Category archives: Non Profit
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9 years ago
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Art for Progress is proud to announce their upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing. One of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, Much Ado also takes a complex look at love, relationships and searching for "self," This production will use the classic language of Shakespeare in a modern setting - demonstrating the relevance of the writer's work in present day. This incredible show will also feature some of NYC's finest actors, comedians and public servants all on stage for a good cause. After production costs - all profits will go to Art for Progress's Education Program - helping young people tap into their artistic abilities.
Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam Street), (212) 691-1555
SHOWS:
Friday, May 29th - 8:00 pm
Saturday, May 30th - 8:00 pm
Sunday, May 31st - 7:00 pmFriday, June 5th - 8:00 pm
Saturday, June 6th - 8:00 pm
Sunday, June 7th - 7:00 pm
To purchase tickets for $25
Director: Alexis Confer
Producers: Frank Jackson (Art for Progress), Jennifer Park, Erin Marsz, Demetri Kofinas
Stage Manager: Angelica Katz
Cast: Erin Marsz, Jerrod Bogard, John Purdy, Kevin Bartini, Langston Belton, Clio Contogenis, David Shakopi, Sam Parrott, Eric Ryan Swanson, Ellen Cheney, Chablis Quarterman, Natalie Hoy, Matt Mykityshyn, Cecilia Faraut, Allison Guerra, Anders Adams, Kezia Tyson, Xiomara Rolon, and Conrad Cohen.
"Creative Culture Accelerating Social Change"
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9 years ago
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NYC non-profit Art for Progress hosts this special event Wednesday, April 22nd at The Bowery Electric to celebrate Earth Day and to raise awareness. The night will feature an outstanding line up of artists with local pop rockers Wyland headlining the night. The amazing Blythe Gruda will open the show and feature some very special guests followed by a one woman psychedelic rock performance from Brooklyn's Idgy Dean. Indie rockers Polyvox will close out the night with a set of synth driven beats. Tickets are $10 and include the chance to win amazing door prizes from Gibson Guitars and tickets to The Museum of Natural History.
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9 years ago
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Teaching beat making and digital music production is always as much of a learning experience for me as it is an opportunity to share my techniques and skills with my students. This semester at the James Baldwin School, I have been working with a great group of kids with a very eclectic set of sensibilities. Some already have experience using Fruity Loops, FL Studio, Ableton or other production software on their laptops and tablets at home to make beats or tracks. Some are completely new to the process music making. Still others have experience playing traditional analog instruments, and are interested in expanding their musical palettes. The key guiding principle for me as I work to guide each student toward their own personal music making goals is to instill in them an ethic of making music from intention. By this I don't mean that that they need to decide in advance what their music means, or what experience the end listener will eventually have; although that is another, very interesting conversation. I simply mean that I encourage them to develop the skill of hearing the music in their heads, and having a vision of the ultimate result before setting ideas down. This is especially challenging at the present moment, because many production tools, and especially software based production methods enable us to bypass that step by using pre-existing loops and samples, and automatically time syncing them. Some even put them in tune with one another. While this allows for a n[...]
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9 years ago
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Art for Progress is proud to announce their upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing. One of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, Much Ado also takes a complex look at love, relationships and searching for "self," This production will use the classic language of Shakespeare in a modern setting - demonstrating the relevance of the writer's work in present day. This incredible show will also feature some of NYC's finest actors, comedians and public servants all on stage for a good cause. After production costs - all profits will go to Art for Progress's Education Program - helping young people tap into their artistic abilities. We hope you can contribute towards this important work and look forward to seeing you at the show.
We need your support to present 'Much Ado About Nothing'!
Your donation will go to:
•Theater rental
•Our musicians
•Rehearsal space and rehearsal pianist
•Publicity
To thank you for your support we have the following perks:
•VIP tickets to the show
•Signed programs and posters from our cast and crew
•An invitation to our wrap party
•A private concert in your home
•And much more!
