Loisaida Inc.

Community Parade & Pageant – Open Community Workshops
2017-05-26 14:00 - 18:00 UTC | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Workshop begins: Friday, May 5th 2017 from 2:00pm to 6:00pm
All workshops held at Loisaida Inc. Center – 710 East 9th Street NY NY 10009
FREE! All ages welcome.
Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

Overview:
Loisaida Inc. has commissioned three masters in the arts of street theater to develop and implement a FREE month-long intensive collaborative atelier of parade-making & pageant techniques to kick-off the Loisaida Street Festival on its 30th anniversary. Daniel Polnau, Pablo Varona and Adam Ende (link to bios below) are three veteran puppeteers and distinct street artists with extensive US and international experience coming together in Loisaida to engage our surrounding community in an exploration of what is possible with humble and accessible materials. They will offer their skills and mentorship in diverse formats of inter-active public art aesthetics, messaging and celebration.

Open Community Workshop
Dates: Fridays (May 5,12,19 and 26) from 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Description: The Loisaida Festival Parade & Pageant counts with workshop space to build anything related to the parade. Any individual or group that would like to use our space, can come in on the Open Community Workshops. If you reach us beforehand, we could also reserve a space in the workshop and help with your designs and craft.
Please note: The parade is on the 28, May 2017, it starts at 10am and finishes at 12pm. We are asking all parade volunteers to be there, at least, two hours before (~8am) the parade starts and to anyone else that is parading with us, at least one hour before (~9am).
(Recommended for ages 18 – Adults. No unaccompanied minors will be allowed.)

Register here!

Make it Verde!
2017-06-24 10:00 - 13:00 | High Line at W 14th Street, West 14th Street, Manhattan, NY, 10014, United States
MAKE IT VERDE!
DATE & TIME:

Saturday, June 24, 2017 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

LOCATION:
On the High Line at 14th St.

In partnership with the Friends of the High Line, join us for a day of dancing, music, and creating with recycled materials. Portions of this program will be offered in Spanish and English.
This program is geared towards children ages 0-12.
RSVP for this program beginning June 7. To be notified, please join our mailing list.
High Line members may pre-register for this event beginning on June 2.
Not yet a member? Join today.
If you’re an existing member and lost your card, send us an email.

Schedule of events:
10 – 11 AM: Storytime for children ages 0-5 years old by Poncili Creacion
10 AM – 1 PM: Ongoing activities: mobile garden with a Friends of the High Line gardener, worm bin exploration, and mural art project led by Poncili Creacion
11:30 AM: Performance by Poncili Creacion
12:00 PM: Performance by Poncili Creacion (repeat)
12:30 PM: Performance by The Brandon Project
All children must be accompanied by a caregiver at all times.
This program is held rain or shine.

SUPPORT
High Line Families is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.

© 2000–2017 Friends of the High Line

The Diller – von Furstenberg Building
820 Washington Street – New York, NY 10014
T (212) 500.6035 F (212) 206.9118
FAMILY PROGRAMS

Lecture: The Art of Life and Life in the Art of Joaquín Torres García (in Spanish)
2017-07-14 19:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Introductory Workshops on Constructivist Aesthetics by María Eugenia Méndez-Marconi
Initial theoretical instance, J.T.G biographical presentation and lecture (7:00-9:00 pm)
It proposes to approach notions about the constructivist aesthetics from the vision proposed by the Master, continued in turn by his direct disciples; giving accessibility to art – which is our inherited cultural heritage. The first instance will be theoretical, giving a frame of reference to the experience that will be realized the next day.

Tribute to Joaquín Torres García's Legacy
2017-07-28 19:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Commemoration Tribute to Maestro Torres García.
This commemorative event, has been held for fifty consecutive years, thanks to the Uruguayan Embassy, Consulate and Uruguayan Diaspora of NYC. Torres-Garcia’s grandson, Marcos Torres, will be present to give a brief scope of the hemispheric influence of his grandfather’s influential Escuela Constructivista in Uruguay and the rest of the world from its beginning to the present day.
Conference: Joaquín Torres García Legacy (7:00-9:00pm)

Comments on the text "The Tradition of the Abstract Man"
2017-07-29 09:00 - 14:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Comments on the text “The Tradition of the Abstract Man” (9:00 am-5:00pm, with recess from 12: 30 to 2:00 pm)
Original intensive workshop, developed by that will deepen the constructivist concepts of visionary Torres García, making a thorough reading and revision of his text “The Tradition of the Abstract Man”.

