi Siriboe, for which she garnered an NAACP nomination for directing. Since Queen Sugar, Ayoka has worked non-stop as a television director, drawing on her years of experience as a filmmaker. She is known for her visual style, inventiveness, and technical skills while being a creative partner and collaborator.
Recently, Ayoka directed episodes of the CBS reboot of the iconic series Dynasty, starring Elizabeth Gillies and Grant Show, who reprised the role of Blake Carrington. As a director of young adult fiction, Ayoka directed episodes of the award-winning Netflix drama Trinkets featuring Quintessa Swindell and Brianna Hildebrand and helped to navigate the complex world of teenage identity.
Then pivoting to the carefully crafted world of period drama series, Ayoka was one of four directors selected by Sony/Amazon to direct the period sports comedy-drama, A League of Their Own, based on the beloved Penny Marshall film of the same title and starring Abbi Jacobson, Nick Offerman, D’Arcy Carden, and Chanté Adams, and for which she received an Emmy nomination for directing.
Blending history and science fiction, as one of four directors of the FX series Kindred, Ayoka navigated two time periods for the adaptation of Octavia Butler’s celebrated and critically acclaimed novel. Working with historians, Ayoka introduced visual representations of culture and intimidation in inventive ways that became part of the narrative.
A lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, in 2022 Ayoka directed the Spectrum/AMC psychological thriller Beacon 23, a Canadian production based on the novel by The New York Times best-selling author, Hugh Howey and starring Lena Headey and Stephan James. Ayoka’s episode was filmed entirely across four sound stages and included substantial visual effects and face replacements for body doubles. Working with a choreographer, she developed a unique sign language; with composers Ramin Djawadi (Pacific Rim, Game of Thrones, Iron Man), and William Marriott (Westworld, Game of Thrones, Jack Ryan) she created chants sung by an outer space community of rebels.
Ayoka broke new ground with her production of HERadventure, a sci-fi/fantasy interactive cinema project that uses gameplay to navigate the story. The project was first presented in 2013 at South-by-Southwest where it was projected onto a building as players navigated the coming-of-age story featuring a reluctant young woman from another planet who comes to Earth to find her sister and ends up a superhero.The first interactive cinema project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, HERadventure features a first for the interactive cinema genre — a woman of color as a superhero. The project led to an invitation by TEDxAtlanta where Ayoka presented the Power of Diverse Sci-fi/Fantasy Storytellers
Ayoka earned a BFA in Film from New York University, an EdM Adult and Higher Education from Columbia University/Teachers College, and is the first African American to earn a PhD in Digital Media from the George Institute of Technology. She served as the Division Chair for the Arts at Spelman College, where she created majors in documentary filmmaking, photography, and dance performance & choreography, the firsts at an HBCU. In addition, she helped to raise funds for a new, the March Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation in the Arts, currently under construction where a documentary film production lab will bear her name.
With an impressive track record of success and dedication to storytelling, Ayoka Chenzira is a filmmaker, television director, and digital media artist to watch.
Ayoka Chenzira lives in Atlanta and is dedicated to centralizing women protagonists and elevating stories by and about women.

Hannah R.W. Hamalian
Hannah R.W. Hamalian (she/her) is an artist intrigued by how complicated the world is. In her animation and film practice she tends towards an experimental and poetic mode of expression, working with the movement of animation in collaboration with dance and landscape to represent paradox and complexity. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to aim for the emotional core of an experience and craft immersive soundscapes that create a space specifically designed for asking questions.
Hannah’s work has screened and shown at festivals internationally, including ADF’s Movies by Movers, KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival, Athens International Film and Video Festival (Ohio, USA), and the Squeaky Wheel Animation Fest (New York, USA). She received her BA from Carleton College and her MFA from UW-Milwaukee, and she currently teaches at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR.

