Bio:
Kyel Joi Brooks is a multi-hyphenate creative living in Chicago’s Historic Bronzeville community. She is a self-publishing author with six books to date. Kyel is also a screenwriter and a visual artist who paints, prints, and makes video work. She loves preserving her daring community with her words and is proud to live in a neighborhood where so many notable artists once lived. Kyel wants to do the work of keeping the stories of her neighbors and peers uplifted in art and media. Brooks earned her Master of Fine arts in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018. Her thesis was a collection of poems titled “A Bronzeville Basement” — these poems were a continuation of the archive Gwendlyn Brooks gave us in her first book, A Street in Bronzeville” published in 1945.
Residency Statement/Area of curiosity:
How do we preserve a historic community (Bronzeville) that is constantly transforming? Is this important work? Why or why not?
—even as the pandemic is upon us, construction workers are building new homes all around Bronzeville.
I’ve lived in Bronzeville since 2017 and so much has changed. I am always going on walks thinking of the best way to preserve the city. I am constantly asking why do I even feel such an urge to preserve the city?
How do I preserve Bronzeville? Photos of each house, on each block? Video footage of each square-foot of Bronzeville? Detailed poems about very specific landmarks?
I have been going on long walks around Bronzeville since the pandemic hit and I am always so moved by homes, empty lots, and the various neighborhood aesthetics.
Everything feels so important and I want to explore this burning desire to preserve this special place.
