The Eddie Oliver Entrepreneurship Spirit Award
Every year since 2008, my family and I have sponsored a small monetary, annual award, The Eddie Oliver Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, for a student in honor of my late grandfather, Eddie Oliver (1924-2006). We have awarded $5,800 to student recipients, so far.
Integrated Design & Media (IDM), NYU Tandon, Brooklyn, NY
Shipon Eunus, 2022
Aryan Easwaran, 2021
Lucas White, 2020
Alexis Zerafa, 2018
B. Edan McDevitt, 2017
Matthew Conto, 2016
Multimedia, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Adam Samson, 2015
Kenny Guglielmino, 2014
Terry DiFeliciantonio, 2013
John Bonaccorsi, 2012
John Waller, 2011
Josh Johnson, 2010
Matt Trigaux, 2009
Travis Mullen, 2008
My grandfather was an entrepreneur, but moreso he believed in having a vision and making things happen! He and his brother built the house (including all the electrical and plumbing) that my grandmother lived in until her passing in 2014. My grandparent's first vehicle was not a car, but a dump truck so that my grandfather could make additional money beyond what he was making as a truck driver. In the 1960s, he created "Eddie's Snack Bar," which was a traveling convenience store that my late uncle, Eddie Jr. ran. When he retired from being a truck driver in 1986, he founded "Eddie's Recycling," a recycling center in Eutaw, Alabama that my grandmother and Uncle Carl ran until 2015. This is only a small sampling of what my grandfather accomplished without ever finishing high school. He always had a plan for the future.
Curated Prince #1plus1plus1is3 Virtual Symposium
#1plus1plus1is3 was a polished solid production, curated & organized by De Angela L. Duff.
#1plus1plus1is3 was a 3-day virtual symposium, celebrating Prince for 40 years of Controversy, 30 years of Diamonds & Pearls, and 20 years of The Rainbow Children, on 26-28 March 2021 (Fri-Sun)!
We had 500 people register on the Airmeet platform from 20 countries including the US, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Scotland, Belgium, France, Germany, Australia, and Denmark. We also had international speakers from the UK, the Netherlands, and Scotland. There was a steady-state of approximately 100 to 200 people at ALL times over the course of 3 days for approximately 8-9 hours per day.
You can find the speakers, abstracts, and schedule on the symposium website. You will also find the video archives that have been edited and posted, so far, in the #1plus1plus1is3 playlist on YouTube. We'll be adding more over the next several weeks in April and May. A couple of the keynotes have also been uploaded to vimeo:
- #1plus1plus1is3 Controversy Keynote with Dr. Fink & Peggy "Mac" McCreary
https://vimeo.com/532632190 - #1plus1plus1is3 Diamonds & Pearls Keynote with Director & DP Scott McCullough
https://vimeo.com/532599504
Registration on Eventbrite was FREE but we kindly requested attendees to consider donating to the PRN Alumni Foundation!
PRN Alumni Foundation, officially formed in 2017, is comprised of former employees of Paisley Park and the international icon Prince. The group’s mission is to continue the generosity of their late boss who supported opportunities for underprivileged youth to grow in music, tech, arts, and education, and helped alumni members in-need. The foundation also supports urban farming initiatives that create sources of healthy foods where they are otherwise scarce.
The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is not affiliated, associated, or connected with the ‘Prince #1plus1plus1is3 Symposium,’ nor has it endorsed or sponsored the ‘Prince #1plus1plus1is3 Symposium’ Further, the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson has not licensed any of its intellectual property to the producers, advertisers or directors of ‘Prince Dirty#1plus1plus1is3 Symposium.’
Contributed to Code as Creative Medium book
De Angela is incredibly proud to be a contributor to the wonderful book, Code as Creative Medium: A Handbook for Computational Art and Design by Golan Levin & Tega Brain, published by MIT Press (2021). She is featured in "Part Three: Interviews," where she talks about teaching programming to an intersection of computer science, art, and design students.
She is truly honored to be alongside so many extraordinary educators, artists, and designers, but, most notably, Luke DuBois, who was her Co-Director when she co-led Integrated Digital Media (IDM) with him from 2013-2018.
