Basilica Hudson Pioneering People Benefit to Honor Artist Courtney Love

Basilica Hudson is thrilled to announce its honoree and preliminary lineup of hosts and performers for Pioneering People, the organization's biennial benefit set to take place on Saturday, October 27, 2018. This year's event will celebrate the achievements and legacy of musician, songwriter, actor, performer and incomparable cultural force Courtney Love and will be creative directed by Basilica Hudson Co-Founder and Director Melissa Auf der Maur and artist, creative director, and Basilica Hudson collaborator Joe Mama-Nitzberg.

Pioneering People will feature readings and performances by Love's longtime peers, along with innovative artists who have been inspired and influenced by Love's work. Creative directed and produced by Basilica Hudson's Co-Founder and Director Melissa Auf der Maur (former bassist of Courtney Love's GRAMMY-nominated, certified multi-platinum, award-winning band Hole) and Pioneering People Creative Director Joe Mama-Nitzberg, a longtime creative collaborator and comrade of both Love and Auf der Maur, the event will be hosted by a group of creative luminaries and friends, including Aaron Dessner, Meredith Graves, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Ryan McGinley, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Elvis Perkins, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stipe, Brandon Stosuy, Yelena Yemchuk, Jack Walls, and other special guests.

"Courtney's legacy is vital to the voice of women in our culture," says Auf der Maur. "The passion she brings to her life and art fuels and inspires the long fought battle for the empowerment of alternative voices as they take center stage at last! As the founder and frontwoman of the band Hole, and through her escapades as a Hollywood actress and all-around empowered voice for over three decades, Courtney broke new ground, combining lyrics of intellectual and intellectual acuity with music of a singular power to create a body of work with riveting emotional intensity."

Through conversations, readings, video, and performance, the evening's program will shine a light on all of the ways that Love has influenced culture and inspired women and marginalized people for almost three decades. An exciting lineup of contributors will illuminate the impact of Love's vital and inspiring art and energy and the inspiration her work continues to instill in the next generation of artists and musicians. The evening's performances will demonstrate the incredible power and the lasting legacy of Love's iconic explorations and subversions of femininity, and honor her unapologetic, fearless protest of the patriarchy.

In addition to her many musical accomplishments, Love continues her career as a sought-after actor, performer, and presence. Having recently completed production on James Franco's film The Long Home, she can also be seen in the final season of the critically acclaimed series Sons of Anarchy and in guest roles on the hit shows Empire and Revenge. Love will next star alongside Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, and Diane Kruger in the Justin Kelly-directed biopic JT about JT Leroy, the literary persona created by author Laura Albert. Love's much-celebrated turn as the tragic Althea Flynt in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt earned her a Golden Globe nomination as well as Best Supporting Actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics, among other honors. She is currently writing a memoir to be published by HarperCollins.

Pioneering People will feature a private benefit dinner followed by the public performance. Tickets to the public event are available on Eventbrite. For information, tickets and table purchases for the private benefit dinner, contact Jasmine Dreame Wagner, Development Manager at jasmine@basilicahudson.org.

ABOUT PIONEERING PEOPLE BASILICA BENEFIT

Basilica Hudson's Pioneering People Basilica Benefit celebrates groundbreaking artists working across a range of disciplines. The events celebrate remarkable trailblazers in art and music. Past Pioneering People include singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright in 2016 and visionary filmmaker John Waters in 2014, for the inaugural program.

"Basilica Hudson celebrates Pioneering People embodying the kind of free and fearless artistic path that we strive to support in our programming," says Auf der Maur. "We strive to celebrate the risk-takers of our time. Fearless. Bold. One-of-a-kind. These artists embody everything that Basilica strives to nurture and support, and these evenings represent the essence of the Basilica spirit and mission to champion independent and innovative voices. It is an honor to have these remarkable artists spend an intimate evening with us and our Hudson community."

Basilica Hudson serves over 40,000 people per year at public music, film, literary, culinary and community programs at affordable ticket prices or at no cost to audiences, while striving to support artists working across disciplines. Funds raised at this special event will provide crucial support for Basilica's mission to present independent and innovative voices in arts and culture while fostering sustainable community.

The event will take place against the raw, industrial backdrop of Basilica Hudson's solar-powered reclaimed factory, with the spectacular Hudson River and Catskill Mountains on the horizon.

ABOUT COURTNEY LOVE

Musician. Songwriter. Actress. Activist. Writer. Provocateur. Courtney Love is one of the few artists who fit into all of these categories, a global celebrity whose life and work are impossible to pigeonhole. As the founder and frontwoman of the band Hole and her subsequent work as a solo artist she broke new ground, combining lyrics of exceptional intellectual and observational acuity with music of singular power and riveting emotional intensity. Her work has enjoyed critical acclaim as well as commercial success, especially with the multiplatinum-selling albums "Live Through This" and "Celebrity Skin." In addition to her many music-related activities, including her passionate involvement in a variety of artists' rights issues, Love continues her career as a sought-after actress. She recently completed production on James Franco's film, The Long Home, based on William Gay's debut novel of the same title. She can also be seen in the final season of the critically acclaimed series "Sons of Anarchy" and in guest roles on the hit shows "Empire" and "Revenge." Since 2015, she has starred in Todd Almond's hit contemporary opera "Kansas City Choir Boy." Love recently appeared in the Lifetime movie "Menendez: Blood Brothers." Love will next star alongside Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern and Diane Kruger in the Justin Kelly-directed biopic JT about JT Leroy, the literary persona created by author Laura Albert. Love's much-celebrated turn as the tragic Althea Flynt in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt earned her a Golden Globe nomination as well as Best Supporting Actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics, among other honors. Love is currently writing a memoir to be published by HarperCollins.

ABOUT BASILICA HUDSON

Basilica Hudson is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts center supporting the creation, production and presentation of independent and innovative arts and culture while fostering sustainable community. Founded in 2010 by musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, Basilica Hudson makes its home in a spectacular solar-powered reclaimed 1880s industrial factory on the waterfront of the historic City of Hudson. Weekend destination events comprise the core of Basilica Hudson's immersive, avant garde music, performance, film, food and literary programming, alongside regular film screenings series, art exhibitions, and other community gatherings.

Basilica Hudson presents more than 35 programs each season, from one-night screenings to weekend festivals, anchored by major annual events including two music festivals and two large-scale marketplace events, as well as film screening series, art exhibitions, special performances, concerts, and literary and food-related events. The artistic program has taken shape through collaborations with many partners, visiting artists and friends, and is supported by adventurous audiences and community members. Each season, more than 75 local, national and international artists perform and present work at Basilica and 100+ local and regional businesses - farmers, chefs, collectors and makers of all kinds - participate in marketplace events, showcasing the region's artisanal and agricultural heritage. Basilica Hudson welcomes more than 40,000 local, regional and international visitors to programs and events each season.