Latoya Lovely dances at The Soul Restoration Project. Photo by Shawnte Sims courtesy of Vanport Mosaic.
The Soul Restoration began in the summer of 2021 this past summer as a laboratory to explore how art can activate and renew our civic space. Supported by RACC, Prosper Portland, and the Portland City Arts, Darrell and fellow artists came together to weave our practices of music, movement, visual art, and spoken word into rituals of collective intention at locations on the North Park Blocks and Tilikum Plaza in SW Portland.
Curated by Sunshine Dixion and Bobby Fouther, a collection of art objects sits atop the upright piano painted for the Piano! Push! Play! for phase one of The Soul Restoration Project by Daren Todd.
In October 2021, the project took residence at the site of the former Albina Arts Center — a space of historic significance to Portland's Black Community. "The Albina Arts Salon" filled the space with music, movement, spoken word, and images, in collaboration with a cadre of fellow Black artists that explored and honored our communal history.
Originally intended to last six weeks, The Albina Arts Salon provided four months of programming at 14 NE Killingsworth Street. The project was so successful that it lives on as the Soul Restoration Center through the work of I AM M.O.R.E.
Hear Darrell’s interview on Oregon Public Broadcasting here.
Olaoye Onipede of Viva La Free dances at the Albina Arts Salon, October 2021. Photo by Intisar Abioto.
“It is an incredible thing to re-inhabit a place. To feel the spirits of those who came before you, learn from the elders who started the work, and envision the future. Thank you for sharing in this process.”
