On Creating the LAB Documentary Video
Interview with Destiny Moore, 2022 Summer Intern
Founded in 2010, Locust Art Builders: Summer Art Intensive for Teens and the LAB MFA exhibition and residency programs are a core component of Locust’s commitment to support and mentor the next generation of artists.
As part of this commitment we extend paid opportunities to high-school and college-level interns each summer to support the summer exhibition programs. Interns are given project assignments during their time at Locust. Destiny Moore’s projects included documenting both LAB and LAB MFA over the four-week installation for a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the two exhibitions. With the completion of the LAB documentary video—which Destiny filmed, edited and sound produced—our Executive Director, Lorie Mertes, sat down with Destiny to hear about their experience as an intern at Locust and making the film.
Destiny, thank you so much for this interview. It’s been great welcoming you to the Locust Projects as an intern this summer. I am so amazed at all you have done in the time you’ve been here, including making not one, but two of your first documentary films! Can you tell us a little about what you worked on?
As a Locust Projects intern I was entrusted to assist Lead Artist Mentor Loni Johnson and other Locust Projects staff members and mentors with the LAB Teen Art Intensive program. This also included documentation, social media content, and a final video. Additionally, I also assisted the MFA LAB recipients Tara Kesavan and Indranil Choudhury during their month-long residency in preparation for their exhibition, Current Occurrences. During this course, I documented their installment process, ultimately creating a video summarizing this month-long experience.
Short behind-the-scenes preview documentary video of 2022 LAB MFA artists, Tara Aliya Kesavan and Indranil Choudhury, for social media promotion by Destiny Moore in advance of final video.
Had you known about Locust Projects or the Locust Art Builders Teen or LAB MFA programs? What was your impression of the overall summer programs supporting the next generation of artists?
What initiated my interest to intern for Locust this summer was hearing from an associate of mine who previously participated in the Locust Art Builders Teen program. I was always aware of Locust given that I am native to Miami. Locust gave me insight on what it means to create a space catering specifically to the artists and allowing them to wholeheartedly further expand on ideas.
The 2022 LAB students describe their exhibition, Garden of Candor, “as the ultimate peace, enlightenment, and acceptance gained through self-actualization reached after traversing life stages of "Reality", Chaos, Depression, and finally, Transcendence. What did you think of the exhibition the lab students created? Were you surprised by the outcome, in what ways?
The outcome of the Garden of Candor exhibition truly surprised me because these students were able to successfully curate a show that iterated every individual's objective within an impliable amount of time.
Tell us about the experience of making the LAB documentary video? What was it like engaging with the students as your subjects?
Working on this documentary video was truly a learning experience. I was in a position to watch art be created as an observer and not an artist. Working with highschool students who actively engaged in thought provoking conversations inspired me.
How would you describe the lab 2022 program experience in one sentence?
The Locust Art Builders Program in 2022 was a unique experience for young art lovers that entailed a series of stimulating conversations, hours of labor, and mentorship that later transpired into a work of art that was authentically produced by youthful innovators.
How has the experience of working on the LAB video informed the work that you want to do in future? Was it useful to you and your practice and aspirations?
The experience of working on the video gave me more insight on how significant it is to document the process of art making as an artist myself. I was also able to practice and learn more about the videography and editing process.
What are you looking forward to most when you return to MICA?
I look forward to documenting my own artistic journey and thinking about how I exhibit my own work as an immersive experience.
Thank you Destiny, it’s been a pleasure to meet and work with you this summer. You are now an official member of the Locust Projects family! Best wishes on your upcoming semester at MICA. We look forward to hearing what’s next for you post-college.
ABOUT DESTINY MOORE
Destiny Moore, a Miami resident, is currently a junior at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) where she is pursuing a General Fine Arts degree, with interest in exploring interdisciplinary art. She’s among the 2020 YoungArts winners for Visual Art.
In a recent article by @canvasrebel she explains “Creating visually is innate to me. My work is reflective of my thoughts and experiences. I focus on producing work revolving around my identity, race, culture, and opinions on topics of the past, and present. I am most proud of my body of work that sparks conversations and helps others to see the beauty in themselves.”
Destiny’s work is included in an exhibition titled "All Together," curated by Rhea Beckett of the @blackartistresearchspace in collaboration with the DC Public Library featuring black women artists at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C., on view June - August 28, 2022.
photo by Andrea Sofía R. Matos, Locust Projects’ Arts, Philanthropy, and Communications Coordinator
Now in its 12th year, Locust Art Builders: Summer Art Intensive for Teens, aka LAB, is a unique four-week pre-college program for up to 30 high school students with an interest in art, design, and exploring creative careers as they collaboratively build an exhibition from scratch.
2022 Locust Art Builders (LAB) is made possible through lead support from the Hillsdale Fund Inc. and the Albert and Jane Nahmad Family Foundation. Additional support provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, The Children's Trust; The Kirk Foundation; Susan and Richard Arregui and the Incubator Annual Fund’s Friends of Next Generation.