August 2024 Grantee Events

Fatima Logan-Alston, 2024 UMEZ Arts Engagement Grantee, Photo by Eric Bandiero
Fatima Logan-Alston, 2024 UMEZ Arts Engagement Grantee, Photo by Eric Bandiero

Experience a wide range of art activities by supporting our Creative Engagement, Creative Learning, and UMEZ Arts Engagement grantees and their events this month.

 

Stephanie Chou

Chinatown Dreams
Thursday, August 1st at 5 PM
Michiko Studios, 5 West 39th St, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10018

Chinatown Dreams - Preview Workshop
Free admission Join us as Steph previews some new material.

CHINATOWN DREAMS is the next studio album from the Stephanie Chou Project, and is a songwriting album following the journey of a young, second-generation Chinese-American woman, as she and her Chinatown community go through a year of tremendous challenges. This semi-autobiographical story examines the conflict between choosing the safe, expected path vs. following one's heart, a conflict so many second-generation Americans of all sorts face. CHINATOWN DREAMS will be a 10-song concept album written for her band, with lyrics in English and Mandarin. The music combines the energy of improvised jazz with the precision of progressive rock, in an homage to Manhattan's Chinatown. www.stephaniechoumusic.com

Find more information at http://www.stephaniechoumusic.com/concerts

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

 

Annette A Aguilar 

Women in Latin Jazz Festival with Annette A Aguilar & String Beans
Thursday, August 1st at 5:15 PM
233 Dyckman st New York, NY 10034

Annette A Aguilar & StringBeans quintet will be presenting a special concert in Inwood for our neighbors and locals. Many folks in this area do not go downtown to listen to Latin Jazz, Brazilian so we are bringing it to a local establishment. Reservations are recommended.

Find more information at https://www.facebook.com/annette.a.aguilar/ 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

 

Fatima Logan-Alston

From the Same Clay
Saturday, August 3rd at 6:30 PM
St. Mary's Episcopal Church at 521 West 126th Street, New York, NY 10027

From the Same Clay From the Same Clay, is a multidisciplinary presentation exploring the divine feminine and traditional gender hierarchy through contemporary dance, documentary style film, and a post-performance talk back.

Find more information at https://www.threadsoftruthinc.com/events/event-two-y6bt4

Grant Program: UMEZ Arts Engagement

 

Experimental Theatre Project Inc

2024 WOW Festival of Joy and Resilience: HAIROLOGY IV: a Black Burlesque & Drag introspective about Black Hair & Cultural Appropriation
Saturday, August 3rd at 7:30 PM
WOW Cafe Theater, 59-61 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003

Find more information at https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/938d8f83-b154-4601-83db-9ca753933ad 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

 

noah bless

latin soul party
Wednesday, August 7th at 12:00 PM
164th St, between Amsterdam and Edgecombe, New York, NY 10032

Put on your dancing shoes or just come hang out with us!

Latin Soul Party is a lineup of 7 award-winning, internationally recognized instrumentalists that will entertain you with funky grooves and a hot horn section!

Latin Soul music was created in the mid-1960s by Puerto Rican musicians born and raised in New York City. Also known as Latin Boogaloo, this “Nuyorican” music is a common ground that blends African American R&B, Jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms for an intoxicating, joyful sound. It was a short-lived pivotal genre that bridged the Mambo of the 1950s and the Salsa revolution of the 1970s. Latin Soul is, in the words of Bobby Sanabria, “Music with a freakin’ Nuyorican Attitude!”"

Find more information at https://jazzpower.org/2024/07/latin-jazz-power-at-open-streets/

Grant Program: UMEZ Arts Engagement

 

R+R Collective

Everything Ends Eventually- Precious Objects for "Eschatonic" Times
August 8-August 19, 2024
Opening reception August 8th, 2024 and Closing reception and performance August 17, 2024
Every day 11AM- 5 PM or by appointment outside those hours
Latchkey Gallery Space, 173 Henry Street, New York, NY 

Since the beginning of time, artists have been designated storytellers and questioners.  Their obsessive desire to assign Things meaning stands out at a moment when messianic or “eschatonic” planning seems pervasive in such dystopian times. R+R Collective has gathered an intimate and sentimental group, each with the distinct practice of embedding and elevating Objects that hold personal significance. We invite visitors to view the works, participate in programming, and contribute by donating a small precious trinket of their own.  The gallery will be our home base where we can collectively contemplate the futility of such inherent pursuits.  

Find more information at https://www.instagram.com/everythingendseventually2024

Grant program: Creative Engagement

 

Leadlights Ensemble

Rising in the Heights
Tuesday, August 13th at 5:00 PM
Word Up Community Bookshop, 2113 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10032

Puerto Rican musicians soprano Carmen Cancél and singer and percussionist Jainardo Batista join forces with Leadlights Ensemble for an eclectic set of musical crowd-pleasers. Little ones will enjoy an interactive story featuring Margarita Engle’s “A Song of Frutas,” with musical accompaniment by Leadlights. Free copies of the book will be available. Rising in the Heights” is a festival of outdoor arts performances curated by Leadlights in partnership with Word Up Community Bookshop. The festival celebrates the rich artistic contributions of Black and Latinx cultures and promotes children’s literacy through music and storytelling. This project is made possible in part with funds from UMEZ Arts Engagement, supported by the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ); and Creative Engagement, supported by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) in partnership with the City Council and the Howard Gilman Foundation. UMEZ Arts Engagement and Creative Engagement are administered by LMCC.