Co-Organized Learning To Teach Creative Technologies Remotely: A Virtual UnSymposium
Learning To Teach Creative Technologies Remotely: A Virtual UnSymposium on 22-23 Jan 2021 was spearheaded by De Angela with a few of her Integrated Digital Media (IDM) colleagues, Tega Brain, Luke DuBois, Reginé Gilbert, and Kathleen McDermott, as well as IDM friend Ashley Jane Lewis, and hosted by IDM at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. This 2-day event was an opportunity to participate in conversations on how to foster creativity and experimentation within this new teaching and learning landscape. On Airmeet, we got together and shared what worked and didn’t work in our remote and hybrid classrooms this past year, as well as workshopped opportunities and challenges for our pedagogy in the coming semester.
Session topics included:
- Creative Coding
- Physical Computing / IoT / Computational Fabrication
- Beyond Zoom: Getting weird with teaching online. What has worked? What has not?
- Virtual Events (i.e. End of semester virtual showcases, exhibitions, and performances)
- Fostering student and/or colleague engagement and community building
- K-12 Virtual Engagement
- Undergraduate and graduate student panels
Our hashtag was #LTT2021 for Learning To Teach 2021.
The event consisted of 10-minute talks about remote or hybrid teaching and learning from 40+ educators across international universities, colleges, and cultural institutions such as CMU, CUNY’s New York City College of Technology, Eyebeam, Facebook, INDIGital, NYU, School for Poetic Computation (SFPC), Spelman College, The Basel School of Design HGK FHNW, The New School, OCAD, Pioneer Works Tech Lab, RISD, RMIT University (Melbourne), Royal Ontario Museum, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Tech Kids Unlimited, Technologiestiftung Berlin, York University Glendon College, UCLA, University of Technology Sydney, Technological University Dublin, VCU, and others. We also had two panels, undergraduate and graduate, with students from NYU, Ryerson University, and OCAD, moderated and curated by Ashley Jane Lewis.
We had over 400 attendees from all over the world including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the USA.
A massive thanks to all of our speakers and attendees for an incredible way to begin the spring 2021 semester in community!
To learn more about the conversations and resources that were shared, feel free to visit the event’s discord. A custom zine to commemorate the event is forthcoming.
Learning to Teach Conference Series
Learning to Teach is a conference series for educators teaching in creative fields like computational art and design, creative technology, emerging media, and digital humanities. This year and last we found ourselves in a paradigm shift within teaching and learning as classes continue to be held remotely or in hybrid formats due to COVID-19.
The Learning to Teach conference series (2016-present) was founded at the School for Poetic Computation in partnership with the Processing Foundation.
Documentation of previous Learning to Teach events can be found on the Processing Foundation site.
The 2021 Learning to Teach planning committee consists of:
- De Angela L. Duff || @polishedsolid
- Tega Brain || @tegabrain
- R. Luke DuBois || @RLukeDuBois
- Reginé Gilbert ||@reg_inee
- Ashley Jane Lewis || @ashleyjanelewis
- Kathleen McDermott || @kit_the_robot
Contributed to SOTT Deluxe #PrinceTwitterThread
De Angela contributes to the #PrinceTwitterThread curated by Edgar Kruize and Deejay UMB for Prince's 1988 Sign O' The Times Super Deluxe album.
Her contribution was for the songs, “And That Says What? & It Ain't Over 'Til The Fat Lady Sings.” https://twitter.com/polishedsolid/status/1346634372561174528
To see the entire series of Sign O' The Times Super Deluxe threads, visit Edgar Kruize’s purplepicks.net.
Curated 🍑 + 🖤 2 (#SOTTSDC): A Virtual Sign ‘O The Times Super Deluxe Celebration & After Salons
Peach + Black 2 (#SOTTSDC) was not a symposium. #SOTTSDC was a virtual Sign O’ The Times (SOTT) Super Deluxe Celebration on Saturday, 10 October 2020, for the September 2020 box set released by Warner Bros. Records, featuring 45 unreleased studio tracks from Prince’s vault, a full unreleased concert from the Sign O’ The Times era in Utrecht, and 2 hours of unreleased video from a New Year’s Eve benefit concert at Paisley Park on 31 December 1987, showcasing his only on-stage collaboration with jazz legend Miles Davis.
#SOTSDC is a polished solid production, curated by De Angela L. Duff.
#SOTTSDC consisted of four roundtable panels about the Sign O' The Times Super Deluxe box set: the original #SOTT30BK panel of Zaheer Ali, Anil Dash, Miles Marshall Lewis, Elliott H. Powell, and De Angela, the live Utrecht show included in the box set, Madhouse Live, and the 1987 New Year's Eve show at Paisley Park, which is the DVD included in the box set. The speakers are international Prince enthusiasts, scholars, and podcasters. Our Prince special guests were members of Prince's band during this era, keyboardist Dr. Fink, saxophonist Eric Leeds, and trumpet player Atlanta Bliss. For more detailed information and video archives, visit the #SOTTSDC website.
