André M. Zachery, Associate Arts Professor, is one of 25 creative visionaries that have been awarded the Strokes of Genius Fellowship. This gifted and dynamic group of artists and arts professionals will be creating inventive new works and receiving professional development support from The Black Genius Foundation and Black Genius Brain Trust.
This award will support the development of a curriculum for the "Against Gravity - Community Fly Zone Workshops: Homecoming Series" for a building and planning initiative supported by The Black Genius Foundation through the 2025–2026 Strokes of Genius Fellowship. The project is rooted in the community engagement framing the live-performance work - "Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans + Other Urban Legends", and it aims to develop an on-site and immersive workshop series.
The Fellowship period will focus on co-creating a multi-part curriculum in collaboration with co-creator Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, Chicago-based cultural leaders and institutions who have directly collaborated and impacted the project, including avery r. young - current Chicago Poet Laureate, and Red Clay Dance Chicago. The Homecoming Series will prioritize deep community engagement, historical resonance, and cultural specificity to Chicago’s historic Black communities.
By January 2026, we will look to yield a fully developed curriculum, implementation plan, and partner commitments to launch the Homecoming Series in 2026.
