Eisa Davis and Stephanie Ybarra to be Honored at BEYOND: HERE's 31st Annual Gala

HERE Arts Center has named Eisa Davis, Co-creater of WARRIORS (with Lin-Manuel Miranda), Playwright (Bulrusher) and performer (Passing Strange), as the Avant- Guardian honoree and artist, culture worker, Program Officer at Mellon Foundation, Stephanie Ybarra will be the HEREmantitarian honoree for BEYOND: HERE's 31st Annual Gala.

The gala will take place at HERE on Monday, May 12 at 6pm. Gather for an evening where the historic space becomes a stellar landscape, where experimental performance meets cosmic wonder. Gala presenters and performers will be announced at a later date. 

“Eisa Davis and Stephanie Ybarra both had productions early in their careers at HERE Arts Center and have worked closely with our co-directors and board”, says Jennifer Suh Whitfield, HERE Board Chair. “HERE Art Center honors these incredible women for the extraordinary work they create and champion. They embody the bold, innovative vision that HERE dedicates itself to through new leadership models, new ways of creating work and new ways of supporting artists.”

Previous award recipients have included Cheryl Henson for HEREmanitrian in 2022, Doris Duke for HEREmanitarian in 2019, Mertz Gilmore Foundation and LuEsther T. Mertz for HEREmanitarian in 2016. For the Avant-Guardian award recent awardees include Machine Dazzle in 2023, Brian Selznick in 2022, Taylor Mac in 2019, Eve Ensler in 2018, Anne Kauffman in 2017 and Basil Twist in 2016.

Single tickets and ticketpackages for the gala are available for purchase now. Proceeds from ticket sales and funds raised will be used to continue the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary commitment that has always been at the forefront of HERE’s vision. 

HERE Arts Center restructured their organization last year making Jesse Cameron Alick, Annalisa Dias, Lanxing Fu and Lauren Miller co-directors of the institution, succeeding founding artistic director Kristin Marting. HERE specializes in producing new, hybrid performances that integrate multiple artistic disciplines, including theatre, dance, music and opera, puppetry, media, visual and installation, spoken word and performance art. Their standout productions include Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Taylor Mac’s The Hang and The Lily’s Revenge, Trey Lyford & Geoff Sobelle all wear bowlers, Young Jean Lee’s Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, Robin Frohardt’s The Pigeoning, and Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique.

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