Some attendees mentioned that #SOTTSDC was too short. So, for 5 consecutive Saturdays from Oct. 24 - Nov 21, 2020 on YouTube and Facebook simultaneously, De Angela hosted a virtual #SOTTSDC After Salon!
What’s a salon? It’s an informal gathering (often in someone’s living room) of old and new friends engaging in intimate and stimulating conversations.
- 24 Oct 2020 – Vault Tracks 1
- 31 Oct 2020 – Vault Tracks 2
- 07 Nov 2020 – Vault Tracks 3
- 14 Nov 2020 – SOTT Live
- 21 Nov 2020 – SOTT Live Pt. 2 & closing remarks
A very special thanks to Rev3rend for the design and illustration for the event.
Contributed to SOTT #PrinceTwitterThread
De Angela contributes to the #PrinceTwitterThread curated by Edgar Kruize and Deejay UMB for Prince's 1988 Sign O' The Times album.
Her contribution was for the song, “It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night.” https://twitter.com/polishedsolid/status/1276470786858123264
To see the entire series of Come threads, visit Edgar Kruize’s purplepicks.net.
Interviewed on WNYC's All of It with Alison Stewart about Prince
On 2 October 2020, De Angela appeared in a short segment on All Of It With Alison Stewart to discuss Prince's Sign O' The Times Super Deluxe boxset. Massive thanks to WNYC for the invitation!
You can listen here:
https://www.wnyc.org/people/de-angela-duff/
Moderated The Purple Paisley Brunch Presents The Brothas of the Park
The Purple Paisley Brunch Presents The Brothas of the ParkThe Purple Paisley Brunch (PPB) is an annual event created by Tonya Giddens, Founder of Bklyngurl Productions, an event planning company that specializes in private events in the New York City area. This year, PPB is going virtual and will be presented in multiple parts.
De Angela was elated that she was invited to moderate the first two panels, Purple Paisley Brunch: Ladies of the Park Parts 1 & 2 on Saturday, July 18, 2020, and Friday, August 21, 2020, respectively, which both featured Sueann Carwell, Jill Jones, and Ashley Tamar Davis with special guest Jerome Benton.
De Angela is excited to be invited back for a third time to continue the conversation with The Brothas of The Park, Jerome Benton, Wally Safford, and Greg Brooks, but most of all to celebrate Jerome Benton’s birthday on Friday, September 19, 2020, from 8-10 pm EDT. You can purchase tickets here via Zoom.
Prince And Popular Music book review in UK music monthly Record Collector
De Angela was surprised and delighted to discover her essay, “Under the Cherry Moon: Prince as His Most Authentic Self,” highlighted in this book review by Jason Draper (who released his own Prince book in 2016) for Prince And Popular Music: Critical Perspectives On An Interdisciplinary Life, edited by Mike Alleyne & Kirsty Fairclough in the September 2020 issue of UK music monthly Record Collector.
Wrote 30-year Graffiti Bridge retrospective for Rock And Roll Globe
| In this article for Rock and Roll Globe, De Angela was grateful for the opportunity to further reflect beyond the #DM40GB30 symposium about 30 years of Graffiti Bridge!
#DM40GB30 shoutouts to Anil Dash, Monique W. Morris, Arthur Turnbull, and, of course, Jill Jones in the article! De Angela wishes she could have highlighted everyone who participated in the symposium, but she didn't want to lose focus on the album! |
Moderated The Purple Paisley Brunch 2020: The Ladies of The Park, Part 2
De Angela is super excited to moderate part two of The Purple Paisley Brunch 2020: The Ladies of The Park with Sueann Carwell, Jill Jones, and Ashley Tamar Davis! Part one was so much fun! De Angela is grateful for the opportunity to moderate, again! Get your tix!
The Purple Paisley Brunch is an annual event created by Tonya Giddens, Founder of Bklyngurl Productions, an event planning company that specializes in private events in the New York City area. This year, it is going virtual.
Wrote The Time's Pandemonium Retrospective for Rock and Roll Globe
De Angela was beyond thrilled to be asked by the Rock and Roll Globe to write about one of her favorite albums of ALL time, The Time's Pandemonium, celebrating 30 years! If you haven't ever listened to this classic, now is the time! And, if you already have, it's definitely a repeat listening experience!
