Gather & Create is The Laundromat Project’s annual community celebration of the Create Change Artists-in-Residence. Join us to experience virtual presentations of this year’s commissioned projects by the Dreamseed Collective, Rochelle Jamila Wilbun, Ogemdi Ude, and Gabriel Torres. Throughout the year, each artist has shaped collaborative community-based projects around strategies for communal well-being and holistic healing practices—from a theatrical production exploring substance use and recovery, to postpartum movement workshops and roundtables on tarot. Learn more about these artists as they share the creative ideas they’re putting into action across New York City.
This event took place on November 10, 2021. Watch the recording here.
ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE
Dreamseed Collective
(Malanya Graham, Maliika Nia-Imani, Blaise Sparda), Dreamseed Oracle Deck
Ogemdi Ude & Rochelle Jamila Wilbun, AfroPeach
Gabriel Torres, Haus of Dust
HOST
Naomi Beckwith
Deputy Director & Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator,
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
SPECIAL REMARKS
adrienne maree brown
Ebony Noelle Golden
Sonia Guiñansaca
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TICKETS
Complimentary
Access the Virtual Watch Party featuring 2021 Create Change Artist-in Residence Final Presentations
Activist | $15
Access the Virtual Watch Party and support future Create Change residency projects
Organizer | $150
Access the Virtual Watch Party and receive a limited edition print by Artists-in Residence Dreamseed Collective
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NAOMI BECKWITH is the Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator at the Guggenheim Museum. Previously she was the Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, focusing on conceptual practices in contemporary art. Her exhibitions and work have been featured in The New York Times, Artforum, T Magazine, Uptown, CODE Magazine, and Ebony Magazine, where she was listed as a Top 100 Leader in Arts and Letters. She serves on the boards of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and The Laundromat Project, and chaired the inaugural Curatorial Leadership Summit at the Armory Show in 2018.
MALANYA GRAHAM is a Black queer interdisciplinary artist. They received a BFA with a concentration in painting from CUNY Hunter College, supported by the Kossak Fellowship program. Between 2015 and 2018, they worked in several arts organizations across NYC, served as a grants panelist for Brooklyn Arts Council, and as Content Director for Outlet.fyi. After completing the Create Change Fellowship and the Education Practicum at Studio Museum in Harlem, Malanya attended Hunter College for their MFA program. They participated in a residency program hosted by RAW Material Company in Dakar, Senegal where they met with independent artist collectives and learned about the rich history of institution-building by the Black diaspora of West Africa. Inspired by these interactions, Malanya vacated MFA studies to form Taurus Moon Lab, LLC, a creative production company, in order to contribute to the legacy of independent artistry at the forefront of social change.
MALIIKA NIA-IMANI is a Black, fluid femme artist and entrepreneur from the Bronx. Maliika established their small business making wearable art “Mama, I Made It” in 2018. It was reimagined into “Nia Imani Studio” when their art expanded to include metalsmithing. Since completing a video editing course in 2019 at BRIC Studio, they’ve worked on independent video and portraiture projects and as an assistant videographer and editor on a live podcast.
BLAISE SPARDA is an independent visual artist, model, and professional tarot reader based in Brooklyn, New York. Hailing from Trindad and Tobago, Sparda’s art navigates the spaces between two disparate worlds. They are inspired by the spiritual technology of their ancestors and have utilized tarot for the spiritual and emotional wellness of their clientele. For Sparda, tarot is a gateway to the facets of the self that needs the most love and understanding.
GABRIEL TORRES is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia and New York. He has directed shows and readings in Hong Kong, Colombia and New York. Gabriel also works in Education and Community Organizing. He holds a BA in Liberal Sciences and he is a candidate for an MA in Media Studies, both at The New School. He was part of EmergeNYC20’ and Creative Capital Taller Profesional Para Artistas.
OGEMDI UDE is a Nigerian-American dance artist, educator, and doula based in Brooklyn. She creates performances that investigate how Black folks’ cultural, familial, and personal histories are embedded in their bodies and influence their everyday and performative movement. She aims to incite critical engagement with embodied Black history as a means to imagine Black futurity. Her work has been presented at Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Danspace Project, Gibney, Center for Performance Research, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, La Mama Courthouse, and for BAM’s DanceAfrica festival. She currently serves as Head of Movement for Drama at Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan. She is a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grantee and a 2019-2020 Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Resident Fellow. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in English, Dance, and Theater from Princeton University.
ROCHELLE JAMILA WILBUN is a Brooklyn-based Black movement and healing artist. She integrates movement, voice, and ritual through her work as a dancer, doula, herbalist, and energy practitioner. Rochelle comes from a long line of teachers, conjurers, caregivers, and earth tenders from whom she channels guidance and wisdom. Her work explores healing through dance, voice, and ritual and has been shown at the University of Amsterdam, Barnard College, Greenspace, the Craft, Elizabeth Street Garden, and the Current Showcase. As a dancer, she has worked with artists such as Ebony Noelle Golden, Jasmine Hearn, Ambika Raina, Maya Lee Parritz, Colleen Thomas-Young, and Beth Gill. Rochelle has taught dance and movement workshops in NYC public schools and community centers. She has supported over 25 families as a doula.
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Access Note: The Laundromat Project is committed to hosting accessible and inclusive events. Gather & Create will be captioned using Real-Time Captioning (CART). American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will also be available. Please contact us at [email protected] with any accessibility needs or questions.