Omolara Williams McCallister

“I’ve spent the last two weeks in the mountains of north Georgia, being spoiled rotten as a Nellie Mae Rowe Distinguished Fellow at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts. Here in a lovely house on a hill, cradled between chattering creeks whose voices greet me through my window as I wake, I have been moved to work in ways that I had not anticipated. Here at Hambidge, I let myself go. I have been caught and held by the spirit of this place. I was nourished by decadent, delicious food that met and surpassed my every need. The answer to every question I asked, every accommodation that I requested has been a swift, enthusiastic “Yes!” Everyone should have this at some point in their life. This feeling of knowing that if you jump, or even if you just stumble and fall, you will be caught by the wind and you will discover that you have wings. You always have.

This was my first time being in an arts space that was majority Black and queer, but wasn't explicitly a Black and/or queer space. I was safe, supported, and able to explore indifferent ways because I did not have to deal with the reflexive whiteness, white supremacy, anti-blackness and racialized aggressions that are the norm in artist residency experiences.”

– Omolara Williams McCallister, Performance and Visual Arts Fellow