Reimagine End Of Life, Citywide Festival Exploring Big Questions About Life And Death in NYC, Today

A weeklong festival exploring big questions about life and death will unfold not just in theaters and concerts halls across New York City's five boroughs, but also in hospitals, libraries, houses of worship, senior centers, and even cemeteries from October 27th through November 3rd as part of the first Reimagine End of Life New York.

Coinciding with Halloween, Day of the Dead, and All Souls Day, Reimagine End of Life will offer surprising and challenging ways for New Yorkers to reconsider the original meaning of those holidays by presenting more than 250 events -- from comedy nights, concerts, and film screenings to a master class on writing your own obituary and a workshop on ensuring your end-of-life wishes are honored.

Marquee events include:

• A discussion with The New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, author of the best-selling book about her aging parents, "Can't We Talk About Some­thing More Pleasant?";
• An intimate performance and conversation with indie rock band Cloud Cult and its lead singer Craig Minowa, whose art was transformed after the death of his two-year-old son;
• Theater of War will present End of Life featuring readings of two ancient Greek plays followed by a discussion moderated by Bryan Doerries, Theater of War Artistic Director and Public Artist in Residence for the City of New York
• Opening and closing night events featuring performances by National Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, Chadwick Stokes and Brad Corrigan of Dispatch, comedian Laurie Kilmartin (the author of "Dead People Suck: A Guide for Survivors of the Newly Departed"), and author Frank Ostaseski (The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully)
• A storytelling night at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, where doctors from Mount Sinai, NYU, Columbia, and other hospitals will tell stories of their personal experiences with death
• A conversation with legendary filmmakers Jonas Mekas, 95, moderated by New York Times reporter John Leland, who profiled Mekas in his book "Happiness is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a year among the oldest

The festival is the brainchild of founder and executive director Brad Wolfe, a grandson of two Auschwitz survivors, who initially began exploring death through art during college when his close friend, Sara, was diagnosed with a rare form of pediatric cancer. As a songwriter, he naturally turned to music to help soothe her as she faced her own end of life. "Playing music at Sara's bedside, I came to understand that the power of art is not just a cliche. It can reduce fear and suffering and connect us more deeply," said Wolfe.

Reimagine End of Life was inspired by OpenIdeo's End of Life Challenge and was led by Wolfe as part of an OpenIDEO project exploring the relationship between art and the end of life; the first full-blown festival took place in San Francisco in April 2018, drawing nearly 10,000 attendees.

"In a time of so much division, death is one thing we all share that can bring together people from all walks of life," said Wolfe. "Our goal is to inspire New Yorkers to reflect on why we're here, prepare for a time when we won't be, and live fully right until the end. When you enable people to have this conversation as a community, in creative and surprising ways, they often discover that something sad and dark can also elicit laughter, joy, and celebration."

Many of the festival's events are designed to provide an interactive and hands-on conversation about the sensitive topic of death in a thoughtful yet unconventional way. Festival-goers can head to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, where doctors from Mount Sinai, Columbia, and other hospitals will tell well-crafted stories of their personal experiences with death, or stop by Rising Dragon Tattoos to show off their own tattoos and discuss how bodies can be transformed into "ink memorials."

Other events will offer New Yorkers a chance to discover how to define their own deaths through an improv workshop with Upright Citizens Brigade or learn how to write the perfect condolence letter with Green-Wood Cemetery educator Amy Cunningham. They can create a poem or a song for a loved one sharing something they wish they had told them, or participate in a ritual for the dead at Washington Square Park, a former Potter's Field where thousands of poor New Yorkers were buried in the 18th century.

To reach New Yorkers of all walks of life and of all ages, Reimagine End of Life New York is presented by an unprecedented cross-section of arts, cultural, faith-based, and medical organizations and institutions which have rarely collaborated in the past. Partners and collaborators include WNYC Greene Space, New York Public Library, Queens Public Library, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, Parsons School of Design, Riverside Church, The Museum of the Moving Image, StoryCorps, BRIC, Chinese American Coalition of Compassionate Care, Auburn Seminary, Green-Wood Cemetery, and SAGE - Advocating for LGBT Seniors.

More than half of the festival events are free, and 10 percent of all tickets are given to community organizations that work directly with the elderly and underserved populations where quality-of-death considerations are unfortunately often ignored. Rather than dictate programming, Reimagine worked with local community groups to create what they felt was needed in their own communities.

Visit www.letsreimagine.org/new-york for the complete event schedule and tickets.