Event Info
Arts and community unite in a three day festival presented by The Intergenerational Community Arts Council (ICAC) that celebrates the cultural legacy of our borough and the healthy futures we can create together. Experience the music, performance, dance, and storytelling of your neighbors in a magical event created by, with, and for the residents of Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene. Kick-off Juneteenth with this free, all ages celebration.
Conceived, curated, and produced by members of the ICAC. Installation and interactive design by ICAC Artist in Residency Pia Monique Murray. Spread Love choreography by Pia Monique Murray. Artistic Direction by Pia Monique Murray and Baba Israel. Creative Production by Jessica Sucher.
EVENT SCHEDULE
All days include: “Love Letter to Brooklyn” art-making, a comfy Relaxation & Respite zone, free refreshments, health screenings with community partners, featured guest performers, and an all-ages, all levels ‘Move and Groove’ line dancing workshop with Kendra J. Ross. Come early to get in the flow with tunes by DJ Monday Blue (Wednesday and Thursday’s DJ) and DJ Quinette (Saturday’s DJ), and stay late to meet the ICAC, featured artists, and your neighbors.
DAY 1: Ingersoll Cornerstone Community Center
Wed, June 14, 2023 from 6:30-9:00PM
Performance begins at 7PM
Location: Ingersoll Cornerstone Community Center, 177 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Kick off the festival with a live premiere of the ICAC’S original song, “SPREAD LOVE”!
Featured Performer: Chanese Elifé.
Produced in partnership with Ingersoll Cornerstone Community Center.
DAY 2: Fort Greene Park
Thu, June 15, 2023 from 5:30-7:30PM
Performance begins at 6PM
Location: At the base of the monument steps on the north side of the park. Entrance at Myrtle Avenue and Saint Edwards St.
Show up, show out, be in a music video! Dress your most Brooklyn and join the ICAC in the filming of their live music video during the event.
Featured Performer: Pri the Honeydark.
Produced in partnership with Fort Greene Park Conservancy.
DAY 3: Atlantic Terminal Cornerstone Community Center
Sat, June 17, 2023 from 1:00-4:00PM
Location: Atlantic Terminal Cornerstone Community Center, 501 Carlton Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Bring the kids for an interactive performance, The Tale of Chef Kale, with Jasmine Eileen Coles (ages 4-10)* at 1:30 PM. About The Tale of Chef Kale: Kids will get interested in food, self-care, and creating healthy habits through this fun, interactive show. Kale, a young girl with hair made partly of kale, will take kids along on her adventures and even offer the audience tasting samples of some of her dishes made with fresh fruits and veggies. Ages 4-10.
Featured Performer: Courtney Berry.
Produced in partnership with Atlantic Terminal Cornerstone Community Center.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Intergenerational Community Arts Council (ICAC)
The ICAC is a team of NYCHA residents and neighbors from Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn who create values-driven arts programming by, with, and for their communities. This year’s ICAC members are:
Melissa Apedo | Andrew Ceneus | Denise Evans | Alyssa Forte | Chastity Fryer | DaQuan Herring | Nicole Norton-Evans |Squala Orphan |Brandon Payne | Tanja Richardson | Desiree Rucker | Shawna Ryals | Celeste Staton | Ketriana Yvonne
Learn about the ICAC members HERE.
Pia Monique Murray (she/her), ICAC Artist-in-Residence
Pia Monique Murray, a jack of all trades in the dance industry, is a choreographer, performer, teacher, arts administrator, stage/tour/company manager, rehearsal assistant, and producer. She has worked with nora chipaumire, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Camille A. Brown, and the late Blondell Cummings in various capacities. Pia Monique Murray Dance Collective (PMMDC) produces movement-based multidisciplinary performance works that include community engagement and audience interaction as an artistic practice. PMMDC creatively produces Kendra J. Ross’ The Sankofa Residency and Murray’s original work Black Daisies, a multidisciplinary project made of a photo essay, dance film, and live installation performance. As Bailey’s Cafe’s Producing Artistic Director Murray produces As Quiet As It’s Kept, a multi-discipline ethnography of the longtime residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. In 2021 she artistically produced We Are Here, an 11-week public art installation in Bedford-Stuyvesant featuring portraits by Robyn Twomey and interviews by Monica L. Williams, in partnership with 651 ARTS and Photoville. She is currently a Producing Fellow in Urban Bush Women’s Choreographic Center Initiative (CCI) 2.0 and Associate Producer of Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis’ Haint Blu.
Pri the Honeydark (she/her)
Pri the Honeydark (she/her) With her commanding voice and life-driven lyrics, Pri the Honeydark has been labeled underground hip-hop’s “Renaissance Woman.” The hip-hop artist and producer also creates in the fields of photography, carpentry, visual arts, and education. Pri (pronounced Pree) is an original member of the hip-hop collective The Anomolies and has been featured in music publications including Vibe, Blaze, and The Source. Pri was also featured in the film Gangstresses and the BET documentary My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth about Women and Hip Hop and has produced music for independent projects and television, including MTV.
