The Park Avenue Armory will be hosting an event that highlights a group of people many might not know a lot about, Armory artists. Artists-in-Residence is a program that offers artists temporary residencies at the armory with the expectation that they will participate in educational programs, focus on project development and perform a single “open showing” or “artist talk.”
Current Armory Artists-in-Residence will be performing at the Armory’s Skillshare: Art and Mutual Aid in These Times event. The art program is in partnership with the Making Space at the Armory Public Programming Series, a group of events where guests will be invited to talk about challenging topics, like race and society, and how art can address these issues.
The event will also encourage guests to socialize with each other after being socially isolated for so long due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Skillshare will allow the artists at the Armory to immerse participants in the exploration of dance, poetry, music and more. There will be interactive workshops and discussions for interested attendees to advance their knowledge of the arts.
Choreographer Reggie Gray and performance artist Carmelita Tropicana will open their studios to the public to show everyone what they have been working on while at the armory. Accompanying them will be cellist Ethan Philbrick, jazz and vocalist Kavita Shah, bassist Linda May Han Oh, filmmaker Ela Troyano, martial arts instructor Kristen Cabildo and many more.
The Armory Education Teaching Artists and Youth Corps will lead participants through a hands-on demonstration of the creative process. Their goal is to emphasize the importance of community building through art and how creating something meaningful together can bring people a new understanding of the person they’re working with.
Closing Skillshare will be Columbia University professor Jack Halberstam, racial justice fellow at Columbia Law School’s Initiative for a Just Society, Che Gossett, Black trans liberator Qween Jean and the founder of Anticapitalism for Artists, Chris Myers. They will end the night with a deep discussion about aiding art communities, not only locally, but across the world.
Skillshare will take place on Aug. 21. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased here. 643 Park Ave, Manhattan.
