Tal Beery
Newburgh Slow School
With Best Praxis and Eco Practicum
at Land and Time, an exhibition curated by Momenta Art and Eco Practicum at Atlas Studios
Newburgh Slow School was a 6-hour multi-part discussion event hosted by Eco Practicum in Newburgh, New York's Atlas Studios on Dec 10, 2017. It was hosted as part of the Land and Time exhibition organized by Momenta Art and Eco Practicum. The event brought together a diverse range voices and perspectives -- artists, real estate developers, historians, activists, and others -- to share a space decorated to closely resemble Best Praxis collaborators Eugenia Manwelyan and Tal Beery's living room, and to discuss the past, present, and future of Newburgh. Each hour, new invited guests were introduced to act as thematic anchors. These guests prompted discussions about themes on which they have expertise and grounded big-picture ideas in real-world experiences of living and working in Newburgh. The event was free, and the visitors were invited to enter and leave the conversation as they pleased. Eugenia Manwelyan and Tal Beery held space for deep, contentious, and revealing dialogue on multiple themes, including:
The history of urban renewal and racism in the city of Newburgh
The use and value of Newburgh's history today
Gun violence in the city of Newburgh
The role of art in social change
Community organizing to end poverty
The non-profit industrial complex
Real estate development in Newburgh
Invited speakers included:
Johanna F. Yaun, Orange County Historian
Philippe Pierre, Newburgh business owner and real estate developer
Vincent Cianni, Photographer and Founder of the Newburgh Community Photo Project
Rae Leiner, Director of the Newburgh Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative
Geremy Oustacher, Audio/Visual artist
Alysia Mazzella, Community-based artist and artisan
Anusha Mehar, Multi-disciplinary artists and solar energy consultant
Phoenix Gayle, Community acitivist and woman of trans-experience
Audio from the discussion was recorded by Emily Pontecorvo, and serves as both a document of and an intervention in the ongoing development of place and culture in Newburgh.
The six hour conversation entered topics that revealed deeply personal stories and juxtaposed typically isolated perspectives. The recording will be edited down to five 10-minute thematic segments, each of which will then be animated. The final short audio-visual animations will be used to prompt further dialogue around the opportunities and challenges facing people in Newburgh today.
We are also seeking to create a one-hour play with Newburgh high school students in the style of documentary theater, putting the various voices in the recordings in conversation with one another. The process of rehearsing and performing the recordings as community theater with local high school students will enable youth to engage deeply and critically with the mindsets of their neighbors. Also, watching students perform this way will defamiliarize community issues for audience members, thereby opening space for new dialogue around common challenges.
About Best Praxis
Best Praxis is a family-based art collective that creates art and performance through intimate encounters, adaptive reuse, and place-making. Our work aims to blend public and domestic spaces and flip the artist/audience relationship, so that the artist becomes the active listener, the observer.