 They started with an artist-in-residence program, but when I got there I changed it because it was all about one artist and One senior artist a Yale, you know Graduate from Yale Wimpty Wimps was the first but he wasn't When I got there he was that wasn't happening So we brought in they were a clerk from Trinidad who was already in New York Valor made it run the printmaker workshop Justine George from Haiti James Phillips who had been in why who sees now, you know trying to find out Expand on what he was doing. So we gave him studio space and a couple of people a Lot of the artists that you might know as where we had what not they did prints under Val remain it It's a studio museum because we captured some more space than we initially had there to make sure that we could do some other things and I you know This was done on the shoestring believe me once the board saw what I was doing And it wasn't like, you know sucking up Downtown necessarily, but it was about finding what was there in Harlem One of the questions they asked me at the interview was for the position was What do you think about bringing art to Harlem? somebody already answered Yeah, how are you gonna talk about bringing art to Harlem? What about let's expose the heart artists in Harlem and to me art Harlem was not just Whatever it was all across this land and because Harlem was a Metaphor for black America and black American culture. So thank you very much Our next presenter will be Nessar O'Toole Good afternoon, everybody. It's been a pleasure sharing this space with all of you what our presenters in particular I'm an artist, but I'm going to focus on a short live organization. I started with angle that's here in late 1980s, this was the facade of our building 125 between second and third If you can just go a bit slower so I can the person to the right was a videographer And she also became our administrative director El Ciacchino to the right is Eddie Figueroa Who the last year he was the founder director of the New Rican Village in the Lower East Side and When he lost his space in lower Manhattan, he asked us to see if he could share our space so the last year he was pretty much with us and he brought in our programming to Incorporate more and more theater since he was predominantly a theater person This is Pedro Rivera was another one of our videographers and Pedro Pietri whom we collaborate extensively because This is Angel Garcia. It's not doesn't show him but it captures his spirit. He had a studio on the second floor He co-founded the event of Angel Garcia. Unfortunately, he's no longer with us But I put the photo just to remember him another You can switch. This is me the reason I put this photo is so you can see the drawing board and you realize that this was pre-computer We used to do all paces of mechanicals. We had two or three activities sometimes a week So the graphic department, which was me was pretty busy in those days apart from providing services for Malta Moreno's organization and Museo Vario exit art. I used to provide a lot of graphic services for Community organizations in those years This is a selection of some of the flyers that announced some more activities Rose in Spanish Harlem, which was with one chance to rely on in Santa Maria steves music mural was with a Roberto team Melendez and Jose Antonio Vasquez. Then we had tobacco roll, which was a musical group We had a series which is called sojourns, which were artists traveling and bringing back their experiences and sharing them with that with us and then we have the American Cassians poetry series Then we have Roca who had one person show there and at the end of the fly by one of the New York and villages activities, which was a These large musical spectacles that it used to like to throw either at that space or alternative spaces Ah Eventos came out of my disillusionment with creating objects Creating objects for market. I created art and I knew that very people few people in my family could purchase this artwork So I felt that art Should be more of a social activity Inevitably I realized that the creation of art is an innate need the creation of objects It's an innate need for you to project yourself outside of yourself And I got back to creating quote-unquote objects, but at that point I had this contradiction between What I thought was the purpose of creating artists, which was to sell and I realized it couldn't be for that and I created eventos Alternative histories is an exhibition that included a lot of the alternative art groups in the 70s and 80s 60s and that was produced by exit art anyway, I Created eventos because there was no place for artists to experiment in our community very very little There were quote-unquote the minority grants. So I'm gonna myself a veteran's but when we receive grants They were $15,000 were for everybody else. It was $25,000 So I didn't understand the minority grants as a Puerto Rican I couldn't if I lived in Puerto Rico I come vote for the president of the United States and I Could go to the wars But I didn't get the same grants. I didn't get the same kind of money. So there was there was all these contradictions I was a young man relatively young man then and Eventos was that need to create a space where we could come together different disciplines I want to get away from just being this artist visual artist and get into the social activity that art could be hence the Eventos which is events in Spanish space for living art. I want to do also with the language Victonomy so I wanted to really get into that and sink my teeth into that how different Individuals against not artists, but individuals in different disciplines could come together and address the issues that that confronted them That's like I mentioned earlier less than three years a lot was accomplished I Represented is not a lot of what any figure all brought into it. There was another member Willy Cologne who was audiovisual person who also contributed immensely to our programming But this frustration of not having alternative spaces where we could go and Experiment and do things together with the Viper that brought about eventos. I felt like I wasn't obligated to do art, but to feel it It wasn't about creating art for market But creating art for community and creating these outlets of expressions for this community So there were free open houses on Friday's poetry reading who would have food would have a Bar that kind of helps subsidize the space and it was really a wonderful space that we enjoyed immensely That time parallel was a taller Borico in Mussel Barrio within our community But we still felt Alienated from the rest of the city like the art world in the rest of the city was an hour It slowly started changing obviously now. It's a quantum leap, but at that time it was It was a sad state of affairs because Not only what we're dealing with creating art and trying to be honest and looking for our particular voices But we had to take ourselves and dedicate our time and our resources to deal with issues of survival Of equality Which I don't think was fair for us because other artists they have to deal with that But we have to deal with that so at the time and energies were divided doing a lot of community stuff in Mussel Barrio was an educational Institution because we had a need more for an educational center rather of the repository for art Marta Vega well-known he went since she was director in Mussel at a very pivotal time of his history and In short eventos what it was it was a wonderful experience. I'm very grateful that matter gave me the opportunity to share this space and time with you and again Eddie figuros no longer with us also Whose organization then you reconfinished was also very important organization of breeding space for musicians Neto Torre Jerry and Andy Gonzalez the salsa refugees all this wonderful musician that played on there And I need to mention Eddie because he's not here right now and he can't speak for himself And actually after this I'm going to have a round table Reflecting on his life and his contribution to the New York and Village because I think it was an extraordinary Organization and needs to be remembered He also was very instrumental in and get us getting us inserted in Joseph Papp's public theater Which was quite a chore in itself and quite a challenge for him to convince Joseph Pat to How would you say finance and support his projects? I remember him always having these discussions and these fights With Joseph Pat to give him the same money that he gave all the theater people because any figure was also very concerned about Developing a theater front in our community so Thank you very much for your time and My story Presented will be Carol at this. Hi everybody. It's kind of scary to see your face