Kanyon will open this event up offering #LandAcknowledgments to #HonorNativeLand in Yelamu, Ramaytush Ohlone Territory
Learn about the Indigenous Community in your area – www.native-land.ca
Founded in 2011, Skywatchers brings residents of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District into partnership with professional artists to create multi-disciplinary, site-specific performance installations that amplify the rich and complex stories, life experiences, and talents of community members. ABD initiated the Skywatchers program in collaboration with Community Housing Project (CHP) and the Luggage Store Gallery.
Skywatchers is committed to justice and equity as a critique of the current societal structures that marginalize large segments of the population. Creative expression and artistry are the foundation of a unique set of methodological practices to resist, confront, expose, or intervene in those structures, working towards social change on the individual and systemic levels. We believe in the power of art and collective creative endeavors to transform lives, embody our interconnectedness, and infuse our lives with agency, possibility, and increased vitality.
Skywatchers is structured on the belief that relationships are the first site of social change. We believe that large-scale transformation begins with intimate, interpersonal exchange and that all stakeholders are transformed in this process—artists, resident participants, as well as site staff.
LISTEN to the Opening Transition Performances of the Tenderloin and #LandAcknowledgments by KKLLC
SCHEDULE of EVENTS
Friday 5/17
5:30 – Opening Reception
7:00 – Performance & Talk Back
Saturday 5/18
4:00 – Performance & Talk Back*
6:00 – Community Meal & Conversations – sponsored by Farming Hope, GLIDE, & Imperfect Produce
Sunday 5/19
12:30 – Skywatchers Processional
1:00 – Performance & Talk Back*
*Visual art exhibition opens one hour prior to performance
…featuring Came Here To Live, a new performance work by the Skywatchers Ensemble
Came Here To Liveoffers a glimpse into life in the Tenderloin and a vision of what it means to have a seat at the table, to dismantle the table, to create inclusive forms of discourse through creative resistance to systemic oppression and disenfranchisement.
Co-created by the Skywatchers Ensemble and Bay Area artists Anne Bluethenthal, Shakiri, jose e abad, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Malia Byrne, Gabriel Christian, Dazié Grego, and Deirdre Visser with Frances Sedayao, Rama Hall, Ian Winters, Chibueze Crouch, and Peekaboo Jenkins.
Free & open to the public
Space is limited – reserve a spot
The vision of Skywatchers is…
a. Collaborative
ABD artists collaborate with resident co-creators on projects that range from performances to exhibitions, and from community dialogues to urban garden projects. All are creative celebrations of the lives, environment, stories, and urgent concerns of Skywatcher participants.
b. Resident-Centered
The Skywatchers process is “of, by, and for” the residents of the Tenderloin. Residents become storytellers, co-creators, performers, and audience members on a creative platform of their own making.
c. Change-Making
We bridge community-engaged art with celebratory art in the service of social change. By building community, nurturing self-efficacy, and cultivating access to personal and creative resources, Skywatchers supports participants in becoming effective agents for change in our own lives. Through the Skywatchers Leadership training beginning in August 2017, residents will have opportunities to take on leadership positions within the program.
d. Community Building
A program of ABD Productions, Skywatchers partners with Community Housing Partnership (CHP), CORE (a CHP leadership and advocacy group), Luggage Store Gallery (LSG), Larkin Street Youth Services (LSYS), Tenderloin Museum (TM), Glide Memorial Church, Faithful Fools Ministry, CounterPulse, and other Tenderloin organizations. Through these partnerships we are able to share resources and build effective alliances for change.
e. Connective
The connectivity intrinsic to creative collaboration helps participants build trust in each other.
f. Transformative
The transformative impact of sharing one’s own story—both to be heard and to see that story in a broader social context—creates the space for participating residents to imagine and manifest change.
