Chioke I’Anson, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies in VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences, and the ICA's director of community media. (Courtesy ICA)
Chioke I’Anson, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies in VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences, and the ICA's director of community media. (Courtesy ICA)

Oct. 25, 2021

Institute for Contemporary Art to host grand opening, tours of new media center on Nov. 5 and 6

The opening of the VPM + ICA Community Media Center will also feature an event, “Listen for the Hook: Perfecting the First Five Minutes of Your Podcast” with Saidu Tejan-Thomas, host of the “Resistance” podcast.

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By Jessica McCadden
Institute for Contemporary Art

The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University will host a grand opening for the VPM + ICA Community Media Center — a production studio inside the ICA offering workshops and symposia on the development of podcasts and other media  content — on Nov. 5-6. Tours will be given every 30 minutes at the top of the hour on Friday, Nov. 5, from 4 to 9 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The center will host a discussion, “Listen for the Hook: Perfecting the First Five Minutes of Your Podcast with Saidu Tejan-Thomas,” on Nov. 5 from 6 to 7 p.m., between Chioke I’Anson, Ph.D., the ICA’s director of community media, and Tejan-Thomas, co-creator and host of the “Resistance” podcast, a dynamic program highlighting stories from the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

“This fall, the VPM + ICA Community Media Center will open its physical doors for the first time, and we look forward to safely sharing this resource with our community,” I’Anson said. “We have exciting projects on the horizon, including special videos and new collaborations. We also have incredible guests coming to town for workshops, and people will be able to record their very own podcasts in our beautiful studio.” 

Special guests this season will include Nichole Hill, host and producer of the award-winning podcast “The Secret Adventures of Black People,” associate producer of Radiotopia's “The Truth” podcast and senior producer with None on Record, a digital media organization committed to sharing queer African stories. 

VPM + ICA Community Media Center logo

The VPM + ICA Community Media Center, which launched digitally in the fall of 2020 through virtual programming, was created to address issues of access and the barriers diverse voices face when working to promote their stories within the media today. This fall, the media center will begin offering free public workshops and symposia, and youth media programs to the community, providing opportunities for storytelling, training and education for the next generation of media producers.

The media center is located on the second floor of the ICA at VCU in the Dr. Murry N. DePillars Learning Lab and is a free public resource to VCU students, local community members and VPM professionals with an interest in media content creation. 

For more information, or to register to attend an upcoming program, visit icavcu.org/communitymedia/.