You Are Holy: An Important Affirmation from Artist Monét Noelle Marshal

Every now and again I take a moment to revel in the fact that I know quite a few dope and amazing people who are brimming with talent, goodness, and authenticity. Monét Marshall is one of those people. Over time, I’ve had the pleasure of watching her grow as an artist and movement builder and she’s been watching me as well, unbeknownst to me. When Indy Week approached her for an interview, she recommended me as an interviewer and I was shocked. But here’s the thing: When Monét calls, you answer. I doubted myself briefly, but I love having conversations with people. So I’m glad that I answered that call. And as a result, I am not a contributing wither to Indy Week! You can read the published and condensed interview that was published on December 5th, 2018 here. Below I am going to post the full interview because there were so many amazing gems!

Photo by Derrick Beasley

When I think of Monét Noelle Marshall, the words graceful force come to mind. She moves through spaces with a calm spirit of humility and wisdom. Her presence in a room is always felt. Even when she is seemingly alone, she stands as ten thousand, as Maya Angelou would say. Through the gift of her words, art, and hands, strengthened by her ancestors that stand with her, Monét is fully aware of the power that comes from within to shape and change the world around her. And it is her hope to help others find that special power within themselves. 

Her work spans many mediums. She is a playwright, director, actor, curator, consultant, and activist. At her very core, she is a creator who uses art as a tool to bridge and connect people. This desire for cultivating “radical relationships” as she calls it, is evident in Monét’s latest body of work, Buy My Art and Call It Holy, which is part three of her Buy It Call It trilogy. Her previous projects, Buy My Soul and Call It Art and Buy My Body and Call It a Ticket were interactive explorations of the the values and worth of Black art and Black lives. In her new project, Monét is encouraging the community to reimagine what art can be—defining holiness and art in everyday interactions of human connection. I had the great pleasure of speaking with Monét to learn more about the ten day experience she is launching this week, which will have its opening reception this Friday, December 7th at 310 E. Main Street at 7pm. In addition to the project, we also discussed her approach as an artist, the power of extending grace and gratitude, and recalling what it feels like to sit and just be in a Grandma’s kitchen. 

Khayla Deans (KD): Thank you for this opportunity to chat with you about your work. We are a couple of days away from your opening reception of Buy My Art and Call It Holy. How are you feeling right now?

Monet Marshall (MM): Grateful. 

KD: Where does the gratitude come from? 

MM: The gratitude is coming from a lot of places. To steal from Snoop Dogg, “I want to thank me, for being me.” (Laughs) I do feel really grateful. A little over a year ago this time, I said, “I’m going to do three shows next year.” Past Monet must have been feeling bold that day because I actually don’t know why I said I’m going to do these three things in a year. I’m grateful that I was bold in my decision. I know that I cannot have done that without my community. My people have shown up so hard this year. I just feel grateful for everyone who has answered the call in all the different ways that they answered. Whether it was being in a show, donating money to a show or acknowledging that they’ve seen my work. I am just feeling really grateful. And I’m ready to be done. I’m grateful to close the chapter of creation and figure out what is next. 

KD: Each part of the trilogy is different, yet it still resonates around Black art, Black bodies, and Black lives. What was the overall vision with the Buy It Call It Trilogy? 

MM: I never intended to do three shows. Damn, Jamaica Gilmer! I came into her office and I told her, “I’m thinking about doing this show about race and art. I have these titles, Buy My Soul and Call it Art and Buy My Body and Call It A Ticket.” 

And she says, “Those sound like two different shows. It sounds like you are doing a series.” 

She was right. I really do think of it as the Buy It Call It Trilogy, which for me is like the three parts of a debut album. The first part is, “I see you. I see how this whole art institution, capitalism, the misuse, misrepresentation, and the cooptation of Black bodies is happening. I’m going to play because this is what I want to do. But I see you.” The second part explores the question - who am I? If I’m going to put myself out there in this way and make the art that I want to make, there are some things that I want folks to know. And I don’t want you to hear it second hand. I want you to hear it from me because there is no shame in my story and there is no shame in your story either.  We all know consumption is happening so let’s just be honest about it. And that honestly means looking in my face when you decide how much my body of work is and how much my body is worth. 

So now this third piece is understanding that there is something inherently specific and special and artful and holy about your existence. Let’s find it and let’s make it happen.

It’s ten days of programming. Every day there is something different. It’s across five locations in Durham. The guiding aesthetic question for the project is what would church look like in a queer Black grandmom’s kitchen? Which is another way of asking, what would church look like in Monét’s future kitchen? 

KD: You have this written statement about the current project saying that this experience is not about religion. “This is an honoring of the human spirit that connects us. It’s lifting up our grandmothers ways’ of being. A recognition that the work of their hands were art and holy offerings.” I love that you chose to complete the trilogy on the sentiment of the human spirit that connects all of us. And you are recognizing how there is art and sacredness in everything that we do. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

MM: For me, I’m thinking about queer Black womanness. When I originally started this project and wrote the grant that ended up funding the art through the North Carolina Art Council, I wrote more specifically about Black women. I wrote about how in the Christian tradition, grace is something we are given and we don’t deserve. I believe that the labor of Black women in this country is grace because we continue to give it and this country continues to not deserve it. And yet, we give it anyway. So many of us give it and we don’t even recognize how holy that offering is. We don’t see ourselves as holy and we don’t see ourselves as art. I feel like many of us are dying and struggling and stressed and hurting because we are not getting any messages that say no, you deserve rest and care and peace and joy and pleasure. And again, I’m centering Black women in that. 

