Cash Prizes to be Awarded to Collaborators who Create Works Based on 2020’s Defining Moments in History

(Black PR Wire) As a backdrop to the historical significance of 2020 defined by COVID-19 and social protest, Regina Taylor—the Golden Globe-winning actress, playwright, and activist—in partnership with Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Meadows School of the Arts, is seeking submissions for the black album.mixtape. project until May 3, 2021.

Taylor’s the black album.mixtape. invites collaborators from various fields and in a variety of media to explore and tackle the questions about the current moment on a national and international scale: Where are we, how did we get here, and how do we imagine and arrive at a better future? Entries are being solicited from students, professionals and the community in the arts, technology, science and activism.  Works can include video, music, audio, images, monologues, photos, designs, or text, interviews or self-interviews. All submissions will be considered for $500 cash awards that will be presented by Regina Taylor and a panel of judges during a culminating virtual Block Party on May 11, 2021. Works can include video, music, audio, images, monologues, photos, designs, or text, interviews, or self-interviews. Submit entries here.

“I launched this project as a platform for crucial conversations during this time of racial reckoning,” said Taylor. “The black album explores how we as artists advance social justice in our work, and how we imagine, teach, and create in the face of COVID-19. The collaboration is designed to help all of us—performers and the public, seasoned arts leaders, and new students—to realize the power we hold within ourselves and our ability to press forward for justice.”

The project began last fall with a performance written by Taylor and performed by SMU students: the black album. 2020. resistance —a highly personalized collection of vignettes and moments that examine the question of What It Is To Be Black at a historically significant moment.

the black album.mixtape. Award Categories-Youth and Adult

•  The Artist Mixtape Award

For excellence in the categories of art, music, theatre, dance, or other creative arts.

•  The Innovation Mixtape Award
• For excellence in the creative application of technology.
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• The STEM Mixtape Award
  For excellence in the areas of science, medicine, architecture/engineering, or other math- or science-related field.
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• The Activist Mixtape Award
  For excellence in the areas of social justice, law, or environmental and other forms of activism.

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About Regina Taylor

Actor/director/playwright/educator/activist Regina Taylor is a Meadows Distinguished Visiting Artist and the Andrew W. Mellon playwright-in-residence at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the latter a three-year appointment through the National Playwright Residency Program established by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and HowlRound Theatre Commons.

Her playwright credits include Bread (Edgerton Award, WaterTower Theatre); Crowns (four Helen Hayes Awards, including Best Director); Oo-Bla-Dee (Steinberg-ATCA award); The Trinity River Plays (Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award); stop.reset. (Signature Theatre Residency 5); and Drowning Crow (Manhattan Theatre Club, Biltmore/Broadway). Taylor is also writing new plays for Audible and The Old Vic.

In fall 2017 Taylor was the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theatre (a guest faculty position) at Fordham University at Lincoln Center. She is an artistic associate of Goodman Theatre and is its most produced playwright.

Taylor is featured in HBO's Lovecraft Country (producers Jordan Peele, J. J. Abrams and Misha Green) and in Netflix’s All Day and a Night starring Jeffrey Wright and Ashton Saunders and directed/written by Joe Robert Cole (writer for Black Panther), and guest stars on Council of Dads (NBC), The Red Line (producer Ava DuVernay, CBS) and The Good Fight. For her television role as Lily Harper in I’ll Fly Away, Taylor received a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress, three NAACP Image Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Her other television roles include The Unit. Taylor was the first African American lead in Masterpiece Theatre’s Cora Unashamed, starred as Anita Hill in HBO’s Strange Justice (Gracie Award), and was featured in A Good Day to Die starring Sidney Poitier. She has co-starred in USA Network’s Dig and guest starred in Elementary and The Blacklist. Taylor’s film credits include Saturday Church, The Negotiator, Courage Under Fire, Clockers and Lean on Me. Taylor was also the first Black woman to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway.

About Taryn Brown + Company

Taryn Brown + Company specializes in identifying promising new talent and successfully guiding them on a career path that matches their unique strengths with the music and entertainment industry. Founding Principal Taryn Brown was responsible for launching the careers of some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B including Wu-Tang Clan, Tyrese, Bobby Brown, New Edition, SWV, and others. She helped generate more than $600 million for record labels and worked with various radio formats including hip-hop, urban/urban AC, rhythmic, and pop. Taryn also served as vice president at P.T. Entertainment (Pebbles, TLC). Prior to founding Taryn Brown + Company, she was senior director of promotions for BMG/RCA and executive producer of “Impact” TV Show, a weekly African American television program syndicated by BET/Baruch Entertainment.