that big Good afternoon, and on behalf of Apple Shop, which is a an Appalachian Center That's located in the coal fields of Eastern Kentucky. I want to thank you for this invitation It's really important for us to be here as part of this Conversation I worked at Apple Shop for ten years, and I was on the board for over 20 and Now I'm part of the extended family into perpetuity. I would say you can't kind of leave I Was asked by Apple Shop to represent them today, and I am delighted to do it Apple Shop has had a huge impact on me the values and the approach to cultural organizing It's had a big impact on the work that some folks here know me more for which is the work. I've done in New York with arts and democracy and Naturally occurring cultural districts New York, and I also want to say Mark Vega. Thank you another Thing that had a huge impact on me was the voices of the cultural battle front conference decades ago That has had a huge impact on me And so we shouldn't Convenience like this are really important. They stay with you So I Need to say though that when I when we're talking about institutions in your own image I'm not from the region and I need to put that out there And that when I'm talking about creating this institution in the image It's of the Appalachian people and I want to make that clear and it's important for me to say that because there's a long history of people speaking for and giving advice and making images about all uninvited people in Appalachia that really misrepresented the region and These misrepresentations are not just stereotypes, but they could they are used to justify the exploitation of the region's resources So Apple Appalachia, and these are just some Photos here Let's stop there. I want to give a little more background on the Appalachia Appalachia is culturally rich and resource rich and economically poor and D Davis and I'm going to be quoting from people there so you can I can bring the voices of my colleagues here D was one of the original youth that was trained at Appalachia And he's now the director of the Center for Rural Strategies and he says today Appalachia is regarded as the poorest part of the country Especially so in those areas that were blessed with rich deposits of coal So how does the very richest become the poorest not by accident? Not without a plan and that plan was made very clear By a historic land ownership study that was done in the 80s That was who owns Appalachia and it was and made very clear that it was owned by corporations and by absentee landlords and That the that the wealth was leaving the area and essentially it was a coal colony Apple shop started in 1969 as part of the war on poverty and Apple shop is for Apple Appalachian workshop It's a training model That basically gave young people the skills that they could only use if they left the region And the young people were interested in getting these media skills, but they didn't want to leave They wanted to use them in their home community So there's a great story of the young people basically keeping the equipment and rejecting the curriculum and creating an institution in their own image and You know given what I just said about the ownership. It was like it was very important for The young people to have an organization they owned and to have control of the media Dudley cock who directs roadside theater and is another longtime Apple shop Apple shopper He describes how Apple shop really came about as part of the southern civil rights movement and This is a Time when it was important to say I am somebody my life is meaningful And my stories mean something and that was very much the spirit in which Apple shop was created and The Highlander Center, which is an important center that got together Did multiracial training in South is a sister organization of Apple shop And in fact when I went down south That was the first place I visited it was the Highlander Center and I was very moved by the history of struggle in the mountains and The sense of being part of a larger social movement And that really was one of the things along with the funeral the free southern theater that convinced me to move south and Stay there for a good long time Apple shop social justice focus Ranges from environmental justice and I was relating a lot to what Elizabeth was saying earlier today You know, there's an example of young people in the training program who brought a glass of drinking water That was brown from that's what they're expected to drink to the state legislature and saying drink this I have to There's examples of work. That's about the women working in fast food restaurants the rights of the labor or the coal miners And about the rights of the prisoners in the super max prisons that are put in Appalachia and where urban prisoners are sent So Apple shop has been around for 50 it will be 50 years in 2020 and I think it's it's really Powerful to think about what you can accomplish with that kind of longevity With an organization that's committed to social justice and community accountability over that period of time and So, you know, you're seeing here the various programs of Apple shop and the impact of being around On the art which is very much about participation it's about people telling their own stories and their own voice and it's about the creators of the media and the theater and the other work Checking in with the community always sort of playing back rough drafts and making sure that it represents the stories of the community Now it also means that you could have a long-term critical discourse with your community. It isn't parachuting in Dropping a critique and then leaving it's about the kind of Discussion you need to wow that one that does go fast That you need to have with your community so I'm going to run through something really fast because I really want to show a clip of Video, but so I'll just read this I think that some of the other things that you can do when you're 50 Is you can have sustained advocacy that can shift policy you can Nurture a new generation of leaders that have come through the youth programs of Apple shop you can build partnerships locally and nationally and You can build networks such as alternate routes you can shift narrative from One of exploitation to one of resistance to a vision for a just transition and that really is the framework in which Apple shop is now sustaining itself is what is the transition from an Extractive economy to a moral economy as Helen Lewis who's one of our mentors says and I would love to show this clip It really shows for me the importance of place and the wisdom of community members And I'm going to bring this to the table with the voice of the people and the community and this is from an apple shop film Which is about a woman who resisted the strip mining of her land Her name is Elizabeth Whitton and this was part of an effort in Collaboration with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth environmental justice group down in the valley About a mile from me Where the crows no longer cry There's a great big earth moving monster machine stands ten stories high Well the ground he can eat hits aside. He can rip out a hundred tons at a bite He can eat up the grass. It's a fact, but he can't put it back It hurts Thank you. I have to see a bit of this tour down around you What's been done over there be done just for a few dollars and the dollars are spent now? What if they got nothing with that unsightly see you and Their water all destroyed I Heard that woman say she was a fool for letting them do it She said oh, it'd have been like you. I'm a fool for what I've done Well, I don't see dollar signs I can use money sure But I'll get by My land still like it was They tried to establish me a pauper in the courts, I guess maybe they think I'm a pauper Lawyer asked me if I knew what the word pauper meant of all things in the court You know, that's almost degrading it. I said I will beat you and I don't have to have money My husband when he was sick he asked us to not let him And you know We're going to respect that way Kind of people would be a good People say to me. Oh, why don't you just sell out to him and get on the way and you know, you can use the money Let him go in there. I said ain't no way As long as there's a wooden wheels With this family, they'll not strip it. Okay, our next presenter will be Dingham a tannin Artists and actors I'm here today representing where we at black women artists Organization started by myself K-Brown, they K-Brown and faith Ringo The 60s was a time when the sleeping giant also known as the African-Americans Woke up and restarted screaming for justice equality and the right to exist The arts flourished as African-American artists began to gather create and perform and promote