Give2Grace, A week of Performance Art to benefit and sustain Grace Exhibition Space, NYC.

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Give2Grace, As Grace has given to so many of us
​September 2020
By Quinn Dukes

To say that the live performance community has been struck, traumatized and forced to reconstruct itself may be an understatement. The past 6 months have been enormously challenging for performance artists, curators and producers of live events. Throughout it all, several organizations have maintained momentum with online programming and Grace Exhibition Space led by Jill McDermid and Hoke Hokanson is one space that continues to persist. 

Grace Exhibition Space is dear to me. It was the catalyst of many personal and professional performance and curatorial projects. Grace provided an access point into an art world that otherwise seemed expensive and elusive. I am forever indebted to this organization and have spent the last 3 years serving on its Board of Directors. Next week, Grace launches an ambitious, week-long program devoted to celebrating the work presented at the new Lower East Side location while candidly calling for financial support.  

Next week, show up for the virtual events. Share the announcements and help ensure that one of the few remaining spaces committed to artists, maintains a presence within New York City. Donate Today.

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#Give2Grace is a seven-day virtual event for Grace Exhibition Space about witnessing and giving to sustain a vital resource for local and international Performance Artists and secure the future of our organization. Streamed on our website and Facebook (@grace.exhibition.space), #Give2Grace begins Tuesday, September 22nd and concludes Monday, September 28th and will feature video premieres, updates from current artists-in-residence, interviews, and a culminating panel discussion. Featured Grace Space performance alums include: Miao Jiaxin, Martin O'Brien, Arantxa Araujo, Nicole Goodwin, Kris Grey, Alex Romania, Nicola Fornoni, and resident artists, Dee Dee Maucher and Dragonfly (Robin Laverne Wilson).

Grace Exhibition Space is evolving. Relocating to Manhattan renewed our energy and doubled down on our dedication to champion Performance Art in all its forms. A silver lining around the pandemic is that we have been given an opportunity to breathe, reflect, and identify ways to remain a continued resource for artists and audiences around the world. We need support in order to make this happen. 

The artists in this program are alums of Grace Exhibition Space who have presented work at the new Manhattan venue. This micro-retrospective of selected artists from the past two years embraces a multitude of styles, from body-based work to social or relational practices, embodying a wide range of approaches to the limitless medium of Performance Art.

There are several ways that you can #Give2Grace: Paypal, Venmo or ActBlue. ActBlue Charities is a registered charitable organization formed to democratize charitable giving by being a flexible & free fundraising platform to harness grassroots power. Your support goes toward 2020/21 performance art commissions and securing a development coordinator to aid in our quest for sustainability. Grace Exhibition Space is a 501c3 organization and donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed under law. 

PROGRAM of EVENTS | Full Details
Tuesday, Sept 22 -  Day 1 @ 7pm EST | Facebook Video Premiere featuring Director of Grace Exhibition Space, Jill McDermid, interviewed by Jana Astanov. In an opening video, we look back at a select number of performances presented at Grace Exhibition Space spanning our past two years in the Lower East Side. 

Wed, Sept 23 - Day 2 @ 7pm EST | Facebook Video Premiere of documentation from the inaugural event at our new Manhattan location: 182 Avenue C. Featuring performance documentation of works by Miao Jiaxin (NYC/China) and Martin O'Brien (London, UK). 

Thurs, Sept 24 - Day 3  @ 7pm EST | Facebook Video Premiere highlighting performance documentation  from international artists, Arantxa Araujo (Mexico) and Nicola Fornoni (Italy). 

Friday, Sept 25 - Day 4 @ 7pm EST  | Facebook Video Premiere highlighting past performances from New York City Based artists Nicole Goodwin (NYC) and Kris Grey (NYC). Goodwin comes to performance through a career in writing and poetry. Grey, a gender-queer artist, also presents curatorial projects, writing, and studio production.

Saturday, Sept 26 - Day 5  @ 7pm EST | Facebook Video Premiere highlights summer 2020 artists-in-residence, Dee Dee Maucher (NYC) and Dragonfly aka Robin Laverne Wilson (NYC). Throughout the residency, Maucher grew immune boosting foods while engaging with the local community to create 30k Seedlings & Bokashi Balls. The seedlings and bioremediating Bokashi balls distributed as a tribute to those who succumbed to Covid-19. Dragonfly presented a sociopoetic and orthographic exploration on the multiple definitions of FUGITIVE and how they each relate to the heightened understanding of Blackness and its endurance in the midst of never ending viral harms of casual, structural, systemic, epidemic and state-sponsored white supremacy.  

Sunday. Sept 27 - Day 6  @ 7pm EST | Facebook Video Premiere highlights past performers that are also fellow NYC performance community organizers with Alex Romania (The Woods Performance Space). 

Monday, Sept 28 - Day 7  Live Zoom Panel Discussion @  7pm EST | #Give2Grace culminates in a conversation with all the featured artists along with co-directors of Grace Exhibition Space, Jill McDermid and Hoke Hokanson, moderated by Quinn Dukes.