Image Credit: PBJ Arts CollectiveWords by Joey Phoenix “I think artists can go to a level of vision that can often save us from a situation which seems to have no solution whatsoever. – Susan Griffin 2020 has been a hard decade, and it’s just getting started. People are collectively experiencing social grief and screen burnout like never before, but,

by Joey Phoenix Many of my conversations I have with the non-binary poet Joey Gould go just like this: “Hey Joey, what’s in your world right now? I say. “Well Joey, let me tell you what I’m up to.” they say. They are always up to something. This time, Joey Gould, the author of beautiful recent work The Acute Avian

“In times of chaos, that’s when magic is possible. Chaos is from the Greek, it’s the primordial force by which all things are created.” – Peter Mercury Peter Mercury (he/they) is a non-binary aerialist, movement artist, and circus arts performer whose wild and wicked way has brought them to venues around the world. Their work has been featured in notable

Image Credit: Creative BlocksStory by Joey Phoenix Artists’ Row is opening back up for the season, and while things are going to look quite a bit different, this year’s artist cohort is developing creative methods to engage with the community while still maintaining safety standards during the pandemic.  This year’s class includes ChagallPac, Shindig! Studios, and Beverly Bees alongside the

Thanks to the Salem Public Art Commission, Salem Five, and a dozen very understanding artists, the 2020 Salem Arts Festival Mural Slam took place as scheduled this June, in a manner designed to keep the community and the artists socially distant and safe. This year the 12 artists created their murals at home! The panels have since been installed on

by Joey PhoenixImage: Brandon the Shapeshifter (Left), Lee Clever (Right) Content Warning: Sexual Harassment, Transphobia, HomophobiaClick here for a list of North Shore LGBTQIA+ Resources The world of Cosplay is one that allows you to temporarily become someone else. Individuals can don costumes, put on fanciful makeup, and embody characters from all branches of culture, be it popular or not.

by Joey Phoenix Images Courtesy of Studioful Design This Spring, Studioful Design, in collaboration with the City of Salem, commissioned four local artists – Maia Mattison, Anna Dugan, Keshia de Leon, and Tia Cole – to create eight different chalk art murals around the city for Chalk Art Saturdays, a weekly program to inspire strength and togetherness in Salem during

From The Peabody Essex MuseumImage Credit – Nick Cave with one of his Soundsuits at PEM in 2013. Photo by Allison White/PEM Creativity and crisis are no strangers. In the ‘90s, artist Nick Cave responded to the police beating of Rodney King by building a suit made of sticks that would act as protective armor. Later, when the Boston Marathon

CW: Discussions of sexual violence, systemic, racism, self-harm, and drug addiction.  by Joey PhoenixImages by Troy B. Thompson/The No Evil Project “Unless you have a secret fortress high in the mountains and are devising nefarious plots to bring about world destruction, you can help with the No Evil Project. Everyone is different, and that’s a good thing.  Everyone is labeled, and despite all the

The Salem Arts Association proudly presented this year’s Ellen Hardy & Paula Beaulieu Memorial Art School Scholarship to Kaylyn Sverker. Kaylyn’s art explorations have gone beyond Salem High School attending art classes for six years at RAW Art Works in Lynn. For four of those years Kaylyn participated in the Real to Reel Film School program. Kaylyn also helps her mother