A celebration of black art

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Nazeeha Khalid is a 1998 graduate of Lew Wallace High School, Gary, Ind. She is performing in the “REPRESENT: Celebrating Indiana's African- American Artists” exhibition at the Indiana State Museum. | Photo Provided

Updated: February 9, 2012 1:04PM

When Nazeeha “Naz” Khalid was growing up in Gary, she was surrounded by creativity.

“I was always writing or parti-cipating in something,” she said.

Her grandmother Nadine Stephens, who raised her, made costumes for West Side Theatre Guild productions. That led to Khalid participating in theater.

Former Gary teacher Carolyn McCrady encouraged her to write.

“She let me know constantly that I was a great writer and she had me writing yearbook captions from 1996 to 1998,” Khalid said. “It let me know that when a teacher pays attention to a student, all things are possible.”

Today Khalid calls herself an “artivist,” using art and activism to bring social change.

Khalid will be one of the performers, as lead vocalist and songwriter, for Kool’s Bazaar, featured in the family day activities at “REPRESENT: Celebrating Indiana’s African-American Artists” at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis.

“REPRESENT” is an exhibition showcasing art by emerging and well-known black Hoosier artists. The exhibit opened Jan. 21 and runs through July 15.

Former Gary art teacher Desirée Simpson, who owns and operates Live Arts Studio in Gary, is one of the visual artists featured in the exhibit.

Khalid was born Shannon Walden and graduated from Lew Wallace High School in 1998. She legally changed her name when she was older.

She went to Indiana University in Bloomington where she made a self-discovery.

“After attending schools that basically had an all-black population, I go to IU in Bloomington and the majority of the student population was white. It was when 9/11 happened when I truly became involved in political action and I discovered my blackness,” Khalid said.

She became active in the Black Student Union and created a group called BAMN — By Any Means Necessary — to raise awareness of equality and inequality, and love and hatred.

“It was all about empowerment,” she said.

Khalid graduated from IU in 2002 with a bachelor of arts degree in communications and earned a master’s degree in social psychology in 2010.

Her passion for social activism never faded; she was appointed president of a grassroots movement called Caring Artist United for Social Equity, or C.A.U.S.E., to work with other organizations to reach out to those in need through art and community building.

Khalid has performed with notable poets and performers including Nikki Giovanni, Saul Williams, Eric Roberson, Elzhi of Slum Village and others.