Now Is The Time: Artists Go To Work – Part II

Following the public discussion in Part I earlier in the season, this two-day gathering in the year-long reckoning showcases the fruits of collaborative interrogating what remains unfinished in American democracy. Audiences are invited to attend keynote conversations, artist salons, open studios, intimate performances, and interactive workshops held in the Armory’s historic rooms. The Art & Inheritance track explores how artists’ creative practices and individual identities reflect or respond to ancestry and belonging through ever-evolving technology, notions of gender, and courageous responses to the impact of systemic racism on art. The Art & Activism track focuses on the power of artists to affect change in their communities, featuring change-makers from theater, opera, dance, film, television, food, and architecture. 

Drawing inspiration from Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison s belief that in challenging times artists must go to work, this kick of of a two part convening frames America s 250th anniversary not as a celebration but as a call for ongoing struggle, creativity, and mutual care across communities. Audiences are invited to gather to hear artists and scholars give testimony on the current state of the arts in America. In advance of the nation s semiquincentennial in July, this happening provides a sneak peek at what remains unfnished” in America s promise of freedom, guided by the theme of interdependence.

Presented in Partnership with The Toni Morrison Foundation | National Arts Atelier