The Innocents Project

People who have been wrongly processed through the justice system are focus of a three-day residency at the intersection of the arts, civil rights, and social justice begins today on campus:

“The Innocents” is an intersection of numerous artistic disciplines and social subjects, so Frigo’s aim was to reflect that in the programming of UGA’s “Innocents” multi-day residency. To that end, she reached out to the Georgia Innocence Project, the Willson Center, UGA’s Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE), an interdisciplinary initiative for advanced research in the arts, the School of Law and the Lamar Dodd School of Art.

The result is a three-day residency that covers a variety of topics surrounding art, liberty and justice, beginning with a pair of master classes on February 14 and 15 for saxophone and percussion students featuring, respectively, co-director of Bent Frequency Dr. Jan Baker and Lane and Otte. Otte will also hold a closed “Eurhythmics Class” for the UGA Wind Symphony on the 15th.

At noon on the 15th, in Lamar Dodd room S160, ICE will hold a conversation with Bent Frequency, Lane and Otte discussing the collaborative and cross-disciplinary aspects of “The Innocents.” Later that evening, in the Hodgson School’s Dancz Center, the same group will present on “Collaboration and Community: Cultivating a Performative Voice.”

“Interdisciplinary collaborations are central to the mission of Bent Frequency,” said Baker, also a professor at Georgia State University. “In addition to our partnerships with dance and theatrical groups, poets, artists, puppeteers, film, etc., Bent Frequency's music and projects often center around socially relevant topics, such as the wrongfully convicted, global warming, the epidemic of gun violence or mental illness.”

The final day of the residency Thursday, Feb. 16, begins with a panel discussion in the Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom at the School of Law at 12:30 p.m. Russell Gabriel, School of Law faculty and director of UGA’s Criminal Defense Clinic, will moderate a discussion with Lane, Otte, Clare Gilbert, interim director of the Georgia Innocence Project, the Georgia Innocence Project’s first exoneree, Clarence Harrison, and Northeast Georgia Regional Capital Defender Ryan Swingle.

This important collaboration between our schools of law, art and music really re-centers our campus - putting the arts in a societal context, promoting social justice and exploring injustice. Congratulations to the faculty orgainizers and welcome to the many guests these events bring to UGA.