Find more information at https://leadlightsensemble.weebly.com/events.html 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement & UMEZ Arts Engagement

 

Spencer Vigil

Loud & With Feeling Concert Reading
Tuesday, August 13 at 7:00 PM
Wednesday, August 14 at 7:00 PM
Thursday, August 15 at 7:00 PM
The Parkside Lounge, 317 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002

Welcome to the Loud & With Feeling Concert Reading! Join us for a night of queer excellence as we debut music from Spencer J. Vigil's musical about a group of queer students in the first 24 hours of their sit-in protest. Their quest to fight for LGBTQ+ rights at their Private Christian University is stifled after their favorite professor is fired! Throughout the night, the group uncovers a lot of their own personal histories as they search for belonging, connection, and a collective future. With a pop-punk-synth score and resemblances to shows like Rent, Fun Home, and Elizabeth Swado’s Runaways. Loud & With Feeling showcases the Joy, Triumph, and Community that everyone longs to be a part of. ASL interpreters provided at both shows, This show has depictions of: Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious Trauma, Uses of the (f- slur), Fraught Family Dynamics, Sexually Explicit Language, and Suicidal Ideation. We hope that we can discuss these important topics while giving agency back to those most affected.

Find more information at https://bspencervigil711.wixsite.com/website 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

 

Pigeonwing Dance

The Carpet Series 2024
Thursday, August 15 at 6:30 PM
Monday, August 19 at 6:30 PM
Thursday, September 5th at 6 PM
Sunday, September 8th at 6 PM
Dyckman Marina, The Hudson, 348 Dyckman Street, New York, NY 10034

Monday, August 26 at 7 PM
Inwood Art Works, 97 Park Terrace West, New York, NY 10034

Pigeonwing Dance’s Carpet Series is a compact outdoor performance taking place on an 8x10 Persian carpet in parks and on sidewalks across NYC. Showcasing the choreography of five highly trained contemporary ballet dancers, this virtuosic and intricate dance is a study in contrasts: silk with asphalt, structured choreography with improvisation, and private space in public. Since its July 2020 premiere, The Carpet Series has been performed over 150 times in all five boroughs. The Carpet Series has been featured in the New York Daily News and DANCE Magazine, where critic Nancy Wozny observed, "the geometric patterns of the Persian rug echo and amplify Lamb's idiosyncratic movement vocabulary, which is both intensely intricate and unusually syncopated.

Find more information at https://www.pigeonwingdance.com/carpetseries 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

 

Jasmine Ebron

Dreamers Perspectives
Saturday, August 17 – Thursday, August 22
Opening Night from 5 PM - 7 PM, On View Daily from 12 PM - 3 PM
ATM Gallery, 54 Henry Street New York, Ny 10002

We are excited to announce our art showcase Dreamers Perspectives: Art Beyond Boundaries. This showcase highlights the rich perspectives of neurodivergent artists within minority communities, reflecting their unique interactions and experiences. We aim to celebrate the aspirations and creativity of these artists while providing a safe space to discuss the intersections of neurodiversity and cultural diversity.

Find more information at https://forms.gle/Z4YoiMT4toYta4hx5

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

 

Carlos Jerome

Community-Focused Theater: Staged Readings & Performances
Monday, August 19th at 7:00 PM
ART New York, Leynse Studio, 520 Eighth Avenue (between 36th and 37th Streets), 3rd Floor

"Around The Block / Al Doblar La Esquina invites you to a staged reading of Third Sunday by Mary V. Williams and directed by Russell Jordan. Admission is free, but you must RSVP to thirdSunday@aroundTheBLock.org

With:
Kailah S. King
Greg Mays
Arlene A McGruder
Sandra D. Parris*
Jazmin Williams
* member, Actors Equity Association # member, Dramatists Guild Monday, August 19 2024 7:00 pm"

Photo ID is required to enter the building. 

Find more information at https://www.aroundtheblock.org/ 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

 

TWEED TheaterWorks

Garden Variety
Tuesday, August 27 at 7 PM
6&B Garden, East Village, New York, 10009 (East 6th Street at Avenue B)

TWEED Theaterworks presents Garden Variety, a free performance series at historic community space 6&B Garden in the East Village. This summer’s series will include music and performance by artists including Ms. Zilbert & Co., Julian Fleisher, Rebecca Havemayer, Angela DeCarlo, Lacy Rose and her Starling Quartet, and Dane Terry. Join us on July 23, August 27, and September 3, 10, & 17 (rain date each following Thursday).

Find more information at https://www.tweedtheater.org/

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

 

Julia Justo

Seniors: The Art Within
Friday, August 30th at 11:00 AM
Carver Senior Center, 55 East 102nd Street, New York, NY 10029

“Seniors: The Artist Within” is an exhibition of works by artists 60 and older. They were created during classes facilitated by artist Julia Justo.

Find more information at https://acacianetwork.org/senior-services/ 

Grant Program: Creative Learning