ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

HOSTED BY ARTS FOR LIVING Arts For Living: Artists Feed the L.E.S. PENNY ARCADE NOMINATION COMMITTEE LAUREN BOYLE is a virtual fundraiser featuring video PARTICIPATING ARTISTS DAVID GARZA commissions by collaborative teams of LINDA DIAZ MEI LUM TRIPPJONES CANAL RESEARCH residents and City ELROY GAY ASSOCIATION based filmmakers. Marking 1 year since EUGENE PUGLIA JULIE ATLAS MUZ went into lockdown due to BARBARA KING & ADAM ZHU SANDRA E. WALKER COVID-19, each work is a deeply personal ANNIE TAN BROADCAST PRODUCED BY reflection on the Lower East Side here and GRANITE LIVE PARTICIPATING FILMMAKERS now. A R PRODUCTION MANAGER ALEJANDRO HIDALGO VIOLET TAFARI This screening will be hosted live by Penny Arcade from ALICIA MERSY our historic Playhouse Theater, which for the past year ALON SICHERMAN LIGHTING DESIGNER has been operating as our Food Access Initiative, a food GOGY ESPARZA NATALIE AVERY pantry that serves 700 Lower East Side residents each ANDY K. BOYCE week who face food insecurity worsened by the COVID-19 SOUND DESIGNER pandemic. FOOD ACCESS INITIATIVE TEAM JAMES KOGAN JON HARPER TYLER DIAZ DECKHAND KAYLYN KILKUSKIE CHRISTINA TANG KIA ROGERS JANET CLANCY PRODUCTION ASSISTANT LUKE VAN MEVEREN OLIVIA CRAWFORD MIKE TAYLOR JOHN-PHILIP FAIENZA SPECIAL THANKS JUSTIN FAIRCLOTH CHRISTIE BOWERS RANDY LUNA RICHARD DELIGTER MILLIE KAPP LIANNE DIFABBIO KATIE VOGEL CHELSEA JUPIN CARLOS MONTANEZ & BARBARA KANCELBAUM THE COMMUNITY COVID KUMASI SADIKI & RESPONSE TEAM THE GOOD COMPANY LILAH MEJIA & THE MOBILE ELLEN SCHNEIDERMAN MARKET TEAM DEANNA SORGE KATIE VOGEL

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

How to Support the Food Access Initiative

Donate! Arts For Living is produced to support our Food Access Initiative which to date, has distributed nearly $700,000 worth of groceries to our neighbors. In addition to attending the event, please consider making a donation. Your donation will be directed towards our relief efforts.

Buy A Shirt! Abrons has collaborated with Lower East Side clothing brand The Good Company to design a limited edition run of Arts for Living shirts, available for pre-sale on March 26 on The Good Company website. 100% of sales from every shirt sold will be donated to our Food Access Initiative.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living Program

Dawn TV: Dawn Lombardi Visits the Abrons Food Access Initiative Directed by Eugene Puglia Featuring Kaylyn Kilkuskie, Damaris Gomez, Carlos Montanez, and Jon Harper of the Abrons Food Access Initiative Filmed and edited by Alon Sicherman

Only one week after Arts for Living was announced, we were swarmed by the press! Legendary reporter Dawn Lombardi of Dawn TV stopped by the Playhouse Theater to lend a hand for a special segment on our Food Access Initiative.

Water Seeks Featuring Linda Diaz Edited by Matthew Fishman

Water Seeks is a performance video by Linda Diaz’s song of the same name. The piece is an homage to her hometown neighborhood of the Lower East Side, and to her mother’s words that have guided her as she continues to learn and grow: “water seeks its own level.”

