A look ahead to fall season arts and culture inspirations

Every Thursday we step away from the news to talk about what's happening in the world of arts and culture. This week, we reached out for a preview of the fall arts season.

KUOW’s Kim Malcolm spoke to Crosscut arts and culture reporter Margo Vansynghel about her picks.

Nina Chanel Abney: Fishing Was His Life, at Henry Art Gallery

Nina Chanel Abney is a rising star in the national art scene. She's shown her art in major museums and galleries, she's done major murals. She's designed covers for The New Yorker and has done a Meek Mill album. You'll see paintings, but also collages she makes. It's geometric, kind of cubist, and she uses this kind of flattened style that seems simple, but it's not. And that's in part because of the subjects that she tackles. This new series is about Black fishermen at work and Black laborers. What I really like about this is that there'll be work in the galleries but also outside of the museum.

James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, by The Williams Project and Langston

This play opens Oct. 28 and runs through Nov. 20 at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. This is James Baldwin’s first play and just one of two he ever wrote. The play is set in Harlem, mostly in a church. The main character is Sister Margaret Alexander, the preacher. The play really reflects Baldwin's relationship with the church. His father was a preacher; he used to be a preacher as a young kid, so he mixes in his own experiences of family drama, gospel music, and social commentary.

zoe | juniper, The Other Shore: Always Now, at On The Boards

This is a dance performance that’s pretty special. It's special because the audience will be lying down on the floor while dancers move around and above people, as I understand it. This will happen in part with immersive video technology. There's also this really cutting-edge spatial sound technology involved. It sounds like the sound is kind of within you in the room, versus coming just from one speaker.

Sudan Archives, The Growth Eternal, at Neumos

I've been really looking forward to this show. Sudan Archives is the stage name of singer-songwriter and violinist Brittney Parks. She plays this kind of R&B that is just so different. She uses loops and is inspired by African string music. It's really original, and really gripping, and I'm just so excited for it.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.