Legacy at 313 S. Burdick Street is home to a monthly open mic series hosted by the Institute of Public Scholarship, showcasing new and established talent in an intimate setting.
Yolonda Lavender, a singer-songwriter with deep roots in Kalamazoo's music community, is the featured artist this month at 7:30 pm on Friday, April 18. She joins Cara Lieurance for a conversation about her music — and her new single, "Love" — along with Dr. Michelle Johnson, founder of the Institute of Public Scholarship which operates Legacy. They share a history from their involvement with Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative. "Yolonda and I go way back to some of the earliest days of Fire," says Dr. Johnson, relating Lavender's long-standing commitment to supporting other artists. Lavender adds, "I love telling people the story about how Fire is the first place that I performed in front of an audience that wasn't church."
The open mic series not only provides a platform for exploring local talent but also furthers the Institute of Public Scholarship's mission. Dr. Johnson elaborates on the reason she created the Institute in 2020: "My work has been fundamentally concerned with the public, bringing voices of individuals that have experiences and culture around the land, space, place, nature, resistance and insistence and making sure that those voices are informing these discourses."
Legacy provides a close setting for the monthly series. "We're about a 35, 40-person capacity. It's intimate for sure," Johnson says, adding that last month's event was standing-room-only.
The series is free, though donations are welcome, and is co-sponsored by the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival. More information is available at the Institute of Public Scholarship website.