Jazmyn Palermo
Jazmyn Palermo is a visual and expanded media artist living and working in Buffalo, NY. They studied Fine Art at Alfred University with a focus in photography and video art. Their work explores a transgender perspective on fairy tales, folklore, and horror themes incorporating a stop-motion process and a lot of papier-mache. Their process includes asking their friends to put on a wig and move very, very slowly. Jazmyn is inspired by the wonderful people they know and the beautiful place they live. They would like their work to create a comfortable place to enjoy the magic of finding yourself.

Maria Ziaja Maria Ziaja is from Buffalo, NY, and is most passionate about Sustainability and Environmental Policy. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Environmental Studies and Russian and has worked in environmental consulting, non-profit conservation initiatives, and EHS policy for energy companies. She currently works at the Greenway Institute, where she is helping reshape engineering education around goals of equity and sustainability. Before moving out of Buffalo for college, Maria spent her formative years taking TechArts classes at Squeaky Wheel, both at the Ansonia Building and Market Arcade locations. She feels that over the years these classes helped her grow creatively and develop an appreciation for the arts that still influences her work (now in the education sector). She is honored to be part of the Animation Fest!
Banner image: Adele Han Li, Chella Drive. A pencil-drawn girl is falling, sinking into a speckled blue abyss. Above her are vague upside-down reflections of a grecian column, a sculpture, and some regal looking planters.

Celebrating 20 years of our Animation Fest!
2023-07-28 - 2023-11-03 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Squeaky Wheel is celebrating 20 years of our Animation Fest and you’re invited! Ahead of the 20th edition taking place this November, you can visit Squeaky Wheel to see highlights from our past editions in the Retrospective Exhibition, and join us on September 28 at the North Park Theatre for the Retrospective Screening. Click the links below for all the details!

Animation Fest at 20: A Retrospective Exhibition
On view through September 30 at Squeaky Wheel, Tuesday–Friday, 12–5pm and by appointment

The Animation Fest: A Retrospective @ North Park Theatre
Thursday, September 28, 7 pm ET @ the North Park Theatre and online

Squeaky Wheel’s 20th Animation Fest
Friday, November 3, 6 pm ET @ Buffalo AKG Museum and online. The full lineup will be announced in August. Stay tuned!

Squeaky Wheel’s Animation Fest is presented with generous support from the Richard W. Rupp Foundation, FGI Landscaping, PUSH Buffalo, TriMain Center, Rigidized Metals, BreadHive, Buffalo Expendables, Buffalo State College Communication Dept, Rose Jade Consulting Coop, Lumpy Buttons Gifts, Good Neighbors Credit Union, and Villa Maria College.

Stop Motion Animation: With Humans!
2023-07-31 09:00 - 12:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 4A
July 31 – August 4
Monday – Friday
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Open to all levels.
Ages 11-15
Stop motion animation is often used to animate things like cut paper, clay figures, puppets, and ordinary objects at a miniature scale. In this workshop, students will instead learn how to use stop motion techniques with real live human actors, and full-scale objects. The results are often surreal, or other worldly, and there is infinite space for experimentation with practical visual effects. We will work together to develop characters and stories, and then build a set in our studio. Students will learn to photograph scenes and edit their animations, and then add sound effects and music. Everyone will leave class with a finished short film!
Class limited to 8 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Salem Browning

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Animation: 16mm Camera-less Filmmaking
2023-07-31 13:00 - 16:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Tech Arts for Youth Session 4B
July 31 – August 4
Monday – Friday
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Open to all levels.
Ages 11-15
Create your own handmade animation on film!
Join us to learn about motion picture film, and manipulate the surface of the film using a variety of camera-less techniques: painting, scratching, masking, and tape-lifting to create an original, collective experimental animated film on 16mm. Each technique creates a different effect, with a range of textures, colors, and opacities. This process is an especially wonderful way to combine media art with traditional arts like drawing and painting. The possibilities are endless, and each film is a surprise, only revealing its magic when projected.
Class limited to 10 participants.
Contact Caroline at caroline@squeaky.org or (716) 884-7172 with any questions!
Instructor: Scott Puccio

Members receive a 10% discount on all workshops. Not yet a member? Click here to join now, and start using your discount right away!