Any funds we receive will go towards paying our production costs. Any additional funds past our goal plus all tickets sales will go directly to Art for Progress in support of their educational programming.
Please help us spread the word about our fundraising campaign, Arts for Progress: Much Ado About Nothing, and our upcoming performances!
•Share our[...]
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9 years ago
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It was a cold Saturday afternoon, but I was motivated to trek over to Chelsea to check out the Kitchen Girls & Toy Boys show at Rush Arts Gallery. Artists Sindy Butz and Sol Kjok are participating artists in the show and have both worked with AFP on various projects.
It didn't take long for me to identify Sol's very large piece, "Strings Attached" as I walked into the gallery. Her figurative work bursts off the canvas with great detail and her use of color brings out the emotion in her characters. In this piece the characters are strung together and appear to be grasping and climbing over each other while still maintaining a certain co-dependence.
I was impressed with the overall quality and diversity of the work in the show. The work of Reinhold Gottwald caught my attention. His colorful, small, abstract pieces on wood are hung/arranged as if they are a group of planets sharing the same solar system. I found Markus Fiedler's beeswax sneakers quite intriguing and an interesting piece(s) to be included in the show. I was impressed with the incredible detail he was able to achieve using beeswax.
I noticed Sindy crouched down on the floor, but I didn't realize that her performance had already begun. What is she up to this time? Sindy's not afraid to take on the not so obvious social issues of the day. Her thought provoking work continues to evolve and this performance would not disappoint. The message on the floor read, "The West Tastes like Gold." As Sind[...]
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9 years ago
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This week, Brandon Ballengée, artist/ biologist/environmental activist, is preparing to transform the Feldman Gallery booth at The Armory Show into a space to mourn the massive extinction of species. It's an incredibly weighty topic, often referred to as the Holocene or Sixth Great Extinction, which continues at an alarming rate. In promotion of this important showcase, called "Frameworks of Absence," I requested to interview Ballengée, asking him to share with Art for Progress his favorite personal fashion items. After hesitating, Brandon said "oh well, that would be fun!"
Pioneering in ecological art, Ballengée has been described by the critic and curator Kim Levin “as taking these issues to a new level of intensity.” His work has been included in Documenta 13 (Germany), Prospect 2, (New Orleans), 3rd Moscow Biennale (Russia), Biennale for Electronic Arts, (Australia), and the Venice Biennale (Italy). And, Ballengée was awarded a Conservation Leadership Fellowship from the National Audubon Society’s Together Green Program in 2011-2012. "Frameworks of Absence" features physically cut images of missing animals from historic prints and publications printed at the time in history when the depicted species became extinct. A portion of proceeds from Ballengée's "Frameworks of Absence" will support the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) efforts to defend and protect endangered wildlife and wild places. To find out more about this thrilling exhibition, go t[...]
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9 years ago
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My cousin, Carine Williams, a litigation lawyer based in New York, represents people and companies who are under government investigation or prosecution. Her pro bono work has included helping to overturn the convictions of people like Herman Wallace, who spent nearly 42 years in solitary confinement, longer than any other person in the United States, for a crime he didn't commit. "I enjoy working with folks through what can be a very harrowing ordeal--the criminal legal process," Williams shares. Despite her heroic work, Williams remains modest: "There's no single achievement I'm most proud of, but I am especially honored (and humbled) that my clients trust me, value my judgement, and seek my guidance with mammothly difficult decision-making."
Click on link below to find out more about this crusader’s most prized fashion items after the jump.
Black Pants
I love clothes that remind me to feel good in the skin I'm already in. This most often involves figure fitting pieces in stretchy--forgiving--fabrics. I'm also a sucker for any textile that feels rich and smooth to the touch. These pants are perfection. I can wear them anywhere--as fancy as it gets or as grimey. They're completely comfy. The leather patches along the leg are buttery soft. Most often I wear them with a black top, which makes me feel both understated and kind of bad ass.
