Position Description
On Tuesday, November 3rd, The Laundromat Project will host its first annual auction fundraiser at Envoy Gallery. Our aim is to raise funds to support our ongoing work and the appointment of our first full-time staff member. The event will be preceded by an online auction of works on paper donated by established and emerging contemporary artists. The Laundromat Project seeks a volunteer to support activities associated with organizing the November 3rd event and the accompanying online auction. Specifically, a Special Events intern will execute broad tasks.

Responsibilities
Tasks include:

• Assisting with generating gift, food and alcohol sponsorships for the November 3rd Auction event at Envoy Gallery
• Assisting with conducting outreach to media outlets and press contacts
• Uploading art images and inputting bid information onto a blog site
• Posting auction news items to web
• Providing administrative support for donating artists, host committee, Board of Directors and Fundraising Consultant

Requirements
The ideal candidate:

• Possesses excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Is trustworthy and possesses sound judgment
• Is available to work independently and as part of a team
• Has access to a reliable computer and printer
• Can dedicate 5-10 hours a week to project tasks between September 15th and November 15th
• Is available for at least 1 in-person meeting per week leading up to the event
• Is familiar with basic MS office applications and has facility with online document management
• Is able to lift at least 25lbs
• Has knowledge of the arts or an interest in learning about contemporary art
• Prior Special Events or Fundraising experience is a plus but not required

Position Description
The Laundromat Project is hosting a series of pilot art-making workshops at The Laundry Room through its Works iN Progress program. These activities cater to an ongoing flow of people, as participants may arrive after the initial demonstration or explanation of the activity. Workshops incorporate fun and engaging art-making techniques in addition to a component that allows participants understand their neighborhood more profoundly.

The fundamental goals for these workshops are to 1) bring art-making down to earth; and 2) provide an activity that helps neighbors get to know each other and their neighborhood better.

Volunteers will serve as assistants to Teaching Artists working with the Works iN Progress Program as they facilitate workshops in and within close proximity to laundromats and as documentarians while workshops are in session.

Key Responsibilities

• Posting and passing out fliers to local businesses and organizations before workshops begin
• Assisting Teaching Artist with lessons as needed
• Photographing workshops for The Laundromat Project’s blog and flickr account
• Uploading photographs with captions on Flickr account
• Downloading/transferring photographs to a Laundromat Project staff member
• Making sure participants sign guest book and Participation Agreement forms

Participation Dates
Volunteers are needed from 11am – 3:30pm on Saturday, September 26th; Sunday, September 27th; Saturday, October 3rd; Sunday, October 4th; Saturday, October 10th; Sunday October 11th.

Position Description
The Laundromat Project hosts two core programs: Create Change Artist Residency Program and Works iN Progress. It’s third year of programming, The Laundromat Project is seeking interns to develop strategic press strategies to effectively promote its programs.

The Communications Intern will be responsible for raising awareness to the organization’s Create Change and Works iN Progress Program through online and print media outlets. This entails targeting writers who may be interested in writing about the organization or its projects, creating a detailed spreadsheet that includes contact information for writers and deadlines for when press materials should be received.

Requirements
Candidate must be an independent self-motivated worker, detail oriented, have research experience, be proficient with Microsoft Word and Excel, feel comfortable with data entry, and have an interest in public art, community arts, arts education, or media relations.

Most of the work for this position can be done independently and submitted virtually. However, the Communications Intern will be required to meet weekly with The Laundromat Project Programs Associate in person or by phone.

Responsibilities

• Creates an excel spreadsheet of online and print media outlets, which target specific writers who may take interest in the organization and its projects.
• Meet weekly with The Laundromat Project Programs Associate

Project Dates + Time Commitment
5-8hrs/week | September 15 – December 31, 2009

Tracee Worley’s 2009 Create Change project, The Dirty Laundry Line, is an experiment in neighborhood communication, giving laundromat customers all over New York City the opportunity to anonymously air out their dirty laundry in public or voyeuristically snoop through other people’s dirty laundry.

Since August 2009, laundromat washers and dryers have been bombed with stickers inviting customers to call The Dirty Laundry Line. Curious callers are given the option to “press one” to anonymously “air out” their dirty laundry by leaving a message or “press two” to hear messages other callers have left.

Call. Listen. Laugh. Cry. Press #1. Leave a message.

This is just some place holder text so you can see what it might look like to have actual content on the page before you actually enter it. This is just some place holder text so you can see what it might look like to have actual content on the page before you actually enter it.

