Casita Presents: Up At Noon

April 29, 2017

BRONX, NY – (April 2017) Casita Maria Center For Arts & Education in partnership with Jeff Stark, editor of the long-running underground and DIY events list Nonsense NYC, are proud to present Up At Noon, a collaborative, multi-disciplinary project that spotlights artists, promoters and culture-makers in the Bronx. Both shows will take place in the Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square / Hunts Point 6 Train Plaza on May 10 & 12, 2017 from Noon – 2:30 PM.

In the last few years, dozens of small, artist-run venues have been uprooted in New York, squeezed out by short-term leases and opportunistic developers. Meanwhile, large-scale cultural institutions have formalized new spaces for professional artists and performers. In this way, New York represents itself as a place hospitable to successful artists and creative types, while at the same time pushing away developing artists.

One of the reasons this happens is that much of this artistic development is unseen; it typically goes on at the edges of industrial neighborhoods. Or it happens in the middle of the night. Is it any surprise that developing artists are undervalued by business, developers, and city government? It's hard to see the value of culture-making if you never see people making culture.

Up at Noon is a series of daylight performances in public space. On May 10 and 12, the series will pull already-existing shows, performances, and series out of warehouses, loft spaces, and cramped living rooms and present them for free as afternoon performances near the bustling Hunts Point subway station in the Bronx.

The series allows New Yorkers to see what goes on far away from the center of city, and presents an active, Do-It- Yourself alternative. It makes the invisible visible.

Featuring Bronx hardcore and hip hop organized by Yung Mayne, drag and performance by Chris of Hur, Garifuna music and dance by Callita Diego, Felix Gamboa, and Chief Joseph Chatoyer Dance Company, and live circus and burlesque by the House of Yes.

If we are going to be able to talk about complex subjects like gentrification and what kinds of places we as a culture can create for artists, we need to be reminded that developing artists still exist, and that others face the same systemic challenges -- challenges as big as capitalism itself. We can learn from one another.

Up at Noon is a series of outdoor shows in public space intended to remind New Yorkers of the importance of supporting developing artists. But it also reminds artists to continue to look for new audiences, new neighborhoods, and new allies in their struggle.

Up at Noon is organized by Jeff Stark, editor of the long-running underground and DIY events list Nonsense NYC, and is produced by Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education founded in the 1930’s, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support from NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Shelly & Donald Rubin Foundation and Booth Ferris Foundation. All events are open to the public and suitable for all ages.

For more information: Contact Luis Pagan, Marketing & Media Manager at Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education or visit Casita Maria’s website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages: @casitamariabx

CASITA MARIA CENTER FOR ARTS & EDUCATION is the oldest Latino charity in NYC, founded in 1934. The South Bronx-based community arts and educational organization presents diverse, contemporary visual and performing arts and education programming for all ages. www.casitamaria.org

JEFF STARK’s site works emphasize the significance and spectacle of collective experience. His diverse projects range from secret dinners to full-scale theatrical productions that make sometimes unauthorized use of public and private spaces. He writes and directs plays, makes short films, prints, and books, and organizes large groups of artists. His projects are collaborative and often self-produced. His work has been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and News Hour, as well as by international media organizations like ARD Germany, the BBC, and NHK in Japan. Stark is also the editor of the long-running Nonsense NYC, a weekly email list for independent art and Do-It- Yourself events. He teaches art and design at Parsons and NYU. www.jeffstark.org

Up At Noon Schedule

Wednesday, May 10
Noon-1 PM: Yung Mayne Presents: Live hardcore and hip hop with Show Me the Body, Slums + Caleb Gilles, Skarroneros.
1-1:30 PM: DJ Yung Mayne
1:30p-2:30 PM: Chris of Hur Presents: LUL DOODz Queer drag and performance art. With West Dakota, Famous Artist Laura McMillian, Thee Suburbia, Lady Simon, Kristin Reger and Hystée Lauder, Elle McQueen.

Friday, May 12
Noon-1 PM: Liruru Fude. Garifuna music and dance With Callita Diego, Chief Joseph Chatoyer
Dance Company, and Felix Gamboa.
1-1:30 PM: DJ Tio George
1:30-2:30 PM: House of Yes Variety Hour With Francoise Voranger, Justin Ketchner, Melissa Aguerre, and Joshua Oates. Hosting by MC Madame Vivien V.