Create Change: Professional Development Fellowship
The Laundromat Project offers a six-month series of bi-weekly professional development workshops for up to 15 artists interested in developing or deepening their practice of making socially relevant, socially-engaged art. Fellows meet with a diverse roster of artists, activists, arts professionals, curators, funders, and change agents offering strategies for creating and sustaining work that overlaps both the arts and social change sectors.Through a series of "public art potlucks," artists in the Create Change program also form a peer learning community.
Fellows can propose and receive feedback on projects from both peers and mentors. Click on one of the Program Cycles on the right to see profiles of past artists who have participated in this program. For a list of past workshop speakers click here.
Fellows can propose and receive feedback on projects from both peers and mentors. Click on one of the Program Cycles on the right to see profiles of past artists who have participated in this program. For a list of past workshop speakers click here.
The application for the Professional Development Fellowship is closed. It will reopen in early 2014.
Nancy Agabian
Jackson Heights, Queens
Nancy Agabian is a writer, teacher, and literary organizer. She has written extensively about Armenian and LGBT issues, including the books Princess Freak, a collection of poems and performance texts dealing with sexuality and rage, and Me as her again, a memoir that casts her bisexual coming-of age within her Armenian-American family history. A Fulbright scholar in 2006, she is currently working on a nonfiction novel about her experiences exploring the complex contradictions that exist between political ideals and personal liberation in the fight for social justice in Armenia. As a community writing workshop leader, she has worked with multicultural performance artists in Los Angeles, women writers in Armenia, and immigrant writers in Queens. She is currently leading "Heightening Stories," a workshop for writers whose stories are personally brave and socially conscious, from her living room in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Jackson Heights, Queens
Nancy Agabian is a writer, teacher, and literary organizer. She has written extensively about Armenian and LGBT issues, including the books Princess Freak, a collection of poems and performance texts dealing with sexuality and rage, and Me as her again, a memoir that casts her bisexual coming-of age within her Armenian-American family history. A Fulbright scholar in 2006, she is currently working on a nonfiction novel about her experiences exploring the complex contradictions that exist between political ideals and personal liberation in the fight for social justice in Armenia. As a community writing workshop leader, she has worked with multicultural performance artists in Los Angeles, women writers in Armenia, and immigrant writers in Queens. She is currently leading "Heightening Stories," a workshop for writers whose stories are personally brave and socially conscious, from her living room in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Raul Ayala
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Raul Ayala is a Visual Artist and Educator that focuses on the production of murals, drawings urban art and illustration, encompassing themes related to freedom, inmigration, and urban-rural politics. His work has been shown in different context and countries. He also works in collaboration with art collectives in New York and Quito.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Raul Ayala is a Visual Artist and Educator that focuses on the production of murals, drawings urban art and illustration, encompassing themes related to freedom, inmigration, and urban-rural politics. His work has been shown in different context and countries. He also works in collaboration with art collectives in New York and Quito.
Bridget Bartolini
Harlem, NY
Bridget Bartolini produces public programs that bring New Yorkers together through stories and art inspired by the neighborhoods of New York City. Bridget holds a MA in Community Education from Columbia University Teachers College. She has created the series Bronx Stories to challenge stereotypes about the Bronx; I Heart Bx/Bk to examine interborough relationships; and I’m Tawkin’ Here: Storytelling with a New Yawk Accent to promote the culture – and accents – of each borough. Her latest endeavor is the Five Boro Story Project, which aims to strengthen community connections and preserve local history.
Harlem, NY
Bridget Bartolini produces public programs that bring New Yorkers together through stories and art inspired by the neighborhoods of New York City. Bridget holds a MA in Community Education from Columbia University Teachers College. She has created the series Bronx Stories to challenge stereotypes about the Bronx; I Heart Bx/Bk to examine interborough relationships; and I’m Tawkin’ Here: Storytelling with a New Yawk Accent to promote the culture – and accents – of each borough. Her latest endeavor is the Five Boro Story Project, which aims to strengthen community connections and preserve local history.
