John R. Killacky’s new book “because art: Commentary, Critique, & Conversation” is a collage of writings about his life and work across the country as a performing artist, arts administrator, curator and legislator.
Prominent in the book is his time as the Performing Arts Curator at the Walker Art Center (1988-1996) in Minneapolis. This was a time of radical queer performance art, the AIDS Crisis, Reagan-Bush politics, culture wars of the time and attacks on the National Endowment for the Arts. Killacky is a gay, differently abled artist and is currently in the Vermont House of Representatives.
Included in the book are commentaries on a debilitating spinal surgery, Zen Buddhism, and censorship; critiques on such artists as Ron Athey, Eiko Otake, John Cage, and Keith Haring; plus interviews with artists Alison Bechdel, Trisha Brown, Janis Ian, Bill T. Jones, Tony Kushner, Meredith Monk and more.
KFAI’s Dixie Treichel spoke with Killacky about his life and work.
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MinneCulture arts, culture and history stories air on KFAI. We also record and produce concerts featuring local musicians in our "Live from Minnesota" series. In 2019, five (5!) MinneCulture stories won Page One awards from the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, including a 1-2-3 sweep of the "Best Radio Feature" category. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. View full bio »
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