The Village

The Village is an artist-led organization that creates accessible and dynamic experiences, bringing artists and audiences together to celebrate bold explorations of the creative process.

The Village hosts in-person events, called ‘Salons,’ that invite visual and performance artists to debut their latest ‘artwork-in-progress,’ for an engaged audience, facilitating the development of new work and inviting patrons to be a part of the creative process.   

A work of art isn’t made overnight. Projects require time and attention from their maker(s); curious exploration and sometimes painful revision. The creative process has been isolated and economically untenable, particularly for young and emerging artists. This isolation of process has only heightened during the pandemic, where process-oriented organizations such as small theaters, fringe events, and open studios have shuttered. 

The Village provides artists with space to share their work at an early stage and receive feedback in a welcoming and uplifting environment. We are not interested in a polished performance or completed masterpiece at our Salons. By focussing on the process rather than the product, The Village allows artists to work through the ‘middle’ stage... the essential steps it takes to get to their end goal. One of those steps is getting the work in front of an audience.

We believe audiences have a role to play in the creative process and keeping them out of it is damaging to the artist and the audience. The Village attracts an eclectic community, welcoming countless unique perspectives and personalities from around the New York City area. We believe art should not be made in a bubble. An artist should ask questions, desire feedback from others, seek out different perspectives and be brave enough to question their own.