events

Design Gym Re-Opening Party!

Design Gym Spring Re-Opening
Monday, 3/20 @ 6pm - 8pm
572 Columbia Road, Dorchester

RSVP HERE.

The Design Gym re-opens on Monday, March 20th, and we are excited to welcome you back into the space as we dream, strategize and create this season. We have such a dynamic roster of workshops around Making (painting, sewing, sign making, photography, woodworking, etc.), Designing (Civic Design, Youth Activism Design Intensive, I-A-E and more), and Strategizing for success for artists (grant writing, financials, time management and balance), and so much more.

And get this!! For the very first time, we are opening up a DESIGN GYM MEMBERSHIP for YOU -- our community -- to be a part of regular convenings and work out your ideas with like-minded people immersed in creativity.

Join us on March 20th at The Design Gym for a tour of the new and improved space, sign up for classes for the season, and leave with your Design Gym Membership Card in hand, which gives you access to our Open Gym hours, our Personal Trainers and our monthly Friday Night Life events!! 

Also-- this is all FREE and open to the public! So bring a friend. Bring the youth.
Let's build Together!

COVID SAFETY PROTOCOL: We are not requiring folks to wear masks in the Design Gym space, but please know that it is a preferred practice. We all have various comfort levels and loved ones that may have compromised immune systems. We want everyone to feel and be safe. Please do stay home if you are feeling ill, and know that we will have masks and sanitizer on site for those who need it.

Many thanks to our generous partners and funders! All Design Gym programming is FREE thanks to the Barr Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Surdna Foundation, as well as our partners at Radical Imagination for Racial Justice: MassArt and the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture.

Social Emergency Response Center (SERC) POSTPONED

This SERC is POSTPONED DUE TO EXTREME COLD.

Given the back to back events in California and Memphis, DS4SI will be hosting a Social Emergency Response Center this Friday. Our hopes are to create space for our friends, colleagues, and loved ones to witness each other, talk, eat together, reconnect with our breath and bodies, and--if desired--move into radical action.

Opening with Dzidzor Azaglo
Making a Collective Altar with mica
Interactive taiko drumming with Karen Young, mica, and Mel
Breathing with Born
Reflections on the moment with ds4si
Reiki with Nicole Flynt
and more...

Plus, we know it's gonna be COLD. Join us for delicious hot soups and bouyon, dirty rice, greens, sweet potato pie, and more! (All homemade with love.)

If you've never been to a SERC, you can learn more about our thinking by reading A Case for Social Emergency Procedures and/or watching our SERC video.

We hope to see you on Friday. For the safety of us all, we ask folks to wear masks or take one of ours. We will also have free Covid test kits to take home!

Friday, February 3rd, at 6pm - 8pm
@ The Design Gym, 572 Columbia Road, Dorchester

On Reparations

DS4SI is excited to announce that we have rescheduled our talk On Reparations, with Denise Ferreira da Silva, for May 10th at 6pm EST.

Register via Zoom link here. The talk is FREE and open to all.

Demands and organizing strategies for reparations are gaining traction. What might growing efforts and advocates need to consider ethically and politically? How do we calculate ethically for example? And should we conceive of a reparations politic that extends beyond boundaries of the nation-state? We will take up these questions and more in conversation with Denise Ferreira da Silva, film producer, artist and author of Toward a Global Idea of Race and, her most recent work, Unpayable Debt.

To read Unpayable Debt, click this link for a PDF.

This conversation will be led by Tia-Simone Gardner, interdisciplinary artist, educator, and Black feminist scholar.

Register via Zoom link here. The talk is FREE and open to all.

inPUBLIC @ DTX November 5th-7th! (Due to rain)

inPUBLIC 2021 is coming! Featuring over 60 artists.

a space for collective healing at the heart of the city

Friday, October 29th, 4-7pm--UnBound Bodies Collective


Saturday & Sunday, October 30th & 31st, 1-4pm

inPUBLIC: We will tend to the moment...

We are inviting artists and community members to collectively create an installation at Boston's Downtown Crossing Steps. The installation will transform the steps into a space of reflection and collective commitment to tending to one another.

Please join us to listen, witness, reflect and add to the interactive installation.

Check out work by over 60 local and national artists, listen to DJ Bruno, the inPUBLIC Voice Mail Project, and more...

Many thanks to our partners, the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) and the Downtown Boston BID for their on-going support and thought-partnership.

On Reparations Talk

On Reparations, a talk with Denise Ferreira da Silva

November 3rd, 6-7:30 (
register via zoom)

Demands and organizing strategies for reparations are gaining traction. What might growing efforts and advocates need to consider ethically and politically? How do we calculate ethically for example? And should we conceive of a reparations politic that extends beyond boundaries of the nation-state? We will take up these questions and more in conversation with Denise Ferreira da Silva, film producer, artist and author of Toward a Global Idea of Race and, her most recent work, Unpayable Debt.

To read Unpayable Debt, click this link for a PDF.

This conversation will be led by Tia-Simone Gardner, interdisciplinary artist, educator, and Black feminist scholar.

Register for zoom here. [FREE]

DS4SI is hiring!

Cedric Douglas engages passers-by during DS4SI’s Making Planning Processes Public

Cedric Douglas engages passers-by during DS4SI’s Making Planning Processes Public

Full time Creative Civic Engagement Design Lead (Principal)

APPLY BY JANUARY 13TH, 11:59PM.

At DS4SI, we deeply believe in the right of the public to shape their surroundings and everyday life. Our civic engagement projects are dedicated to finding creative ways for community members to engage each other in imagining the spaces they want to live, work and play in, and the futures they want to build together. We aim to create unique opportunities for residents, artists, activists, merchants and others to both imagine and advocate for equitable development and civic life. Our Creative Civic Engagement D­­esign Lead is responsible for the design, development and documentation of all of our civic engagement projects.

 Additionally, all principals of DS4SI participate in project design and implementation, fund development and organizational development. Additionally, principals are responsible for securing projects and contracts as well as reporting on the projects they lead.

Key Responsibilities

  • Communicating with partners and clients to co-design and deliver high quality, interactive and accessible engagement experiences

  • Co-creating civic engagement activities and participatory action research projects that ensure real community input in civic projects

  • Project management from design through implementation and documentation

  • Supervising artists and community members collaborating on civic engagement

  • Developing new clients and methodologies

Qualifications

  • At least 3 years of experience in community engaged arts, community/urban development, civic engagement design, community organizing or related activity

  • At least 2 years of experience in project management

  • Experience working in public in ways that facilitate dialog, engage passers-by and welcome a diversity of experiences, opinions and backgrounds

  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal

  • Good analytical and problem-solving skills

  • Strong time and task management skills

  • Genuine commitment and sensitivity to residents and community issues

  • Respect for economic and cultural diversity, experience working with diverse groups of people

  • Highly motivated and independent, yet team-oriented

  • Must be able to work occasional weekends and evenings

  • Must be willing to work onsite in Boston (office is currently open, working remotely is fine until conditions improve and a vaccine is available)

  • Must be available for occasional travel (post Covid-19 vaccine, when travel is safe)

  • Reliable transportation a plus (not required)

  • Computer and other standard office equipment skills sufficient to prepare flyers and other communications, maintain databases, run zoom meetings, update social media, etc.

Additional Skills and Experience

  • Background in 2 and/or 3D design a strong plus

  • Background in design research and/or Participatory Action Research a strong plus

  • Bilingual (particularly English/Spanish) a strong plus

  • Background in training facilitation and/or community development a plus

Salary and Benefits
Salary range is $43,000-$60,000 based on skills and experience. This is a full-time, benefited position.

To Apply

Apply online HERE via our fiscal sponsor, TSNE MissionWorks. You will need to attach a CV or resume and paste in a cover letter.

DOWNLOAD this job description as PDF.

Fairmount Cultural Corridor Artist Relief Fund is Live!

About the application:
Are you an artist of color living and/or working in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan or Hyde Park?
Have you been negatively impacted by COVID-19?

We know that COVID-19 has hit artists hard, especially artists of color. If you have lost work or other income due to COVID-19, please consider applying for this mini-grant!

What? $1,000 grant to be utilized at your discretion

Who? In order to qualify, you must be an artist of color, which includes artists who are engaged in a wide definition of art as well as traditional and nontraditional arts such as (but not limited to): culinary arts, dance, street theater, performance art, music, photography, fashion, body art, game design, graphic design, poetry, fine arts, social practice, puppetry, jewelry, graffiti, fabrics, ceramics, etc.

Where? Artists must live and/or work along the Fairmount Indigo Line (Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan or Hyde Park)

How? It’s simple! Just fill out a short google form.

When? Applicants must apply between Tuesday, May 5th and Friday, May 15th.

Really? Yup. It’s that simple! Please help us spread the word!

About the Fairmount Cultural Corridor (FCC) Initiative:

The FCC Initiative is a creative place making project that engages residents, artists, community organizations and small businesses to support vibrant, livable neighborhoods along the Fairmount Commuter Line. We have partnered with artists in our neighborhoods since we began in 2012.

The FCC is made up of a variety of partnering organizations such as DSNI, DS4SIUpham’s Corner Main StreetFairmount Innovation Lab (FIL), and Artmorpheus Inc.

Our Artist Relief Fund is sponsored by The Kresge Foundation to support the sustainability and advancement of artists along the Fairmount Corridor during this time of crisis. The Kresge Foundation is a private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development.

AUGMENT: A Community Joy Project Led by Nick Cave

COLLAGE WORKSHOPS are coming to Upham’s and you’re invited!

Our friends at Now + There are producing Augment, a dynamic new public artwork by internationally-acclaimed artist Nick Cave. The installation includes a giant sculpture made of lawn inflatables (!) and a building wrap in the heart of Upham's Corner.

For the community element of the piece, DS4SI is partnering with local artists to facilitate a series of collage workshops that will bring community members together to explore and express what brings them joy. Our awesome crew of partnering artists include Ekua Holmes, L'Merchie Frazier, Destiny Polk, Wilton Tejeda and Barrington Edwards. The collages will be incorporated into the building wrap, hung on street banners and on display in local storefront windows. Workshops are being held at the Cape Verdean Day Center, the Upham's Corner library, local schools, Bird Street Youth Center, St. Mary's Church, DS4SI and more. You can also find Wilton Tejeda out with our Augment Cart engaging residents as they head to the bus, store, or  home.

This project is in collaboration with DS4SI and Now + There. Read Now and There’s blog post to learn more about this collaboration.

The next workshop is at DS4SI and is FREE and OPEN to all!

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Destination Upham's This Weekend!

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THIS WEEKEND in Upham's Corner:


The Gentrification Game , Oct 25 & 26, 4-7pm (and November 1&2!)
Tory Bullock
A life size board game where players try to keep up with the cost of living in Upham’s! Tip: Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Check out Tory's teaser video and details here!

Print Ain't Dead: Pop-Up Bookshop, Oct 26th, 7-10pm and Oct 28, 12-5pm
Arielle Gray and Cierra Peters

A series of pop up bookshops and storytelling events that focus on the works of writers of color--particularly Afro-diasporic femmes. Check out their splash page here!

Onwards & Upwards Jazz Series, Oct 27th, 2-5p
Fredrick J. Woodard and friends

Featuring the Lance Martin Trio. Check out his facebook event here.

Radical Black Girl x L'Merchie Frazier of Cross Cultural Collective, Oct 27th, 7-9pm
A healing evening of visual art making, dance movement and open-mic performances. See flyer below!

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Announcing Destination Upham's Artists

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DS4SI is proud to announce our selected Destination Upham's Artists! Together they represent a diversity of approaches and perspectives and a collective rich in talent and vision. As we continue to work with our programming and space partners around Upham's Corner, we will update you on the exact times and locations. In the meantime, take a look at all these reasons to come to Upham's:

RESIST(D)ANCE: UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Radical Black Girl

Part open forum discussion, part rising talent showcase and part dance party--Resist(d)ance is a family-friendly celebration and call to action.

Hip hop, BreakDancing, Graffiti Art Shows +
Frenell Jean-Georges

This interactive 4 part hip hop event includes a Graffiti Art Show, a DJ Showcase & Dance Party, a Break Dance Lesson & Performance and a Local Hip Hop Music ShowCase/ Rap Cypher.

Pop-Up Bookshops
Arielle Gray and Cierra Peters

A series of pop up bookshops and storytelling events that focus on the works of writers of color--particularly Afro-diasporic femmes.

TimeSlips
Melissa Nussbaum Freeman and Red Sage Stories

A multi-sensory creative storytelling tool that uses images, smells and sounds to inspire and enable multicultural, multilingual storytelling with Playback Theatre dramatization for Upham’s seniors.

Live Jazz
Fredrick J. Woodard and friends

Four live jazz events for the whole family to enjoy. Featuring  The Fred Woodard Collective, The John Kordalewski Trio, The Kurtis Rivers Quartet, and Lance Martin Trio
 
Community Square
Cross Cultural Collective : Allentza Michel, Ashleigh Gordon, Daniel Callahan, L’Merchie Franzier, Melissa Alexis, Tiffany Cogell

The Community Square will function as both a collectively-built 3D square and a space for community members to come together for conversation & performance.

 Afro-Futurist Interviews and Afro-Mixer
Jordan Holmes
An intercultural afrofuturist audio-theater piece featuring the voices and languages of Upham’s diverse Black community of the future--complete with an Afro-Mixer listening party!

The Gentrification Game
Tory Bullock
A life size board game where players try to keep up with the cost of living in Upham’s! Tip: Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Destination Upham's is funded in collaboration with the Fairmount Cultural Corridor, the Barr Foundation and the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA).
 

Stay tuned for Dates and Locations!

Home / Portal: Christopher Cozier and Friends This Thursday!

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HOME Series: The Portal

How do we find home?

DS4SI wraps up this season's HOME Series with a return visit from Trinidadian contemporary artist Christopher Cozier. Cozier will present on his piece Home/Portal, inspired by his time in the Upham's Corner area, that has since engaged artists from Kingston, Jamaica to Bogota, Columbia, Port of Spain, Trinidad and here in Boston. Collaborating artists from those cities will join us via Skype, while local artists from HOME 1 and HOME 2 (Intelligent Mischief and Keith Deviere Donaldson) will join us in person. Together we will explore how we find--and make and connect--home in a time of global environmental and political crises. 

 

THIS Thursday, November 9th, 6-8pm

Design Studio for Social Intervention
1946 Washington St, Roxbury, MA

#feelsthatway

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HOME Series continues with Future Shock Disco!

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Future Shock Disco

What does home sound like? An immersive, generative and evolving sound sculpture.

Keith DeViere Donaldson (Boston) and Jamal Moss, aka Hieroglyphic Being (Chicago)
 
The Future Shock Disco is an immersive, generative, and evolving sound sculpture that will elicit a journey through time – past, present, and future, by enabling participants to communicate with the space and other beings within it using the universal language of music. In Mark Dery’s 1994 essay, “Black to the Future,” he asks, “Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out, and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the search for legible traces of its history, imagine possible futures?”
 
Sound sculptors Moss and Donaldson have created interactive sound panels that will both trigger and manipulate a series of sounds when they are touched or a body comes near. Participants will be able to interact and engage with one another as they explore the relationship between interface, interaction, and sound. The output of the interaction will be a generative soundscape, which will continue to evolve as the piece is interacted with and as participants engage with one another and create a sense of place through sound.

Location: Dorchester Arts Collaborative,

COME FEEL AT HOME!

HOME Series Kicks Off !

Come check out this week-long cross-border collaborative art making intervention along Dudley and Upham's! We're so excited to be working with Chris Cozier, Bruce Cayonne and Intelligent Mischief!

The Art Talk with Chris Cozier, Bruce Cayonne and Intelligent Mischief has a home! We will be at the beautiful Shirley Eustis House, 33 Shirley St, just behind DSNI (off Dudley St.). You can find out more at the facebook event page too!See you there!

The Art Talk with Chris Cozier, Bruce Cayonne and Intelligent Mischief has a home! We will be at the beautiful Shirley Eustis House, 33 Shirley St, just behind DSNI (off Dudley St.). You can find out more at the facebook event page too!

See you there!

Black Citizenship Project Updates

Event Descriptions:

Kizzy's Appeal—by a collective of artists

A performance comprised of spoken word, visual art, and dance.  This performance started from the maternal question, "Have you seen my child?"  Kizzy's Appeal mirrors the impact, historically and currently, of systemic violence that robs black and brown communities of loved ones.

Two Things –by Letta Neely

A spoken word performance that expresses the current state of black emotions and feelings amidst the backdrop of state sanctioned violence and the recent Charleston massacre

Blind Spots—by James Montford Jr

A performance to explore, expose, and discuss the social construct of exclusion and through a performative process manifest potential for change. The artist will tell several short stories about "difference" and intimating/identifying the cause being Blind Spots in our behavior.

Of / From—by Sheldon Scott

Performative intervention interrogating the 14th Amendment

Divided We Fall—choreographed by McKersin Previlus

John the Baptist was something of a biblical spectacle—a long locked, loud-voiced, wild gesticulator.

This dance performance brings his central question to mind: what did you come here to see?

Black Body Survival Store—by Intelligent Mischief

A pop-up store featuring the Black Body Survival Guide—a compilation of rules and regulations for surviving in the U.S. as the owner of a black body—and related products  

Terror, Beauty, Pain, Solace—by Marlene Smith

We know, and have been reminded, against our will, that we can hurt and be hurt in public. This spiritual intervention asks the question, can we heal and be healed in public?

Frederick Douglass—Annual Reading “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

A communal reading of the fiery July 5, 1852, speech in which Frederick Douglass took exception to being asked to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Midnight Vigil—by Boston area Youth Organizing Project

A midnight to noon vigil asking the question, “Are blacks citizens?”

DS4SI Black History Month Series 2014

We're excited to announce the 3rd annual DS4SI Black History Month Series. This year our theme is "REEL Blackness" This series explores black creativity through film. It's particularly geared to creatives looking to explore or venture into some aspect of video, film, acting, etc.  In addition, we'll conclude the series with a special tribute to Nelson Mandela.and a look forward to how his legacy can create a "regeneration of liberation."

As usual, it will happen every Tuesday night in February and include good food and great conversation. Hope you can join us and our fabulous hosts and presenters!