Jazmin Miller, Carpenter Art Garden
Theatre artist and filmmaker Jazmin “Jazzy” Miller has embraced her role as the Executive Director of the non-profit Carpenter Art Garden. A native of Memphis, Jazzy is an advocate for racial justice and social change. She conducted extensive biographical research on Sojourner Truth and wrote a one-woman play on her life, Journey of Truth, which Jazzy performed across the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. At the time of our podcast, she was working on a documentary film, Jonesland, and was featured on two episodes of Monument Lab's podcast Plot of Land. She is a member of the board of directors of St. Paul Catholic School and Crosstown High School.
Jazzy holds an M.F.A in Theatre Direction from the University of Memphis and a B.A. in Theatre from Rhodes College. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors with her dog and a cup of coffee.
On Just Bluffin’, we talked to Jazzy about the tight-knit communities that have remained a constant throughout her life, whether in her work at the Carpenter Art Garden, her youth in Whitehaven, or her family’s history in Louisiana.
The Carpenter Art Garden is a nonprofit organization that Jazzy describes as “where art and mission really intersect.” For Jazzy, one doesn’t exist without the other. After school, kids can take part in educational or vocational programs that range from art education, art therapy, and art intervention. Art education gives students access to the theory and national standards they need to know to get a higher education in visual arts. Meanwhile, art intervention and art therapy provide students with help when they’re struggling. Each student has access to group art therapy, or, if they want, they can receive one-on-one sessions with a dedicated therapist.
Jazzy emphasizes how barriers can be massive and numerous in the lives of students in Binghampton. She connects poverty to tangential issues like food insecurity and lack of transportation. “You can’t do an art program if your kids are hungry,” she said. “If they can’t get to school, if they don’t have uniforms, if they don’t have access to a washing machine, then all of these obstacles defeat the purpose of the art programs.” That’s why Carpenter Art Garden is connected with multiple nonprofits throughout Memphis that, while not necessarily connected to the arts, are essential to students’ success in their art programs.
Beyond the art programs, the Carpenter Art Garden provides a tight-knit community that Jazzy loves. Growing up in Whitehaven, Jazzy said that she and her family “did life within a square mile radius.” From school to sports to friends and family, everything was in a bubble that created support as Jazzy grew up. Her hope is for the Carpenter Art Garden to provide the same for the kids in Binghampton.
Jazzy first learned about the impact that art and mission can have on each other years ago when she went to Haiti after an earthquake in 2010. As her bus crossed the line from the Dominican Republic to the devastated homes of Haiti, she asked herself, “You're going to work with kids who have lost everything. What are you going to teach them? What are you going to do? What are you going to bring?” Therapists and doctors sat with the kids for days, trying to decipher exactly what these children went through during the earthquake. But the children were struggling to talk about the pain that they endured. Near the end of the trip, Jazzy pulled out some crayons and progress began at last: “They start talking, because they're talking about the drawing, the colors they use, the choices they made, then they start talking about what they remember.” This moment showed Jazzy how art and mission can intertwine to help children as they overcome immense challenges in their lives.
On top of helping contemporary communities, Jazzy has documented her family’s historical community in Louisiana. “Since I was a little girl, I have always loved storytelling,” Jazzy said. Ample free time in 2020 gave her the opportunity to tell the story of her family. She started by asking family members about their experiences at Jonesland, the property that her family has lived on since the Civil War, followed by a weekend visit to take pictures and collect stories. “And one weekend turned into two weekends, turned into a week, then into a month. Suddenly, it's been about two and a half years. And I've got about 200 hours of footage. I've done about 36 interviews.”
The documentary shines a light on her family’s struggles and strengths – and gave her a newfound strength in herself: “Even if you have a beloved partner, a family who loves you, at the end of the day, no one can do that walk for you. You have to do it yourself.”
When we asked Jazzy her favorite Memphis memory, she came up with a fun one! She was helping with Freedom Awards the year BB King and Al Gore were honored: “I was told my job was to simply walk Mr. King down the aisle. He was in a wheelchair, so I was to push him down the aisle and then go stand in a corner. Then they said, ‘And don't look behind the curtains.’ So we walked in, everything was fine, I loved meeting all those wonderful people. But when I stood in the corner, I took that peek behind the curtain. And there was Secret Service all over the place. And they were not happy that I looked. And I was like, ‘Yo, they got weapons and everything, what is going on?’ I didn't realize that the president or vice president, even after they leave office, are awarded this honor at such events. And I let everyone know the place was decked out in Secret Service.”
To listen to our full conversation with Jazmin Miller, click here. And don’t miss any of our future conversations with Memphis leaders! Subscribe to Just Bluffin’ wherever you get your podcasts, and learn more about the team behind the mic at buildacampfire.com.
