Hemispheric Institute's Artist-in-Residence Adam Horowitz gave a lively presentation and discussion about the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC). Part large-scale performance, part community organizing initiative, the USDAC has engaged more than 10,000 participants in live, participatory events in 40 states since its launch two years ago, enacting collective action-research into questions such as:
— How can we shift art and culture from the margins to the center of civil society, given their true value and support as catalysts for social transformation?
— What would it look like to perform the USDAC as both a playful work of collaborative art and as a serious vehicle for community-building, field-building, and movement-building?
— How might we invite artists and non-artists alike to step up as cultural organizers, generating momentum for programs and policies that help shift ours from a society of consumers to a society of creators?
Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics
20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003
This event is free and open to the public. A photo ID is required to enter NYU buildings. 20 Cooper Square is a wheelchair accessible venue. Hemi is a core partner of ArtChangeUS: Arts in a Changing America, a new five-year initiative that seeks to explore and understand the dramatic demographic transformation of the United States and its profound impact on arts and culture. ArtChangeUS will serve as an urgently needed catalyst that brings unheard, leadership voices in the arts to the forefront of social discourse, arts production, and community change.