Have You Checked Out BAC Wellness Studio Yet?
Brujas of Brooklyn at Weeksville Heritage Center. Still from Neighborhood Clinic Healing Installations Trailer. Ryan George, Videographer. Doug Sharf, Video Editor.
BAC Wellness Studio is our new hub for art, resources, and training at the intersection of creativity and wellness. This initiative invests in the notion that the holistic well-being of Brooklyn artists is fundamental to the strength and spirit of the borough.
Come to BAC Wellness Studio for . . .
Art, research, and information: experience perspectives on healing and well-being from artists
Support and community: find affordable healthcare resources
Opportunity and inspiration: explore career pathways through training and mentorship
BAC Wellness Studio is available online for free! Be sure to explore both digital programs:
Neighborhood Clinic Healing Installations
Riffing on Brooklyn's legacy of self-determination, this 4-part video web-series features artists embodying what healing means to them, their communities, and their cultures. Viewers are invited to share their definitions of healing in the Community Voices section.
Learn More
Sonic Clinic: A Sonic Wellness Neighborhood Clinic
Drawing on global healing practices, both traditional and contemporary, this five-part series features some of Brooklyn’s Immigrant artists celebrating the healing power of music and sound. Viewers are invited to add to a Wellness Soundtrack for Brooklyn in the Community Voices section.
Learn More
Stay tuned for more information on our Wellness Festival coming in June 2022! The events will be a mix of live music, digital arts, and impactful community healing spaces open to all Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Our Grantees' Events
Upcoming in-person & virtual events hosted by our board members, grantees, fiscal sponsees, and partner organizations. Keep scrolling for a full, comprehensive list of what's top-of-mind this February.
Herkimer Street Stoop Interviews by Hidemi Takagi
February 3 - April 3
Potomac Playground
446 Tompkins Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Outdoor Temporary Public Art exhibition collaborate with NYC Parks on Herkimer Street Stoop Interviews by Hidemi Takagi. Herkimer Street Stoop Interviews is an ongoing community arts project with long-term Bed-Stuy residents. Takagi has been working on social-engagement projects since 2015 but had to pause once Covid-19 hit. During summer 2020, she got the idea for this project and interviewed longtime residents while taking their portraits on her stoop. Viewers can also hear the interviews by scanning the QR codes next to the images.
NARS Foundation presents Re-Discoveries
On view through February 16
10 AM - 6 PM
NARS Main Gallery and Project Space
201 46th St., Fl 4
Brooklyn, NY 11220
Re-Discoveries features works by Southwest Brooklyn based artists. Each artist addresses ideas of change and adaptation as they reflect on the past few years: a period in which their lives and the world ceased to be what it used to be. These ideas are explored through new approaches that incorporate the use of elements such as text, wax, or other components, and through incorporating psychological themes that span from states of anxiety to meditation. Thus, this collection of works is a portrait of a changing, flowing world, and an invitation to re-discover it.
¿Dónde puedo ir? Searching for Home
February 19
3 PM – 6 PM
Virtual Event
¿Dónde puedo ir? Searching for Home is a collaborative musical project created around recorded oral histories that capture the immediacy of displacement facing local Latinx residents in Bushwick due to housing insecurity, political turmoil, and socio-economic instability that's been further exacerbated by the ensuing public health crisis.
Join us for an evening of original music and storytelling that incorporates the experiences of Latinx residents in this hyperlocal yet universal documentary project that showcases Bushwick’s strengths: its diversity and soul. We want to amplify stories of how we find our sources of strength to not only survive but thrive.
Jaime Sunwoo’s Specially Processed American Me
On view through February 19
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie St.
New York, NY 10002
Dixon Place, Free Rein Projects, and Ping Chong and Company (PCC) present the world premiere production of Jaime Sunwoo’s Specially Processed American Me. Co-directed by Sunwoo and Karim Muasher, and commissioned by Dixon Place, the multimedia theater work investigates SPAM’s legacy in the military, its significance in the Asia-Pacific, and its influence on Asian cuisine as it reveals the stories of three generations of women. Through a narrative collage of oral history, video, music, and shadowplay, SPAM becomes a powerful symbol of colonization, immigration, assimilation, American dreams and disillusionment, inviting us to examine the memories we hold onto and those we leave behind.
The Vex Collection Online Album Release
February 18
Online
Imagining alternate pasts, presents, and futures, The Vex Collection uses unheard-of combinations of traditional instruments, newly devised musical contraptions, and a philosophy of mad-scientific experimentation in their exploration of uncharted sonic space. Led by composer-performers Vicente Hansen (drums; gongs; electronics) and Mat Muntz (bass; Croatian bagpipe; homemade woodwinds), their self-titled debut features avant-garde highland bagpiper Matthew Welch and Korean woodwind virtuoso gamin, who contribute their unique abilities and conceptions to an intricate whirlwind of sound.
Events & Programs
Additional happenings hosted by outside organizations, collectives, and institutions.
