Fourth Annual East Village Arts Festival at Tompkins Square Library
Join the Tompkins Square Library online for our fourth annual East Village Arts Festival!
In collaboration with local artists, we have online events happening from Friday, December 4 — Saturday, December 12.
To attend any program, please use the links below to register in advance.
Friday, December 4 | 6PM (Eastern): "SONIC GATHERING XIX,” a performance of John King's micro-opera "Disappearant". Sonic Gatherings were begun in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, and in-person concerts being shut down. John King, composer, along with Brandon Collwes, choreographer, began a weekly series of performances with a rotating cast of dancers and musicians, now in its 19th iteration.This micro-opera, “Disappearant” is a setting of texts written by King, randomly selected for random durations of time, presented simultaneously with choreography independently and also randomly organized.
Saturday, December 5th | 3PM (Eastern): Six Feet Apart but Still Together: Online Discussion with Artist Paul Adrian Davies. Among many other projects, Paul A. Davies, a long-time resident of the Lower East Side, has recently been working on photographs of the East Village's streets during pandemic. He will show us his work, discuss the process and inspirations, and answer questions.
Monday, December 7 | 6PM (Eastern): Mom and Pop Storefronts: Online Curator Talk with Karla and James Murray. James and Karla Murray, acclaimed photographers and authors of Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, Store Front II: A History Preserved, and many more, will discuss and show the work created by theparticipants of their 2020 Mom and Pop Storefronts workshop. In partnership with the East Village Community Coalition, James & Karla taught participants how to use photography and oral history to raise public awareness, build community, and encourage advocacy.
Thursday, December 10 | 1PM (Eastern): Virtual Walking Tour: Artists, Writers, Musicians of Tompkins Square. Please join us for a fun and free online walking tour, hosted by library manager Corinne Neary, and local street photographer Michael Paul. Tompkins Square Park has long been a center of the arts. Poet Frank O'Hara lived on 9th Street and wrote poems while looking across the park at St Brigid's Church. Allen Ginsberg attended the first U.S. chanting of "Hare Krishna" in the park in 1966. World famous drag queens like Lady Bunny and RuPaul graced the stage of the Wigstock festival, and performed and partied at the Pyramid Club.
Thursday, December 10 | 6PM (Eastern): Online Book Discussion: Power at the Roots: Community Gardens, Gentrification, and the Puerto Ricans of the Lower East Side. Local non-profit organization, Village Preservation, will host an online discussion with author Miranda Martinez, and her book, Power at the Roots: Community Gardens, Gentrification, and the Puerto Ricans of the Lower East Side. Through direct engagement with gardeners, activists, and residents, Dr. Miranda Martinez’s Power at the Roots shows the breadth and diversity of the community gardening movement and how these groups inserted themselves into local politics and development to create change.
Saturday, December 12 | 3PM (Eastern): Online Discussion with an Artist: Delphine le Goff. Among many other projects, French-born artist Delphine le Goff has recently been working on sketches of the East Village's buildings and local businesses. She will show some of her work, discuss her process and inspirations, and answer questions. Some of Delphine's prints will be on display at the Tompkins Square Library.
From December 4-12, from 5pm-7am, please stop by the outside of the library to see the light installation by The Flint Collective, titled Arecibo.
We hope you will join us!