maceo paisley

\may-cee-oh\ n.
multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and cultural producer who explores themes in society and identity through movement, language, and imagery.

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after serving the in the u.s. army and climbing the ladders of corporate America, maceo "paisley" keeling III made his way into the world of arts, entertainment, and entrepreneurship.

For the past decade Maceo has danced professionally, performed on national stages as a dancer, spoken word and performance artist.

As an artist and curator Maceo Paisley has collaborated with director Leila Jarman, and composer Michael Sempert, to create the short film Dynamite that won the Grand Jury Award as well as the Social Justice Award from the 2019 In/Motion Film Festival. His first book Tao Of Maceo: Identity, Relationships,Work: A Journal On Living, is available from Correspondence Print where books are sold. His TedxCrenshaw talk, How To Make Time, can be viewed on their site.

He is currently on curatorial fellowship at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

As Executive Director of the non-profit platform Citizens of Culture, he uses art to help communities and organizations develop critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and resource inequality. In 2019 he was a guest of the Sacred Design Lab, to the Episcopal Arcrdioses of Chicago for a liturgy and ritual design weekend. Paisley’s practice centers around art-based programs for emotional health, and is rooted in critical theory, behavioral economics and cultural studies. He investigates how we make decisions, collaborate and derive meaning from the world, designing experiences for social good. and works with mid sized organizations
 

Photography by Daniel N. Johnson