All online registrations will be confirmed via email. Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for this email to arrive.

Forever, hand drawn animation on 16mm film by instructor Scott Puccio

Circle, hand drawn animation on 16mm film by instructor Scott Puccio

Meet our residents: Alicia Solstice Hawkins and Maggie Hazen
2023-08-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
Friday, August 18, 2023, 7 pm ET
Online + in-person @ Squeaky Wheel
Free or suggested donation. ASL interpretation provided.
Register here
Squeaky Wheel is pleased to present this virtual artist talk with our Summer 2023 Workspace Residents! Alicia Solstice Hawking (Los Angeles, CA) and Maggie Hazen (Hudson Vallery, NY) will be presenting on their previous and current projects, and engage in a Q&A moderated by curator Ekrem Serdar.
During their time with Squeaky Wheel, the residents will be working on media art projects with significant ties to Buffalo’s history and current landscape. Alicia Solstice Hawkins will work on Don’t Go Back to Sleep, a a poetic and observational 15-minute documentary about Bob, an elder, almost 80 years of age, who attempts to re-engage his art practice while contending with the aftermath of a major stroke. Charting Bob’s life starting from Buffalo’s Fruit Belt neighborhood, the city’s East and West Sides, and Los Angeles, where he resides now, the film will follow several different timelines of his life through his poignant, witty, and moving voiceover paired with poetic imagery and sound. Maggie Hazen will work on Night Moth: A Mythology of Escape, a mixed reality project made in collaboration with DW. DW, who lives in Western New York, is a formerly incarcerated young artist who was recently released from Brookwood Secure Center for Youth in New York’s Hudson Valley; Hazen met her while teaching art classes at the facility in 2019. Night Moth revolves around Luna, a 3D digital avatar for DW, and Luna’s journey of self-discovery, liberation, and healing. Night Moth will culminate in four artworks, including a video installation exhibition, a documentary, a sketchbook, and an interactive concept website.
In-person attendees can enjoy food, including vegetarian options, from Ali Baba Kebab. Learn how to get to Squeaky Wheel’s new location at Tri-Main Center here.
Online attendees can view the event for 24 hours. Squeaky members will have access to the event for 72 hours.
To learn more about the Workspace Residency, click here.
Biographies of the residents
Alicia Solstice Hawkins: I was born and raised on the Lower West side of Buffalo. A childhood in the Rust Belt informs my aesthetic and inspires me to craft stories that highlight perseverance and explore multiple perspectives that are not usually featured in mainstream narratives. I often focus on topics related to complex and intersecting identities, the tension between the healing and antagonistic power of nature, and unexpected resilience.
I earned a MA in documentary film from UW, Seattle, and my award-winning thesis film was screened at various festivals, colleges, and museums throughout the US and Canada. After working as an educator and media producer for organizations with social and racial justice initiatives, I returned to graduate school and earned an MFA from Temple University with an emphasis on screenwriting. Recent screenwriting projects include Horseshoe Falls, a feature-length film set on the Lower West Side of Buffalo in the early ‘90s, and The Jar, a queer speculative fiction film set in Days Park. For more, please see: aliciafilm.com
Maggie Hazen is a New York-based visual artist from Los Angeles. Hazen’s artistic practice is characterized by the transformative power of sculpture, video, collage, performance, and installation, which she employs to explore the complex ways in which subjects interact with and perform within the spaces they occupy. Through the synthesis of narratives drawn from popular culture and institutional systems, Hazen’s works aim to deconstruct the familiar and make it strange, revealing what lies hidden in plain sight. Hazen is the founder and an active member of the Columbia Collective, which is dedicated to supporting the visibility of young incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists who have been rendered invisible by the system. Launched in 2019 at the Columbia Secure Center for Girls in the Hudson Valley, the collective has since grown to find a new home at the Brookwood Secure Center for youth.
Hazen’s work has been exhibited, screened and performed at institutions including The Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY; Foreland Contemporary Art Campus, Catskill, NY; Pulse Miami Beach as part of Pulse Play, Miami, FL; The Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles, CA; Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA; Light Year on the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn, NY; The Granoff Center at Brown University, RI; Performance Works Northwest, Portland, OR; The CICA Museum in South Korea; and The Boston Young Contemporaries exhibition; Boston, MA; among others. Hazen has held residencies at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; De:Formal online artist residency; The Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, Shanghai, China, I:O residency at the Helikon Art Center, Izmit, Turkey; Vermont Studio Center in Vermont and The Pasadena Side Street Projects, Pasadena; CA. She participated as a fellow in the Bronx AIM program and The Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art at European Graduate School in Switzerland. She has studied at Biola University, Brown University, and the Rhode Island School of Design. She has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, New York University, The Stevens Institute of Technology, The Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, and the Bard College Clemente courses in the humanities program. She is currently a visiting artist-in-residence at Bard College in the Studio Arts program.
Workspace Residency is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Image description: Portraits of Alicia Solstice Hawkins and Maggie Hazen superimposed on a blue red backgrop. Alicia Solstice Hawkins is standing on a beach in her photograph. Next to her is a portrait of Maggie Hazen, a white queer person from Southern California. She has blonde hair and is wearing a black beanie hat and a black sweater. She is candidly looking into the camera with a curious gaze.

