I'm using a grant I got from the MAP Fund to put on a a community arts festival this coming Memorial Day weekend, featuring work by over twenty performing artists. The project is largely an outgrowth of the DIY performance series Ouchies! Feels Good, which I've been hosting in my home since 2022. It's also an outgrowth of my frustration with the theater and other performing arts worlds in NYC feeling kind of insular and inaccessible. 

The festival is happening at Purgatory, a small queer nightlife venue in Brooklyn, on May 23 & 24, 2026.  Each day will feature short works of theater, performance art, dance, puppetry, music, and film -- as well as group workshops on various topics, vending from local artists, and tabling from community organizations. There will also be an after-party on Saturday with DJs, drag, and dancing. 

I'm inviting artists to share work that in some way envisions a more  just, sustainable, or healthy world. I'm hoping that both the workshops & unstructured social time can offer space for discussing some of what comes up in the performances, and maybe also spark some new connections and projects. I'm also hoping that tabling from local orgs can help connect folks with groups that they can support, receive support from, or otherwise build with in some way. 

I’m choosing to do this festival in a nightlife venue, because I’ve been inspired by queer nightlife as a prototype for integrating social space with art. People need social spaces where they can connect creatively and build community. Many traditional performing arts spaces are failing to provide that for people. The art gets divorced from the community it's intended for. I want to bring a wider range of performing arts into social spaces that already exist.

I like to pair artists together who might not typically be on the same bill, because they work in different disciplines, have different styles or backgrounds, or have different levels of experience or institutional support. I like seeing artists’ work in conversation with each other across some of these varying categories. 

Part of my hope for this festival in particular is that someone comes for a DJ they like, and ends up seeing a contemporary dance performance for the first time. Or comes to see a dance performance and stays for a collaborative storytelling workshop. 

The spaces I curate are founded in queer culture, but I hope they can expand to hold others too. I hope the festival can provide space for solidarity building across communities and struggles, across shared and differing experiences. 

The incredible Maya Quetzali Gonzalez is working with me as a co-producer, and has brought so much skill, ingenuity, positivity, and compassion to this project. 

Other team members include Molly Litvin (Production Stage Management), Anna Pelavin (Poster Design), Yany Wu Feng (English-Spanish translation & interpretation), Melannie Vasquez-Lara (Event Staff, Floor Manager), & Joan Hwang (Event Staff, Floor Manager). 

This project is primarily funded by the MAP Fund ($25,000). For accessibility reasons, we have made a strong effort to keep ticket prices low, and are anticipating an additional $3,950 in ticket sales.

We need to raise an additional $1500 at minimum to cover artist fees for all of the participating artists, living wages for our staff, venue fees, and other expenses.

I removed myself from the budget after some additional grant funding we were hoping for didn't come through. Any donations beyond $1500, up to $6,000, will go towards paying me for some of my curation & producing work on this project.

Unless there are any additional unexpected expenses that come up, funds we raise beyond $6,000 will be distributed to the artists as additional payment.

Donations of any size are deeply appreciated. Thank you for your support!!