Ten Pak-VI Guild Complex?s 10th Anniversary Celebration

In celebration of the Guild Complex?s Tenth Anniversary we offer Ten-Pak. Each Ten-Pak will present an artist or act that appeared at the Complex over the last decade, a voice or act that has never appeared at the Complex, and a taste of what we do, including poetry, prose, music, performance, multi-media, books, and visual art all on the same night.

Jean C. Howard was a participant in the original development of the nationally acclaimed Poetry Slam. He poetry has appeared in Harper?s Magazine, The Burning Word, Spoon River Review, Chicago Tribune and ove 30 other literary publications. Jean is the author of the book Dancing in Your Mother?s Skin (Tia Chucha Press), a collaborative effort with photographer Alice Hargrave, and has been a leading force in the development of the annual National Poetry Festival since 1992.

Larry Winfield has been an active, behind-the-scenes presence in the Chicago poetry community since 1990. Called ?the poet with a voice like chocolate,? he produces short films, edits and publishes Liquid Glyph, an on-line poetry magazine, leads an experimental group called Brass Orchid, and is promoting his book, Rosedust. He helped give birth to the Guild Complex?s National Poetry Video Festival.

Tanisha Singh is a full time student, employee, wife and mother-to-be. Despite her lack of time she manages to write inspiring poetry. She place third in the Young Chicago Authors? first Citywide High School Poetry Slam (?99) and has been writer of the month a Oak Park & River Forest High School.

Shannon Patrick is a Gallery 37 playwright. Yvonne Nieves is a junior at Von Steuben M.S.C. She was part of the Creative Writing Program and she loves to write and dance. She hopes to become a well-known visual or performing artist, and to backpack all over the world. Andrea Thoman has written for local publications and the Gallery 37 anthology due out this summer. Andrea is driven by the pursuit to take all that is around he and somehow shape it into words. She hopes someday to become an appreciated writer in the eyes of all of you.

Singe Songwriter Chika Sekiguchi?s first name is derived from the Potawatomi word for her birthplace: Chicago. One of three daughters of a Country-Western singer in post W.W.II Japan, Chika grew up surrounded by music. The band, Chika has been called ?(the band) to bring us into the next millennium.? Chika?s first CD Little Ship HeadI has been critically acclaimed and the music has been described as ?slickly crafted, infectious? a slam-dunk.? Tonight chika will perform solo.

Visual Artist Obaji Nyambi is also Director of Pi Gallery in Chicago. He received his Master of Fine Art, Printmaking and Drawing , from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an his Bachelor of Fine Art, Graphic Design, from the Oklahoma University. His awards include Artist Fellowship, ?the Lila Wallace-Reader?s Digest Fund? for Artists in Giverny, France, 1995; Artist Fellowship Grant from the State of Illinois Arts Council, 1994; Artist Fellowship Grant in Visual Arts from the National Endowment For the Arts, 1993; and many more.