our own images and thoughts whereas before before the 60s America simply said that we didn't exist at 17. I joined Where you see artists collective as a visual artist the beginning of my career when I joined the group The group consisted of brothers and a few sisters But after a few years the sisters kind of disappeared and it was just me for a while. It was okay But by 1971 I began to wonder where the other black women artists were I Enjoyed living in a man's world But there was things missing and there were issues that pertain to me as a black woman that Didn't necessarily pertain to the black men Around April I called K-Brown who called Faith Ringo and we decided to find some other women artists Oftentimes when we call people we asked them if they knew any black women artists and we were told that they weren't any and we said What are you talking about? You're talking the one but anyhow We managed to find 14 who came to my first meeting in my fifth floor walk-up studio on the lower east side Which at the time the rip the women really wanted to come to this meeting because I lived on a fifth floor walk-up There was no lights in the hallway and there were leaks everywhere After a meeting or two we decided to try and have an exhibition we took the name where we at black women artists because Everybody said that we didn't exist so we said Where are we at here? We are Okay, we couldn't find a gallery at that time who would have us Finally Nigel Jackson of the axle art gallery on Charles Street in the village agreed to give us a show Months later because of the recommendation and the pushing of a lot of my men artists friends He had reluctantly allowed me to exhibit in His gallery and the feeling at the time was that women artists were not serious We would run off become wives and mothers and that have long careers The positive spirit and the camaraderie between us and the great response we got from the community After that first show inspired us to stay together. Thus we became the first group and Recording group of African-American artists Although we started with 14 women over the years at various times We have more than 50 or 60 members the initial 14 were k-brown faith wringo caro blank Pat David Charlotte Richardson now car Aunty mullar Gerald and crooks may-may-la-bow and Anne Tanksley Jean Taylor Will be at consistent not only a visual artist we were crafts women We had artists who did painting printmaking graphic design copper ripples a photography sculpture Musicians fiber arts writers teachers and administrators Although our main purpose was to collectively support one another and find Opportunities where we could exhibit and sell our works and other ways of generating income so that we could stand strong on our Own two feet support ourselves and our family as many of us were single mothers We also understood that art can be a teaching tool and a vehicle for change Mission statement included that we existed as a sisterhood. That was the first thing in Unity their strength to preserve our artistic and cultural legacy While seeking to unite humankind through the visual performing and creative arts We are dedicated to the dissemination of information on a historical and contemporary achievements of the afro-american artists and We also wanted to support ourselves as well as inspire the women who would come after us We became a not for a not-for-profit organization in 79 No, actually in 72 and in 79 we received our 501 C 3 non-profit status We formed the committee who research and found grants which enabled us to create jobs for us as community artists We created arts outreach programs Survival arts programs for families and shelters We did prison art programs at Bedford Hills prison facility And we did arts and education at many New York schools and after school centers We would often work with the way you see artists collective and exhibitions and other projects We did a six-story mural at 24 Furman Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn We taught a wide range of classes including painting and drawing printmaking crafts writing video photography needle arts African mass making making and using African instruments Stretching your food dollar through proper food selection making your own baby food the ancient art of natural beauty Healing arts and so much more We were basically a Brooklyn based group, but we exhibited worldwide a few of those places include the way You see art collective gallery in Harlem Metropolitan Museum local 1199 Gallery Acts of Art Gallery the studio museum in Harlem the new muse in Brooklyn Bed-Stuy Restorations the Kara Fester Festival in Guyana Make it at the college and the veneen gallery Where we had stayed together for 25 years? Many of the artists went on to become master artists in their chosen field And we all believed in passing the baton on and encouraging other women to rise up defy tradition and become artists Although we are no longer in existence our legacy continues There have been other african-american women artists groups formed inspired by what we did It is for reasons like this that our story can be told in hopes of inspiring the next generation Because we basically started with nothing and we managed to build an institution that really was able to do Different things in our own communities our own way All of this and I'm here to to make sure that our legacy is never forgotten because America has this very strange way of revising history and It's important Like most of the people who are here today have devoted their entire lives To make sure that african-american people have a culture that the world appreciates acknowledges Accepts and it's on the same level as everybody else's culture This is my work In case you don't know I've been an artist 52 years down I'm basically a fiber artist which was another burden I have to overcome because Textile arts which are mostly done by women was huge Discrimination against that not only was we were we discriminated against as black women artists a lot of us with textile artists You couldn't get into a gallery. They didn't want to see textiles. That was not an art form It's about the fine arts not thinking that art is not a box like that. There's more than one way to do So, okay, this one probably done around 90s. I've done a lot of work with jazz musicians I love going to clubs and drawing because of the costumes and the way that they move and just the vibration This is an old print of mine Okay Because the other thing about me is that I have developed into a multi-media artist basically because I had no choice and Not only didn't I have a choice, but I like to do more than one thing I've been a writer illustrator muralist painter Quilt maker Yes, so this is the print and the other thing that some people haven't mentioned today is about the cross pollination of all these different groups We all hung out with each other. We help one another. We supported one another. We went to one another's events a lot of us belong to One or more groups That's it and I have one more thing to say I bought an actual quilt because I wasn't quite sure which images of mine you got this was done It's of a woman a woman drummer One of the other things that used to upset me in the early 70s is that when you saw women Images of paintings of women. It was usually a woman carrying a baby Or something like that and that's wonderful. I mean, I'm a mother in fact my daughter teaches at this school here and But we are so much more and part of the thing about where we at was to show that so much more Okay, our next presenter will be Monica Montgomery Hi everybody, I'm Monica Montgomery And I am the executive director of the Lewis Latimer Historic House Museum and Flushing Queens Lewis Latimer being an amazing black inventor that everyone should know about And I also recently launched A mobile social justice museum called the Museum of Impact Just to give you a little context of the Museum of Impact We are aiming to create a cultural commons with interactive experiences around art activism and movements of the people And we're building on this long-standing tradition Of artivism raising public consciousness and deepening connections and perspectives So my version of what a museum could and should be compelling Inclusive and participatory the images you're going to see in this PowerPoint are of people at the museum that we did in september We recently popped up at a community gallery called art space in Harlem They're right at 1 22nd and Adam Clayton Powell. We were open for five days. We opened on the day of the african-american Parade so there was a lot of fanfare a lot of excitement outside and just inviting everyday people to come in the door Experience this art. See what we're about Let me backtrack for a second and