The Neighbors News publishes features on artists, writers, designers, musicians, activists, organizers and other talent in the artistic and social justice fields. We hope to shine a light on a global creative community and share engaging storytelling that will help make positive change.
Sidra Khawaja in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: November 7, 2024
SS: I’m curious about your community work with Kashmir Creatives Collective which is “A Kashmiri driven, independent group of creatives focusing on humanizing Kashmir through the lens of artistic and cultural traditions of the state”, as you state at the beginning of your manifesto. Please tell us about this group and your recent manifesto. How did this collection of ideas come about and what are your deepest beliefs?
SK: The seed for the collective was sown back in 2022 when on a random day, I received a message from a fellow Kashmiri filmmaker Zafeer Butt. He went to the same art school where I studied for my undergraduate, and we had even traveled together to India as part of a Pakistani cultural delegation. But it was years later when he came across my Kashmir related graduate project on instagram and we started talking about this subject. Soon after, we met in Lahore to share our mutual love, passion, aspirations and longing for Kashmir over a cup of coffee. As creatives identifying as Kashmiris, we both strongly felt the absence of Kashmiri representation on a significant level in wider socio-political and cultural spheres, let alone in the art world.
SK: The seed for the collective was sown back in 2022 when on a random day, I received a message from a fellow Kashmiri filmmaker Zafeer Butt. He went to the same art school where I studied for my undergraduate, and we had even traveled together to India as part of a Pakistani cultural delegation. But it was years later when he came across my Kashmir related graduate project on instagram and we started talking about this subject. Soon after, we met in Lahore to share our mutual love, passion, aspirations and longing for Kashmir over a cup of coffee. As creatives identifying as Kashmiris, we both strongly felt the absence of Kashmiri representation on a significant level in wider socio-political and cultural spheres, let alone in the art world.
&z. (zeinab “ames” ajasa) in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: October 7, 2024
SS: What are you currently working on? What inspires you to create these days? Do you find yourself writing or illustrating more? Or is it always a combination of both like you say in your artist statement: “their visual work and writing go hand in hand and are often merged into a hybrid to create rich and layered artworks.”
&z.: i’ve been working (very slowly) working on a queer romance novel for several years now called “honeymilk”, it’s about two childhood best friends who have been in love with each other forever but they’re both in denial and thus have remained friends. then one of them gets a partner and now they have to figure out what to do. i have so many ideas for this book and it’s become so precious that i’ve stopped myself from working on it. i’m actually trying to write something else, just to prove to myself that i can do it, but that’s taking a while too, since i want the characters to flesh themselves out organically in my head, like with the others.
&z.: i’ve been working (very slowly) working on a queer romance novel for several years now called “honeymilk”, it’s about two childhood best friends who have been in love with each other forever but they’re both in denial and thus have remained friends. then one of them gets a partner and now they have to figure out what to do. i have so many ideas for this book and it’s become so precious that i’ve stopped myself from working on it. i’m actually trying to write something else, just to prove to myself that i can do it, but that’s taking a while too, since i want the characters to flesh themselves out organically in my head, like with the others.
Ann Lemon in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: September 7, 2024
AL: Well! It’s been a long and winding road. I grew up in cosmopolitan Richmond, Indiana, with a mom who was a homemaker, educator, and museum director, three super smart older siblings, and an engineer dad. I fell into heavy drug and alcohol use in high school, but was luckily able to exit that scene by skipping my senior year and going straight to college. At the University of Delaware I was torn between psychology, writing, and art, and I stumbled into a high-energy, very challenging program studying advertising and graphic design (go VC/UD!) where I got to combine all of those things. That led me to a career as an art director in the wild world of advertising in NYC in the 1980s (yes, it was exactly like “Mad Men.”) I loved making posters, magazine ads, and eventually, tv commercials, and got a whole education in digital design, strategy, branding, writing, animation, and filmmaking on the job. My eventual title was “creative director” and I worked on big campaigns for large, sometimes evil, corporate overlords, for every kind of product from diapers to champagne to mobile phones. Along the way I started teaching design classes at my alma mater.
