May ArtWalk at Basin Arts / Walk 4 Me: An Immersive Community Art Project by Riley McCallum

Join current Basin ProjectSpace Residency artist, Riley McCallum, during ArtWalk to view his completed exhibition & residency, Walk 4 Me.

Walk 4 Me is an interactive art experience exploring dance and technology, rooted in underground ballroom culture. In his ongoing exploration of immersive theatre, Riley incorporates extended reality technology through his work. Reflective of an arcade, the space will offer three interactive games imagined and designed by the artist. Participants will explore the installation by observing or participating in various arcade games that use motion capture and telepresence to activate the user experience. The gaming characters have been based on and designed using the elements found in dance styles of the underground ballroom culture.

The exhibit will also offer historic information by activating the space as an educational tool to understand and reflect on Ball culture, an underground, counterculture movement originating in the 1920’s and founded primarily by Black and Latin LGBTQ+ circles. Ball culture was established as a way to competitively express art, fashion, and dance while also building community and personal connections.

Riley McCallum is a queer, interdisciplinary performance artist originally from rural Texas. He has a broad background of movement experiences, ranging from martial arts, musical theatre, and color guard to concert and street dance forms. In the final year of earning his BFA in Performing Arts from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he was the artist in residence at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. At this time, he began exploring the integration of dance, technology, and immersive theatre. While earning his MFA at TWU in the dance program, starting in 2019, he furthered his research into immersive theatre by incorporating extended reality technology into his work.

In the marching and pageantry arts, he has performed with Little Elm High School, The University of Louisiana, Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, Cypress Independent, and The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps. In addition, he has worked with various groups across Texas and Louisiana, either as a tech, choreographer, or director such as Marcus High School, E.D. White High School, and The University of Louisiana.

Professionally, he has danced with Lafayette Ballet Theatre in The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, Basin Arts Dance Collective, and the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared in the music video People Like Me by Dustin Sonnier, and as a chorus member in Jambalaya The Musical, among other appearances. He has also produced performance events in partnership with local businesses in Louisiana and universities in Texas and Louisiana.

ProjectSpace Residency is supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment of the Arts. Marketing support is provided by LCVC through the Lafayette Visitors Enterprise Fund.