say the exhibit is actually called the movement is rising And it's all about the black lives matter journey and some of the horrible injustices that have happened perpetrated against people of color and ways that we can Connect with that find solutions and take action. So this movement is rising exhibit really struck a chord with a lot of people um, and it was my way of using the platform I had and doing what I could to contribute towards solutions in this struggle So these are some images of ways that people interacted in the exhibit not what you would see in an everyday museum um, the artwork that we had on the wall was from a variety of different community artists photographers print makers We had artists from a group called immigrant movement international As well as some people that are organizers that had been photographing all along their experiences at protests And they were able to use those photographs and and view them Excuse me exhibit them at the space So on the left is an image of a woman Who is of the muslim faith and she was so inspired by what she saw She wanted to do her prayers in the space and we welcome that and I think it was a beautiful gesture And I'm really happy she felt comfortable And able to do that there In the middle is an image of an aztec dance performance group That came to the space to purify Sage smudge it and do a dance honoring the latino individuals that have been killed and hurt and slain With all the police brutality and vigilanteism and we were really happy to have them come They brightened up the space and a lot of folks walked in off the street to see What they were doing and what's this dancing about and they they performed for about two hours. It was very powerful um, and finally If you can see on the very right one of my educators her name is betty rose and she's also a community organizer She was inspired. We were there one night. We would stay open from about 11 a.m To like 8 p.m When we were getting ready to go home There were all these kids outside just like running up and down the street And it's Harlem, you know Harlem's a live place and so They kind of ran up to me and they were like, what's going on there? And I'm like, we have a museum for you. I was like ask your parents if you can come check it out So they asked their parents who live nearby and they came in and the first thing they said is we're hungry And I said, okay, I'll get you some dinner So we got them some pizza and then I was like, let's talk about this art And betty was able to just kind of like get their opinions on what they had heard of Ferguson, Mike Brown, Black Lives Matter, some of the famous and not so famous names that are associated with this movement And really just talk with them and it meant so much just to have a group of children in the space Able to come up and see the art and make art with us and eat dinner with us and be in community And hold space for them like that was the highlight of the experience for me That's how I knew that what we were doing was powerful and needed and successful Next slide, please So another thing we need to do with the Museum of Impact is inviting these cultural exchanges making people from all walks of life feel welcome A lot of times With Black Lives Matter, there are people that are not of African descent, Latino descent, not of color that have come up to me and said, is it okay if I come? And I'm like, of course, please do come. This is everyone's issue This is an issue that everyone needs to be aware of have consciousness around and be working to find solutions So we welcomed and invited all sorts of people in that first week that we popped up about 400 people came out A lot of those were my connections, family and friends, but then they were also friends of friends And others who came And this is another image just to me of like what a museum can be, you know This community space people are talking sharing ideas the arts on the wall It's just a a welcoming space and I feel that the pop-up model is a powerful one One of the reasons that I wanted to do a pop-up museum aside from not being able to afford space in new york Is that you can bring the experience to where the people are And you could share this art with them. You can challenge them You can prompt their thinking and you can activate them to not just being bystanders But what I like to call an upstander So we really wanted to go to places Where people are and break down this barrier of the museum experience, you know often in Traditional museums are just like hierarchical Eurocentric perspective that we definitely are against and we didn't want Any of that to be in the way of people experiencing the art and the ideas We did a number of kind of community art making projects protest posters This one is called I need social justice because so one of the nights that we did public programming We asked people What is it about social justice that resonates with you? And why is it important to you? And there's so many intersectional ways to get involved with the Black Lives Matter movement and issues around it And so people said things like I need social justice because the less you think about your oppression the more your tolerance for it grows It's really profound Things and these are things that we will collect archive and show when we go to other cities We've been invited thus far To Ferguson I'm going to a conference in Ferguson at the end of the month and we're planning to pop up there in the new year Baltimore and Philly DC and really if you know of someone whether it's a classroom a community center art space That would like the museum have been back to pop up there. Please get in touch with me We want to go anywhere folks would like to see and experience this next slide please This is um the young man on the right Is a young man who is a teenager. He's about 15 years old He came that night all the way from the Rockaways, which is very very very far from Harlem to travel And I was so impressed by him. He's a young budding activist And he wrote I need social justice because gentrification Prevents me from seeing the world and just had a lot of profound insights asked if he can get involved and volunteer with us And you would be surprised just the passion that the youth have and the ways that we can activate them and keep encouraging their growth On the left is um an activist named Dante Barry and he is the executive director of a million hoodies for justice movement Um and just a lot of great people came out Carmen Perez from the new york gathering for justice to Mika Mallory Several local activists and folks from around the country were able to come and see the space in Harlem Another thing that I think museums can and should do shape the narrative and rethink what does engagement look like Community engagement is this term. It's always bandied about when grants are ready to be written or if there's some sort of You know funder that has to be appeased. Oh, yeah, let's talk community engagement But I think it goes deeper than The surface next slide So some of the things that we did to really engage community We started this kind of letter writing trans media project called activist love letters So on a table in a corner We had people respond to these question prompts and write a letter to an activist past president of future About their feelings of what's happening in this moment in history How important it is supporting that activist showing that activist some love or asking them questions How did they get started and we're collecting these letters and planning to show them when we go to future cities So basically each city will show something different and the content will always grow and organically evolve I've also been writing curriculum And I have the activist love letters curriculum that we're teaching right now to a group of middle schoolers So I have some middle schoolers that have also been writing their letters to activists They know and it was so interesting the other day when I was asking them Who's your favorite activist? A lot of people said, you know names you would expect Rosa parks Malcolm X And one young man said LeBron James and I'm like, you know what I dig it, right? Whoever's positive whoever's An icon to you who's doing good things in your mind is an activist Anyone can be an activist and we want to spark that within people next slide Some other things we did audience evaluations Basically after people see the exhibit if they were so inclined We would get a video right then right there asking them about the art the atmosphere and how they plan to find their interactivist We did a good amount of community programming. These are some of the activists that came and spoke next slide um I am a member of a sorority sigma gamma row sorority incorporated