Center for Brooklyn History (CBH) TALKs
Black Is Beautiful: 60th Anniversary of the Transformative Fashion Show, Naturally ‘62
February 3
6:30 PM
Virtual Program
Join the Center for Brooklyn History as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Naturally ‘62 fashion show. This groundbreaking event featured Black models (referred to as Grandassa models) who rejected Western ideals of beauty and helped advance the Black Is Beautiful cultural movement. Original Grandassa models Queen Black Rose and Barbara “Adzua” Solomon, and Bob Gumbs, graphic designer and original member of the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (organizers of the Naturally ‘62 show) discuss the power of fashion to represent Black lives, challenge false narratives, and ignite change. The event is moderated and guest curated by Souleo.
Imani Perry on South to America
February 7
6:30 PM
Virtual Program
In South to America, Imani Perry, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, surmises that the meaning of America is inextricably linked to the South, and that to build a more humane future in the United States we must truly understand the history and culture below the Mason-Dixon line. Moderated by The Atlantic's Nicole Chung.
Lenapehoking: The History of Lenape Forced Removals
February 23
6:30 PM
Virtual Program
The Lenape Center’s Curtis Zunigha and Joe Baker, and Indigenous historian Heather Bruegl discuss the history of forced migrations of the Lenape people from their northeastern homeland, Lenapehoking. They describe their personal experiences and trace the scattering of the Nation to present-day locations including three communities in the U.S. and two communities in Canada.
Everything & Nothing at All by Barak Chamo
An installation in Barak Chamo's studio space at Materials for the Arts consists of a six-armed mannequin wearing a VR headset, which rides a bicycle with cell phones in each hand. Photo courtesy of the artist.
On view through February 20
ChaShaMa
7 E 14th St.
New York City, NY 10003
Materials for the Arts presents Everything and Nothing at All, an exhibition of new work by Artist-in-Residence Barak Chamo. In his new body of work, new media artist Barak Chamo (b. 1990) attempts to embody the challenges of living in an invisibly despotic digital age. His practice investigates technology’s material and spatial presence, relation and control of the body, inner function, (re)production, and eventual obsolescence.
NY Writers Coalition's Write-A-Thon
February 26
10 AM - 6 PM
Sign Up
Write-A-Thon is a daylong writing event featuring dedicated space and time to write with others, generate new work, delve into the specifics of craft, and hear an inspirational keynote talk. This year's programming is 100% virtual and includes traditional NYWC workshops, craft intensives, writing sprints—and a keynote talk with Madeleine George.
Cue Art Foundation Presents: golnar Adili: Found in Translation: A Story of Language, Play, and a Personal Archive
Golnar Adili, She Feels Your Absence Deeply, 2021, 3.25 x 4.25 x 1.75 inches (closed), Publisher: Women’s Studio Workshop, Edition of 50. Photo by Alec Logan Smith.
On view through February 16
Cue Art Foundation
137 W 25th St.
New York, NY 10001
CUE Art Foundation is pleased to present Found in Translation: A Story of Language, Play, and a Personal Archive, a solo exhibition by Golnar Adili, curated and mentored by Kevin Beasley. Adili’s work is a formal investigation of language, spanning 14th century Persian poetry, didactic Iranian texts, and the artist’s own family archives. Featuring artist books, photographic and textual prints, and an installation of modular wooden sculptures, the exhibition embodies a multidisciplinary exploration of diasporic identity.
Adili’s work is also on view at Center for Book Arts (28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor) in Father Gave Water/Baabaa Aab Daad: An Homage to Childhood, Persia, and Process, from January 14 – March 26, 2022.
Artist Opportunities
Reliable workshops and funding opportunities from outside collectives and institutions. Keep scrolling for a list of what’s top-of-mind this February!
Professional Development
The Incubator for Executive Leaders of Color
Image Detail: Paolo Arao (Fellow in Painting '21); "Back and Forth Forever;" 2020; sewn canvas, dyed cotton, denim, felt, nylon, wool; Photo Credit: Colin Conces
Deadline: March 14
Program Dates: April – September
Through the generous support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, NYFA is pleased to announce the second edition of The Incubator for Executive Leaders of Color, a free program that will provide leadership training and community support for up to 16 arts administrators. NYFA will work with facilitators from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. The curriculum will be designed through the lens of inclusion and racial equity, and we will work diligently with partner organizations and external consultants to ensure that we meet the needs of our participants.
Residencies
Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program
Deadline: February 15
The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program awards rent-free studio space in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn to 17 visual artists for year-long residencies. The 2022–2023 Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program residency period will last from September 2022 through August 2023, with an open studios weekend planned for spring 2023.
Kunstraum Curator-in-Residence
“New York Meets Tbilisi” at Kunstraum, 2020.