Luin Joy in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: July 1, 2024
LJ: I found trans/queer community here through Durham Queer Sports - I get to play non-competitive soccer every week with like 30-40 queer people and it’s amazing. We just gather in a field and play together, even when it’s 95 degrees and humid as hell. There’s also a Queer Fight Club, but I won’t share details lol. I’ve made some incredible friends here, I feel deeply supported, and I’m able to spend a lot of time connecting in wholesome and gentle ways- playing music with people, swimming, hiking, going on long walks, sharing meals, etc. Really grounding activities. In my experiences elsewhere, the dominant forms of gathering that are available for trans/queer people are usually centered on grieving, protesting, or getting fucked up. Which makes sense, given the degree of systemic violence we’re collectively witnessing and experiencing. But I credit adrienne maree brown’s work for helping me recognize that movement, play, joy, and rest are also radical and essential for our survival. I still struggle with feeling deserving of that and it’s a practice in resisting a lot of internalized crap. But this place and this moment of my life feel extremely rare and I’m grateful for it.
Aries Franklin-Ortiz AKA ThePoetSmiley in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: June 1, 2024
SS: Hi Aries, it’s wonderful to have you with us at The Neighbors News! I saw you perform at the 10th Annual Poet Laureate of Berks County competition. You were fabulous! Tell us about how you prepare to perform. What gets you centered? How do you channel the energy to make an impact with spoken word?
AFO: Hey there! Thank you so much for having me. I’m truly humbled. My preparation process is very strategic I read my poems over and over again. I try them in different tones and different cadences. I edit until it sounds perfect to me and then read and read and read some more. I center the best in quiet space, then I’ll add one person to listen to me, then two and so on, until I feel comfortable reading my art in front of a crowd. I have to be in a total “meditative” mindset. My poetry is my therapy. Everything I’m feeling or anything I felt, goes straight into my work. I always laugh and say Poets should come with a warning label. We’ll write about you if we can’t stand you, we’ll write about you if we love you.
SS: Hi Aries, it’s wonderful to have you with us at The Neighbors News! I saw you perform at the 10th Annual Poet Laureate of Berks County competition. You were fabulous! Tell us about how you prepare to perform. What gets you centered? How do you channel the energy to make an impact with spoken word?
AFO: Hey there! Thank you so much for having me. I’m truly humbled. My preparation process is very strategic I read my poems over and over again. I try them in different tones and different cadences. I edit until it sounds perfect to me and then read and read and read some more. I center the best in quiet space, then I’ll add one person to listen to me, then two and so on, until I feel comfortable reading my art in front of a crowd. I have to be in a total “meditative” mindset. My poetry is my therapy. Everything I’m feeling or anything I felt, goes straight into my work. I always laugh and say Poets should come with a warning label. We’ll write about you if we can’t stand you, we’ll write about you if we love you.
Huilin Gui in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: June 1, 2024
SS: The Neighbors News welcomes Huilin Gui to our digital pages! Hi Huilin, it’s wonderful to speak with you. I was blown away when you wrote with interest in speaking with us. Your work is incredible and you have a very compelling bio. Please tell us about your journey. Where do you call home? This can be multiple places, if you wish. Places you only spent a day, but maybe dipped your feet in water and got a rush of nostalgia. Or it could be where you spent your youth, or possibly where you lay your head now.
HG: Thank you, Sophia, and thank you so much for having me to talk about my works with the Neighbors News! I was born in Beijing, China, and been living there for 18 years before moving to New York to study illustration. Therefore, Beijing is definitely my first home and holds most of my memories. But when I think of the word “Home,” the first thing appeared in my mind are the faces of my parents and siblings, so I guess anywhere family is can be call home.
HG: Thank you, Sophia, and thank you so much for having me to talk about my works with the Neighbors News! I was born in Beijing, China, and been living there for 18 years before moving to New York to study illustration. Therefore, Beijing is definitely my first home and holds most of my memories. But when I think of the word “Home,” the first thing appeared in my mind are the faces of my parents and siblings, so I guess anywhere family is can be call home.
Levi Landis in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: May 1, 2024
SS: I’ve noticed the main entrance [of GoggleWorks] is closed and that GoggleWorks plans to build an Art Park. Please tell us about this project. What is the projected opening date? How can we support GoggleWorks plans to offer free creative public space to the community to help them meet their opening date?
LL: The GoggleWorks Art Park is a transformative placemaking project aimed at creating a dynamic outdoor cultural hub in the heart of Reading, Pennsylvania. The project will reimagine roughly 100,000 square feet of neglected city spaces into publicly-accessible, culturally-vibrant greenspaces designed to creatively and equitably engage residents and visitors, advance safety and comfort, catalyze downtown revitalization, connect city assets, build community resilience, and drive cross-cultural dialogue and civic pride.