Moderated The Purple Paisley Brunch July 2020: Ladies of the Park
The Purple Paisley Brunch is an annual event created by Tonya Giddens, Founder of Bklyngurl Productions, an event planning company that specializes in private events in the New York City area. This year, it is going virtual. De Angela was elated that she was invited to moderate a panel comprised of Sueann Carwell, Jill Jones, and Ashley Tamar Davis. Jerome Benton and André Cymone both joined in on the conversation. It was truly a fun, wonderful event!
Wrote Essay for Prince and Popular Music Book
De Angela is very proud to have her essay, "Under the Cherry Moon: Prince as His Most Authentic Self," in the book, Prince and Popular Music: Critical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Life, edited by Mike Alleyne & Kirsty Fairclough and published by Bloomsbury. Her essay is based on the talk of the same title that she gave at the first Prince academic conference, Purple Reign: An interdisciplinary conference on the life and legacy of Prince, at the University of Salford in Manchester, England, in May 2017.
Alongside the editors and a number of essay authors, she participated in a Prince and Popular Music Digital Book Launch on Sunday, June 28, 2020, on Zoom.
Contributed to Come #PrinceTwitterThread
De Angela contributes to the #PrinceTwitterThread curated by Edgar Kruize and Deejay UMB for Prince's 1994 Come album. Her contribution was for the song, “Orgasm.”
https://twitter.com/polishedsolid/status/1276470786858123264
To see the entire series of Come threads, visit Edgar Kruize’s purplepicks.net.
Curated Prince #DM40GB30 Virtual Symposium
The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is not affiliated, associated or connected with the ‘Prince DM40GB30 Symposium,’ nor has it endorsed or sponsored the ‘Prince DM40GB30 Symposium.’ Further, the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson has not licensed any of its intellectual property to the producers, advertisers or directors of the ‘Prince DM40GB30 Symposium.’
#DM40GB30 was a 3-day virtual symposium, celebrating Prince for 40 yrs of Dirty Mind & 30 yrs of Graffiti Bridge, on June 12, 13, & 14, 2020 that De Angela curated and co-produced!
We were so looking forward to the Prince #DM40GB30 Symposium in April. Then, COVID-19 happened and we had to postpone the original event. We eventually pivoted to a virtual symposium online using the Hopin platform.
We had 1,200 people register on the Hopin platform from 16 countries: US, UK, Netherlands, Canada, France, Australia, Germany, Spain, Russia, Peru, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Italy, and Ireland. We also had international speakers from the UK, the Netherlands, and Scotland. There was a steady state of 300 to 400 people at ALL times over the course of 3 days for approximately 8-9 hours per day.
You can find a recap of the schedule, alongside speaker bios & abstracts on the symposium website at http://bit.ly/DM40GB30.
While it won’t be the same experience without the communal Hopin platform, video archives are in the process of being posted within the #DM40GB30 playlist. Subscribe to De Angela’s YouTube channel to get notified as more video archives are posted.
Wrote Essay for Special Prince Edition of Black Magnolias: A Literary Journal
De Angela is honored to have her Jill Jones paper, "She’s Always in My Hair: Jill Jones–The Unheralded Muse of Prince," (originally presented @ Black Portraiture[s] IV: The Color of Silence at Harvard University on Friday, March 23, 2018.) alongside some of her favorite writers, Michael A. Gonzales, Robert Loss & C. Liegh McInnis, in a special Prince issue of Black Magnolias Literary Journal. You can either read it online or order a print copy. The cover was created by Monica Taylor-McInnis.
Edited by C. Liegh McInnis, author of The Lyrics Of Prince Rogers Nelson: A Literary Look At A Creative, Musical Poet, Philosopher, And Storyteller, this special issue contains articles from accomplished academicians, literary creatives, and musicians, including Robert Loss (author of Nothing Has Been Done Before: Seeking the New in 21st-Century American Popular Music) and Michael A. Gonzales (whose work has appeared in Vibe, Essence, Pitchfork, The Village Voice, Wax Poetics, Catapult, Soulhead.com, Ebony, and The Paris Review).
Contributed to What Does Prince Mean To You? Video
What an honor & privilege for De Angela to be in the number to express what Prince means to her in this official video from Paisley Park, "What Does Prince Mean To You?" In 2019, she was interviewed at the bridge across the street from Paisley Park in MPLS during the Celebration. #Prince2Me
Contributed to What are the best Prince tracks released since 2016?
De Angela was asked to contribute to the article, "What are the best Prince tracks released since 2016?" by The Current, and she was super excited to do so!