Solo Exhibition: Juan Bautista Climent-Palmer
2017-09-07 18:00 - 20:00, 2017-09-14 13:00 - 18:00, 2017-09-15 13:00 - 18:00, 2017-09-16 13:00 - 18:00, 2017-09-21 13:00 - 18:00, 2017-09-22 13:00 - 18:00, 2017-09-23 13:00 - 18:00, 2017-09-28 13:00 - 18:00 and 1 more date | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States

Exhibition Closing: Juan Bautista Climent-Palmer
2017-10-07 13:00 - 18:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States

ECOLOGICAL CITY-ENGAGEMENT/PLANNING MEETINGS
2017-11-15 18:30 - 20:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Next Meeting: Wednesday November, 15
When: 6:30-8:00 pm
Where: Loisaida Center – 710 East 9th Street (between Avenue C & D)
OPEN CALL – ARTISTS
Visual Artists, Dancers, Performers, Musicians & Poets
present and collaborate with community creating artistic works exploring climate resiliency, water and ecological sustainability
Please send links to past or current and proposed works related to ecological sustainability themes to mail@earthcelebrations.com (Subject Line – “OPEN CALL – ECOLOGICAL CITY” ) by November 15, 2017.

ECOLOGICAL CITY - CREATIVE CLIMATE ACTION PUBLIC PLANNING MEETING
2018-02-07 18:00 - 20:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
ECOLOGICAL CITY – CREATIVE CLIMATE ACTION PUBLIC PLANNING MEETING
Wednesday February 7th @ 6:30 pm
@ Loisaida Inc. Center – 710 East 9th Street btw. Aves. C & D

Loisaida Inc. Center’s 2018 Artists in Residence; Earth Celebrations engages the Lower East Side community through: ECOLOGICAL CITIES, a theatrical pageant and environmental action project to co-develop and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability plans within the gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City, and highlight its contribution to the city and address global climate challenges.

View Calendar and Register Today for the FREE Community Workshops.

Ecological Arts Puppet Workshops
2018-02-24 12:00 - 16:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Puppet Workshops with artist: Lucrecia Novoa
1st Session
Saturday, February 21st, 2018

Join us and take action on climate!
Participate in Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Inc. Center, LUNGS Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 20 community partners.
Ecological City engages the Lower East Side community through creative strategies co-creating a theatrical pageant and environmental action project to develop and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability plans within the gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City, and its contribution to city and global climate challenges.
PUPPET & COSTUME WORKSHOPS:
Costumes: Every Wednesday starting February 21 from 6-9pm
Puppet: Every Saturday starting February 24 from 12-4pm
@ Loisaida Center 701 East 9th St. (Bet. Aves. C & D)
ECOLOGICAL CITY PAGEANT
Saturday May 12th, 2018

Sign up to participate.

Ecological Arts Costume Workshops
2018-02-28 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Costume Workshop with artist: Michele Brody
1st Session
Wednesday, February 28th, 2018

Join us and take action on climate!
Participate in Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Inc. Center, LUNGS Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 20 community partners.
Ecological City engages the Lower East Side community through creative strategies co-creating a theatrical pageant and environmental action project to develop and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability plans within the gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City, and its contribution to city and global climate challenges.
PUPPET & COSTUME WORKSHOPS:
Costumes: Every Wednesday starting February 28 from 6-9pm
Puppet: Every Saturday starting February 24 from 12-4pm
@ Loisaida Center 701 East 9th St. (Bet. Aves. C & D)
ECOLOGICAL CITY PAGEANT
Saturday May 12th, 2018

Sign up to participate.

The Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project - Exhibition
2018-03-23 18:30 - 2018-03-30 20:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
2018 Loisaida Artistic Residency Recipient, Anthony Rosado presents:

The Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project – Exhibition
Friday, March 23 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm through Friday March 30, 2018

Exhibition Description:
Ní’Tiñao means “relative; friend; progenitor” in Kalinago, and is eponymous with the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean. Rosado’s work focuses on historical, indigenous Caribbean definitions of identity and the influence of their values, spirituality, horticulture, and language today, as well as our relation to these definitions right here in Loisaida.
Rosado’s exhibition aims to refute euro-colonial claims that the Ní’Tiñao were a divided peoples who went extinct. Via art and storytelling, we exist.
Objective:
In effort to honor Arawak Tainx ancestors of the Caribbean while providing their scions with the legitimacy and empowerment of cultural identity, The Testourmonials Project will research, draft, and present an Arawak Tainx Heritage Day that intends on one day being celebrated annually and internationally. As Founder and Artistic Director of The Testourmonials Project I will develop a campaign and build a case to support city-wide, national, and international commemoration of the Arawak Tainx Heritage.
Visitors of my Open Studio Residency will have access to traditional and modern practices cultivated by Arawak Tainx ancestry. Through partnership with The Loisaida Center, the “Arawak Tainx Heritage Day” will ensure unity and mobility for intersectional needs of Tainx progenies. Unity will be present during a hands-on workshop, community discussion, performance showing, and exhibition. The intersectional needs of Tainx descendants will be revealed via interviews with revolutionaries actively preserving the Arawak Tainx culture. Your participation on this journey, which will continue long after the Residency’s end, is the vital mobility produced from our advocacy against erasure of Arawak Tainx traditions.
The project aims to research, archive, and memorialize the herstory, history, principles, spirituality, practices, and core values of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. Following research, the “Tainx Heritage Day – Celebration Model” will be drafted. This model will be shared with organizations indigenous to the Arawak Tainx peoples via online survey and interviews, as well as the aforementioned workshop and community discussion. The model will consequently be redrafted considering review by active members of the Arawak Tainx community and their modern day practices. Once the model is complete, a proposal will be drafted and campaign launched to consider the “Arawak Tainx Heritage Day” an annual city-wide, then state-wide, thereafter country-wide, and finally internationally recognized holiday. The holiday will be presented during Summer 2018 via promotion during events, workshops, festivals, and more hosted by organizations who supported the holiday’s culmination.

The Testourmonials Project will host an exhibition at Loisaida Inc. Center opening Monday, March 26 – 30, 2018. The exhibition will be relaying information, sources, reflections, visual art, commissioned photography, and an installation to share the research.

About Anthony Rosado:

Restoring the heart of Ni'Tiñao - Exhibition Closing
2018-04-20 19:00 - 22:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Please join us for the closing reception of Restoring the Heart of Ni’Tiñao!
A part of: The Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project & Exhibition.

Ní’Tiñao means “relative; friend; progenitor” in Kalinago, and is eponymous with the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean. Loisaida Inc.’s artist-in-residence, Anthony Rosado’s, work focuses on historical, indigenous Caribbean definitions of identity and the influence of their values, spirituality, horticulture, and language today, as well as our relation to these definitions right here in Loisaida. His exhibition aims to refute eurocolonial claims that the Ní’Tiñao were a divided peoples who went extinct. Via art and storytelling, We Exist, he tells us.Objective:
In effort to honor Indigenous Caribbean ancestors while providing their descendants with the legitimacy and empowerment of cultural identity, The Testourmonials Project will research, draft, and present an Indigena Caribe Heritage Day that intends on one day being celebrated internationally. As Founder and Artistic Director of The Testourmonials Project, Rosado will develop a campaign and build a case to support city-wide, national, and international celebration of Caribbean Heritage.
The project aims to research, archive, and memorialize the herstory, history, principles, spirituality, practices, and core values of the native peoples of the Caribbean. This project contributes to the “Ní’Tiñao Heritage Day – Celebration Model”. This model will be shared with organizations indigenous to the Ní’Tiñao via interviews, as well as a community engagement workshop and performance components.
Descendants will learn of traditions, practices, values, and foods cultivated by ancestors whose stories are made accessible. The model will consequently be redrafted considering review by active members of the Arawak Tainx community and their modern day practices. Once the model is complete, a proposal will be drafted and campaign launched to consider the “Ní’Tiñao Heritage Day” an annual city-wide, then state-wide, thereafter country-wide, and finally internationally recognized holiday. The holiday will be presented during Summer 2018 via promotion during events, workshops, festivals, and more hosted by organizations who supported the holiday’s culmination.
Through the course of the residency at the Loisaida Inc. Center, Anthony’s project aims to use the researched and archived history, herstory, principles, spiritual practices, and core values of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean as means to follow the Native Caribbean Day – Celebration Model. The exhibition, culminating his residency, will be relaying information, sources, reflections, visual art, commissioned photography, and an installation to share the research.

