Cultural Organizing for Community Change: 2016 and 2017
Cultural Organizing for Community Change 2017. photo slideshow: Mohamed Sabour
In late fall of every year, community leaders, artists and cultural workers convene for Cultural Organizing for Community Change, an annual event co-sponsored by Arts & Democracy and NOCD-NY.
Participants discuss the framework behind cultural organizing, connected it to the values behind their work, and mapped how those values related to their personal identities. Packed with workshops (listed below), each year’s convening is energetic, uplifting, and challenging.
Cultural Organizing for Community Change 2017 workshop sessions:
Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed and Civic Practice with George Emilio Sanchez
Power Mapping: A Tool for Activating Networks with Hatuey Ramos-Fermín of The Laundromat Project and Gonzalo Casals
Roots to the Rhythms with BombaYo
Sanctuary, An Interactive Poetry Workshop with Najee Omar of Spark House
BOLD (Builders Organizers and Leaders Through Dance) with Tendayi Kuumba of Urban Bush Women
Creative Strategies for Placekeeping and Anti-Gentrification Organizing with Betty Yu, Liz Moy, Anna Ozbek of Chinatown Art Brigade
Investigating ‘SOFT’: Making Theater with Community with artist Imani Gayle Gillison of Theater of the Liberated
Singing & Sharing: Cultural Organizing in the Post-election South with Judi Jennings of KY Cultural Organizing Alliance and Joe T. Tolbert of Art at the Intersections
Gowanus: A Community at the Breaking Point, a walking tour with Michael Higgins Jr. of FUREE (Families United for Racial and Economic Equality)
Mobile Print Power’s Multigenerational Approach to Public Engagement, and
Story Circles for Community Building with amalia deloney, Arts & Democracy
Cultural Organizing for Community Change 2016 workshop sessions provided an opportunity inform CreateNYC, the city’s cultural plan. Workshops and case studies included:
Art, Culture and Public Housing Communities: “Art Creates Community. Community Creates Change” with Sharon Polli and Claudie Mabry, Groundswell and “Casita Maria: Artist-led Cultural Initiatives for Community Growth and Change” with Christine Licata, Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education. Moderator, Tamara Greenfield, NOCD-NY
Civil Disobedience and Community Care with Monica Montgomery, Museum of Impact
Legislative Theatre in NYC: Representation by Improvisation with Katy Rubin, Theatre of the Oppressed NYC
Roots and Rhythms with Melinda Gonzalez and Fernando Garcia, BombaYo and student Hilda Moussoud
Creative Campaigns for Workers Rights: “Popular Technology, Workers Rights, and Self Expression” with Michelle Miller and Coworker.org and “Artists and the Fight for $15” with Rachel Schragus and Raul Ayala, People's Climate Arts. Moderator, Caron Atlas, Arts & Democracy and NOCD-NY.
Creative Fiction for Community Change with Erick Boustead, Line Break Media and Nayantara Sen, Race Forward, EmcArts and New York University
Gowanus, Where Environmental Justice Meets Housing Justice (walking tour) with Michael Higgins, FUREE (Families United for Racial and Economic Equality)
Theater of the Oppressed and Civic Practice with George Emilio Sanchez, Performing and Creative Arts, Department of the College of Staten Island/CUNY and Hemispheric Institute
Communications for the Can't Stop Won't Stop Artist Activist with Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Equality Labs and #dalitwomenfight
Cultural Organizing Lab with Kathie deNobriga, Arts & Democracy
What is ULURP? How Can Communities Get Involved in NYC's Decisions about Development? with Mark Torrey and Cassie Ang, Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)
Media in Action: Media and Youth Organizing with Janet Perez, Theresa Basilio, and Karina Hurtado-Ocampo, Global Action Project (GAP)
BOLD and Engaged with Chanon Judson, Urban Bush Women
The 2016 convening also included a “Shifting the Narrative” panel with Ken Chen, The Asian American Writers Workshop; Kemi Ilesanmi, The Laundrmat Project; Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Equality Labs and #dalitwomenfight; and Betty Yu, US Department of Arts & Culture (USDAC)