#TBT Black Artist Highlights: Beau Dixon
Tune into our Throwback-Thursday posts this Black History Month as we highlight the work and lives of Black artists who have been involved in Artspace’s history, and who have shaped the landscape of Nogojiwanong’s arts community.
Beau Dixon toured his one-man play “Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story” at schools in the Greater Toronto Area during Black History Month in 2015.
Like me, Beau Dixon was born in Detroit, MI, the beating heart of Motown, sweetly smelling of Better Made chips, and colourfully collaged in feather hats. Though not raised in Detroit, the threads of music carried through Beau’s life.
He began, in his youth, to play music in school and church. If we know anything about music we know that it holds onto you, carries with you like a burr stuck onto your jacket. Music was something that Beau just couldn’t shake.
After high school graduation, Beau decided to pursue music full-time as a multi-instrumentalist and lead singer for rock bands, touring in the United States, Canada, and Europe. His work in music could be heard on radio and tv, and scattered amongst an array of albums.
In Nogojiwanong (PTBO), Beau started Sound Kitchen Studios (est. 2000) which, much like Artspace, had the goal of supporting local artists. Beau resided in Peterborough for 24 years where he grew roots in the arts and cultural scene, and made an enormous contribution to the music community.
“As a sound designer, he was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for the production of Rifles at the Shaw Festival and Praxis Theatre. Beau has recently taken on the role of Musical Director for a new musical production at Soulpepper Theatre, as well as co-writing a musical about Bessie Coleman, the first female African American aviator soon to be workshopped at the Harlem Jazz Museum in New York.” (cited from Beau’s website)
Beau’s website goes on to describe the intersection of his Blackness and Art in his work. It’s an integral act of carving the legacies of his ancestors into his practice. And, I relate. This ancestral practice often makes us realize that the marks were there all along, passed down through stories, music, and heritage from generations before.
~ Zwena Gray
