I linked up with my homegirl and creative partner, filmmaker Niki Williams, and we Uber Pool-ed it to CAAM to check out their event “Summer Nights” and the silent films they’re screening as part of their “African American Women in Silent Race Films” exhibit.

I had the privilege of viewing snippets of these “race films” back in my college film courses, but never an entire narrative as presented by the museum. It was, as the youth of today call it, DOPE. While there, I had the pleasure of bumping into CAAM’s Executive Director, George O. Davis.

L to R: George O. Davis, yours truly, and Niki Williams

After a while our friend, cinematographer Paris McCoy swooped and picked us up, and we headed to Chinatown to visit The Institute for Art and Olfaction. I had always wanted to go there, and I was able to convince the other ladies that we should put the closing reception and artist talk by Miles Regis on our itinerary.

L: IAO’s founder, Saskia Wilson-Brown. R: Miles Regis

Miles Regis with friends

More dopeness. I was unfamiliar with his work, but it turned out that Niki had worked on a project that he provided art for. Regis’ art practice reminds me of mine – unconstrained by form with each facet part of a larger vision. In addition to his paintings, he designs clothing and works with VR video capture. During his residency at the Institute, he developed three scents to complement three paintings he had already made. During the talk, he described his approach to adapting visuals to aromas. It was really fascinating. My favorite: “Love Fest”

L to R: “Be Woke!”, “Love Fest”, and “Journey”

All three scents are very well crafted, which is something coming from me, because I hate perfumes with a burning passion. But “Love Fest” is officially on my wish list. Once the talk was over, we took off to Hollywood to take in the illustrations of one of Paris’ artist clients, @adelesupreme at Substrate Gallery.

an illustration by @adelesupreme

It was her first solo show, and she used the opportunity to debut the trailer for her animated series, coming to YouTube on October 11th. I don’t know much about her, but her art’s got spirit and a strong point of view. And I’m actually looking forward to checking out the animation.

Saturday evening reminded me of the good old days when I would pile into a car with friends and we’d hop across town, attending different art events, sipping everyone’s wine, and eating everyone’s cheese. I really ought to do it this way more often.

:This Last Night column is a follow up companion piece to Artillery Magazine’s Instagram Story #ArtilleryTonight. Make sure you’re following @artillery_mag on Instagram so you don’t miss the next one.