Chanese Elifé (she/her)
Photo credit: Anthony Artis
Chanese Elifé, ”Harlem’s One-Woman-Band,“ is a vocal powerhouse, songwriter, and producer who plays more than 60 musical instruments. As a fan of sound bathing, she wanted to make healing frequencies more accessible to the masses. In 2016 she began creating her own unique brand of music which combines traditional meditation tunings and pop music. Chanese has performed at AFROPUNK Festival, Little Island NYC, and is a featured Sofar Sounds artist. Her healing frequency pop EPs, Love Hertz Vols 1 & 2 are streaming now.
Courtney Berry (she/her)
CourtneyA. Berry is a singer/poet/songwriter who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up in the concrete jungle has prepared her for the ups and downs of life. Courtney uses her voice to uplift, encourage, build awareness, and ultimately strengthen the village and community around her. Courtney hopes that her music inspires people in a way that uplifts and makes them dance their worries away. Expect a vibrant and vulnerable approach with heavy passion !
Jasmine Eileen Coles (she/her)
Jasmine Eileen Coles (she/her) is a performance artist based in New York City. She is a certified Health and Healing Practitioner and Nutritionist with 10 years of experience as a Nanny as well as 9 years of experience creating and developing Early Childhood Enrichment programs. Jasmine has worked 13 years as a Teaching Artist devising theatrical productions with youth examining their life experiences. The vast differences between the elite white Nanny industry and the teaching artist industry in under-resourced communities motivates Jasmine’s work. Jasmine is skilled in capturing a child’s cheerful interrogation, affirming that questions can be more valuable than answers. She is driven by a child’s sense of discovery, emphasizing that resolution is not always how a tale ends. Jasmine holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance and her art practice is rooted in Ritual Poetic Drama, a methodology created by Dr. Tawyna Pettiford Wates. It prioritizes discovery as well as the cyclical nature of life, death, and transformation as a new beginning versus an ending.
DJ Quinette (she/her), ICAC DJ in Residence
DJ Quinette (she/her), a native of Louisville, Kentucky understood she could make music a life at the age of 14 by collecting records; her journey began growing up in the south where music was cherished by feeling and was not conformed to any era or time. She is an audio engineer and editor. Adept at spinning vinyl and grooving with Serato: there is no limit to genre, as her unique mixes inspire soulfulness all round. As an educator, she uses music and technology to empower youth, teaching DJ skills and mentoring young children to encourage their dreams.
Full service and smooth with it, producing beats and working the boards. She can rock the park or groove the club; she can even spin a stadium, as she did for 3 years as the DJ for the University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball and Volleyball Program. As the DJ for band Producing A Kind Generation, this commitment to kindness informs her endless versatility.
Quinnette has developed a global listening community. Her passion for producing shows where people connect through their love of music is clear.
DJ Monday Blue (she/her)
DJ Monday Blue (she/her) is a Brooklyn based DJ, fluent in digital and vinyl, with over nine years of experience spinning music that moves and elevates diverse crowds. The 2018 Pulitzer Prizes deejay, Monday Blue can be found playing at events throughout the U.S. and spinning her favorite wax live on Wednesdays on Follow Your Bliss With Monday Blue on twitch.tv/DJMondayBlue and The Face Radio (thefaceradio.com). Follow her @djmondayblue
Kendra J. Ross (she/her)
Kendra J. Ross (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and community organizer from Detroit, MI who now lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY. As a performer, Kendra has traveled the world dancing for Urban Bush Women, DJ Kid Koala, MBDance, Andrea E. Woods/Soulouworks, Moving Spirits Dance Company, Oyu Oro, Ase Dance Theater Collective, and Movement of the People Dance Company. Her work has been featured as an Artist in Residence with The Laundromat Project, The Neighborhood Project by 651Arts, Bates college, Marymount Manhattan College, and Visiting Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts. Her work has been performed at Ailey Citigroup Theater, Dixon Place, Actors Fund Theater, Florida A&M University, and Museu de Arte in Bahia, Brazil. Kendra is also the Founder/Director of a Bed-Stuy based art and community building platform called STooPS that hosts the Bed-Stuy Annual Art Crawl. For more info visit www.thekendrajross.com
About Move and Groove Together – Line Dance with Kendra J. Ross
Let’s party and dance together! Line Dance AKA Detroit Hustlin’ has been a way for people of all generations to dance together in a fun way to popular music. Instead of having to pick the moves up impromptu on the dance floor, allow us to teach you some popular Line Dances in this workshop. From the popular Line Dances like the Electric Slide and the Wobble to some more intricate ones, Kendra will break down each dance step-by-step so you feel comfortable making it your own when we turn on the song and dance together. And you’ll be able to show off at the next gathering. Come get your hustle on!
The Intergenerational Community Arts Council (ICAC) is a team of NYCHA residents and neighbors from Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn who create values-driven arts programming by, with, and for their communities. The ICAC is proudly supported by BRIC and University Settlement’s The Performance Project.
Special thanks to Program Partners:
The Intergenerational Arts Council is supported by the Eisner Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, with special thanks to Council Member Crystal Hudson, and the NYC Narrative Power Network in partnership with the Fund for Public Health in New York and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, supported by the Open Society Foundation.