Claro de los Reyes
Gowanus, Brooklyn
Claro de los Reyes is a theatre & film artist; and an arts-based educator interested in community collaboration and the honoring of local cultures & heritage. As an actor he has performed Off-Broadway and his short films have screened at venues including the Anthology Film Archives. He is a proud NYC teaching artist and is a graduate of the Fordham Lincoln Center Theatre Program, TWN Film Workshop, and the CUNY SPS M.A. in Applied Theatre Program.
Gowanus, Brooklyn
Claro de los Reyes is a theatre & film artist; and an arts-based educator interested in community collaboration and the honoring of local cultures & heritage. As an actor he has performed Off-Broadway and his short films have screened at venues including the Anthology Film Archives. He is a proud NYC teaching artist and is a graduate of the Fordham Lincoln Center Theatre Program, TWN Film Workshop, and the CUNY SPS M.A. in Applied Theatre Program.
Divad Durant
Morrisania, Bronx
Divad Durant is a multi-media artist, community organizer, and educator. He is working on a feature length experimental documentary called "A Bronx Tale" to cultivate the multiple imaginations of the Bronx. Also, he is producing "Tweets to a Black Conscious Youth" a multi-platform media project intended to create a supportive community of Black Conscious Youth. Divad lives in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, across the street from Bronx River Houses, where Afrika Bambataa and Zulu Nation perfected the art of the Block Party.
Morrisania, Bronx
Divad Durant is a multi-media artist, community organizer, and educator. He is working on a feature length experimental documentary called "A Bronx Tale" to cultivate the multiple imaginations of the Bronx. Also, he is producing "Tweets to a Black Conscious Youth" a multi-platform media project intended to create a supportive community of Black Conscious Youth. Divad lives in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, across the street from Bronx River Houses, where Afrika Bambataa and Zulu Nation perfected the art of the Block Party.
Noelle Ghoussaini
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Noelle creates theatrical events dedicated to examining and re-imagining our society within a political, social and historical context. Her works have been staged at theatres, living rooms, gardens and other site-specific locations throughout NYC and worldwide. She received her Masters from NYU in Arts Politics and her BA from Northwestern in Performance Studies. She is currently adapting a play for a skateboard park and teaching playwriting and theatre with youth throughout New York City.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Noelle creates theatrical events dedicated to examining and re-imagining our society within a political, social and historical context. Her works have been staged at theatres, living rooms, gardens and other site-specific locations throughout NYC and worldwide. She received her Masters from NYU in Arts Politics and her BA from Northwestern in Performance Studies. She is currently adapting a play for a skateboard park and teaching playwriting and theatre with youth throughout New York City.
Audrey Hailes
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
In the summer of 2009, Audrey led youth, aged 13-19, in DC on an arts and community outreach-based environmental campaign. During this campaign, she supervised the development of arts curriculum, activism training, ensemble building, and the development of a final production. In 2010, Audrey graduated with an Achievement award from NYU's Experimental Theatre Wing. In 2011 she joined Body Ecology and has since been an associate artist and organizer of our Ringshout for Reproductive Justice campaign. In the summer of 2012, she received training in cultural organizing at the Highlander Center for Research and Education. Audrey led a group of 16-19 aged youth in devising a street performance in Bed-Stuy based on the Wiz and Gil Scott-Heron poetry.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
In the summer of 2009, Audrey led youth, aged 13-19, in DC on an arts and community outreach-based environmental campaign. During this campaign, she supervised the development of arts curriculum, activism training, ensemble building, and the development of a final production. In 2010, Audrey graduated with an Achievement award from NYU's Experimental Theatre Wing. In 2011 she joined Body Ecology and has since been an associate artist and organizer of our Ringshout for Reproductive Justice campaign. In the summer of 2012, she received training in cultural organizing at the Highlander Center for Research and Education. Audrey led a group of 16-19 aged youth in devising a street performance in Bed-Stuy based on the Wiz and Gil Scott-Heron poetry.