I believe that our American culture does not have a ritual around, “You are enough. You are art. You are holy. You are good.” There are so many businesses and structures that benefits off of us believing otherwise. This leaves me to what I feel is my secret subversion in my work. I call it Radical Relationship. People let me do things and let artists do things in general because it is “art” but if it was a community organizer or [took place] in academia, they would be like, oh hell no! But actually, do you know how powerful that is? Do we actually know what will shift if we move through the world knowing that about ourselves and knowing that about each other?

KD: One thing that I love about your work and how I see you move in the community is your commitment to lift up the folks that you come from and care about, and that is specifically Black marginalized communities. Your art is your own articulation of your activism. The whole notion of “art for just arts sake..” 

MM: Yeah, it’s not a real thing.

KD: It’s not a real thing, but people still make us think that it is. And maybe some people have the privilege to think that way. But your art has multiple purposes. You inform, yet you also entertain. You critique oppressions that we face. I want to learn more about how you use art as a social practice tool. What is your approach?

MM: One - thank you for noticing those themes in my work and what I try to carry into my life. I really try to move from a “people first” belief because I tell my folks, if we do a show and it’s aesthetically pleasing, but folks [involved with the show] hate each other and never want to work with each other again then I should have not done the show. That is actually disruptive in the worst way. On the flip side, if I do a show or a project and 20 folks come, and the cast is bigger than the folks in the audience but that cast leaves with deeper relationships than when they came in two weeks ago, I did my job. For me as an artist who is deeply committed to community, that’s my work. To build those relationships and feel grateful that folks trust me that I’m going to put them in a position where it is going to feel good. And I’m going to curate that experience and create room for vulnerability with people they feel safe to be vulnerable with. 

KD: I’ve been thinking about this word audacity— to have the audacity to creatively live out your life this way as an artist, professionally and personally, especially as a queer Black woman who lives in the South. I’m really curious about your journey so far as a creator. How has it been? You didn’t have to choose to do this work. Or maybe, the work chose you.

MM: I really feel like I didn’t have a choice to be an artist. My mother is an artist. She is a playwright, she is a choreographer, she is a director. She did cake decorating classes when I was a kid and made these really beautifully decorated cakes. She braided my hair in very interesting styles. So when it comes to being an artist and that part of my life, I feel like I never really had the option. I think growing up, I was really looking for someone like me. I was looking for someone who was a Black woman and queer. I saw queer Black women as only masculine of center and I only saw them on HBO documentaries. I felt separate from that. I needed to know someone like me existed. Now that I’m older and I’m able to make work, the thing that I have most is my truth and I have the ways that I see the world. Even if no one agrees with me, I just have to say it out loud. I know that there are similar worlds existing in other folks’ heads too. And I want us to find each other and create a space for those young Black folks and the little queer babies who say, “I don’t know anyone like me who exist.”

KD: And what’s the ripple effect? From an artist’s standpoint and thinking about the kids today, what’s your hope? 

MM: I hope that we can create a world where they [youth] don’t have to be brave. They just have to be honest. I would love if we got to a place where some queer Black trans femme could just be like, “this is my life” and no one is saying, “Oh my God, you are so brave for telling your truth.”

 KD: There are so many different identities and hats that you wear, but who is Monet to you?

MM: I think the short answer is that I am a lover and a maker. And a love maker. For me, love is at the crux of it. There’s a poem written by this gay Black man who died of AIDS during the AIDS epidemic. It’s called "American Wedding,” his name was Essex Hemphill, and he says, “What the rose whispers before blooming, I vow to you.” I texted the poem to my beau and we were wondering what does the rose whisper before blooming? What I settled on was I do this because I love you. I can say honestly I did this because I love you. Whether that “you” was myself or whether that “you” was my family or my friends or my world. And the art is the tool in that.

KD: Are there any last words that you have? 

MM: I want to close with gratitude. I’m really grateful for my family in all the ways that they support me. I’m grateful for my team. Derrick Beasley has a title in my shows but it doesn’t actually says what he actually does. His real title is “Monet calls me and I show up.” Patience O’Neill and CJ Suitt. I actually don’t want to name people because I can name people for the next four hours and still miss people. And then there are folks like Indy Week that share my work. My team at VAE Raleigh who let me be a weird artist when I’m at work. The Beautiful Project. I don’t know yet how to accurately say thank you to folks for the ways that they have loved me this year. And I just want them to know that I’m really really grateful. 

KD: I’m grateful for you and the work that you’ve done and continue to do. It’s powerful and necessary work. Thank you for this 10 day experiment, Buy My Art and Call It Holy where folks can master their own holiness. If folks wanted to reach out, what’s the best way for people to keep up to date? 

MM: The website is BuyItCallIt.com and it’s also an Eventbrite page for each night of programming. There’s also a facebook event with the schedule. Folks can also follow me on instagram at @MadameMonarch.