The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, Artists Alliance Inc., and the Clemente Residents are pleased to announce the 25th edition of The Clemente Open Studios on Saturday, May 21 from 4-8p and Sunday, May 22, 2022 from 2-6p.
Housing more than 46 visual artists’ studios and 11 visual and performing arts organizations, The Clemente community is thrilled to welcome friends, colleagues, and neighbors back into their home on the Lower East Side. The public is invited to explore this multigenerational community of artists, some of whom have lived and worked in the neighborhood for more than two decades, and residents of participating residency programs.
This year’s event will feature five floors of visual and performing arts, performance and artmaking in Studio 309, and a building-wide benefit toward relief efforts in Ukraine. All events are FREE and open to the public.
Open Studios Programming
Open Studios | Ukraine Benefit is founded on the deep desire to help alleviate the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Together, 60+ resident and guest artists offer their work and spaces within Clemente’s annual open studios to create this benefit. Participating artists have chosen one or more charities to receive a percentage of artwork sales, allowing patrons to support multiple forms of need: providing refugees, including LGBTQIA and BIPOC, with transit, food, housing, and medical assistance to the evacuation of animals in shelters and zoos. Created by resident artist Linda Griggs, benefit artwork will be located in resident studios and an exhibition, Soniashnyk, in Studio 406, curated by Andrew Cornell Robinson.
Evoking the sunflower as a symbol of peace and solidarity with the Ukrainian people, Soniashnyk (Ukrainian for ‘sunflowers’) is a group exhibition of ceramic sculpture, prints, and painting organized by The Arts & Crafts Research Studio. A significant portion of each sale will be donated to three international organizations supporting refugees of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: World Central Kitchen, UNICEF, and USA for UNHCR. These organizations help and protect refugees displaced by violence, conflict, and persecution. Contributing artists include Kelly Chang, Julien Gardair, Andrew Cornell Robinson, Russ Spitkovsky, Frederic Tuten, Miguel Villalobos, and Integrated Makers Collab (a ceramic sculptural collaboration between thirty-two students of Parsons School of Design and the Arts & Crafts Research Studio).
In conjunction with The Clemente Open Studios weekend, the 4th edition of Public Spaces Open Studios 2022 (PSOS22) will feature site-specific installations in public spaces throughout the building, on view through June 30, 2022. The program was created by resident artist Flavia Souza.
On Saturday, May 21 from 4-6p and Sunday, May 22 from 2-4p, IOM projects will present KABAYITOS Microcinema. Organized through an Open Call, the program will showcase experimental short films and videos (10 minutes max) that present thought-provoking and unconventional approaches to the medium. The Kabayitos theater is a petite, 41-seat micro-theatre in The Clemente. Historically used for puppet theater, it has always been open for experimental works, which inspired Clemente’s current and former residents Flavia Souza and Lili Chin to launch the first iteration of IOM projects: Kabayitos Microcinema in collaboration with resident artists David Pushkin, Gloria Zelaya, Liliya Lifanova, and Selime Okuyan.
Join us on Sunday, May 22 from 4-5p in Studio 309 for “The Awakening of the Spring,” a production of resident organization FELT (The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater), created and performed by Mirla Pereira accompanied by musician Jacob Garces and directed by Gloria Zelaya. The performance is an immersive theatrical experience within a set created out of recycled materials. The theme of the presentation is the preservation of nature, mindfulness, and the importance of recycling. The piece is for the whole family!
Finally, on Sunday, May 22 from 2-6p in Studio 307, join Afro Brazil Arts for free demonstrations of African Drumming with Vado Diomande (2-4p) and Capoeira (4-6p). A longtime Clemente resident, Afro Brazil Arts’ mission is to inspire wellness, leadership, and community through Mindful Capoeira made accessible to people of all ages and abilities worldwide.