Sukjong Hong
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Sukjong Hong is an artist and writer whose visual art and community organizing work engages with war and displacement. She is currently organizing a oral history collective of artists and organizers who seek to share the experiences of Asian-Pacific American immigrant communities that are often hidden from the mainstream narrative. Most recently, she was an Open City Fellow at the Asian-American Writers' Workshop, writing creative non-fiction about New York's immigrant communities. She was also a participating artist in Still Present Pasts, a multi-media exhibit based on oral histories of the Korean War. She has organized artists and musicians in the United States to support international labor rights and peace campaigns. Her training is in architecture and urban planning.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Sukjong Hong is an artist and writer whose visual art and community organizing work engages with war and displacement. She is currently organizing a oral history collective of artists and organizers who seek to share the experiences of Asian-Pacific American immigrant communities that are often hidden from the mainstream narrative. Most recently, she was an Open City Fellow at the Asian-American Writers' Workshop, writing creative non-fiction about New York's immigrant communities. She was also a participating artist in Still Present Pasts, a multi-media exhibit based on oral histories of the Korean War. She has organized artists and musicians in the United States to support international labor rights and peace campaigns. Her training is in architecture and urban planning.
Ladi’Sasha Jones
Harlem, NY
Ladi’Sasha Jones is a collector and witness worker of oral history narratives with a special focus on Black women’s stories and Black American family life. She approaches her documentation practice by working from the intersections of cultural equity, art and collective work. Currently, Ladi’Sasha is working on curating a digital sound art gallery to share the audio records from her collection. She earned a B.A. in African American Studies from Temple University in 2010 and a M.A. in Arts Politics from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2012.
Harlem, NY
Ladi’Sasha Jones is a collector and witness worker of oral history narratives with a special focus on Black women’s stories and Black American family life. She approaches her documentation practice by working from the intersections of cultural equity, art and collective work. Currently, Ladi’Sasha is working on curating a digital sound art gallery to share the audio records from her collection. She earned a B.A. in African American Studies from Temple University in 2010 and a M.A. in Arts Politics from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2012.
Joyce-LeeAnn Joseph
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Joyce-LeeAnn is a writer, archivist and performance artist from Denver, CO based in Brooklyn, NY. She received a BA in Writing and Literature from Naropa University via Hampton University. She received a MILS with an Archives Certificate from Pratt Institute. She works as a professional project archivist. Her writing explores the poetics of archival processing and investigates ways to tell stories through preserved documents. Her experimental literary performances usually include a makeshift typewriter-drum-kit.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Joyce-LeeAnn is a writer, archivist and performance artist from Denver, CO based in Brooklyn, NY. She received a BA in Writing and Literature from Naropa University via Hampton University. She received a MILS with an Archives Certificate from Pratt Institute. She works as a professional project archivist. Her writing explores the poetics of archival processing and investigates ways to tell stories through preserved documents. Her experimental literary performances usually include a makeshift typewriter-drum-kit.
Christopher Lopez
East Harlem / "El Barrio," NY
Christopher Lopez was born in The Bronx, in 1984. Lopez has been working as a photojournalist since 2005 starting at the Spanish language paper, El Diario La Prensa. Recently, he has become the first teaching artist for the new education department at The Aperture Foundation in New York City. In 2012 he taught his first program on photography and the process of photo book making to ages K-12 at the Grand Street Settlement in The Lower East Side.
East Harlem / "El Barrio," NY
Christopher Lopez was born in The Bronx, in 1984. Lopez has been working as a photojournalist since 2005 starting at the Spanish language paper, El Diario La Prensa. Recently, he has become the first teaching artist for the new education department at The Aperture Foundation in New York City. In 2012 he taught his first program on photography and the process of photo book making to ages K-12 at the Grand Street Settlement in The Lower East Side.