St. Augustine’s Project Featuring Barbara King and Sandra E. Walker Directed and edited by Gogy Esparza

St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church on the Lower East Side is one of the last remaining churches in New York City that has maintained the architectural integrity of its “slave galleries”--the upper level of the sanctuary where enslaved people and freed Black people were forced to worship segregated from the white congregation. In this short film directed by Gogy Esparza, we meet Barbara King and Sandra E. Walker, two life-long Lower East Side residents who have led the charge to preserve these sanctuary spaces, the undertold history of slavery in New York City, and it’s impact on our neighborhood.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living Program

The Smelliest Block in New York Featuring Annie Tan Directed and edited by Andy K. Boyce

Storyteller Annie Tan, with the support of filmmaker Andy K. Boyce, tells the story of how her block, between Eldridge and Allen Streets, made national news in 2011 when it was declared the “Smelliest Block in New York.” In this piece, Tan invites us to see her beloved street through her eyes, as she reflects on the effects that the headline has had on her neighbors.

Tha 6th Boro Co-directed by Elroy Gay and Alicia Mersy Edited by Alicia Mersy Sound by Jazmin Romero

A video portrait of Elroy Gay, a long-time Lower East Side resident and founder of the urban apparel brand “Tha 6th Boro,” which is the name many locals use to refer to the Lower East Side. Co-directed by Alicia Mersy and shot on and around featuring local residents wearing “Tha 6th Boro” garments, this work is a reflection on how Gay showcases community pride through fashion.

I Lillian...... Written by Eugene Puglia Composed by Billie Alexopolous Cello by Michaella Shiamilis Costume Design by Stephanie Renee

On February 11, during the new moon, the spirit of ( Settlement’s founder), was seen on the streets of Lower . She was spotted walking down Henry Street singing a song she wrote about her life, her legacy, and missing her human form on this Earth. Written and performed by comedian Eugene Puglia, I Lillian...... is a humorous musical speculation on what our institution’s founder would think of the Lower East Side in 2021.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living Program

Lower East Immortal Featuring TrippJones Co-directed by Alejandro Hidalgo and TrippJones Edited by Alejandro Hidalgo and Rachel Rojas

Lower East Immortal is a short film that captures a soul from the Lower East Side, one who is slowly being torn apart while trying to keep the one thing they love alive. Featuring two original songs and spoken word by TrippJones with visuals by Alejandro Hidalgo, this work chronicles how a lost soul searches for a way to keep the beautiful place they learned how to survive in alive while also dying inside.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living About

Penny Arcade aka Susana Ventura is an internationally respected performance artist, actress, writer, poet, theater maker and an icon of artistic resistance. An avowed artist advocate, she has worked with artists all over the world, promoting other artists is a feature of her practice. In a career spanning 52 years she has inspired and influenced artists around the world for decades. She has created over 16 full length works and hundreds of solo performance pieces. Her work draws from oral history, journalism and memoir and has always focused on the other and the outsider in society in a cultural critique on history, class, race, and identity as well as critiquing the politics of art. The child of working class Southern Italian immigrants, she debuted at 18 in NYC’s explosive Playhouse of the Ridiculous and was a teenaged Warhol Superstar featured in the film Women In Revolt. in 2010 Semiotexte published a partial collection of her scripts in Bad Reputation. With her longtime collaborator of 29 years, Steve Zehentner, she co-helms the “LES BIO Project” and “Stemming The Tide Of Cultural Amnesia , a video documentary project that has broadcast and cybercast weekly for 21 years every Monday at 11pm on TV, cable, and Fios. [website]

Andy K. Boyce is a korean american filmmaker based in who graduated from Emerson College for film production. His work is driven by documentary practices highlighting key figures in altenernative and queer scenes. He has had works featured in film festivals such as “DOC NYC.” Andy’s work has also been featured in online publications such as Paper, Galore, Von, and Out magazine. [website]

Linda Diaz is a singer, songwriter, and performer from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She is the winner of the 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest and co-host of the PBS musical education series “Sound Field.” The gentle yet soulful artist is easily recognizable by her lush vocal arrangements and powerful lyricism that accompany a jazzy r&b sound. In December of 2019, Diaz independently released “Magic,” a 6 track EP. In August of the following year, she won the 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest with a live rendition of the project’s lead single “Green Tea Ice Cream.” Her entry garnered early recognition from this year’s contest judges, notably NPR Tiny Desk Creator Bob Boilen and Grammy Award Winning Artist Brittany Howard. Diaz also featured in the 2020 MTV VMA’s J Balvin