And Sandra Bland was my sorority. She was an sg row as well And her death hit me particularly very hard Very hard when I found that all the circumstances I couldn't even Leave the house for a few days and so in this exhibit I wanted to honor her especially in addition to all the other martyrs And we did a visual for her and we released balloons in the air and did a good amount of art making around that And these are just some more images from The week that was Thank you very much Okay, I'm now our last presenter will be uh woody king producer Producing the record from I understand I got talked fast, right Okay, uh concept east theater in detroit mobilization for youth on the lord east side the national black touring circuit new federal theater woody king are totally inextricably connected And the need for institutions in our own image was why these institutions Worked so well for me Concept east in detroit 1960 out of that Moving into new york during the middle of the black arts movement and The mobilization for youth on the lord east side with the poets umbra poets all around The musicians sonny red Jackie mcglean kenny durham the artist valory maynard The artist irvin vencent Then moving out of mobilization for youth into the new federal theater Lonnie elder the third The great playwright j.e franklin moving into new federal theater further In the sake shang gay ed bullens Ron milna amiri baraka being carwell these writers these artists really came out of uh More than anything. It's a deep love of black literature and black art and reading and reading Reading about the will of marvelous Reading the rich of writers reading the john o killings in detroit because there was nothing else to do you know what i'm saying okay, so What i am really Here to talk about the need for institutions in our image These institutions if the leadership is african-american Then you will be able to produce the last poets you will be Able to do what the wine cellars buy you will be able to do a black quartet And any baraka you want to do and no one can tell you you can't do it Okay, also It also leaves into the publishing of these writers by major american publishers some secondary Some minor some self-publishing Also, be able to convince the motown records to do poetry albums by amiri baraka Of black spirits or random house while tony morrison is there I believe that if A writer comes to me Playwright novelist, whatever and I believe in the project I can convince Anybody to give me the money if they got If I don't believe in the project, I don't care how much they try and sell me I don't care how much they want to get into the business if I don't believe in the project if it's not a cooperating My growth from childhood to my adult life If it's not defining with a love of their relatives like I have for my relatives. I cannot do that project It's the same basically with The hispanic writers latino writers that I work with tatu la riera Lucky lucky cian fraco lulis santiago angelo Calla pinza because they believed in What they wanted to do I could find the money to get it done because If they sat with me and I said wow man, they believe in this as much as I believe in my blood, you know So we would have to do that I also want to talk about The african-american institutions during the black arts movement Really roger firman's new heritage theater The black theater alliance The new lafayette theater. That's why I met adi mola. I met ed bullens. I met some of the Uh Sister rashita as molly said we could Communicate we could talk we could I could go and sit with the brother air springs and talk about what I wanted to do I could talk to valet remaining about what I wanted to do and whether she believed it or not she would She was designed for us I could talk to rome beer I could get a piece to do a black man back Because You want to do a black man better? I did a black man's bets piece of art almost 30 years ago But I just this is the side when I put the name and Henry street and all that on they said you messed up the art Okay, so um I want to Talk about this new study that was out last week About african-american institute institutions That are sorely funded But the the conclusion of what should happen is hey, they all will they all should merge You know, I said well, man Institutions have different personalities like different artists everybody It's like saying the woman's project should team up with the manhandle theater club A Lincoln senator should team up with a Kennedy Center Oh, that doesn't work. I mean, they are different artists Artists have different personalities. The personalities create great art I think the mcgannon Art is totally totally different from valet remaining art and I think we should have both You know the portrait of rasul is totally different from portrait of mary barata that why should These institutions come together To as they say save money my observation is Five institutions will come together They would get a little money and they'll take the difference and give it to white institutions And I'm very very, uh Hurt by that study And I hope all you read Uh, it's uh online. It came out from the vows institute Michael kaiser's vows institute last week and part of was printed in los angeles times okay, now, uh my gripe of course is uh new federal theater Okay, new federal theater, uh, negro ensemble company And roger firman's uh new heritage theater was suddenly defunded on September 24th These institutions have been getting funding from the new york city department of cultural affairs 25 or 30 years So you say wow, why? Why do they cut my money? Oh, the pound did not know the work Okay. Oh The pound did not get a chance to see it. So I said, well, who is the pound? They're all white They're not interested in what we're doing Uh in terms of these workshops not in the least so therefore The best way to destroy the institution is not check out its work So that's why we all have to always be vigilant be aware of Why these people say they are cutting our money our funding We have to always be make them Tell you make them tell us And then if I don't like it, they're going to get about 10 000 letters asking them why and they're going to have to answer those letters or ignore those letters we have to be activists because The temper of the times are not the black arts movement where if that happened during the black arts movement It would be a line around the department of cultural affairs Or if it was during during the civil rights movement, it would be aligned around the department of cultural affairs But the activism I guess as we grow older is not Picked up by young new People coming into it. They have An unbelievable amount of debt with the student loans, etc. And I got one minute With student loans, etc. And the system That perpetuates this I think didn't deliver it to Really stop activism So activism Is what it's all about Question Thank you. Stay here. We're gonna have all the presenters Come up and then we're gonna have a Q and a period for about 20 minutes Now think of this as a like a press conference You got to report us soliciting information not making statements. These are the people who have the information You want to solicit information from them? Ask them a question so There's a lot of talk about, you know, money And during the entire conversation. So then I was thinking of like So this is my question. So should activism be aimed at kind of changing the government changing the economy Should it be aimed at that or should it be trying like should be trying to focus and creating Like alternative spaces that are out that like operate outside of the government outside of the systems that we're normally living in Okay, yeah Yeah Yes, when you ask a question when you specifically say who it's for An individual or for the whole panel So anyone like to uh, this might be a pipe dream, but in my Thoughts, I believe that we as people of color We need to sit down and start running our own institution We need to start fundraising in our own communities and we need to be able to take control Because it's nice when the government funds programs, but when the government Gets to a point where they don't want to be so far of it that we kind of let There's enough money in our communities to fund our own schools The fund our own organizations the fund our own arts is the mindset I think that We need to get back to a model of community giving circles and I spoke about this in the fellowship that Dr. Vega her institution sponsored the innovative cultural advocacy fellows I feel like we have to become The change the funding that we need I pretty much self fund everything Not because it's easy, but because I don't want the fate of This movement this institution that I'm building to rest in the