$1,000/month
Deadline: March 15
Kunstraum is a community for artists by artists, aiming to redefine the way artists and curators collaborate. For the Curator-in-Residence, we seek a self-starter with an innovative and ambitious mind who thrives from creative freedom, will assume a leadership role, and has an interest in working within an established artist-run gallery. The CIR’s mission is to bring a unique curatorial vision to the program - designed to spotlight their curatorial practice within New York’s art world by facilitating engaging exhibitions and events.
Open Calls
Governors Island Winter Ice Sculpture Show
$2,000
Deadline: February 9
Show: February 26
The Trust for Governors Island and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council present the inaugural Governors Island Winter Ice Sculpture Show. We are excited to invite artists of all backgrounds and disciplines to submit an idea for an ice sculpture, to be completed in the two-hour public event!
NYC DOT Art: Barrier Beautification
Deadline: February 13
Up to $10,000
DOT Art invites artists and designers to propose mural designs as part of the 2022 Barrier Beautification initiative. DOT Art commissions the installation of temporary mural and design treatments along concrete barriers that protect bike lanes and pedestrian walkways throughout New York City. Up to five sites may be selected as priority Barrier Beautification locations in 2022.
Grants & Funding
The Franklin Furnace FUND
$2,000 - $10,000
Deadline: April 1
Initiated in 1985 with the support of Jerome Foundation, Franklin Furnace annually awards grants to early career artists selected by peer panel review to enable them to produce major performance art works in New York City. Franklin Furnace has no curator; each year a new panel of artists reviews all proposals. We believe this peer panel system allows all kinds of artists from all over the world an equal shot at presenting their work. Every year the panel changes, as do the definitions of “early career artist” and “performance art.”
Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design
$30,000
Application Opens: February 7
Application Closes: March 4
he Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design aims to celebrate and highlight the work of the individuals who support, develop, and manage the incorporation of art and artists into the designing and building of places across the United States. The goal of the prize is to celebrate one unique person at the mid-career level for their locally implemented contributions that support community development through the integration of art and artists into the built environment.
Fiscal Sponsorship for Social Justice Arts Practitioners
Deadline: February 28
The Field’s Pilot Fiscal Sponsorship for Social Justice Arts Practitioners Program is a subsidized fiscal sponsorship membership with special benefits for individual artists and art collectives or organizations who identify as members of a historically underrepresented or marginalized group and whose creative work puts into practice and furthers values of social justice, equity, and inclusion in their communities. This is an opportunity for creatives and cultural workers of all disciplines and experience levels.
Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants
Image Detail: Robert Rauschenberg, "Untitled [Cunningham dancers]," 1961, ©Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
Up to $5,000
Cycle 2 Opens: March 1
Cycle 2 Deadline: April 1
Cycle 3 Opens: Before June 2022
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has partnered with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation to administer a new grant program called Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants. The program will initially provide one-time grants of up to $5,000 to professional dancers who have experienced dire financial emergencies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lack or imminent endangerment of essentials such as housing, medicine/healthcare, utilities, and food. It will award a total of $300,000 over the course of three award cycles that will run through Spring 2022.
Join the info session on Monday, February 28th from 7pm - 8pm EST.
Fellowships
Mitu’s Hybrid Arts Lab
$5,000 Stipend
Deadline: February 4
The Hybrid Arts Lab is a program supporting trans, non-binary, and women artists working at the intersection of performance and technology. With a focus on early career BIPOC artists, this program offers creation and exhibition space, technical resources, training, and mentorship to a small cohort for the exploration, development, and expansion of their practice and new artwork.
Resources
City Artist Corps Grants: Applicant Data
City Artist Corps has recently released applicant data including race, gender, and disability identification for artists that received grants in 2021.
The $25 million program supports artists who live and work in NYC. As New York emerges from the pandemic, art and culture are an essential component of the city’s recovery. City Artist Corps makes sure working artists are supported in their own right, and are empowered to participate fully in the overall recovery of the City.
View all graphs and charts here.
What We're Reading
Have you encountered an inspiring or engaging read related to the COVID-19 era lately? Tell us about it at webmaster@brooklynartscouncil.org.
Craig Hubert. “The Weeksville Heritage Center Looks to the Future With a Focus on Art and Community.” Brownstoner, January 2022.
Read
Gia Kourlas. “Reggie Wilson Explores the Power of Moving Together,” New York Times, January 2022.
Read
Zachary Small. “Faith Ringgold Mural at Rikers Island to Move to Brooklyn Museum,” New York Times, January 2022.
Read
Shaye Weaver. “New York Artists For The Bronx,” TimeOut, January 2022.
Read
Cover Image: Film still of Bree Breeden in “LUCKY STAR: superstar” by Pioneers Go East Collective presented at Exponential Festival 2021. Video by Jon Burklund. Exponential Festival is a 2021 Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee. Stay connected via website, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Empowering Artists. Empowering Communities.
The arts are a lifeline to sustain wonder, inspiration, healing, and a sense of community in our lives. Please join Brooklyn Arts Council in our mission to empower Brooklyn artists and arts organizations that bring life and joy into our home borough.