We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eshay Brantley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Eshay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

– I’ve always danced since a child. – took a career test in 2011 right before high school thought I’d be matched with a law office but instead was matched as a arts educator
– 2011 I started working at Pillsbury House teaching poetry to youth
– From there I’ve fought to continue to be a artist. I went through homelessness in my teens and early twenties with my oldest son.
– However I refuse to be a dream deferred

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Eshay Brantley, a multidisciplinary artist born southside Chicago, moved to Minneapolis in 2004. Social justice advocate, teaching artist, and mother. Brantley’s artistic work commenced in a ritual-based performance. She is dedicated to nurturing the narratives of Black folks. Over the past ten years, she has worked with Children’s Theater Company, TruArt Speaks, Minneapolis Community Ed, Park Square Theater, Washburn High School, PBS Twin Cities Public Television, The University of Chicago, Guthrie Theater, Tangible Collective, and Women for Political Change. Eshay is committed to the work she does in the Twin Cities arts community and continues to plant seeds for a better future for Black babies.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Fall of 2019 I reached out to the founder & co artist directors of Ambiance Theater Company, Atlese Robinson and Malick Ceesay. I pitched the show “The Garden” to them. We began to collaborate together and at that time. I was car-less and sleeping on a air mattress with my son at sister’s apartment in Hopkins MN. I was working full time at Wells Fargo and worked at Starbucks on the weekends. At the time my son went to daycare and was with my mom or brother on the weekends. Three weeks into rehearsal, the night before our promotion filming, my mom and I get into a physical altercation and she hits me in the head with a pot. I arrived to rehearsal the next day in a DuRag and with my son. We shot the promo video and ran rehearsal. I lost my house that week as well, so I called and I reached out to my son grandparents on his father side and they came to take him while I finished co-producing, directing and acting in the show. I’m so grateful that Nakara Forje provided her home to me during that time.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Buy art. Buy tickets to go see art. Support. Support. Support. Mainly Support your local artist as much as you support your non local artist. Also teach children that artist are not broke. There are just some artist that have access to a particular level of wealth due to knowledge, networking and mentorship. Advocate for more arts programming at your surroundings schools and fight to make it a graduation requirement that they take performing and visual arts.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @eshe_power
• Other: Tik Tok @eshe_power

Image Credits
Chelsea Magee captured all the photos