THE (FABLED) LIFE AND (IMAGINARY) DEATH OF ERIC F. AVERY Gets Site-Specific Show in Brooklyn

The Performance Project at University Settlement presents a free, site-specific theater piece, The (Fabled) Life and (Imaginary) Death of Eric F. Avery, created and performed by Eric F. Avery at Atlantic Terminal Community Center. Co-Directed by Molly Van Avery, the production runs Thursday, May 19 at 7:00pm, Friday, May 20 at 7:00pm, and Saturday, May 21 at 2:00pm.

All performances take place at University Settlement's Atlantic Terminal Community Center, 501 Carlton Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (corner of Atlantic Ave.) For more information or reservations, call 718.453.4532 or email lclair@universitysettlement.org. Admission is FREE!

The (Fabled) Life and (Imaginary) Death of Eric F. Avery is an interactive performance that projects an entire audience into the future. Their guide on this journey is the fictional, or maybe not so fictional, creator of the performance, Eric F. Avery, who is doing his best to navigate the changing landscape in an unsure world. From celebrating at his wedding, to creating a new civilization, to witnessing his death(s) audiences will experience and share in the rituals, milestones, and moments that connect us.

This fast-paced, sometimes absurd performance is co-authored live with the audience. There are opportunities to vote on key choices in Eric's life, share your opinions on marriage and assist in transforming the community center with streamers, cardboard and flashlights. Participants can choose how they would like to engage. Like in life, the choices we make in the performance create our experience.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Eric F. Avery's art occupies a space between experimental performance, visual arts, and community development. Some might call him an interdisciplinary artist and others might call him a social practice artist. Currently, he only uses the term "Artist," and getting people to think differently is his art. Instead of clay, dance, or paint to make his art, Eric uses conversations, humor, playing pretend, and engaging viewers in a live/lived experiences.

Eric F. Avery is currently a Resident Artist at University Settlement (NYC) and is working on projects with Dan Hurlin and Taylor Mac. Through these programs he will première two brand-new works of art in 2016. Recently, Avery was commissioned by Northern Lights.mn to create an all-night performance installation for Northern Spark; awarded a Cultural Community Partnership Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to create a performance installation with Zainab Musa; named a Naked Stages Fellow at Pillsbury House + Theatre; awarded a Next Step Fund Grant from the McKnight Foundation; and received a grant from Forecast Public Art to develop his latest large-scale public performance. Outside of creating his own work he has collaborated with Basil Twist, Mabou Mines, 10,000 Things Theatre Company, Bedlam Theatre, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, Theatre Latte Da, Children's Theatre Company, Puppet Farm Arts, Savage Umbrella, and many more performance groups.

Molly Van Avery is a strong believer in the transformative power of creative expression. With roots in queer performance art, Molly's artistic practice is currently focused on embedding art into the geography of neighborhoods. She runs Poetry for People and designs projects that weave poetry in delightful, challenging, and intimate ways into people's daily lives. Her most recent project, this house is not for sale, utilizes the realty sign as both a symbol for the themes of the project and as a structure for displaying art. The project brings together homeowners who purchased a previously foreclosed home with the assistance of the City of Lakes Community Land Trust with a poet and visual artist to consider what it means to acknowledge a home's history and make a life in the wake of someone else's loss. Molly can also be found riding her moving writer's studio, the Poetry Mobile, around her neighborhood to write customized poems for people or deliver poems to a person's front door. She recently received an MRAC Next Step grant to build a backyard Poetry Shop where people can come to get a personalized poem year round. Molly is also deeply inspired by her position at Pillsbury House Theatre, where she is the Artist and Community Coordinator. She runs the Naked Stages Jerome Fellowship for emerging performance artists and the Art Block Program, through which artists in the neighborhoods surrounding Pillsbury House Theater use their artistic practice to develop or strengthen their relationships with their neighbors. Molly holds an undergraduate degree is Social Ecology from Goddard and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University.

ABOUT CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING:

Being an Artist-in-Residence at University Settlement, the nation's first settlement house and early social justice innovator, provides artists with an opportunity to connect, create and publicly share new work in collaboration with local communities. In the progressive tradition of the Settlement House Movement, artists and community leaders work together to foster a sense of belonging, reciprocity and possibility for everyone.

Over the course of the year, University Settlement Artist-in-Residence, Eric F. Avery, dedicated several weeks of his time getting to know the staff and participants of University Settlement's Cornerstone Community Center at The Atlantic Terminal Houses in Brooklyn. Avery observed and participated in the center's daily activities, engaged community members of all ages in conversation, and even organized a few activities, like movie nights. Beginning May 5th, 6th and 7th Avery will prepare himself and the community for the opening of the public show by creating a Free Honesty Booth at the entrance of the Atlantic Terminal Apartment House. It is a place to sit with him, converse, ask questions, and join him in making art about anything but the weather. After a solid three-day sit in the Honesty Booth, Eric will post office hours that will run throughout the month. He will also co-produce a SHARE! Showcase with University Settlement staff and community residents on May 11th at 5:30pm. The Share Series is an ongoing performance showcase featuring the talents of artists at all stages of development on one equal platform. Artists from the Atlantic Terminal area will perform with artists from the nearby venue JACK and young artists from University Settlement programs.

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE PROJECT AT UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT:

The Performance Project offers local young artists and professionally emerging artists opportunities to connect, create and publicly present new work. We hear the call to mentor, encourage, and diversify our art makers, leaders, educators and students. Our aim is to encourage greater participation in the live arts and to help cultivate richly diverse creative communities.

University Settlement is one of New York's most dynamic social justice institutions with deep roots on the Lower East Side. Each year University Settlement's diverse programs assist over 30,000 low-income and at-risk people to build better lives for themselves and their families. With an impressive legacy as the first settlement house in the United States, University Settlement has been an incubator for progressive ideas for 130 years, offering pioneering programs in mental health, early childhood education, literacy, arts education, and adolescent development that set the standard. Building on the strength of this experience, University Settlement now provides services at 31 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. To learn more, visit www.universitysettlement.org.

PERFORMANCES:

Thursday, May 19 at 7:00pm

Friday, May 20 at 7:00pm

Saturday, May 21 at 2:00pm

At University Settlement's Atlantic Terminal Community Center, 501 Carlton Avenue, Brooklyn NY (corner of Atlantic Ave) - just a short walk from the 2/4/5/B/D/N/Q/R and the LIRR.

Admission is FREE. For more information or reservations, call 718.453.4532 or email lclair@universitysettlement.org.

Atlantic Terminal Community Center is a Cornerstone Program sponsored by the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development. This performance is supported with funding from New York State Council on the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affair, and the McKnight Foundation.

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