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living About x Toyota collaboration where she opened the commercial singing and performing Balvin’s hit single “Mi Gente.” She lives in Brooklyn, NY. [Instagram]

Gogy Esparza is an Ecuadorian-American, New York City-based artist who concentrates in photography and video. His photography project, El Vacîo (2012-14), was published by Dashwood Books and featured in accompanying exhibitions with Comme Des Garçons in Berlin and the Wayward Gallery in London. He has also exhibited at HVW8 Los Angeles; HVW8 Berlin; SO1 Gallery, DOMICILE, and Just Another Gallery in Tokyo; La Pierre in Paris; The Aishti Foundation in Beirut; 98 Orchard, No Romance Gallery, Magic Gallery, and Know-Wave Gallery in New York; Auto Body in New York and Miami; Good Taste in Miami; and Test Gallery in Copenhagen. Esparza has collaborated with brands such as Supreme, Comme Des Garçons, Nike, Adidas, Converse and Vans, and his work has been featured in publications including ARTFORUM, Purple Diary, The New York Times, Vogue, Interview, Richardson Magazine, Cultured, VICE, i-D, Office, Dazed, GRIND, Ollie, Eyescream, Highsnobiety, Hypebeast and Studio Magazine (published by the Studio Museum in Harlem). [website]

Elroy Gay has called the LES home since moving to the “6th Boro” after a fire destroyed his family apartment in Brooklyn. Even as the neighborhood became a destination for NYC’s young and hip in the early 80’s, and teenage Elroy thrived in the LES’s blossoming cultural and social scene, he was hiding a severe reading disability from even his closest friends and family. As an adult, Elroy overcame his reading disability and founded Tha 6th Boro, Inc. with its mission of organizing community events, designing urban apparel, and supporting artists and entrepreneurs in spreading messages of hope, positive life-styles and literacy development. He works to ensure future generations of Elroy Gay’s on the streets and school yards of NYC dream, plan, and accomplish life-affirming pursuits that contribute to the well-being of their communities. [website]

Alejandro Hidalgo is a New York City based visual artist and designer. Originally trained in architectural design, Alejandro progressively gravitated towards working outside of his initial discipline. Over the past several years, he has worked closely with musicians such as Lower East Side native, Tripp Jones, directing

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living About and editing visuals for songs and instrumental tracks. More recently, he has continued his work in design and is dedicated to expanding his skills in 3D rendering and animation in order to apply this specialty to his visual projects. [Instagram]

Tripp Jones is an underground artist born and raised in the heart of the Lower East Side of New York City. A New York native, Tripp remains true to the gritty environment he grew up in despite the considerable changes to his community. Tripp found music as an outlet to express himself creatively and tell the harrowing stories he witnessed and experienced growing up. After releasing over 36 mixtapes he has built an incredibly strong cult following both online and in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Tripp’s energy and consistency established himself as an underground legend in today’s digital age, and a living testament to the New York underground that continues to shape pop culture. To date, Tripp has collaborated with veteran producers such as Oogie Mane, Black Noise, Nedarb, Tony Seltzer, f1thy, and many more. With a dark sound that can be attributed to Memphis rap legends and the grimey New York streets, Tripp has one of the best live rap performances in today’s modern age and frequently performs on genre stretch- ing bills drawing a variety of diverse audiences. Additionally, he is affiliated with 5 Finger Posse and the New York hard core scene. He is member of popular hard core band Show Me The Body’s label Corpus, and released his debut album “Machine Smoke” under the Corpus imprint. You can find Tripp Jones’ music on all streaming platforms. [Instagram / Soundcloud]

Barbara King is a long time Lower East Side resident of Irish American Heritage. With a career dedicated to public service and administration, King played an instrumental role in getting unions to hire women for apprenticeships and job placement in the electrical, plumbing and carpentry trades. Her commitment to civic service and the Lower East Side deepend with her work at the , where she served as assistant to former executive director Verona M. Jeter.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living About

King has long been an active volunteer at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, which led to her involvement in the St. Augustine’s Project – Slave Gallery. She and Sandra Walker joined forces and along with support from other parishioners to highlight and bring awareness of this most significant historical site.