Sydnie Mosley
East Harlem, NY
Sydnie L. Mosley is a Harlem-based dancer, choreographer and educator. As an artist-activist, she is interested in creative work that is both artistically sound and socially aware actively engaging audiences in the artistic process and in performance. She earned her MFA in Dance with an emphasis on Choreography from the University of Iowa, and is also an alumna of Barnard College at Columbia University, where she earned her BA in Dance and Africana Studies.
East Harlem, NY
Sydnie L. Mosley is a Harlem-based dancer, choreographer and educator. As an artist-activist, she is interested in creative work that is both artistically sound and socially aware actively engaging audiences in the artistic process and in performance. She earned her MFA in Dance with an emphasis on Choreography from the University of Iowa, and is also an alumna of Barnard College at Columbia University, where she earned her BA in Dance and Africana Studies.
Kameelah Rasheed
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Kameelah Janan Rasheed (b. 1985) is a photo-based artist, writer, and educator from East Palo Alto, CA based in Brooklyn, NY. She is a Studio Instructor at the Brooklyn Museum and a public school teacher working with court-involved youth in East New York. Kameelah’s work enlists archival as well as archeological traditions to explore collective memory and her family narratives through found images, material objects, original photography, and book arts. This work will be featured in her first solo exhibit at Real Art Ways in July 2013 entitled The Imagined Archive. She has participated in residences at The Center for Book Arts (2012-13) as well as the Center for Photography at Woodstock (2012) and will curate her first exhibit around transatlantic gender identities in 2014. A former Fulbright Scholar to South Africa, Kameelah received her Ed.M from Stanford University and B.A in Policy and Africana Studies from Pomona College.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Kameelah Janan Rasheed (b. 1985) is a photo-based artist, writer, and educator from East Palo Alto, CA based in Brooklyn, NY. She is a Studio Instructor at the Brooklyn Museum and a public school teacher working with court-involved youth in East New York. Kameelah’s work enlists archival as well as archeological traditions to explore collective memory and her family narratives through found images, material objects, original photography, and book arts. This work will be featured in her first solo exhibit at Real Art Ways in July 2013 entitled The Imagined Archive. She has participated in residences at The Center for Book Arts (2012-13) as well as the Center for Photography at Woodstock (2012) and will curate her first exhibit around transatlantic gender identities in 2014. A former Fulbright Scholar to South Africa, Kameelah received her Ed.M from Stanford University and B.A in Policy and Africana Studies from Pomona College.
Lisa Sikorski
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Lisa Sikorski is an artist who makes socially engaged, intimately produced projects. She considers her work as cultural provocations and has recently been investigating domestic tasks and spaces, looking at them as a site of conflict in feminine identity as well as trying to create a dialog about the way we value these tasks and spaces. She holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Lisa Sikorski is an artist who makes socially engaged, intimately produced projects. She considers her work as cultural provocations and has recently been investigating domestic tasks and spaces, looking at them as a site of conflict in feminine identity as well as trying to create a dialog about the way we value these tasks and spaces. She holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Didier Silvain
Harlem, NY
Didier is an experimental musician who uses sound to help artists and entrepreneurs deepen their creative leadership. His latest project, "Dark Energy," is a collection of meditative soundscapes made from field recordings during a recent trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He has coached and consulted through Deloitte, Echoing Green, and Coro, and is currently pursuing a certification in professional coaching as well as a PhD in ethnomusicology from Columbia University, where he will research black electronic music and Afrofuturism.
Harlem, NY
Didier is an experimental musician who uses sound to help artists and entrepreneurs deepen their creative leadership. His latest project, "Dark Energy," is a collection of meditative soundscapes made from field recordings during a recent trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He has coached and consulted through Deloitte, Echoing Green, and Coro, and is currently pursuing a certification in professional coaching as well as a PhD in ethnomusicology from Columbia University, where he will research black electronic music and Afrofuturism.