Lela Rose Dress
My most glamorous aunt--who was with me while I was shopping for work clothes--insisted that I buy favor[...]
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9 years ago
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As part of the "Homegrown" series, AFP will host a special night of great music at The Bowery Electric.
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9 years ago
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For the past couple of weeks, the focus of the AFP Young Adult Music Program has been an in depth study of the basic mechanics of jazz. We have been working on Etta James’ “At Last” for the past couple of months, but we have now begun to break down the chord progression into a series of key changes, and to investigate how we can navigate those changes using scales. We have been breaking down the requisite parts of the chords into the bass movement, the harmonic color notes, and the melody notes, and observing how each note relates to the key, to the chord, and to the function of the chord in the progression.
Jason has been learning to walk the bass, playing the notes that clearly indicate the movement of the chords, while Raymond, Alex and Gabriel have been learning chord voicings on guitar and piano, observing the movement of the functional character notes from chord to chord. We have been identifying which notes change from chord to chord and which ones stay the same. This is helping to elucidate how the flow of the song works. We have also been looking at how the order and character of the chords indicate which key we can play in at any given time, and where to modulate to a new key.
With this knowledge, we can determine exactly what function each note of the melody plays from a diatonic harmony perspective. All of this is very analytical and confusing of course, but with the foundation of knowledge these guys have accumulated over the past four years, it is beginnin[...]
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9 years ago
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Brassland recording artists People Get Ready will open for Blonde Redhead on upcoming dates including Tuesday (November 26th) night at The Bowery Ballroom.
The Brooklyn based band released a new album (Physiques) this past June to exciting reviews.
The band is known for high energy live performances which showcase a blend of rock and performance art. NPR's Bob Boilen, placing their performances among his top 5 concerts two years running, put it best: "No single show took my breath away the way this one did- part rock concert, part performance art, part dance, all perfectly melded together. Having seen so many dudes with guitars ... it was incredibly refreshing to find a group challenging and changing the norm."
The first thing I thought was- sounds like an Art for Progress event!
I caught up with Steven Reker from the band to learn more about these multidisciplinary artists, and here's what he had to say.
How did the band come up with the name People Get Ready?
I was at a play and one of the actors said ‘...people get ready...' in his dialogue - the phrase stayed with me. Then I named the first piece I did at The Kitchen (before the band was a band) People Get Ready and as the project developed we just kept the name.
Are the band members originally from New York or are they transplants?
We're transplants - mostly. Jen and I are from Arizona - James comes from California - and Booker is from Nyack, NY.
Which artists/bands have been the most[...]
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9 years ago
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In association with Art for Progress (AFP) Déjà vu art exhibition, the group will host three exciting events during the two week show that features 14 international artists.
Following up a fantastic opening night on October 30th, AFP will host an evening of unamplified sounds from its talented stable of musical artists at the space on Thursday, November 6th at 7:00PM.
Barry Komitor, AFP’s Arts Education Program Manager and a teaching artist, will play an acoustic set followed by Jeremy Danneman from Parade of One. Plus, a surprise special guest performance.
On Sunday November 9th, Art for Progress will host a brunch titled, Drones, Donuts and DJ’s from noon to 3pm at NOoSPHERE Arts.
On opening night, artist Essam’s drone installation garnered much attention as people approached the space on Houston Street and experienced the actual sound from an approaching drone.
As guests approach the space on Sunday the 9th, they’ll also hear the rich, full sound of analog beats (vinyl) being spun by DJ’s Bruce Tantum, Gatto (AFP’s founder & director) and Brett Crenshaw.
And let’s not forget the donuts! Other than ice cream, donuts are one of the most loved foods in America! So, join us for brunch and enjoy a prominent topic of conversation, quality analog music and of course, donuts!
Although we’ll be sad to see the exhibition close on November 12th, it will be an exciting evening as we host an artist talk from 6pm-8pm with NYC based artists Essam and gilf!
We [...]
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