Weaving the Magic Back into Reality: Writing Speculative Fiction for Film with Alicia Solstice Hawkins
2023-08-22 18:00 - 20:00 | Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo, NY, 14214, United States
*New date* Tuesday, August 22, 6–8 pm
Free or suggested donation
Open to ages 16+. Journals and writing material provided
In this lecture and workshop, Workspace Resident Alicia Solstice Hawkins will present on how speculative fiction offers subversive narratives that challenge oppressive worldviews, while reimagining powerful and liberatory counter-narratives. This will be followed by exercises on how participants can incorporate speculative fiction into their documentary or fiction film projects.
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for artworks that include fantastical aspects and can incorporate sub-genres such as science fiction, horror, fantasy, and magical realism. This workshop will examine speculative fiction in contemporary film, with an emphasis on BIPOC creators. Although initially associated with works focused on Eurocentric sensibilities, speculative fiction has become a compelling genre for filmmakers to use to offer social critiques, reclaim spaces stolen by oppressive practices, dismantle the logics of oppression, and explore liberation.
During the first half of the workshop, we will watch example films, discuss specific strategies filmmakers use to integrate fantastical elements into their films, and analyze what critiques their narratives offer. Then, Alicia will lead a mini-writing workshop. A discussion of some foundations for expanding a cinematic storytelling toolkit through speculative fiction will be included, such as world-building, structural techniques, developing a visual language, and research.
Biography of the artist
Alicia Solstice Hawkins: I was born and raised on the Lower West side of Buffalo. A childhood in the Rust Belt informs my aesthetic and inspires me to craft stories that highlight perseverance and explore multiple perspectives that are not usually featured in mainstream narratives. I often focus on topics related to complex and intersecting identities, the tension between the healing and antagonistic power of nature, and unexpected resilience.
I earned a MA in documentary film from UW, Seattle, and my award-winning thesis film was screened at various festivals, colleges, and museums throughout the US and Canada. After working as an educator and media producer for organizations with social and racial justice initiatives, I returned to graduate school and earned an MFA from Temple University with an emphasis on screenwriting. Recent screenwriting projects include Horseshoe Falls, a feature-length film set on the Lower West Side of Buffalo in the early ‘90s, and The Jar, a queer speculative fiction film set in Days Park. For more, please see: aliciafilm.com
Workspace Residency is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Banner image: Alicia Solstice Hawkins standing on a beach.