If you haven’t visited us already, please join us on Saturdays and Sundays in front of The Laundry Room in Harlem weather permitting. We’ll be closed for Labor Day weekend, but come and visit us on September 12th + 13th or any other weekend until October 11th. Scroll down for workshop schedule.

Sat, Aug. 1, 2009
Drawing/Breath

Sun, Aug 2, 2009
CANCELLED due to weather

Sat, Aug. 8, 2009
Drawing/Breath

Sun, Aug. 9, 2009
CANCELLED due to weather

Sat, Aug. 15, 2009
I Pledge Allegiance to My Neighborhood: Making Community Flags

Sun, Aug. 16, 2009
I Pledge Allegiance to My Neighborhood: Making Community Flags

Sat, Aug. 22, 2009
Collage-N-Motion

Sun, Aug. 23, 2009
Collage-N-Motion

Sat, Aug 29, 2009
A Window into Your Experience: Sol Lewitt based Instructional Drawing

Sun, Aug 30, 2009
A Window into Your Experience: Sol Lewitt based Instructional Drawing

Sat, Sept. 12, 2009
Printmaking

Sun, Sept. 13, 2009
Narrative Silhouettes

Sat, Sept. 19, 2009
Printmaking

Sun, Sept. 20, 2009
Representational Postcards

Sat, Sept. 26, 2009
Resist Painting

Sun, Sept. 27, 2009
Culture in Images: Bearden Collages

Sat, Oct. 3, 2009
Resist Painting

Sun, Oct. 4, 2009
Representational Postcards

Sat, Oct. 10, 2009
Making Monuments from Paper [WORKSHOPS EXTENDED]

Sun, Oct 11, 2009
Making Monuments from Paper [WORKSHOPS EXTENDED]

* Schedule is subject to change

If you weren’t there this weekend for our Works iN Progress 10-week art-making workshop kickoff, then make your way over next weekend for a good time. One of the The LP’s new Teaching Artists, Ifetayo Abdus-Salam, rocked the house or rather rocked the curb with her lesson, “Drawing/Breath.”

Each participant was given a piece of construction paper, a generous line of water-based ink, and a straw. Ife asked everyone to listen to the surrounding sounds and mirror them by blowing through their straws accordingly. Participants were then invited to enhance their pictures by adding color with chalk pastels. The results were beautiful.

See you next week! We’re right in front of The Laundry Room (143 W. 116th btwn Malcolm X + Adam Clayton Powell) every Saturday and Sunday weather permitting.

Until then…

The Laundromat Project launches 10-week arts making workshops under its Works iN Progress program Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at The Laundry Room located at 143 West 116th Street between Malcolm X Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.

Art-making activities cater to an ongoing flow of people, as participants are welcome to arrive after the initial demonstration has been made. Teaching Artists will lead participants in making fun and engaging art projects that teach art techniques and allow participants to look at and understand their neighborhood more profoundly.

Come one. Come all!

See you at the Laundry Room Saturday, August 1st for our kick off.

Call for Writers for Create Change Artist Residency Program

Each year, The Laundromat Project selects three visual artists to participate in its six-month Create Change Artist Residency Program. Three writers are then paired with Create Change participants to write about their projects throughout their residency.

To Apply
The Laundromat Project is looking for three writers of any genre (creative writing, journalism, art criticism, etc.) Our goal is to assemble as many different perspectives of this work as possible in anticipation of a program catalogue. Profiles should be brief in length (500 words maximum) and will appear first on our website but will be archived for later publication.

If selected to profile one of the Create Change participants, we will connect the two of you so that you can spend time with their work at their respective laundromat site in order to engage with their process and ideas.

Each work will receive a $500 honorarium upon successful completion of the profile.

Please send three writing samples to exceed no more than 1,000 words each as PDF documents to Petrushka Bazin at petrushka(at)laundromatproject.org by July 22nd, 2009. If submitting an excerpt from a longer work, please send no more than five pages from the work and no additional samples.

About The Laundromat Project
The Laundromat Project is a community based arts organization committed to the well being of communities of color living on low incomes. We understand that creativity is a central component of healthy human beings, vibrant neighborhoods and thriving economies. Every year we invite artists to mount public art projects in laundromats throughout New York City. By bringing art to our neighbors, we aim to raise the quality of life in our community.

About Create Change
Create Change is a six-month public art residency program (May 15, 2009 – October 15, 2009) developed to connect communities and artists of color in meaningful ways. Each Create Change artist is charged with placing art-making in the context of everyday living by:

::producing a site-specific, socially relevant installation at their local laundromats

::engaging fellow laundry patrons as participants in their creative process; and

::increasing their own visibility as an artist and a neighbor in the area they call home.