About Anthony Rosado:
After graduating Trinity College with a BA in Theatre & Dance, Rosado performed in works by Anabella Lenzu, Deborah Goffe of Scapegoat Garden, Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Carmen Caceres of Dance Action, and Leyya Mona Tawil of Dance Elixr. He studied with George Emilio Sanchez during Hemispheric Institute‘s Summer 2015 EMERGEnyc Performer’s Program.
Rosado has choreographed performances for Ange Noir Café via Chez Bushwick‘s ’24 hour Choreographer’s Project’, Issue Project Room & the Eden’s Expressway Open Performance Series via Movement Research, Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance via their Blaktinx 2015 & Out Like That! 2016 Performance Series & Dancing While Black‘s Masculinities Reborn Series, Gallatin Arts Festival‘s Black Lives Matter series, The Moon Show, and The Judson Church Open Performance Series.
As curator, Anthony has presented the Universal Humyn Love Series at Make The Road NY, the #NativeBushwick Artist Lecture Series at Brooklyn Fire Proof, en casa afuera at The Loisaida Center, and Progress in Five Myles Gallery. He was a 2016 Artist in Residence with Chez Bushwick. Currently the 2018 Artist in Residence at The Loisaida Center. Anthony is also curating and organizing group-led workshops, performance and discussion series as Founder of The Testourmonials Project.

Taller de Soles (Sol Lace Workshop)
2018-04-23 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Sol Lace Workshop /// Taller de Soles
with: Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Description
Learn how to make beautiful and intricate lace pieces through a simple and meditative
technique with Puerto Rican fiber artist, Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda, who will
introduce us to the technique as it is worked in her native country of Puerto Rico.
Understanding the essence of the technique gives us a vocabulary that we can apply in
both traditional and experimental/contemporary contexts.
What are Soles?
Sol lace is a type of needle lace usually worked in pieces or appliqués. The technique
consists of drawing a net of thread and then weaving and knotting radially to form
patterns. It has its origins in Spain and arrived to the Americas in the 16th century,
where it continued to develop into variations known as Ñandutí, Soles de Maracaibo,
Renda, and simply Soles. Sol Lace is most often used to decorate heirloom clothing,
baby blankets and home linens, but also assembled to create beautiful lace fabrics and
accessories.
Workshop – “Immersive Introduction to Sol Lace” – 6 hrs
Join us for an immersive workshop, where you will learn about the origins of the
technique and see traditional and contemporary examples. Zaida Adriana will share the
basic knowledge to make Soles of different sizes, shapes, and decorative patterns. You
will leave with two completed Soles, and the materials to keep creating and
experimenting.
Details
Duration total: 6 hours (2 days)
Languages: English and Spanish
Level: No previous knowledge required
Number of participants: min. 5, max. 8
Price: $80 (includes materials fee)
Materials included in KIT: Sol cushion, Sol pattern, needle, thread, and instruction
booklet
Dates: Monday, April 23rd from 6-9pm / Tuesday, April 24th 6-9pm
About Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda is a fiber artist whose work serves as a hands-on
manifesto of the symbiotic relationship we can have with our surroundings. She makes
slowly and mindfully, using local/organic fibers, recycled or found materials, and natural
dyes. These materials are transformed through traditional craft techniques she
respectfully re-contextualizes. Her practice weaves together fiber-art, soft sculpture,
material rescue, and contemplative performance.
Zaida Adriana advocates the slow, ethical and hand-made through talks and workshops
at places like Duduá, Manufacture NY, Slow Fashion Spain/Ethical Fashion Academy,
Eileen Fisher, Bloomingdales, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She serves as the
Country Coordinator of the Fashion Revolution movement in Puerto Rico.
As recipient of the Lexus Grant for Artists, she is currently exhibiting a large installation
inspired by Sol lace at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, and is an Artist in Residence
at Beta-Local’s La Práctica. During the month of April, she is visiting NY and taking part
in the Textile Arts Center’s Work In Progress Residency.

