On Saturday, September 15th Bed-Stuy’s one of a kind neighborhood art crawl returns for a day of outdoor arts and performance experiences featuring dance and visual artist presentations along with children’s activities and special evening pop-up performances.

This year’s event will be presented in partnership with The Laundromat Project and will take place in various locations throughout Bed-Stuy.

The 2018 STooPS Art Crawl will showcase interactive presentations by dynamic artists, including painting with mother and son duo, Mut’Sun; quilt-making and story sharing with Jacqueline Johnson; celebrations of self-love, care, and community with performance artist, Cat Del Buono & Tanya Jennings, photographer Kay Hickman, and poet Keisha-Gaye Anderson; memory making in the digital age with Jaime SunWoo, Ash Goh, and Zain Alam, community sculptures of mixed media by Sal Muñoz and Christine Stoddard; and more.  Find out more here

Executive Director Kim Whitener to Step Down

HERE Promotes Meredith Lynsey Schade to Producing Director and Brenna Thomas to Director of External Affairs

HERE’s Board of Directors announces that long-time Producing/Executive Director Kim Whitener will step down from HERE Art Center this fall to return to creative producing and consulting with her company KiWi Productions, where she will work with a range of US artists and companies primarily in the contemporary opera-theater and music-theater worlds.

Since receiving notice, HERE’s Board of Directors has conducted an institutional assessment and is now pleased to announce promotions of two senior staff members. With Founding Artistic Director Kristin Marting at the helm, General Manager Meredith Lynsey Schade will become Producing Director and Director of Advancement Brenna Thomas will become HERE’s Director of External Affairs beginning September 1, 2018.

“HERE has benefited enormously from Kim’s vision and leadership,” says HERE Board chair Bethany Haynes. “The Board of Directors extends its deep gratitude and appreciation to Kim for her all of her work and support of HERE over the past decade and wishes her the best as she enters this new chapter.”

Ms. Whitener joined HERE as Producing Director in February 2007 and became Executive Director earlier this year. Working in partnership with Founding Artistic Director Kristin Marting, she co-curated and co-produced HERE’s producing and presenting programs, as well as other special projects. During her tenure, she was instrumental in the launching of two major HERE initiatives – the MADE HERE online video documentary series and PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now, an annual festival of opera-theater and music-theater. 

Ms. Whitener’s tenure has been defined by growth and a consolidation of HERE’s mission and stature as a now 25-year-old arts anchor in the burgeoning downtown Manhattan/Hudson Square neighborhood, where she served on the board of the Hudson Square BID. From 2007 to 2018, HERE more than doubled its annual budget to $2.5 million, grew its staff and Board of Directors, and established important co-producing partnerships.

“The development of artists to their full potential is my great passion,” says Ms. Whitener. “It has been a huge honor to be part of these extraordinary years of accomplishment and growth at HERE – to work with Kristin and an amazing dedicated staff and Board, and foremost to watch with joy the advancement of the artists who have come through HERE and launched their careers during my tenure.”

Ms. Whitener’s final day at HERE is September 30, 2018.

Gibney is thrilled to announce the 2018-19 Dance in Process Resident Artists: chameckilerner, DANCENOISE, Ursula Eagly, Neil Greenberg, Jaamil Kosoko, Nia Love (in partnership with 651 ARTS), Marissa Perel, Will Rawls, Vicky Shick, Nelida Tirado (in partnership with BAAD!), Mariana Valencia and Pavel Zuštiak.Each DiP Resident Artist receives three weeks of exclusive studio space, a $7,500 stipend with an additional $2,000 available for artistic consultant fees, plus administrative, production, and marketing support.
DiP is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Thanks to a visionary grant, two of this year’s artists, chameckilerner and Jaamil Kosoko, will have the opportunity to transform one of their three residency weeks into a fully supported production residency, enabling them to fully develop work that requires technical support in a theater or production laboratory setting during the creative process.
“Now entering its fifth year, DiP has provided pivotal support in the artistic trajectories of over 50 dance makers whose creative output has been resonant and impactful. The generosity and commitment of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has meant that diverse voices in the art form have been brought forth, nurtured and lifted up through expansive support. At a time when funding for culture and creativity has been called into question, Mellon’s backing of DiP is visionary and nothing short of extraordinary.” - Gina Gibney

Read more here

Movement Research welcomes

2018 Artists-in-Residence:
 
Malcolm-x Betts
Melanie Greene
Jasmine Hearn
Kyli Kleven
Alex Romania
Sarah A.O. Rosner
Larissa Velez-Jackson
with support from the Jerome Foundation

&
Marissa Perel
with support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Please join us in congratulating and celebrating these artists!

Read more about the artists and the AIR program here.

New Jersey City University (NJCU) announces the appointment of Stephanie Chaiken as the inaugural full-time director of the NJCU Center for the Arts, a cultural hub for diverse performing, visual, film, and literary arts in Jersey City and the surrounding metro-area.

Ms. Chaiken, a director with 25 years of experience in both the private and non-profit sectors, specializes in leadership, fundraising and community development for arts, education, and performance organizations. She was selected following a national search, and her appointment is effective July 16, 2018.

In announcing the appointment, President Sue Henderson said, “We are delighted to have Stephanie Chaiken, a talented professional with extensive experience in the arts, as a driving force on our creative team and as the inaugural director of NJCU’s Center for the Arts.”  The director of the Center for the Arts will work closely with Jason Kroll, NJCU vice president and chief strategy officer.

Ms. Chaiken acknowledged news of her appointment, saying, "I am thrilled to join the team at NJCU and look forward to collaborating with other arts organizations and artists in Jersey City and the region to support the exciting work that’s under way and to contribute to the cultural landscape of the area in the future. I hope to build strong connections with the business community to shine a national light on the amazing talent that Jersey City has to offer, and to bring in artists from around the world.”  Ms. Chaiken comes to NJCU from Ramapo College of New Jersey where she served for six years as the Interim Director of the Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. 

Read more here