LL: The GoggleWorks Art Park is a transformative placemaking project aimed at creating a dynamic outdoor cultural hub in the heart of Reading, Pennsylvania. The project will reimagine roughly 100,000 square feet of neglected city spaces into publicly-accessible, culturally-vibrant greenspaces designed to creatively and equitably engage residents and visitors, advance safety and comfort, catalyze downtown revitalization, connect city assets, build community resilience, and drive cross-cultural dialogue and civic pride.
natyna bean in conversation with Sophia Stopper
Published: May 1, 2024
SS: You hold an MFA in Playwriting from the New School for Drama, that’s quite an accomplishment. Have you been writing for the stage recently? What stories have you written that you would love to see come to life and why? Who is the audience for these plays?
nb: I actually have been revisiting a number of my oldies but goodies now that life has shown me greater understanding of myself, and what I am most interested in saying. I am far more interested in being in community rather than competition so I won’t say that I mean to exclude anyone from my work. Nonetheless, I am interested in inviting folks to feel changed, affirmed, and maybe even a little agitated when they experience it. What new or repressed curiosities, excitements, or freedoms can they find within themselves?
nb: I actually have been revisiting a number of my oldies but goodies now that life has shown me greater understanding of myself, and what I am most interested in saying. I am far more interested in being in community rather than competition so I won’t say that I mean to exclude anyone from my work. Nonetheless, I am interested in inviting folks to feel changed, affirmed, and maybe even a little agitated when they experience it. What new or repressed curiosities, excitements, or freedoms can they find within themselves?
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ShinYeon Moon in conversation with Sophia Stopper
ShinYeon Moon in conversation with Sophia StopperPublished: April 1, 2024
SS: What has been your creative journey in life since leaving New York University BFA as an undergraduate?
SM: So nice to catch up with you Sophia! It’s been an up and down roller-coaster for sure. I ended up getting an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts and have been artist assisting and attempting freelance life ever since. Currently, I also teach BFA at the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
SM: So nice to catch up with you Sophia! It’s been an up and down roller-coaster for sure. I ended up getting an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts and have been artist assisting and attempting freelance life ever since. Currently, I also teach BFA at the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
SS: What are you passionate about professionally and personally?
CB: Before introducing myself, it feels important to address my support for Palestinians everywhere, and to call for an end to the American government supported genocide in Gaza.
I’m a mental health clinician and advocate based out of Michigan, the lands of many indigenous people including the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi people. I often find it easier to focus on my work than myself. So right now, I’m working to cultivate a passion for rest and nurturing connection with those I love.
David Nazario
in conversation with
Sophia Stopper
Published: February 1, 2024
SS: What in your life caused you to put this collection together?
DN: The book came about because I figured out at the age of thirty that I was gay. That I liked the same sex. So that was what prompted the book. Figuring this out was a tough thing for me because I knew that the world doesn't necessarily love gay people or gay, Black, and Puerto Rican people. I know the stigma within my own family, within my own two cultures that I exist in. So it was a really trying time for me. It was something that I wasn't afraid of exploring because I knew that there was growth to be had and that there was learning that would come from it.
DN: The book came about because I figured out at the age of thirty that I was gay. That I liked the same sex. So that was what prompted the book. Figuring this out was a tough thing for me because I knew that the world doesn't necessarily love gay people or gay, Black, and Puerto Rican people. I know the stigma within my own family, within my own two cultures that I exist in. So it was a really trying time for me. It was something that I wasn't afraid of exploring because I knew that there was growth to be had and that there was learning that would come from it.
Artist, Arielle Stein interviews Kei Ota about her virtual exhibition, Portals, with The Neighbors.
Artist, Will Zeng interviews Danielle Mann about her virtual exhibition, Unveiling Language, with The Neighbors.
Curator, Sophie Buchmueller interviews Francisco Donoso about his virtual exhibition, Caught Retracing My Steps, with The Neighbors.
The Neighbors own Sophia Stopper interviews Charlie Arsenault about his virtual exhibition with us, Gross Grainy Textures.
Sophia Stopper writes an impassioned essay on the importance of community in times of collective emotional turbulence.