Alicia Mersy is an artist and filmmaker of Lebanese/French origin who lives and works in New York. Her work uses the camera to connect to people and to the divine, by forging pathways towards personal and collective peace within a world of infinite production and boundless orientation. Mersy draws from big phenomena including the natural sciences, global capitalism and the infinitude of galactic spirituality to explore decolonial aesthetics and political resistance. Her approach to new media, photography and installation creates space for conversations surrounding self representation, social, class guilt politics, and the resistance of repressive global structures. Mersy received an MA in Fine Arts from Central Saint Martins in 2015. Alicia Mersy’s work has been featured in exhibitions at The Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, UK), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (TLV, Israel) and The Migros Museum of Contemporary Art. [website]

Eugene Puglia is a queer multimedia artist based in New York City. Puglia writes, produces, and directs “The Dawn Lombardi Show,” a variety talk show featuring established and emerging artists in various comedy sketches. He also produces documentaries featuring family members and characters from his hometown in Akron, Ohio and, a completed a piece featuring the New York City hardcore band Show Me The Body, as well as two fictional documentaries completed in 2016 and 2017 featuring actress/comedian Terriona Morgan. He has directed films for Mademe NYC and Converse. Puglia has traveled around the world performing as the country music sensation “Caroline Tennessee” and the hardcore/screamo solo act “Malakai Johnston.” He has also contributed to many group exhibits in New York as well as features in Magazines like Dizzy Mag, Cultured Mag, ID mag, and King Kong Mag Issue 7. [website]

Alon Sicherman is an artist and entrepreneur and native of New York City. He has won many awards for his work including multiple Emmys and a Sundance Juror Award.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living About

Annie Tan is a special education teacher, activist, writer and storyteller based in Chinatown, New York City. Annie fights for her students, public education, teachers unions, tenants rights, and Asian American issues, working to organize a better world. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, The New Republic, PBS’ documentary series “Asian Americans,” and twice on the “Moth Radio Hour.” Annie is currently working on her first book, a memoir, and hopes to write an epic book one day about her family and Asian American history. [website]

Sandra E. Walker is a real “Loisada-r” who has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years. She has dedicated her career to the public sector, working for Cornell University, the Lower East Side Service Center, Odyssey House and various city agencies, with the last 14 years toiling away at the New York City Fire Department. Walker had heard of St. Augustine’s Church through her relatives. Once she finally visited, she became intrigued by its unique history and later became committed to St. Augustine’s Project, which researches, preserves, and interprets the church’s “slave galleries,” 19th century life on the Lower East Side, and the legacy of its African American communities.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living Funding

The 2020-2021 Season at Abrons Arts Center is supported, in part, by generous grants from the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Jerome Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, and other generous Henry Street Settlement funders. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

ABRONS ARTS CENTER ARTS FOR LIVING: ARTISTS FEED THE L.E.S.

Arts For Living Special Thanks We want to thank the many volunteers who have helped to make our Food Access Initative possible:

