NY Event: Creative Catalyst Symposium for Socially Engaged Jewish Art
Sunday, November 8th, 2015
9:30AM – 4:30PM
Manny Cantor Center, NYC (197 East Broadway)
Join the thinkers and doers of the Jewish social justice and environmental movement coming together with artists, writers, musicians, and curators to explore a new angle on socially engaged art, activism and our changing climate.
Participate in Heshvan, the Jewish Social Action Month & the National Arts and Humanities Month of the Americans for the Arts through Art Kibbutz’s Conference! Get inspired with new friends: artists, performers, writers, actors, curators, community leaders, activists, scholars, students, rabbis, visionaries.
The event connects passionate people who share similar values in their work on advancing social justice issues and making ‘tzedek’ a core expression of Jewish life through their art or community work.
Learn from the experts, gather insights from Jewish texts, and delve into real-world scenarios that will elicit new ideas and instigate collaborations… and have a great time!
The symposium will kick off its 2016 international, inter-disciplinary arts residency on Governor’s Island focusing on socially engaged art May through September.
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: Art Kibbutz is initiating an exchange between artists and community activists to further tikkun olam. Artists and creatives have untapped potential to help facilitate social change in America and worldwide. Today, more than ever before, societal changes take place on the level of discourse – at the terrain of signs and symbols, story and spectacle. Visionary artist activists have the potential to broaden the Jewish social justice and environmental movement’s base of appeal and the reach of their message by employing culture and artistic expression alongside more traditional organizing practices.
Artists and creatives are at the forefront of communicating change, using artistic reflection, dialogue and idea generation. The symposium intends to provide a Jewish context for their work, and help break the isolation that so often divides artists from the rest of the community. Sessions will provide artists, activists, and community organizers with practical tools as well as context.
The practice of socially engaged art has much in common with community organizing. Indeed, relationship building is at the crux of most projects’ success. How is it productively done? Is there a way to do it successfully without committing years to a single place or group? Where and how can art and community come together in a way that makes for excellent art and meaningful community benefit? Join us for a conversation where we’ll explore these questions together and think on effective practices for the future.
The event is dedicated to the memory of Jackie Brookner, a pioneering ecological artist, designer, writer and Harvard University faculty member. She was part of the Art Kibbutz community and is remembered for her passionate work with ecologists, design professionals, and communities on water remediation/landscape. She was able to bridge the gap between local communities, environmental activists and artists and inspire them to work together.
Many artists, students, educators, scholars, critics, historians, curators, and writers want to know: how can I make a difference and how can I do so while remaining relevant? Art Kibbutz, with its belief in the power of the arts to exact change and dedication to making the arts relevant to all audiences, seeks to engage these questions and more at its symposium “Creative Catalyst.”
Held in conjunction with Art Kibbutz’s current exhibition at The Manny Cantor Center, Rooted, this symposium will bring together contemporary artists, curators, writers to discuss socially engaged art practices with Jewish nonprofits, community organizers, environmental activists and organizations working on the field of Jewish social justice.
Want to share your expertise at the Creative Catalyst Symposium? Submit a session proposal.