Previous Masterminds: Vox Feminista

This week, as we look forward to this year’s MasterMind awards, we check in with previous MasterMinds.

For Vox Feminista, it’s just really nice to be recognized. “We’ve been doing Vox Feminista for 19 years, actually. We felt appreciated,” producer Joy Boston says of last year’s MasterMind win for literary arts. “It was an honor.” So much so, that Vox hasn’t wanted to spend the money on just anything. They’re still holding onto it, waiting until they need it – or for some unforeseen special project. “When something comes up, it’s going to be perfect.”

So, MasterMind hasn’t changed Vox – “We’re still pretty much doing what we do, and worried about the world,” Boston says – but it feels good to have that MasterMind connection with other artist groups. “Community is what we’re about, the community in Denver, which for us is centered around Mercury Café and Café Nuba. It’s about supporting each other. Denver’s great about that.”

Vox needs all the support it can get right now, as the artists are frantically rushing to write their next show, which opens in six weeks. “It’s just crazy,” she says. “We’re doing a show about cages and prisons. Most of our shows we have big challenges and so this one is really big because there are so many cages and implied cages. We want to talk about zoos and animal captivity. It’s a big one.”

Vox also has a youth group – Vox Rising – that has been doing shows for the past year. Young people write and create their own show, and teach other young people. “The dream is for us to create the container for them to learn and to teach each other, so as we’re giving them space, we help them and then they learn to help other youth. It’s kind of a lesson in letting go.” — Jessica Centers