hands of funders that may not see the value in it And so I hustle hard to get extra money to put into this and that might not be a sustainable model But I feel like that's kind of where you have to start and then grow from there with the communities that you're serving I just want to add something. I agree with you and actually the work I'm doing now is Very much an earned income model, but I think that It's our money that goes to the government It's the people's money and the people's money should be funding our work And it should be the city money the taxes we pay the city should be funding your work And that's why we should be protesting when it's not funded You know You're not going to get any government money unless you're a 501c3 unless you have a cultural data form Unless you have a charity registration And unless you've been together two or three years. Okay. That's the first thing the second thing is If you are any of us try to operate outside the system Through the foundation directory through the foundation center of the 25,000 Foundation listings 20,000 only give the jewish organizations So what does that mean? That means The american cultural system is european and it's going to protect european and it's going to support europeans The peer pound system. It's not a peer pound system that decides whether uh, new york state council gives you money or Department of cultural affairs gives you money or NEA gives you money It's somebody pick up a friend or whoever and there are those eight people may read your application They may not if they're too busy. Hey, you gotta be a part of A system we've been around 46 years Somebody watching our council. I don't know that work. That's that's the end of that I don't know digmonds work Hey I just um, I was a panelist earlier. My name is diane frayer. I'm from the native american community And I just wanted to thank all of you and say that uh, I was very inspired once again And mr. King, um, I don't know if you remember, but honey gigama from the native american theater ensemble Remembered you from many many years ago and when I told him you were going to be here today why He said to send his regards to you We're we're hoping to produce the first native american musical with uh My emirate of the native arts organization to get with honey in this coming year. So Hopefully you can reconnect Okay, uh, yeah, um A specific question to it, but then a kind of question for the whole panel I wish you would talk a little bit about my first introduction to studio museum was when we shared the space of national black theater And I went to a reception that both of you were holding together And I could talk just a little bit about how that came about And and what contribution it made But I came today expecting what I got which was a real opportunity to hear about my lived history And and an important feature of that which was the symbiosis between Social movements political movements and the arts that that symbiosis between the black protest movements And the black arts movement was critical to the success that it had I was glad to see those places where we begin to see it monica like places like like your institution We begin to see it uh being recreated But the thing that has not been mentioned that I think is critical to understanding where we have to go from here Is that what was behind that was frederick douglas's comment? Power concedes nothing without a demand ad to take add to take add to take and we're perhaps too early in the black The the black lives matter movement to begin to see that demand bearing fruit But I think it's important to recognize especially for us elders that we have to be present with Those young people to aid them in understanding the importance of the demand And it's cultural as well as its political dimensions Okay, just talk a little bit about that whole thing In addition to add that the rest of the whole panel studio museum 20 33 5th avenue between 1 25 and 1 26 in a loft building and The landlord there was someone who lives wherever but he did he had a front space burning on 125th street Which barba ran tear and her company had been looking at so he came to me one day and said, what do you think about this group? Coming in here. I said, well, you know You the landlord but if it was me I'd bring it to him because number one we we can We can share a lot of information share a lot of audiences and spirit our efforts much broader so he ultimately conceded to rent to them and they that's how that happened, but It was a sister But it was also next door once they moved in we can go through the elevator from our side to their side But which we kept closed of course because we had a lot of different things going on for our Development purposes, but we did a lot together And we shared an audience We shared an audience in that corner even though, you know, you might have had a Kentucky fried chicken or something and the liquor store underneath the building Was it was a cultural center around and further up the street with all the tunis And that was a whole nothing so there was a Sense of community and cultural community there not to mention the theaters that woody has talked about they were all We were all kind of Yeah, very much close to walk business close to the subways and We shared pretty much the same audience Uh woody shared that audience with us as well. He was just 10 miles away or so But uh the spirit of it and the philosophy that we were working on with Where which however we came to it was through the boy through barato through Robeson whoever it was the same It was the same and we all understood What we need to do because we buried we really looked at our history and understood how Theater came out Into to its own how visual arts came out because harm was also a center for visual arts We need to talk about the Harlem Art school was the august the savage and them that was located on 125th and linux avenue I think y'all changed the name but to me it's To me It was there used to be a drug store there, but it was upstairs over there drug store and few people knew that Uh the Bearden and Jake Lawrence had studios down the next block across the street from where the studio museum is now Before they tour that building the foot state office building it up. So they're Harlem that space in Harlem was really solid for cultural activities and it was easy You know to get information from one to the other or to share information With your audience which sometimes Help you grow your audience Okay I have a question Okay, so I wanted to know how can we come back because I've been noticing what and museo and studio museum that these are museums and institutions grounded in the community and that Made by people of the community yet the powers that be Take them so Would you mind giving some advice as to whether there are Something that we can do or do stuff that monica does which is self-funding like Because I feel like Those are two those are two museums grounded in the community that to me Right now don't mirror the community at all. So how how can we? You know reclaim that or make institutions I just feel like maybe there's fear of institutions being built now and then 20 years later the powers that have been taken them away So how do we come back that? I like to comment on that I think the first thing is They have to stop being community organizations They have to become part of the fiber of new york the complexity of new york The jewish museum is there. That's not a community museum So if we start looking ourselves in that perspective that with this This institution is servicing a minority rather than an institution to serving all of new york city I think we assure ourselves A greater funding Great importance in terms of that fiber. There's new york because I think we have to reclaim our part in new york We can't keep creating this alienation from new york and Continue feeling like this where these kind of community organizations It's uh When this morning we're talking about people of color Ironically and I didn't know about apple shop. The first thing that came to mind was Appalachian I said why? Those are people that also being you know Abused alienated from society and they're not black and that chinese they're white So that was that that's the powers that be these echelons of power. They don't see color what they see is Money and power so we have to get away from separating ourselves and and Not try to think so much in terms of of Reaffirming ourselves Continuously because I don't think we should have to do that. We know who we are But letting other people know who we are letting that community accept us and that we become part of that tapestry There's new york the complexity is new york the same way that to chinese the italians and