Please join the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for an artist talk featuring exhibition artist Wavy Wednesday in conversation with Clara Kent at 937 Gallery.
Kamara Townes, known professionally as Wavy Wednesday, is an artist, muralist and activist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her work highlights the more playful aspects of her experiences as a Black feminist artist and incorporates elements of pop culture, street art, and Afrofuturism to confront and comment on social, racial, and gender justice. Her multidisciplinary practice, which encompasses painting, sculpture, murals, and installations have been celebrated and featured in several public art projects in the city of Pittsburgh, published in Brian Burley’s “YNGBLKPGH,” and shared widely on popular social media sites including Afropunk and Supermarket Magazine. Townes received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree with a focus in painting at West Virginia University.
Clara Kent is an Afro-Indigenous multidisciplinary artist, entrepreneur, and community liaison from Homewood, Pa. Whether the medium is Music, canvas, or creative direction, Kent uplifts the creative community, especially for Black artists and youth. The self-proclaimed "Multidimensional Artistic Individual" was named Pittsburgh City Paper's "Person of the Year" for Music in 2019 and has performed across many stages, opening for international and national acts like Wyclef Jean at SXSW, Cautious Clay at WYEP Summerfest, Thundercat at Stage AE, Nnamdi, Oshun, Jon Wayne, Mumu fresh, The O’Mys, and OHMME. Clara also embarked on a summer mini-tour in 2019 with London-based music events company Sofar Sounds, becoming one of their cohort performance artists.
Today, Clara Kent is adamantly working on her personal growth and career path while continuously campaigning for other Black creatives in the city. In 2022, she created and began hosting a radio show on 91.3 WYEP called "More Bounce with Clara Kent," manges the Alt-Funk artist Mani Bahia, and also soft launched her production company, Bounce House Studios & Productions LLC; a Black women-led organization whose purpose is to “Elevate the Underground”™️ in Pittsburgh and beyond. Kent released the first music project under the company called "The Four Winds: EAST," released on Juneteenth in 2023. It’s part one of a four part EP series meant to honor The Sacred Hoop and her experience as a Black woman with Lakota ancestry. The Four Winds: East was named "Best of Soul" by Bandcamp Daily, stating “The Four Winds: East plays like one long, enthralling song. It’s a wholeheartedly beautiful record, incorporating call-and-response and gospel elements, poetic interludes, reverberating instrumentation, striking bridges, and hypnotic beats with the personal, introspective touch of Kent’s songwriting.” Clara is currently planning events and experiences for 2025, preparing for performances this summer, and is currently working on releasing part two in her EP series later this year!
