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Performance Space New York to Present ART WORKERS ARE ARTISTS TOO Hosted by Champagne Jerry

The event will take place on February 8 at 6:30pm in the Keith Haring Theatre.

By: Feb. 05, 2024
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Performance Space New York will present Art Workers Are Artists Too, organized by Sarai Frazier, hosted by performance legend Champagne Jerry, and showcasing the creative endeavors of Performance Space’s community of crew workers, February 8 at 6:30pm in the Keith Haring Theatre. The night honors the vital contributions of those whose labor and artistry—within their professional lives at Performance Space—often serve to build worlds envisioned by other artists and present their visions to the public. The event encourages a broader understanding of their skills and artistry, extending the audience’s gaze beyond the spotlight to encompass the unseen labor wrapped into the creative process. All proceeds from the event will support the Derek Lloyd Production Fellowship, a full-time, paid position now in its fourth iteration, spanning one year and providing the recipient with hands-on learning and professional development.

Art Workers are Artists Too celebrates the inherent artistry embedded within the daily lives of arts workers. Crew members, hailing from diverse production backgrounds in theater, dance, and music, bring a unique set of skills honed from their own artistic practices to support the work of their fellow artists. Grounded in an ethos of support, this creative exchange forms the foundation for a vibrant collaborative environment. 

Participants, all workers at Performance Space, include Sophia Alaniz, AMARII, MF BUTCH, Ansel Combs, CULEBRA, Matthew Deinhart + Sara Vandenheuvel, Evangeline Dillard, Robin A. Ediger-Seto, ESSA.A (Electric Sewage Systems and Analysis), Sarai Frazier, Andrew Fox, Yisel Garcia, Naomi Harrison-Clay and Tal Mor, Žilvinas Jonuśas, Jimmy Kavetas and Friends, Georgina Kritikos, Emily LaRochelle+ Sarazina Joy Stein, Noodt, Andy Sowers, and Alex Vasquez-Dheming.

Sarai Frazier, Performance Space New York’s Associate Production Manager, says, “This is everyone gathering to show how they’ve taken skills and tools often stemming from their work as technicians to the next level as artists in a range of practices: we have prop designers, lighting electricians, directors, dancers and choreographers, musicians and sound artists and audio engineers, carpentry folks, stage managers, dramaturgs, photographers, projection designers, puppet makers, vocalists. I think it’s up to institutions to build the bridge and build trust between artists and crew, and what we’re expressing here is that crew are in fact artists making work that deserves to be acknowledged. We know what artists are going through in their processes because we have our own artistic practices. Building this collaborative and creative environment here in this event also helps us create a better playground for the work that's being built for other artists.”

Frazier herself came to Performance Space as a Derek Lloyd Production Fellow (one of five who’ve been mentored so far through the program), before joining the team as Associate Production Manager. Frazier worked initially as a lighting designer, and ultimately her work at Performance Space led her into collaboration with Monica Mirabile on all things under dog, where two things are always true, for which she was nominated for a Bessie for lighting design at 23. The fellowship is geared towards advancing the careers of emerging technical artists in the performing arts with the spirit, ethos, and art-focused approach that the late Derek Lloyd brought to his 14-year tenure as Performance Space’s Director of Production. The fellow receives essential training with Performance

Space as well as some of NYC’s leading theater designers and production managers. 

 Art Workers Are Artists Too is part of the John Giorno Octopus Series, which invites artists and guest curators to organize an evening-length program with several artists working in any number of disciplines. While Octopus events have been devoted to Performance Space’s crew in the past, this is the largest-scale realization of the idea, and the first time it has taken place in the Keith Haring Theatre, where it can fully demonstrate the scope of the space, tools, and technologies participants navigate and operate daily to make art happen. (Octopus events more often occur in the smaller Neilma Sidney Theatre.) 




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