germans everybody else We have to become part of that fiber And to answer your question pull away from the syndrome of community organization and become one of the museums of the city of new yorks Yeah, but still at these museums I I don't see me reflected And I I don't feel that if something was becomes if you can argue that studio museum and and wills They are museums of new york because if you go there, I don't see a portrait of myself. So I don't know I just Let me The thing is that when new york is i'm sorry to overextend this when new york is and I think we have to reclaim that right that when new york is Equal representation in new york whatever it takes Not as ethnic institutions. I think while roots in our culture need to be preserved and protected But at the same time we have to be equal citizens in new york What process that takes I don't know, but we have to change our Mental frames a bit Well, what we know is Yeah, yeah, what we know is You're not going to be Appointed director of the jewish museum What we know is Of You're not going to be appointed director of the brooklyn museum now What you said we should be able to fight that You make a become number two or three but some White person is going to tell you That what you want to program once a year is wrong So that is what I found as long as uh I am the director of the new federal theater No matter after do I've done probably more award winning white plays than anybody in new york But it's a black theater and that's how they define that's how it's written about And if the new york times are anybody to come and they see a white play at my theater It's gotta be what he is kind of cool or something. What is he? It's not I don't want to that's a good play, but uh It's something, you know, he's got some ulterior motive You know But I don't want to I don't want to be misinterpret interpreted I don't think any of us want to be the director of the jewish museum What i'm saying is that we stand up with musel vario the studio museum in hollum and have the same face that they just uh The jewish museum that we have the same respect that they have that we get the same kind of money that they got I'm not saying that we want to become part of that or we lose our identity I'm just saying that we should be able to stand on the same level that they do The kind of money that we receive is in no comparison to what the moh-mah-mah What i'm saying is if if we get up and start claiming Equal money that we're not getting all these Uh subsidies that they give us or these grants that we have to spend half the year writing proposals for But that they acknowledge the importance of the studio museum and musel vario and decide these are our museums And they deserve as much money as any other museum in the city. That's what i'm talking about Um, I just I want to weigh in on this too because um and just speaking from apple shops experience. I Hopefully being accountable to your community and representing your community and having the community see themselves in the organization and being able to Accomplish an international reputation Don't have to be in contradiction. I think there's often pressures put on organizations and rewards for moving away from your community And I would like to see that flipped so that the reward system is actually on If you're rewarded for staying accountable to your community But um, I guess what it would come back to for me is having a clear sense of purpose And um, I mean there was funding that our apple shop could get From coal companies people kept saying why aren't you asking the rich people in your community or out of your community? For the money, but that would be completely contrary to our purpose Plus they probably wouldn't give it to us because we were making films That um, you know were against them, but I mean I think That's the trick is to stay grounded on why you're doing what you're doing And if it starts floating away from where you're rooted, I think you're you're losing your purpose Well for studio museum early days The process was a little different as I mentioned The board or trustees was already in place when I got there and a program will bring in Uh art was already in place I had to change that around and I had to change that around By I'm sorry Yeah, by changing the board number one, but also by embracing the culture that we were supposed to be representing And you know and the local culture as well as the national culture. So that was my program was to to Uh As a museum Validate what the visual arts Of our era was doing and in that regard we Had a board That didn't quite follow that line of thought But we had a board that had access to fund to funds Our position at that time was not one of fundraising per se We did some things to try to make the Raise money to do the programs that we thought we needed to do print making workshop For instance, we're not a part of that board's program But when we decided by Fact of there was a big desire for it in the community that we should answer that and so we you know, we've Script and scraped and and created a way to pay the rent for the new space upstairs And brought in the printmaker and the thing just blossomed out Because people were supporting it But in terms of the board the board was not The board that I would have put together necessarily I probably wouldn't have known to put together a different kind of board But looking back on it that board was was not a board that was Didn't have any kind of cohesion in terms of its ideology just wanted to a museum Uh, if we some of us here know the new Jim Hinton, we certainly knew Charles Hobson We certainly knew the Eleanor Holmes Norton was on the board Uh, and a few others some of them were scattered in the backs of the museums kinnison mack shine A couple of That were never involved very much in the museum at all, but they were their namesake only Uh, so changing the board wouldn't have Couldn't have happened overnight But here's what happened There was a board change There was a board change because when I got it got to him there was a uh, and this can happen on any any level in museums There was a process by which the treasure of the board Jeff Byers Lehman brothers now deceased Uh Filed in 1969 the wrong way for the 501 c3 as a as a nonprofit Which didn't allow them to raise money And he controlled To make a long story short he controlled the treasury I couldn't get access To certain things. So I this is where the change came in I brought in Russell goings from first Harlem Securities the black man first seat on the on the on the uh Stock exchange down here Brought in a couple other people Who had some status within financial community? He he expanded that to uh to a man who was heading up Standard and poor and also one other person's name whose uh position. I can't remember it now But they they happened to have bit uh They could force this guy To release You understand He had the control of the money I could not use Without it going to his His account Okay, I didn't notice until I got there of course So Behind the scenes while we're building workshops and while we're having film workshops and while we're doing this that and the other There's this other struggle that was going on which I haven't even touched on But I brought in this guy Russell goings and somebody some people hate him now because he turned out to be You know something else as a as an art collector, but nonetheless He broke that stuff up because The peers of this guy were now on the board and he couldn't do he couldn't get away with what he was doing That's how I did it but that but I couldn't you know We couldn't have put together a boy that was going to for studio museum that was going to attract the Eleanor Holmes Norton or Carter burdened or his brother-in-law Jeff Byers or some other people but That's where it was when I got there. So I had that to deal with we couldn't go to the community As such and they said well you you get all this big money from uh these people Even the black artists were saying well you you're getting money from metropolitan. You don't mean from the museum of modern art That's a man. You don't know the story. You don't know half of it And I'm not going to give it to you now because you got a tooth you got attitude about what it's about It's not about that at all for me It was about getting our culture situated and getting us a voice in that visual arts thing in here in America And that was you know, what the driving force was But you know fundraising I mean, I was on a New york state council for the arts and the city panels and stuff like that and you had to fight on those panels because You know Here's to give you an example All the tune these plays came up for funding Well, I was dealing with and and the guy on the