Order of Service

• • 3ARTS MATCH
  • 102% contributed

Order of Service is a personal and universal ode to an ancestral legacy in which sound and sacred space are tools for healing. It is a loving tribute to my grandmother, LaRuth Bush-Carr, whose voice and sound recordings will be the basis of this project. Furthermore, this represents my very ambitious attempt to create a thoughtful space that can be repurposed for other sound design artists. My love of sound and music, and fabricating spaces and objects in which to enjoy them, has carried me through most of my life’s journey. My grandmother also loved music and used it as a self-healing mechanism. Although our approaches were different across generations, I’m excited to find a common and creative ground with this material and idea. For the first time, this project will create an opportunity for our healing sounds and spaces to be in conversation with one another. Your contributions will directly support the design and fabrication of the sound installation, which I feel will resonate with anyone interested in ancestral Black legacies.

About This Project

Long before I became a DJ nearly 10 years ago, I've harnessed the language of music and sound as a communication and healing tool. Often this is how I bonded with loved ones, friends, and strangers. It is through sound that I’ve found and expressed myself during life’s most uncertain, challenging, and even clearest moments. I use sound and fabrication as methods of healing myself and others. As it goes, so did my grandmother and many of our ancestors.

The basis for this project will be a vocal and musical conversation with my maternal grandmother, LaRuth Bush-Carr, who I spent the duration of my life in close quarters with. She was a dedicated Christian who loved to be in church and to help and heal other people. She was in church even when she wasn’t physically able to be there. LaRuth endlessly listened to Gospel music, recordings of the church sermons, and even Christian Drama monologues. These sounds contributed to her daily survival for as long as they could. This time two years ago, it no longer served that purpose.

With this campaign I will gather and present a collage that explores these sounds of survival for LaRuth, for myself, and for countless other Black women. This will be my first major sound design installation and large-scale structure fabrication. With this project I’m aiming to explore the possibilities of creating a mobile sound space that can be used by other artists in the future as well. This will require a very thoughtful selection process for materials and design. Build-out of the physical space is what this campaign will be primarily used for, including wooden soundproofing materials, audio equipment, seating, and other hardware. The design of the sound booth aims to accommodate at least five people at a time.

The funds also would contribute to consultant and labor fees for my collaborator, Mejay Gula, and a sound engineer. Mejay is an architect and SAIC faculty member whose practice of making becomes a celebration of history, memory, environment, and interpretation. Furthermore, she is interested in the sound of architecture and small-scale experiential and sacred structures.

Once completed, I will host a public dialogue and exhibition for Order of Service. The sound design will eventually live on my website and the portable sound booth will be stored away until another sound artist wants to use it.

By contributing to this endeavor, you will not only be contributing to the expressive language of sound as a means of spiritual and emotional connection, you will also play an important role in developing spaces and resources for sound installation artists to experiment and realize more of these kinds of projects. Thank you in advance for supporting Order of Service!

Thank yous

Contribute any amount or choose from the levels below.

• $15
  Social media + newsletter shout-out ($15.00 is tax deductible.)
• $30
  Above + your name permanently listed as contributor on our project web page and on our first program brochure ($30.00 is tax deductible.)
• $50
  Above + "Order of Service" inspired mix or playlist courtesy of DJ Rae Chardonnay ($30.00 is tax deductible.)
• $100
  Above + handmade wooden tealight candle + incense holder courtesy of Rae Chardonnay (limited to 10 donation gifts) ($50.00 is tax deductible.)
• $200
  Above + one-on-one, coffee, wine, or tea chat + tour of "Order of Service" + digital download of "Order of Service" soundscape ($150.00 is tax deductible.)
• $600
  Above + 3 hour DJ set courtesy of Rae Chardonnay for an event of your choice (limited to 5) ($350.00 is tax deductible.)

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Rae Chardonnay Taylor

Make a Wave Artist

Rae Chardonnay Taylor is a DJ and arts administrator with a background in events management and production. She began DJing in 2010 and has since held residencies at Chicago venues including Underground Wonder Bar and The Promontory and has circulated …

View Rae Chardonnay Taylor's profile

• 2 updates
• 60 supporters

• Update 1: Almost there

  Posted on May 07, 2019

   

  Thank you so much to those that have contributed so far and those who wish to support but can't at the moment. We've gotten up to 21% of the goal! Not quite 1/3 but we're almost there. We have just over 2 weeks. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about how your contribution will be used.

  Update 2: Upcoming Live Performance & Exhibition

  Posted on July 15, 2024

  

   

  Order of Service Exhibition & Performance

  Peace peace good people. I'm dropping in here to update that this creative meditation is generating into a short exhibition and performance as part of Lookout 1700 at Steppenwolf Theatre on Friday August 16th, 2024, 8pm. Tickets can  be purchased sliding scale at Order of Service Tickets. Please let me know if you'd like to sponsor a ticket and/or if you'd request a guest listisng for the evening. I'm nearly speechless at the support that this endeavor has received over the years and grateful for the post-quarantine reflection and healing that has taken place. I hope that you can be present physically <3 rae chardonnay

• Thank you to the following for contributing to 3Arts with the recommendation that we support this project.

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