Uptown / Downtown
The 2008 Uptown/Downtown session is complete.
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What does it mean to be an Uptown or Downtown Artist? Is the idea grounded in geography? Community? Aesthetics? Are there Uptown and Downtown audiences? How can we bring these artists and ideas together?
The Field, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Harlem Arts Alliance collaborate to provide a unique opportunity for performing artists to explore these questions within the context of developing new work for presentation.
Uptown/Downtown provides an opportunity for participating artists to:
- Work with and learn from artists working in different performing disciplines, communities and career stages
- Explore the feedback process as a tool for developing their own work and responding to the work of others
- Develop a work-in-progress for performance in a supportive and responsive environment
- Connect with artists, presenters and audiences in two of Manhattan’s most vibrant creative communities
Click year to view past artists:
Program Description:
Uptown/Downtown is a workshop and performance opportunity for 10 performing artists who have a technically simple, 12-minute work in progress or excerpt ready to perform.
The workshop consists of six consecutive weekly sessions in which artists will show works-in-progress and share non-directorial feedback with a moderator present. The workshops will be held in two venues, three weeks uptown and three weeks downtown.
In an additional session, invited guests from the performing arts community in Manhattan, including arts administrators and curators, will give short presentations to the group on their institutions and their approach to the work that they do.
The workshops will culminate in two consecutive nights of performance in two of Manhattan’s performance venues, one uptown and one downtown.
Sponsoring Organizations
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been the leading voice for arts and culture Downtown and throughout New York City for over 35 years, producing cultural events and promoting the arts through grants, services, advocacy, and cultural development programs.
Harlem Arts Alliance (HAA) is a non-profit service organization committed to nurturing the artistic growth and organizational development of artists and arts organizations primarily in Harlem and its surrounding communities. Comprised of over 400 individual artists and arts organizations, HAA is the only service organization of its kind in Harlem and plays an essential role by helping to build the resources, network and capacity of its richly diverse membership. Counted among its members are young emerging artists, established and nationally recognized artists and small grassroots organizations and major cultural organizations in Harlem and in New York City. HAA directs its efforts in three key programming areas: Professional Development (technical assistance and re-granting activities), Special Projects (presentations and showcases), and Advocacy and Education (programs that seek to elevate arts and culture specifically in Harlem and on a national level in general.) Visit Harlem Arts Alliance online at www.harlemaa.org.
The Field’s mission is to serve independent performing artists on a completely non-exclusive basis. This means that everything we do is open to artists from all aesthetic viewpoints, cultural backgrounds, and levels of development. Our priority is to create a climate where risk-taking and originality are championed, and where the broadest range of voices are included. Field programs are affordable, accessible, and rigorous. To support independent performing artists, The Field’s programs are directed toward the creation of new work and its dissemination. Visit The Field online at www.thefield.org.
Uptown/Downtown is made possible in part through the generous support of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.