panel was from Syracuse A buffalo buffalo He don't know about afghan drumming or the impact of that music But he's going to decide that well, we just gave this group over here in Harlem some money So we can't give them this that in the other. What do you do? So this is what you're up against when you go into to those uh, those that level of panel Of meetings. This is the new york state council on the arts So what you're you're about isn't necessarily what those people are making the decisions are about So who you have to who do you who do you go to from there? If you don't have a community that's going to Provide the the gaps into that you have to build up the count You know, you have to build on that. It's not something that happens overnight Okay, we're gonna take this one more question Let's speak on On the studio museum and then question. Okay Okay, let's go be very quick I don't know if you all know the directors of the studio museum How many statements you don't even believe in black art? Okay, so now Yeah, yeah And everybody Well, there were people running black institutions who did not even believe in black art So what what do we do about that? How do we deal with that? Museums are wonderful I've had great experiences. I had some nightmares. However As a response to the from us being excluded from museum, there are hundreds of galleries and people's homes All across america We need to go into those people's homes Okay, with that we're gonna go to the next next and last question So this question is is for woody and monica as Curators currently of organizations kind of a two-part I'd love to hear about Some current voices or artists that you have come across That current artists that you're feeling and also just very very quickly some advice for individuals that want to maintain or start institutions woody and monica I'll start. Um, I have to admit I'm always looking for artists and asking people, you know, who do they know and who they like? Um, and I don't have any art snobbery in me So you could be someone that recently started or someone that's been around for years Just yes, fan medic rate artists that I have been looking into Sophie Sophie Dawson And she used to do murals for groundswell and she did this amazing mural called every mother's child That was up for a few weeks that had the mothers of and until My brown mom and different people and just kind of chronicling that and I was so taken by that And I told her I'm like I love your art and I want to take it on the road with me So, you know, there's someone right there that I just met. Um I'm always just on the lookout for just fresh exhibit design fresh art for people that want to start their own Institutions, I say do it feel the fear and do it anyway Um, we have to build This next generation up in a in an institutionally inclusive way And we can't keep waiting for validation or approval or any of that if you have an idea and it's a solid idea And you say, you know, the world needs this and there's a void go for it and and be empowered in yourself You're not always going to get Everyone to buy in to what you're doing people said to me for the first three years when I was doing this You're crazy. You can't start a museum. Who are you? But here we sit in terms of young artists young playwrights And people working in the theater Jonathan Macquarie who works at the uh national black theater Eric Lockley who has something called movement here. These are under 30. These brothers are brilliant in the further administration Margaret O'Deck who worked at the forward foundation Kristen Adele who worked at the forward foundation. He's all 30 31 years of these people On it these people are awesome and I would suggest Keep them in mind I just like to add about starting organizations There's a real alternative the internet set up a solid website And running your organization from the internet if you have activities exhibitions or whatever Theater pieces performances, then you identify the spaces you rent them or whatever for that particular activity But the internet is a viable way of starting an organization. There's no overhead no rental no light No, nothing. You're just there you get the input the media mechanism is already installed into your website So that will be my advice to anybody starting a new organization start with a website Okay, we're going to have one more question. Then we're going to be finished I'm melody capote with the caribbean cultural center and have done a lot of the fundraising for our institution While we talk about the kinds of money government money that needs to go into our institutions statistics show that the greatest Largest amount of money that supports these institutions or institutions is individual money 70 percent is individual giving our institutions don't get that kind of money from the very constituencies and communities that we're serving My question is to dinga you said something earlier that said we need to give to our institutions and support our own And it's about mindset. What exactly does that mean? Because we've tried to give you circles that monica suggested We've done all kinds of campaigns. I don't most of you know We're about ready to open a firehouse We wanted to a dollar campaign that says that every person of color would give to the firehouse just the dollar We wouldn't need to ask anybody for anything We're now going to be in city space There are 34 institutions that get 85 of the city dollars from before dca gives the rest of us the 15 percent About a thousand groups fight for 85 percent of that money 85 percent of that funding goes to 34 institutions And only three of those 34 are of color studio and museo and I think the others the jamaica art center marta It's only two and that's because they sit on city space The others include the zoos the botanical gardens the Lincoln centers of the world But there are only two of the 34 that represent organizations of color 15 percent of that money a thousand program organizations including us and i'm sure woody we all fight for what's left Because the firehouse now is going to be on city space We're fighting to be the 35th organization that gets identified as what is called the cig They have now flipped how that happens. This is a solely mayoral decision But because we've started to make noise at the city level about wanting to be the 35th organization now they flip the script So between trying to get the city to do what's right Turning to foundations who can decide the flavor of the month or not in their giving cycle that year We really need to turn to the very constituencies and and individuals that we're working with who aren't supporting us And who are giving my prime a big donations toward the church So how again Dinger you mentioned earlier. It's about mindset and I'd like to hear a little bit about What you mean by that because we've tried it all and that is the smallest Portion of the center's budget each and every year Corporate support is the same. I mean it depends if it's a fun event that they can then come in and kind of do guerrilla marketing around Right, they want to have the Kodak name or the beer companies. We don't take beer and cigarettes as sponsors. We just don't Right, they've been companies that have been so detrimental to our communities that we can't take that money And those are the ones that always want to step up first Okay, I'm gonna let Russell make a comment and then we're gonna have the panel respond Okay Like I said, I'm a huge proponent If you knock on the door and the door don't open then you need to create your own Institutions or something similar the whole idea is for us As artists to have an audience for our art To have a way of making money for our art, which is why like I said in the probably 60s maybe the early 70s people started opening up galleries in their home And not just in new york all across the country a lot of these galleries are very successful To me it works even better for the artists because museums basically they show art Ain't nothing about sales A lot of times your work is not in the gift shop So you could have a piece in the gap and in a museum. You could be you can't you may not even have Coffee to get home Okay, but these galleries their sole purpose is to sell and promote Black art. What we're actually doing is not homogenized. It's not what somebody else thinks that should be black art It's what we the people who are making the art are producing and so Galleries in the home is another viable way of us being able to survive I remember in the 80s. There was a black man who started a potato chip company He became a millionaire about two years selling 25 cent bags potato chips I think the same thing can be done in arts with a little creativity Okay Okay, thank you very much You