Make art. Do more.
Our signature gala, SOAPBOX, annually brings together over 300 of NYC’s most influential artists and activists for a powerful evening of reflection and celebration. Drawing inspiration from our celebrated guests of honor, SOAPBOX is designed to galvanize and energize our many communities. Now in its fifth year, SOAPBOX raises vital funds that make it possible for us to continue supporting artists creating change in their own local communities.
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018
- Dinner from 6:30-8:30PM
- Dance Party from 8-10PM
523 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018
Party Tickets begin at $150. Dinner Tickets begin at $400.
Want to join our Benefit Committee? Interested in becoming a sponsor? Have a question? Contact Ayesha Williams at [email protected] or (718) 574-0798
Honoring:
Rinku Sen, Author & Activist
Elia Alba, Multidisciplinary Artist
Tattfoo Tan, The LP Alumni Artist
Honorary Chairs:
Ruth Carter, Pioneering Costume Designer
Merele Williams Adkins, Arts Advocate
Featured Print Edition by:
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
MUSIC BY:
DJ Reborn
Follow the Facebook event page and The LP’s instagram for teasers leading up to the event. We’ll be announcing more special guests and exciting experiences you can expect at the event.
Check out photos from SOAPBOX 2017 here.
Honorees
Featured Print Artist
Artistic Experiences Featuring Create Change Alumni
Tattfoo Tan (SOAPBOX 2018 Honoree), 2010 Artist-in-Residence
Tattfoo developed NMS (Nature Matching System) as a reminder to consume your daily recommended doses of color. The shades of color displayed at farmers’ markets are more than skin deep, reflecting the inner potential of every fruit and vegetable, which get their color from phytonutrient compounds that play key roles in health and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Sadly, marketers of junk food apply the same technique used by nature to pollinate seed to their nutrition-deprived product. The colors on the placemat in this SOAPBOX 2018 installation are all actual food colors, taken from photographs of various fruits and vegetables.
Chloe Bass, 2014 Artist-in-Residence
For SOAPBOX 2018, Chloë Bass presents Maintenance: a set of disposable tableware from chapter six of her project The Book of Everyday Instruction, an eight chapter study of pairings. Chapter Six, titled What is shared, what is offered, focuses on how we share love between individuals and institutions. The Maintenance set features text written by Bass in the context of her relationship to the United States government after the 2016 presidential election.
Lizania Cruz, 2017 & 2018 Artist-in-Residence
We the News is a participatory project that documents, publishes, and distributes the stories of Black immigrants through zines and products in a public newsstand. Inspired by Stuart Hall’s notion of identity grounded in the “re-telling” of our past and experiences, participants are invited to “re-tell” their histories in story circles that explore themes of race, cultural rituals, and personal experiences. Each story circle is closed with a collective affirmation to create solidarity and empathy among the diaspora community. For SOAPBOX 2018, all participants are invited to share solidarity through an on-site installation by completing an affirmation during the dance party.
Sal Munoz 2018 Artist-in-Residence, 2016 Fellow
Sal’s SOAPBOX 2018 installation will feature the following works:
- Dulces Milagros, 2017 (Laser-cut Acrylic & Glitter). This installation is modeled after milagros–votive offerings to saints prominent in Mexican/Xicanx culture. Traditional milagros are made from metal and depict saints, body parts, or religious iconography, and individual blessings would correspond with the metal object. In place of traditional milagros shapes, those currently installed resemble familiar Mexican sweets or desserts. If traditional milagros invoke blessings, these invoke sweetness.
- Tonantzin Novena, 2017 (Open Edition Artist Multiple). The novenas on display combine Indigenous and Catholic imagery and rituals, exploring the role of colonization in the proliferation of the Virgin of Guadalupe (and Tonantzin, to an extent) throughout Mexican & Xicanx culture.
Special Performance by DJ Reborn in Collaboration with Bayete Ross Smith
What is a song that inspires you to do more for your community?
On the occasion of SOAPBOX 2018, 2010 Create Change Artist-in-Residence Bayeté Ross Smith is creating a crowdsourced community mixtape for his “Got the Power” series, which will be mixed live at our SOAPBOX Dance Party. Click here for more information and to submit a song that inspires you!
Special Edition Print by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
The Laundromat Project is thrilled to present a special edition print by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist.
Silk Screen on BFK Rives Paper
25 1/2 x 19 1/2
Edition of 25
$750
Reserve your print now:
Benefit Committee
[one_half padding=”0 20px 0 0″]Benefit Chairs
Marcus Ellington
Naomi Beckwith
Beverly Byrd
Benefit Commitee
Gonzalo Casals
CBS
Katie Dixon
O-T Fagbenle
Richard Flood
Janlori Goldman & Katherine Franke
Agnes Gund
Catherine Gund
Rena & Scott Hoffman (in honor of Elia Alba)
Joan Mitchell Foundation
Colleen Keegan
Steve Kest
Noel Kirnon
Glenn Ligon
Maureen Mahon & Brian Tate
Open Society Foundations
Race Forward (in honor of Rinku Sen)
Jeffrey A. Rosen (in honor of Elia Alba)
Show Strategy, Inc.
Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation (in honor of Elia Alba)
Workforce Housing Group
Board
Naomi Beckwith
Tresell Davis
Stephanie Dinkins, Co-Chair
Marcus Ellington
Erika Faust
Ali Goldstein-Norup, Secretary
Rasu Jilani
Dexter Wimberly
Curtis Young, Co-Chair
Founder
Risë Wilson
Benefit Committee Levels
The Laundromat Project cordially invites you to join us at one of the following benefit committee levels:
$10,000 Investor
($6,440 is tax-deductible) 8 dinner tickets with Premium seating and 16 dance party tickets; SOAPBOX limited edition print by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh; full-page color ad in program book; acknowledgment in event program and invitation.
$5,000 Stakeholder
($2,080 is tax-deductible) 6 dinner and 12 dance party tickets; SOAPBOX limited edition print by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh; half-page color ad in program book; acknowledgment in event program and invitation.
$3,000 Placekeeper
($2,280 is tax-deductible) 4 dinner and 4 dance party tickets; acknowledgment in event program and invitation; half-page color ad in program book.
$1,000 Block Captain
($640 is tax-deductible) 2 dinner and 2 dance party tickets and acknowledgment in event program and invitation.

Enter A Raffle for a pair of VIP Tickets to Afropunk Brooklyn 2018
Click through for more details.
Can’t make it to our SOAPBOX 2018 benefit? Don’t worry, you can still participate in the raffle.
DONATE
Can’t make it to SOAPBOX?
VOLUNTEER
Email [email protected] about volunteering for SOAPBOX.