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Dome Building Workshop
2018-05-06 14:00 - 16:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Dome Building Workshop
A project by: Matthew Mottel in collaboration with Loisaida Inc.
Sunday, May 6 from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm (estimated time)

Overview:
The history of dome building on the LES goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photo-journalism book CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS , first published in 1974 and now re published in 2017 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.
Through a collaborative project between Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College), artist and researcher Matthew Mottel (Syeus Mottel’s son) will build 2 geodesic domes (one at La Plaza and the other at the Loisaida Inc. Center’ courtyard) as an interactive art installation. In interviewing Carlos “Chino” Garcia as part of his research, Matthew was told that the domes CHARAS built functioned as both recreational activity spaces and as experimental examples of how to build disaster relief housing in non urban areas. The same functions apply now. The dome at La Plaza Cultura, will be seen from the street, with high visibility. This will bring people to the other dome in the courtyard and exhibition happening at Loisaida Center, which will feature a more detailed documentation of the original events of 1972-73.
This work highlights the achievements of CHARAS and hopefully expands the pressure on the NYC mayoral office to follow through on their promise to re-acquire El Bohio for the Loisaida community.
The week of the exhibition opening, many public performances, talks and workshops will transpire in both the Loisaida Center dome, and at La Plaza Cultural. These events will be influenced by the type of programming that happened during the 20+ years of events and exhibitions of El Bohio before being pushed out of its iconic and historic location on 9th Street, formerly known as P.S. 64.

Resources:
The Improbable Dome Builders
Matthew’s essay on the book.
The video that will be screened during the exhibition opening; CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH – Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm

Schedule, Programming & Activities:

Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 pm – Archive exhibition of the 1972/73 CHARAS Geodesic Dome opens during Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida Center.
Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm – Dome Building Workshop where participants will assist in the building of a 12′ geodesic dome. There will also be a special screening of archival footage from Bucky Fuller.
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm – Geodesic Domes unveiled with exhibition at Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural with performance by poet Edwin Torres.
Thursday, May 10 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center.
Friday, May 11 at 6:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + Oral history project of the Lower East Side featuring interview with Chino Garcia by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, with documentary screening of Matthew Mottel’s video CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH at 6:00 pm.
Saturday, May 12 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + performances in the afternoon thru evening at La plaza Cultural and Loisaida Center Courtyard.

CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH: Reception + Performances
2018-05-09 18:00 - 20:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH: Reception + Performances

A project by: Matthew Mottel in collaboration with Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College

Overview:
The history of dome building on the LES goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photo-journalism book CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS , first published in 1974 and now re published in 2017 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.
Through a collaborative project between Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College), artist and researcher Matthew Mottel (Syeus Mottel’s son) will build 2 geodesic domes (one at La Plaza and the other at the Loisaida Inc. Center’ courtyard) as an interactive art installation. In interviewing Carlos “Chino” Garcia as part of his research, Matthew was told that the domes CHARAS built functioned as both recreational activity spaces and as experimental examples of how to build disaster relief housing in non urban areas. The same functions apply now. The dome at La Plaza Cultura, will be seen from the street, with high visibility. This will bring people to the other dome in the courtyard and exhibition happening at Loisaida Center, which will feature a more detailed documentation of the original events of 1972-73.
This work highlights the achievements of CHARAS and hopefully expands the pressure on the NYC mayoral office to follow through on their promise to re-acquire El Bohio for the Loisaida community.
The week of the exhibition opening, many public performances, talks and workshops will transpire in both the Loisaida Center dome, and at La Plaza Cultural. These events will be influenced by the type of programming that happened during the 20+ years of events and exhibitions of El Bohio before being pushed out of its iconic and historic location on 9th Street, formerly known as P.S. 64.

Resources:
CHARAS The Improbable Dome Builders (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION)))
Through the lens of avant-garde architectural theory, the CHARAS Lower East side community group and Buckminster Fuller’s assistant, Michael Ben Eli construct a geodesic dome on an unused plot of land in the shadow of the Manhattan bridge in 1972-1973. The CHARAS members built the geodesic dome to control their own destiny.
CHARAS: The Improbable Dome Builders resonates in 2018. Ever present are the needs of affordable housing, the occupation of public/unused space for civic use, and the participation of communities to take self determined action when governmental institutions forgo their public duty.
CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS: (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION) produced by Matthew Mottel includes archival interviews and photography from 1972/73 by Syeus Mottel with CHARAS members Chino Garcia and Karen Becker. In October 2017, Sal Becker and Chino Garcia, return to the dome construction site on the Lower East Side to reflect on their achievements and speak about the purpose of their dome building activity.
Matthew Mottel’s essay on the book.
The video that will be screened during the exhibition opening; CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH – Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm

Schedule, Programming & Activities:

Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 pm – Archive exhibition of the 1972/73 CHARAS Geodesic Dome opens during Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida Center.
Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm – Dome Building Workshop where participants will assist in the building of a 12′ geodesic dome. There will also be a special screening of archival footage from Bucky Fuller.
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm – Geodesic Domes unveiled with exhibition at Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural with performance by poet Edwin Torres.
Thursday, May 10 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center.
Friday, May 11 at 6:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + Oral history project of the Lower East Side featuring interview with Chino Garcia by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, with documentary screening of Matthew Mottel’s video CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH at 6:00 pm.
Saturday, May 12 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + performances in the afternoon thru evening at La plaza Cultural and Loisaida Center Courtyard.

CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH
2018-05-09 18:00 - 2018-05-11 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH

A project by: Matthew Mottel in collaboration with Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College

Overview:
The history of dome building on the LES goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photo-journalism book CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS , first published in 1974 and now re published in 2017 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.
Through a collaborative project between Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College), artist and researcher Matthew Mottel (Syeus Mottel’s son) will build 2 geodesic domes (one at La Plaza and the other at the Loisaida Inc. Center’ courtyard) as an interactive art installation. In interviewing Carlos “Chino” Garcia as part of his research, Matthew was told that the domes CHARAS built functioned as both recreational activity spaces and as experimental examples of how to build disaster relief housing in non urban areas. The same functions apply now. The dome at La Plaza Cultura, will be seen from the street, with high visibility. This will bring people to the other dome in the courtyard and exhibition happening at Loisaida Center, which will feature a more detailed documentation of the original events of 1972-73.
This work highlights the achievements of CHARAS and hopefully expands the pressure on the NYC mayoral office to follow through on their promise to re-acquire El Bohio for the Loisaida community.
The week of the exhibition opening, many public performances, talks and workshops will transpire in both the Loisaida Center dome, and at La Plaza Cultural. These events will be influenced by the type of programming that happened during the 20+ years of events and exhibitions of El Bohio before being pushed out of its iconic and historic location on 9th Street, formerly known as P.S. 64.

Resources:
CHARAS The Improbable Dome Builders (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION)))
Through the lens of avant-garde architectural theory, the CHARAS Lower East side community group and Buckminster Fuller’s assistant, Michael Ben Eli construct a geodesic dome on an unused plot of land in the shadow of the Manhattan bridge in 1972-1973. The CHARAS members built the geodesic dome to control their own destiny.
CHARAS: The Improbable Dome Builders resonates in 2018. Ever present are the needs of affordable housing, the occupation of public/unused space for civic use, and the participation of communities to take self determined action when governmental institutions forgo their public duty.
CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS: (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION) produced by Matthew Mottel includes archival interviews and photography from 1972/73 by Syeus Mottel with CHARAS members Chino Garcia and Karen Becker. In October 2017, Sal Becker and Chino Garcia, return to the dome construction site on the Lower East Side to reflect on their achievements and speak about the purpose of their dome building activity.
Matthew Mottel’s essay on the book.
The video that will be screened during the exhibition opening; CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH – Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm

Schedule, Programming & Activities:

Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 pm – Archive exhibition of the 1972/73 CHARAS Geodesic Dome opens during Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida Center.
Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm – Dome Building Workshop where participants will assist in the building of a 12′ geodesic dome. There will also be a special screening of archival footage from Bucky Fuller.
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm – Geodesic Domes unveiled with exhibition at Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural with performance by poet Edwin Torres.
Thursday, May 10 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center.
Friday, May 11 at 6:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + Oral history project of the Lower East Side featuring interview with Chino Garcia by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, with documentary screening of Matthew Mottel’s video CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH at 6:00 pm.
Saturday, May 12 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + performances in the afternoon thru evening at La plaza Cultural and Loisaida Center Courtyard.

Ecological City
2018-05-12 11:00 - 17:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
ECOLOGICAL CITY PROCESSION
SATURDAY MAY 12, 2018 (rain date May 13)
#DANCERS, #MODELS, #ARTISTS, #PERFORMERS, #BODYPAINTERS #PUPPETEERS #ACTIVISTS #PHOTOGRAPHERS #VOLUNTEERS

PLEASE SHARE and invite friends to join and VOLUNTEER FOR #ECOLOGICALCITY – this is not a parade to watch but a transformational experience – become a garden, river and climate solution spirit – help as a marshal- many roles. Experience the ECOLOGICAL URBAN PILGRIMAGE FROM THE GARDENS TO THE RIVER on the LES of NYC – not to be missed!

Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY, a climate action, ecological urban pilgrimage and performance art event – features a spectacular 6 hour procession featuring visual art, giant puppets and costumes with 20 site performances of dance, music, theater and poetry celebrating sustainability solutions throughout the community gardens, neighborhood and East River Park waterfront on the Lower East Side of New York City.
VOLUNTEER: Sign up to wear spectacular costumes – direct puppets – marshal procession
NEEDED: MAKE-UP/BODY PAINTERS, ARTISTS, DANCERS, PERFORMERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
SIGN UP FOR A ROLE – CONTACT:
FB Message: https://www.facebook.com/EarthCelebrations/
EMAIL: mail@earthcelebrations.com
SIGN UP: http://earthcelebrations.com/volunteer-ecological-city-sign/
MORE INFO: http://earthcelebrations.com/ecological-city-project/
FB EVENT SHARE: https://www.facebook.com/events/856985337794345/

Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Center Inc., LUNGS-Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 50 partner organizations and groups including NYC Community Garden District, Green Map, GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side-Housing/Resiliency), LES Ready!, Lower East Side Girls Club, Lower East Side Ecology, East Village Community Coalition, East River Park Coalition, Solar One, Waterfront Alliance, University Settlement, Earth School (PS364), Sixth Street Community Center, Arts Loisaida, MOS Collective, Gaia Institute, East 4th Street Block Association, Times Up, Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, FAB (Fourth Street Arts Block Association), Theatre for the New City, Hunter College-School of Community Organizing and New York University. Numerous groups and residents throughout the neighborhood are invited to join.

This program is made possible with support from Fund for the City of New York, New York Community Trust, Con Edison, Howard Bayne Fund, private foundations, individuals and
Creative Engagement / Creative Learning, supported by the New York CityDepartment of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Performances: CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
2018-06-09 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Films Charas, an independent cinema program, was an ongoing series during Charas’ operation of El Bohio on 9th street between Avenues B and C. Bradley Eros, Lary7, Kit Fitzgerald and many others, known as the Optipus collective, were integral members of the East Village projection/film/video community. This performance in and around the dome in the Loisaida Center courtyard is a homage to the character and experimentation that was nurtured at El Bohio.
Please join us from 6 – 9pm at 710 East 9th Street.

‘Optipus’ organized by Bradley Eros with Kit Fitzgerald and many more! :

film, slides, video, overhead:liquid, loops, screen materials;

+ electronics, keyboards, voice, strings, percussion, foley + toys

http://www.residencyunlimited.org/residencies/bradley-eros/

https://www.eai.org/artists/kit-fitzgerald/titles

Exhibition Closing: CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
2018-06-27 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Please join us for the closing reception of the exhibition:
CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
with special performances from Art Jones, Krisia Ayala and Yuko Otomo.

Art Jones will create live audio/video mix featuring the animated sights and sounds of NYC’s utopian future-past, projected onto artist Krisia Ayala’s installation. Both artists will use the dome as a sculpture to be activated through their own creative interventions.
Yuko Otomo: a visual artist & a bilingual poet (poetry & haiku). She also writes art criticism, essays & does translation. In visual art, she has been concentrating herself on the study of “pure abstraction” & has created a body of work covering over 3 decades. Her work has been shown in various gallery spaces; such as Tribes Gallery, Anthology Film Archives Courthouse Gallery, ABC No Rio, Brecht Forum, Gallery 128, Knitting Factory & Vision Festival. As a poet/writer, she has read her work in venues such as St. Marks’s Poetry Project, Bowery Poetry Club, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Nuyorican Poet’s Café etc. She also has read in Germany, France & Japan. She has been published in many magazines & literary publications such as Recluse, 6×6, Long Shot, Appearances, The Unbearables Assemblage Magazine, Downtown Anthology, Senritsu & others. Her books include “ Garden: Selected Haiku” (Beehive Press), “Small Poems”, “The Hand of the Poet” (by Ugly Duckling Presse). She also has a huge volume of critical writing on art such as “On Artist & Studio”, “On Artuad: Writing & Drawing”.
Krisia Ayala: Puerto Rican born and New York City based teaching artist, interested in digital mixed media art, print design and sound installations. Her works on paper range from artist books to large format prints. Ayala has focused her artistic research into developing visuals inspired by migratory issues. Her biggest motivation is to explore and illustrate the similarities between avian and human migration, intending to blur the lines that differentiate the human and avian migratory experience. Instagram: Krisia.ayalart