Past projects have ranged from building a drawing stand where laundromat patrons and passersby exchanged drawings with a local artist; to sculpting a bench made from ceramic tiles designed by secondary school students; to hosting a book exchange around a bench made from books.

The themes of current projects include ideas of home, efforts to maintain or obtain affordable housing, “familiar strangers,” and storytelling.

The month of May was a very busy month for The Laundromat Project - new Create Change Participants, new Artist + Community Council, and new Program Associate + Exhibition Coordinator. Stay tuned for updates on this year’s Create Change projects.

The Laundromat Project’s Create Change Program invites artists to mount public art projects in laundromats throughout New York City as a way of increasing the quality of life in communities of color living on low incomes. Past projects have taken place in Crown Heights, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Harlem.

We are proud to announce Carlos Martinez, Michael Premo, and Tracee Worley as our three new Create Change Participants!

2009 marks the inaugural year of our Artist and Community Council, a group of socially engaged art professionals who live and/or work in the communities where our programming is located. This year’s Council members lent their expertise in the selection of our 2009 Create Change participants and will offer ongoing support throughout the artists’ residencies.

The 2009 Artist + Community Council includes: Rashida Bumbray, Martha Diaz, Andre Lancaster, and Rudy Shepherd.

We are currently accepting applications for our 2009 Create Change Public Artist Residency Program. Applications and materials are due by March 9th, 2009. NOTE THE NEW, EXTENDED DEADLINE!

To apply, you can download an Application. Applicants are also encouraged to review answers to Frequently Asked Questions and the program summary below. To see examples of past Create Change projects click here.

About Create Change

Create Change is a six month public art residency program (May 15, 2009 – October 31, 2009) developed to connect communities and artists of color in meaningful ways. As a 2009 Create Change artist you will be able to place art-making in the context of everyday living by:

::producing a site-specific, socially relevant installation at your local laundromat

::engaging your fellow laundry patrons as participants in your creative process; and

::increasing your own visibility as an artist and a neighbor in the area you call home.

Create Change public art projects can range in form (from physical installations to performative acts to other kinds of interventions), but must make use of the unique social space of New York City laundromats. Successful projects will 1) help participants to stay connected long after the projects are physically complete; and 2) facilitate a process in which neighbors from different class strata build relationships as shared stakeholders in the future of their neighborhood and/or of a larger cultural history.

To support your process, we will provide you with a stipend and materials budget, but equally as important we offer a supportive network along with opportunities for professional development and sharing your work with a larger public.

About The Laundromat Project

The Laundromat Project is a community based arts organization committed to the well-being of communities of color living on low incomes. We understand that creativity is a central component of healthy human beings, vibrant neighborhoods and thriving economies. Every year we invite artists to mount public art projects in laundromats throughout Brooklyn and Harlem. By bringing art to where our neighbors already are (everyone has to do their laundry), we aim to raise the quality of life in our community.

17 NEW YORK CITY GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE $700,000 IN AWARDS
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Community leaders to be honored at upcoming Union Square Awards ceremony
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December 2008

Union Square Awards Seventeen New York City organizations will be honored at the annual Union Square Awards celebration on Saturday, December 6th. Seven will receive the prestigious Union Square Award and a $50,000 grant for exceptional efforts addressing the critical social and economic issues facing New Yorkers. Ten will receive the Union Square Arts Award and a $35,000 grant in recognition of innovative work in the arts with youth and families in low-income communities. “With minimal resources, these organizations are making extraordinary contributions to local neighborhoods. Given the current economic situation, their work is vital to New York City,” says Executive Director Iris Morales.

Named after the park on 14th Street where New Yorkers have organized and spoken out about major social issues since the nineteenth century, the Union Square Awards program was created to recognize and encourage initiative in serving New York City communities. The awards realize an anonymous donor’s dream of honoring New Yorkers who have taken action to improve people’s lives and advocate for social change. Since its inception, the Union Square Awards has granted more than $13 million to organizations that have not received either substantial funding or public accolade.

This year’s awardees work with diverse populations across the City including young people, new immigrant communities, the formerly incarcerated, and the disabled. They join 186 organizations that have previously received the Award since its founding in 1998. Awardees will be recognized at a special ceremony at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan.

…

Recipients of the Arts Award

Cool Culture offers programs that provide low-income families access to New York’s arts, cultural and scientific institutions.

Freedom Train Productions promotes new political theatre that features Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) characters written by up-and-coming Black LGBT playwrights.

Girls Write Now is a creative writing organization that offers girls from New York City public schools a safe environment that fosters their creativity and independent voices.

The Laundromat Project uses the space of local coin-ops to provide communities of color living on modest incomes access to visual arts as a tool for personal and social transformation.

Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture without Borders celebrates Mexican culture in the United States and promotes understanding of Mexican traditions among immigrants, artists, educators and the public.

The Multicultural Music Group offers performance, instruction and professional development in multicultural music to promote global understanding, cultural awareness, and academic achievement.

Renaissance E.M.S. provides young people in the Bronx with music instruction, vocal training and other programs that maximize their potential and encourage community participation.

T.W.W./Talks with Wolves provides children and youth with programs in writing, visual and performance arts that integrate African and Native American cultures.

Urban Word works to ensure that New York City youth have a safe, supportive, dynamic and challenging community in which to discover and use their voices through written and spoken word.

Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls (Rock Camp) is dedicated to using music to promote self-expression and self-esteem while building bridges of communication to combat racism and stereotypes.

The Union Square Awards is a project of the Tides Center whose mission is to actively promote change toward a healthy society – one founded on principles of social justice, equal economic opportunity, a robust democratic process, and environmental sustainability.

For more information about the Union Square Awards, please visit www.unionsquareawards.org.

NYU Alumni Magazine
Spring 2006
by Nicole Pezold

A laundromat might seem a peculiar place to exhibit art. But Risë Wilson (GSAS ’04) realized this very ordinary location could open a world to an entirely new audience, one that might never think to enter a gallery. As a black woman, she herself had often felt like an interloper in the museums that inspired her. “The pictures in the gilded frames had nothing to do with my experience or my neighbors’ experiences,” she explains. To break down the real and perceived barriers that have locked generations of African-Americans out of the mainstream art world, Wilson proposed combining an art center in a low-income neighborhood with a laundromat that could help support it… FULL ARTICLE

Sparknotes
July 2005
by Justin Kestler

Art and laundry tend to be at opposite ends of the spectrum of human activity: laundry’s a chore we have to do; art tends to be a pleasure people seek out in their free time. The Laundromat Project was created to change both experiences by making a visit to an art exhibition a built-in part of the recurring chore of doing the wash. The profits from the coin-operated machines will help support the creation and showing of the artwork. But above all, the hope is to make art more accessible and relevant to communities who may never visit a gallery otherwise, creating programs and exhibitions that encourage people to engage more with the arts, education, and other civic activities… FULL ARTICLE

Columbia College Today
November 2004
by Shira Boss-Bicak

… For the money making side of the venture, Wilson considered pairing the arts center with a beauty or barber shop or a bodega, among other options. Her objective was to capture the broadest audience possible and to engage customers in visual arts in an informal atmosphere. Eventually she hit on the idea of a Laundromat.

“You have to do laundry whether you want to or not,” notes Wilson, “no matter what the economy is doing.” FULL ARTICLE

24/7 (a publication of Courier Life)
November 2004
by Christy Goodman

… Their angel investor, Echoing Green, was the first place Wilson and Robinson applied for a grant. Lucky for them, they were also the only arts based grant given this year by Echoing Green.

“This is a terrific example of how non-profits are incorporating social enterprise approaches with sustaining an association,” said Echoing Green President, Dr. Cheryl Dorsey. “We were all intrigued by the idea. It is such a smart idea that incorporates social justice principles and theories with a good arts education program that really embraces the changing neighborhood.”

“This is a wonderful grant because it gives us time to plan. The next two years really are planning years to get this up and running,” says Wilson.A third of Echoing Green’s grants go to educational programming. Another third goes towards health-related programming. The rest is historically for the arts, but in the past few years, they have not funded any arts programming—until now… FULL ARTICLE

Daily Challenge
July 16-18, 2004

Rooted in the belief that cultural participation can serve as a path to civic engagement, the Laundromat Project seeks to capitalize on the open, democratic space that a community laundromat offers to engage people who may not actively seek out an arts experience or civic involvement… FULL ARTICLE

CAA News (College Art Association)
September 2002
by Stephanie Davies

… Wilson perceives visual art as an underused tool in African American cultural autobiography and seeks to strengthen the interaction of black audiences with visual art. Her graduate work explores ways in which the art process and “product” has been and can be brought to new spaces and contexts specific to African American populations. Such work serves as preparation to create a laundromat-kunsthalle in a historically black neighborhood... FULL ARTICLE