A Productive Arts Collaboration in Harlem
During nearly 25 years of covering the arts scene in New York City, I’ve met and/or interviewed numerous founders and heads of arts groups. I found most of them to generally be creative, driven and temperamental. They often had a difficult time working with each other. That’s why the very productive collaboration between Voza Rivers, head of The New Heritage Theatre Group and Barbara Horowitz, head of Community Works NYC, is so unique and fascinating. Since meeting 15 years ago, the two arts advocates have produced and presented several memorable exhibitions and film projects. These include “The Long Walk to Freedom” exhibition, a tribute to unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. It toured throughout New York City, Atlanta and Washington D.C. It also includes a series of documentaries and exhibitions —”Harlem is . . . Theatre” (See Listings: Black Theater Exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, February 4 – May 1, 2015), “Harlem is Music”, “Harlem is Gospel”, “Harlem is East Harlem”, “Harlem is Washington Heights”—that celebrates the various cultures of the neighborhood that has one of the highest name-recognition factors on Planet Earth. These and other of their projects have been presented in some of the city’s most prestigious venues, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Aaron Davis Hall, Trinity Church, the Museum of the City of New York and the American Museum of National History with which they present annual Kwanzaa and Black History Month celebrations. They also jointly present programs designed for school children. Voza and Barbara cause one to reflect on the observation that there are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, those who wonder what is happening. The two arts administers, driven by a commitment to the arts as vehicles for educating, informing and entertaining, are definitely among those who make things happen.
—A. Peter Bailey, the author of “Witnessing Brother Malcolm X the Master Teacher”, “Harlem: Precious Memories, Great Expectations” and “Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey”, can be reached at 202-716-4560.
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