Event Date: April 13, 2019 | 10:00AM–7:30PM
A Blade of Grass Assembly is a biannual day-long learning exchange and magazine launch for creative changemakers to investigate the methods, ethics, challenges, and joys of practicing art that advances social justice. Socially engaged art projects frequently bring together a unique ecosystem of community members, city agencies, business owners, and community-based organizations, among other stakeholders. What can we learn together about creating thriving and sustainable project ecosystems that positively impact communities?
We’ll focus on questions like:
How do artists and curators listen to, understand, and respond to their collaborators’ opinions, creativity, labor, and leadership in the project?
How can artists navigate power differentials and misunderstandings or conflicts when working with communities outside of their own?
How do artists manage partners or participants’ expectations of project outcomes or political/social impact?
How have commissioning/host organizations learned from their past experiences to restructure artist residencies or commissions to enable more equitable, transparent, and successful partnerships?
Assembly attendees will be able to choose amongst six experiences specially curated by the following host sites: Abrons Arts Center, FABnyc & Downtown Art, Loisaida Center, Magnum Foundation, University Settlement, and a tour of Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA)
SITE VISIT DESCRIPTIONS
Mobilizing the Loisaida Resident
Host: The Loisaida Center
The Loisaida Center’s Artistic Residency Program is a platform for artists and cultural producers to develop and present new work and provide the Loisaida community access to the contemporary art world’s independent creators. Reflecting the immigrant ethos of adaptability and diasporic history of the Lower East Side, the Artistic Residency Program’s selection criteria favors projects that examine the challenges and diversity of the neighborhood, explore or reflect Latino/a/x sensibility, or incorporate Spanish or multi-lingual aspects. Past and present residents Alva Mooses, Antonio Serna, Aresh Javadi of More Gardens, Daniela Fabrizi, and Jeca Rodríguez-Colón will present their residency projects on a panel moderated by Program and Outreach Manager Andrea Gordillo and supported by Loisaida Director and Chief Curator Libertad Guerra. We will also learn about sustainable practices in nurturing productive relationships between The Loisaida Center’s core community of artists, cultural organizers, local residents, and researchers to inspire conversation and innovation throughout the city.