Aaron Landsman Drew Bolotksy Justin Hoch Michelle Repsio Adam Greenberg Drew Fettner Kate Wawa Milcah Slater Adrienne Michalski Edward Cisneros Kathy Figueroa Milena Leznick Aigin Hertel Bernstein Ejona Bakalli Katia Herman Modesto Jimenez (Flako) Alex Harocopos Emily DiPalo Katie Schember Moira Stone Alisa Baer Emily Johnson Katie Watson-Wallace Natalie Moscoso Amy Singerman Emma Cheevers Kayleigh Schultz Nilah Richards Angela-Quian Eric Kutter KC Sahl Owen Aranow Anh Le Eric Schmalenberger Kenneth Olguin Owen Hughes Anna Duesing Ericka Santos Kerry Ojakian Paola Zanzo-Sahl Anna Olson Erika Suban Kevin Mooney Phillip Sweeney Anna Parisi Erion Hetemi Kimmie Liu Qirui Zhu Annie Mack Ester Le-Tran Kirsten Williams Rachel Schapira Antoinette Schrock Evelynn Cover Kristen Leger Ralph Lewis Argyro Nicolaou Fay Smith Kristen Williams Raquel Winiarsky Ashley Frost-Morgan Francisco Gonzalez Kristen Williams Raul de la Espriella Austin J Hutchinson Gabriel Weng Kristin Hertel Resham Mantri Barbara Kempe George Sanchez Laura Atwell Richard B Maxwell Barry Rowell Gisela Ireland Laura Fontanillis Ron Nemec Ben Meyers Gordon Sims Lauren Beltrone Ronasia Weaver Byron Andrews-Grieder Greg Lichstenstien Lauren Frosch Sam Jolly Carol Carozelli Haley Dimit Leo Janks Samaris Alaya Caroline Potter Walker Haley Wollens Leo Lipson Sasha Hulkower Casey Holiday Hannah Byers Leslie Fray Shannon Flaggerty Catharine Porter Helen Chirigos Leyden Yaeger Sienna Blaw Charles O’Leary Ian Davis Lilli Greenberg Sophia Fenn Chiara Cortez Issac Wright Jr. Lisa Mehos Susan Daily Chris Beatty Jacqueline Reid Lisa Santiago Sylvia May Christian Resseguie Jenn London Lisa Sweeney Taylor Reid Claire Sheedy Jenna Bliss Lucas Kane Ted Greenberg Clay Vickers Jenny Romaine Lydia Munoz Terry Zucker Constance Herndon Jeremy Blumefeld Mac Pogue Tim Schumacher Craig Peterson Jesaca Lin Macallan Skipton Ubong Essien Cybele Dewulf Jessie Dong Madeline Best Victoria Briggiler Daniel Marcus Joan Yang Maggie Jack Vidalina Gill Danielle Kassover Joel Rust Marcos Briggiler Vimal Pradeep Danielle Kssover Johanna Meyers Marguerite Michel Viven Lipson Darcie Grunblatt Jonah Davidson Maria Gualdoni Zoe Freilich Darrell Martin Joseph Soto Mariel Traveras David Andrews Joshua Collado Maureen Fogarty-Weng David Bolotsky Juanita Cárdenas Maya Sroabjee David Chang Judith Baicich Megan Lang Deanna Maravel Julie Muz Megan O’Donnell Debby Goldstein Jun Zhao Merchandise May ABRONS ARTS CENTER ABOUT ABRONS ABRONS FUNDING American Chai Trust Abrons Arts Center is a home for contemporary interdisciplinary Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. A core program The Barker Welfare Foundation of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons believes that access to the Bulova Stetson Fund arts is essential to a free and healthy society. Through performance Exploring the Arts, Inc. presentations, exhibitions, education programs and residencies, FACE Foundation Abrons mobilizes communities with the transformative power of art. Find Your Light Foundation Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Abrons Arts Center values freedom of expression and creativity, Howard Gilman Foundation, Inc. ever striving to provide creative communities with a space that The Harkness Foundation for Dance celebrates diversity of thought and experience. Abrons aims to The Jerome Foundation be an anti-oppressive home to people from all backgrounds and Kinder Morgan Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, The Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation citizen status, housing status, ancestry, age, religion, disability, The Emily Davie & Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation Mertz Gilmore Foundation sex or gender identity. As definitions of expression and inclusion Multi-Arts Production Fund evolve, Abrons is committed to continually revising this statement in Stavros Niarchos Foundation collaboration with our communities. Jerome Robbins Foundation Scherman Foundation Indigenous Land Acknowledgment The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Abrons Arts Center is situated on the Lenape island of Manhahtaan Trust for Mutual Understanding (Mannahatta). We pay respect to Lenape peoples and ancestors past, present, and future, and acknowledge our reliance on the land New York City Council member Margaret Chin New York City Council member Carlina Rivera and waters of Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland. We offer our New York City Department of Cultural Affairs care and gratitude to Lenapehoking, and are committed to resisting New York State Council on the Arts colonialism through the support of Indigenous-led programming and Indigenous artistic practices.

You are welcome here.

Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement 466 , New York City 10002 212.598.0400 • abronsartscenter.org Social: @abronsartscenter & #AbronsArtsCenter Email: audienceservices@abronsartscenter