Thursday, July 21, at 6:30PM — Join us for our ⁠PRESENT POWER / FUTURE HOPES panel discussion, “How can public art empower communities?” with artists Paul Deo and Jazmine Hayes, Taft Houses Resident Leader Beverly MacFarlane, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Assistant Commissioner Kendal Henry, moderated by Claudie Mabry, Director of Social Innovation at Kaufman Music Center.

Art has been imbued with the power to change lives, transform neighborhoods, and promote wellbeing. For the past 10 months, ArtBridge and its community partners have been bringing socially engaged public art to 16 NYCHA developments. This panel will offer an overview of the program from the perspective of artists, resident leaders, and city officials.⁠

Taking into consideration historical precedent and the current landscape of public art, the panel will explore possibilities for the future as we investigate the impact of public art in public housing.⁠

PRESENT POWER / FUTURE HOPES is on view through July 23, 2022 at The Clemente, showcasing works from our City Artist Corps: Bridging the Divide installation series in partnership with DCLA and NYCHA.

RSVPs are required for the panel due to limited capacity.

Panelists:

Claudie Mabry, Moderator

Claudie Mabry works at Kaufman Music Center as the Director of Social Innovation. In this role, she sets strategy and designs initiatives across the Center that work to cultivate and sustain equitable community-based engagement through music.

Prior to Kaufman, Claudie worked as a strategist with TYTHEdesign working in partnership with government and nonprofits throughout the city. In addition, she consulted with the Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts (NOCD-NY), in which she led different programs and strategies for arts and cultural equity in public housing. She has also held roles at esteemed nonprofit organizations including the Center for Court Innovation and Groundswell Community Mural Project.

She has an MS in Urban Policy from The New School.

Paul Deo, Participating Artist

Paul Deo is a Harlem-based visionary artist revolutionizing the integration of spirit and technology. Paul’s unique and often thought-provoking cultural lens encapsulates his murals, which merge history, spirit, and technology to create sacred art spaces for communal dialogue. He engages and inspires communities through his work, bridging familiar subjects with the world of possibilities and inspiration.

Paul is a talented, prodigious, and prolific artist who at every turn, tirelessly advocates for under-served communities. The inspiration of all his work is to seamlessly blend art and spirituality through technology as a means for these communities to envision bright & meaningful futures. As a digital shaman he shares his insights and wisdom about the metaverse wilderness.

Jazmine Hayes, Participating Artist

Jazmine Hayes is an interdisciplinary artist born in Brooklyn, New York. She received an MFA from CUNY Hunter College and a BFA from CUNY Queens College. Her practice explores histories of the African diaspora and the ways they are preserved through cultural traditions. Through research-based explorations, Hayes works across various mediums such as installation, drawing, performance, video, sound, textile and writing. She is interested in the resilience of tactile crafts, the role women play in gathering around them and passing them down over generations, as well as Black femme-ritual practices centered on care. Hayes has been featured in Art Forum, Interview Magazine, Artnet, and many other publications. For over 10 years, she has worked with community-based youth organizations across New York City as an educator and muralist with non-profits such as Groundswell Mural, Artistic Noise, Made in Brownsville, LES Girls Club and so on.

Beverly MacFarlane, Resident Leader, Taft Houses

Beverly MacFarlane is the Resident Leader at NYCHA Taft Houses in East Harlem, NY. She organizes and creates space for her community to learn, grow, and celebrate together. MacFarlane partners with local organizations and artists to implement programs and provide resources for her neighbors. She is an advocate for equity in her community.

Kendal Henry, Assistant Commissioner, Public Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

Kendal Henry is an artist and curator who lives in New York City and specializes in the field of public art for over 30 years. He illustrates that public art can be used as a tool for social engagement, civic pride and economic development through the projects and programs he’s initiated in the US and internationally.

He’s currently the Assistant Commissioner of Public Art at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. A guest lecturer at various universities and educational institutions including Rhode Island School of Design Senior Studio; and Pratt Institute’s Arts and Cultural Management Program. Kendal served as the Director of Culture and Economic Development for the City of Newburgh, NY where he created the region’s first Percent for Art Program. Prior to that post he was Manager of Arts Programs at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Art and Design for eleven years.

Henry was also elected to serve two 3-year terms on the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Council.