Lying Lydia - Open Reading
2018-07-22 19:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Loisaida Inc. and Caborca Theatre present:
Lying Lydia
Open Reading

New work by the Loisaida Inc. Center’s 2014 artists in residence –CABORCA.
Written and directed by Javier Antonio González and featuring Laura Butler Rivera, Yaremis Félix, and Tania Molina, Lying Lydia is a piercing look at our civilization’s targeting of women, colonies, and the truth. In the mold of Churchill and Fornes, Lying Lydia is a mysterious and darkly funny chamber work featuring masterful performances from some of Caborca’s veteran actors, as well as an original soundscape by Keenan Hurley.

Truth may have died in the disaster. Two women are confined and forced to paint the landscape that may have once been. One of them is Margaret. The other is Lying Lydia, so called because everything she says is a lie. How do you know? Listen, you can hear her thinking. Like they said you would.
LOISAIDA INC. CENTER
710 E 9th Street, Manhattan
Free Admission
7pm

About Caborca:
Hailing from Puerto Rico, US America and beyond, Caborca makes sprawling, adventurous works in theatre and film. Combining epic auteurship with a tuned ensemble of actors and a flux of collaborators, we bridge language, background and media, inviting our audience, guest artists and members alike, to delve into the pleasure of seeing anew.
Caborca steals its name from the novel The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño, in which a magazine of the same name is the official organ of visceral realism.

Opinions like those expressed while in a panel, event or presentation, performance or through artwork are expressed by the author in his personal capacity and are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Loisaida Inc. its affiliates or staff.

Documents of Resistance: Our Time
2018-09-14 18:00 - 2018-10-28 17:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Antonio Serna: Documents of Resistance: Our Time
September 14th – October 28th
Opening Reception: Friday, September 14, 2018, 6-9PM
Loisaida Center Inc. is pleased to present Documents of Resistance: Our Time, a participatory exhibition and residency of new work by Antonio Serna.
How do we give contours to an art history that remains unwritten, scattered across archives, and siloed in scholarship? How can we begin to reconnect the struggle for civil rights across all artists of color and their fight for inclusion in our cultural institutions? How can we being to reflect on the complexity of artists of color and their unique experience, political actions, and art production as part of the art history in American? In the exhibition, Documents of Resistance: Our Time, Mexican-American artist, Antonio Serna is hoping to take us down a visual path to consider these and many other questions in regards to the important but often overlook contributions of artist of color.
Central to the exhibition will be a series timeline collages of art and activism from each decade, from 1960s up to our current decade. In combining the histories of artists of color, visitors will be able to visually locate overlapping shared concerns and experiences of artists of color: from the Chicano Movement to the Black Power Movement, and from the Labor Movement to the Feminist, Third World Movement, and beyond. Leading up to and during the exhibition, Antonio Serna is asking the public to send in their memories of this resistance: people, places, or events relevant in order to continue to expand this histories. Serna’s interest is not just a reflection of the past hopes to inspire and empower a new generation of people of color to join the struggle in becoming the next generation of artists, activists, curators, historians, archivist, and museum workers, to help end discrimination in our cultural institutions.
Originally from San Antonio Texas, Antonio Serna is a Mexican-American artist based in New York. Antonio maintains both a studio and collective social practice. These two practices often balance and ground the sum of his production. Antonio Serna holds a Masters in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College, and a BFA from Parsons School of Art. He has exhibited in New York, Texas, Las Vegas, Spain, Mexico, Berlin, and Romania. His speaking engagements include ArtCenter, Flux Factory, CUE Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, Pratt, Common Field Convening, Eyebeam, Smack Mellon, Queens Museum, and Museo Tamayo. Recently he has participated in residencies at Triangle Arts Association, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and The Luminary and has taught at Brooklyn College and Parsons School of Design.

Document of Resistance:Our Time is made possible in part by funds from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant
