Press Release Below:
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“In the dark of these times, art lights the way,” says Patricia Nicholson Parker, co-founder of Arts for Art (AFA).  Nicholson, William Parker and AFA team have reimagined the renowned Vision Festival as a limited-capacity outdoor event with a professionally filmed livestream.  Vision Festival:  Healing Soul will begin Thursday, October 8 at 7:00pm ET with a livestream solo performance by Wadada Leo Smith, followed by in-person / livestream events October 9 through October 12, all taking place outdoors at La Plaza at the Clemente in NYC (the parking lot on Norfolk Street, north of Delancey).  Artists include Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille, Amina Claudine Myers, William Parker, with the full schedule below.
 
The outdoor Vision Festival will be limited capacity, socially-distanced and in compliance with all CDC and New York City guidelines.  Daily outdoor tickets are $75, and virtual tickets are $15.  Both are available here.
 
Founded in 1996, AFA and Vision has held the belief that music and the arts can inspire and uplift people.  It has been rooted in a commitment to social justice and equity. This is evident in all of AFA’s festivals and events where the focus is on the work of groundbreaking African American artists. AFA has been organizing conferences and panel discussions that respond or foretell issues around social justice and equity.  In January 2017, AFA initiated the Artists for A Free World project. (https://www.artsforart.org/advocacy)   
 
Vision Festival will return in 2021.
 
VISION FESTIVAL:  HEALING SOUL
 
THURS, OCTOBER 8
VIRTUAL
7:00pm ET  Wadada Leo Smith - solo trumpet, solo piano
 
8:00pm  Panel discussion on protest and jazz with Amirtha Kidambi, JD Allen, Jean Carla Rodea, Arturo O'Farrill, William Parker, Lee Mixashawn Rozie
                       
FRI, OCTOBER 9
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
5:00pm ET The Healing Force
Patricia Nicholson – text, movement, voice
Voices: Ellen Christi, Jean Carla Rodea, Amirtha Kidambi, Andrea Wolper
Ava Mendoza - guitar / Val Jeanty - electronics, percussion
 
6:00pm Afro-Algonquin Trio 
Lee Mixashawn Rozie – voice, sax, mandolin / Rick Rozie – bass / Royal Hartigan – drums
 
7:00pm  Oliver Lake Organ Quartet
Oliver Lake - alto sax / Jared Gold - organ / Freddie Hendrix – trumpet /Chris Beck- drums
 
SAT, OCTOBER 10
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
 
1:00pm ET Children’s Music is Mine Workshop (free) CANCELLED

4:00pm Lewis / Lopez / Marcelo / Waits
James Brandon Lewis – sax / Brandon Lopez – bass / 
Alexis Marcelo – keyboards / Nasheet Waits - drums
 
5:00pm Fay Victor's Mutations for Justice
 Fay Victor - voice, composition / Mazz Swift – violin / Chris Williams - trumpet
 Luke Stewart – bass / Jason Nazary - drums
 
6:00pm Amina Claudine Myers Trio
Amina Claudine Myers – Keyboards / Jerome Harris – bass, voice / Reggie Nicholson
                       
SUN, OCTOBER 11
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
 
1:00pm ET  Children's Music is Mine Workshop (free) CANCELLED
                       
4:00pm Andrew Cyrille Quartet
Bill Frisell -guitar / David Virelles – piano /  Ben Street – bass / Andrew Cyrille - drums
 
5:30pm POET Tyehimba Jess
 
6:00pm Gerald Cleaver's Black Host
Gerald Cleaver - drums / Darius Jones - alto sax / Brandon Seabrook - guitar / Cooper-Moore - piano / Brandon Lopez - bass    
                       
MON, OCTOBER 12
LIVE Outdoors in La Plaza at The Clemente, 114 Norfolk St, NYC
 
4:00pm ET David Murray Trio
David Murray - tenor sax, bass clarinet / Luke Stewart – bass / Ronnie Burrage – drums
 
5:30pm POET Latasha Diggs
 
6:00pm William Parker’s In Order to Survive Quintet
Rob Brown – alto sax / James Brandon Lewis – tenor sax / Matthew Shipp – keyboards /
​Gerald Cleaver - drums

“In the dark of these times, art lights the way,” says Patricia Nicholson Parker, co-founder of Arts for Art.  She and William Parker have expanded AFA to include the activist arm Artists for a Free World (AFFW).  Its purpose is to take a stand for racial and economic justice to create a world where peace is possible. 
 
Artists for a Free World is announcing the September Music and Poetry Protest Performances, an outdoor event series that will take place in downtown New York City at the Clemente, La Plaza (the parking lot on Norfolk Street north of Delancey). The events will be socially-distanced and in compliance with all CDC and New York City guidelines.  Admission is free and donations are appreciated.   Additional information can be found here. 
 

Artists for a Free World Outdoor Protest Concerts
Outdoor at The Clemente La Plaza (Norfolk St. between Delancey and Rivington)
107 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002 

Mon, September 7
3:00pm: Bisio / Lewis / Knuffke / Holmes
James Brandon Lewis, sax / Michael Bisio, bass / Patrick Holmes, clarinet
/ Kirk Knuffke, trumpet 
4:00pm: Thomas Sayers Ellis / Steve Swell
Thomas Sayers Ellis, poet / Steve Swell, trombone  
4:30pm: William Parker’s Celestial Lighthouse performs Urban Revolution  
William Parker, composition, bass / Rob Brown, alto sax / Darius Jones, alto sax / Isaiah Barr, tenor sax / Steve Swell, trombone / Francisco Mela, drums 
 
Saturday, September 12 
1:00pm: Music is Mine co-produced with The Clemente Outdoors in La Plaza 
Free workshop for young musicians age 5-10 
3:00pm: Dickey / Swell
Whit Dickey, drums / Steve Swell, trombone
4:00pm: Larry Roland Trio
JD Parran - reeds / Larry Roland - bass, poetry / Jackson Krall - drums 
5:00pm: Sam Newsome Trio 
Sam Newsome, soprano sax / Hilliard Greene, bass / Reggie Nicholson, drums
 
Saturday, September 26 
Outdoor Event at St. Mark’s Churchyard (131 E. 10th St.)
Co-produced with the Poetry Project 
1:30pm  Poetry Reading
Sheila Maldonado - poetry
1:45pm Tomato & Peach  
Sana Nagano - violin / Leonor Falcon - violin
2:30pm Poetry Reading
Jesus Papoleto Melendez - poetry
2:45pm  Melanie Dyer Trio
Melanie Dyer - viola / Gwen Laster - violin / Ken Filano - bass
3:30pm Poetry Reading  
Patricia Spears Jones - poetry
3:45pm Jason Kao Hwang's Human Rites Trio
Andrew Drury, drums / Ken Filiano,  bass/ Jason Kao Hwang, composer/violin/viola
4:30pm Jason Hwang / Melanie Dyer / Ken Filiano / Andrew Drury

​This survey is designed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on our Creative Community. Please fill out and share so we can convince the funding community how much this sector needs support. 

​The Sun Ra Arkestra and William Parker’s Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield
 
March 4, 2020 7pm, at The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street, NYC
                                                             
TICKETS: ticketmaster.com
                                   
Arts for Art celebrates 25 years of programming with Sounds of Justice, a night of intergenerational FreeJazz/AfroFuturism, on March 4th at NYC’s historic The Town Hall. Both the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen and William Parker’s Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield are steeped in a commitment to the ideals of music and art as agents of social change, exemplifying the very ethos of Arts for Art. This boundary-breaking blend of FreeJazz, funk, R&B, and soul aesthetics looks both back and into the future, bridging time and space to share warnings, hope, and inspiration. 

Under the leadership of Marshall Allen, the Arkestra carries the Sun Ra experience of sound, dance, song, light, and color into the present. Having joined the Arkestra in the 1950s, Allen is uniquely positioned to move this performance tradition forward, further cementing Sun Ra and the Arkestra’s twinned legacies as both progenitors and practitioners of the genre now called AfroFuturism. The Town Hall performance will include video art and painting by NYC artist William Mazza to create a synesthetic sight/sound experience of Sun Ra and his mind-bending view of the universe.

William Parker’s highly acclaimed, intensely free Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield builds upon both the text and music of the politically engaged and activist singer-songwriter. This latest version of Parker’s ongoing project includes an expanded band with vocalist Leena Conquest joined by Thomas Sayers Ellis performing Amiri Baraka’s and his own poetry. Filmmaker Moon Lasso’a impressionistic video portrayal of the texts and sounds of Curtis Mayfield and William Parker will complete the experience.
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Arts for Art, presenter of the internationally renowned Vision Festival, is focused on developing strategies for the future as it enters its 25th year: how to better the world in which we live, and how to inspire, grow, and build a diverse community of uncompromising artists and audiences. 

Whit Dickey Biography

Whit Dickey grew up in Bennington, VT, where he was introduced to the music of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald through his father’s record collection.  He was also exposed to the music of The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, and was captivated by the drumming of Mitch Mitchell and Jack deJohnette. Seeing Sam Rivers perform with drummer Freddie Waits while studying at UMass in 1974 opened his mind to the possibilities of creative improvisation.  Le Roi Jones’ compilation of writings on 60s jazz scene, Black Music, and the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Elvin Jones, and Sunny Murray, further pushed Dickey’s interest toward the avant-garde.  He became a regular audience member during the NYC “loft scene” of ‘76 and ‘77, and in 1978 began to seriously pursue the drums.  

Whit joined the Creative Music Studio, where he studied combinations of rhythm units – taki and gamala – invented by Don Cherry and Karl Berger, played with many visiting artists, and in Karl Berger’s free jazz ensembles.  He would move to NYC, where he continued to play with musicians from CMS, and spent time studying with Andrew Cyrille. He later attended Bennington College, where he studied and performed with professors Milford Graves and Bill Dixon.  During this time, Dickey began developing his free approach to drumming.  

After earning a Masters in Third Stream Studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, Whit met fellow NEC alum and pianist Matthew Shipp, who would introduce him to alto saxophonist Rob Brown. Whit and Rob were formative members of the Matthew Shipp Quartet, who along with William Parker, would release the album Points in 1990.  In 1992, the trio of Dickey, Shipp, and Parker put out the recording Circular Temple, inspired by a mutual love for the short story, “The Circular Ruins,” by Jorge Luis Borges.

Whit soon joined Matthew and William in the David S. Ware Quartet.  He recorded 5 albums and toured frequently as part of the quartet until 1996. In 1997, Whit recorded his first album as leader, the trio date Transonic with Rob Brown and bassist Chris Lightcap. He soon moved north of NYC to refocus his studies in private.  He continued to record while developing a personal style cradling syncopation and free improvisation, drawing from Billy Higgins, Milford Graves, and Elvin Jones. Dickey linked back up with Matthew Shipp and joined his trio in 2007, resulting in several critically acclaimed records.  In 2014, Whit retreated from the scene in pursuit of stillness, which lead him to embrace silence and space in his playing. Fierce Silence and Drone Dream, duo records with cornetist Kirk Knuffke, exemplify this approach. In 2019, Aum Fidelity released the 2-CD set, Peace Planet -&- Box of Light.

Whit Dickey - drums / Brandon Lopez - bass / Daniel Carter - horns

​Patricia Nicholson Parker
Founder, Artistic Director

​New York State Council on the Arts Awards Arts for Art $15,000
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New York State Council on the Arts Grants Support Vital Cultural Programs Statewide
New York, NY— Arts for Art today announced that it has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for FY2020 with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. NYSCA grants support the transformative impact of the performing, literary, visual and media arts in New York State.

Arts for Art is one of 462 arts organizations across New York State receiving a total of $8,383,993 million in grants through NYSCA’s Round II FY2020 funding to support arts programs that drive New York State’s economic growth and community health.

“The arts and culture are a critical driver of health in people and places,” said Mara Manus, Executive Director, New York State Council on the Arts. “Our state’s creative industries generate a total of $120 billion to the state economy, account for 466,000 jobs, and play a significant role in revitalization, education and social justice.”
NYSCA will award a total of $41 million to arts organizations across New York State for FY2020. The second of three rounds of NYSCA funding for FY2020 includes support for museums, theatres, and arts organizations that drive tourism and anchor communities and arts education programs essential to learning for all ages, including public school students, aging populations and at-risk youth.

NYSCA Round II grants also support creative arts programs promoting physical and mental health and personal and professional development in historically underserved and vulnerable communities, including those in geographically remote areas; disabled communities; impoverished and homeless populations; and justice-involved youth and adults. Arts for Art received funding through NYSCA’s Music program support General Operations.

Annually, NYSCA grants are awarded in 15 discipline programs and the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. Over the last two years, NYSCA has awarded an additional $30 million in capital funding to 71 organizations statewide fueling community development and tourism, and will announce additional capital grant awards this year.

“New York’s cultural sector is a driving force in our state’s economy,” said Katherine Nicholls, Chair, New York State Council on the Arts.  “As our arts organizations expand their audiences and programs with NYSCA support, we will serve many more New Yorkers and build the vitality of our communities statewide.”    
NYSCA Round II grant awards were made through the agency’s Arts Education, Special Arts Services, Museum, Theatre, Music, Dance, Literature, and Visual Arts Programs. A list of NYSCA grantees searchable by program and location is available here.
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Additional NYSCA funding will be announced in late 2019, including support for presenting organizations, individual artist commissions, and, through the Regional Economic Development Council, programs driving economic growth and building New York State’s workforce.

About The New York State Council on the Arts
 
The New York State Council on the Arts champions community and creativity by preserving and advancing numerous aspects of the cultural heritage that makes New York State an exceptional place to live, work and visit.
NYSCA upholds the right of all New Yorkers to experience the vital contributions the arts make to our communities, education, economic development and quality of life. Through its core grantmaking activity, NYSCA awarded $51M in FY2019 to 2,400 organizations statewide through direct grants and regrants in our 15 programs, the Regional Economic Development Council initiative and the Mid-Size Capital Project Fund. NYSCA funding supports the visual, literary, media and performing arts and includes dedicated support for arts education and underserved communities. NYSCA further advances New York's creative culture by hosting convenings with leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources.

Created by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1960, and continued and expanded to the present day with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, NYSCA is an agency of the Executive Branch of the New York State Government. For more information on NYSCA, please visit: www.arts.ny.gov. 

The Music was Inspired. The Art was Beautiful. The Poetry was Profound. The Dance was Patricia Nicholson in community.

We rejoiced together. We had cake, fine wine, and delicious food. 

We did this together and we raised some money.

Thanks to all who attended our birthday celebration and benefit, in recognition of our Founder and Artistic Director, Patricia Nicholson Parker. If you were there, you experienced the heart of this community. In performing, the musicians exhibited a depth, commitment, and a unified statement in support for the woman who started it all and has continued to make it happen, staying strong, for decades.

We are grateful to New York City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, her chief of staff Pedro Carrillo, and staff member Sheila Rodriguez for presenting Patricia with a citation in recognition of her work in service to the cultural community, and the community at large.

Thank you,

Todd Nicholson
Executive Director, Arts for Art

Photos by Eva Kapanadze