#baxstaff

Paloma McGregor, Artistic Director, and Vanessa Adato, Executive Director

VA: Indeed this is the ultimate Passing It On Award!  It’s a surreal moment for me to step up into this co-leadership role as executive director. I’ve been working and breathing alongside Marya for almost 20 years now and BAX is deep in my DNA as well as Marya's mentorship.

I’ve been through many transitions at BAX, of growth, of evolution, of set-backs, of triumphs.

BAX was actually the first theater I performed in after graduating from college and I’ve danced and rehearsed in the studios of BAX for many years. I was part of the move from Douglass Street in Gowanus to our home now on 5th ave here in Park Slope, when we had about 2 1/2 staff members and 5th ave looked very different than it does today. I was here when we changed our name to Brooklyn Arts Exchange (now BAX) to represent our commitment and service to the whole borough and beyond, and I was here when we expanded from one to two floors in this building to accommodate the ever expanding demand for our services. I’ve also been here through two maternity leaves and have seen my children, now middle schoolers, and my family become as deep a part of this community as I am.  

And now here we are here in this new moment.  While I represent a certain grounding of the institution from my deep history, I'm beyond excited to see what the future holds for BAX in the coming years and decades and how we will stretch and evolve and center new voices.

And I’m deeply honored to get the privilege to work alongside the incredible and visionary Paloma McGregor, as BAX's new artistic director.

PM: Thank you Vanessa. I’m excited to be developing this new leadership strategy with you, shepherding BAX into its future as well as pushing the field in ways only BAX can. And I’m excited about this, my first big public event as BAX’s AD - just a month in. This role is new, but I’m not new to BAX, or the neighborhood we call home. 15 years ago, I moved into an apartment on 5th ave between president and carroll, where I paid $450 a month for a room only as big as my double bed with no natural light. I was in the opening wait staff at Stone Park Cafe, still thriving less than a dozen blocks away. I went on to dance for six year with Urban Bush Women, whose home base is just a neighborhood away in Fort Greene. I returned to this neighborhood in 2014 as an artist in residence; in my two years as an AIR, I established the Dancing While Black Fellowship for emerging Black dance makers; created an epic solo work that spanned two floors, a stairwell and the rooftop; and I had a baby, Olamina. So, I am a testament to BAX’s commitment to the whole artist.

Artistic Director Paloma McGregor

VA: We are already in a short time feeling a deep synchronicity and together we will build upon BAX's strong mission and values of centering artists voices of all ages especially those that have been historically oppressed or marginalized.  These values are highly represented tonight by all of the awardees so it feels a very fitting to kick off this leadership transition tonight publicly.  

Throughout all the changes that BAX has endured, what hasn't changed is BAX's steadfast commitment to serving the whole artist; to being an intergenerational space that is inclusive and where children and professional artists create art under one roof;  where people truly feel at home and are radically welcomed. It's incredible to think of the many generations of students and artists that have worked in this building; that BAX is old enough now to see students come back as parents and artists and to once again become a home for them. What has kept me interested in BAX is its constant self reflection and deepening of the work of being a truly inclusive space.  In the past decade BAX‘s explicit work around anti racism and anti-oppression has been particularly bold and important  and it is deeply gratifying to come to work every day to live out your values and grow myself along with the organization.

PM: It’s not lost on me, as I take this role, that I am carrying a lot of people’s hopes with me...both folks who have called BAX home, and folks who aspire to do so. I’m the first person of color in an executive position at BAX, and the only POC on the core leadership team. So while BAX, under Marya’s leadership, has led the way in the field, there is of course work to do.

We are Marya’s successors, but I am not here to do Marya’s work. I am here to do mine. For more than a decade, my work has been to center the voices of Black artists and communities. I’ve done this as an artist and an organizer - both creative practices I’ve cultivated over a lifetime. That’s my charge here at BAX, to continue the work I’ve been doing, leading the field by creating spaces that center the visions of folks whose histories, bodies, labor and hopes have historically been marginalized. It’s a foundation of BAX’s mission. And it’s the foundation of my practice.

VA: While Paloma and I stand up here tonight as the faces of the co-leadership of BAX, I want to acknowledge that we are a staff of deep collaboration and BAX and its values and mission is superbly sheparded and embodied by some pretty remarkable individuals. Namely I want to give a big shout out to our senior leadership team, Lucia Scheckner our Education Director, Fernando Maneca our Marketing Director, and Sara Roer our Operations Manager and Events Director. I also want to acknowledge our dedicated Board of Directors who stepped up in all kinds of remarkable ways this past year and thank them for their deep commitment and support of BAX. BAX is comprised of so many individuals including support and management staff, our gifted teaching artists, resident artists, students and families all who care deeply and live out their values here at BAX everyday.

Lucia Sheckner, Education Director, and Vanessa Adato, Executive Director

Very specifically an extra big shout out to Sara Roer, tonight's Awards producer, Emma Rivera, our Technical Director and the amazing crew of volunteers tonight for keeping the drinks flowing and creating a wonderful evening.

To my BAX Family & Community,

First I want to thank all of you who conceived, planned ,executed and participated in my So Long Salon. It was an amazing experience to be in your presence, hear your words, laugh (a lot!), see your children, share my family with yours!! THANK YOU!

I would also like to take a minute and share my thoughts about our recent AIR OPEN STUDIOS. In the words of 2018-19 AIR Nia Witherspoon, “It is such a special thing to be in this community of artists and seekers. It feels we are in a giant (but non-industrial) kitchen of healers, making making making!”

AIR’s Aya Ogawa, Ita Segev, luciana achugar and Witherspoon shared their work and their practice in an incredibly nourishing day that as Ita put it, “pressed my reset button and reminded me why I love doing what I do, and being in community with people who do this work.”

I couldn’t have said it better.

Marya 

Dear Friends,

Last weekend I had a first at BAX! My three year old granddaughter and I participated in a Creative Movement class at BAX. Like any parent/caregiver I was relieved and thrilled that she wanted to be there and was engaged the whole time. The extra added benefit was I got to see Rachel Freeburg teach a beautiful, thoughtful, creative class! I taught 3 and 4 year olds for many years and have a warm spot in my heart for this Creative Movement level. It was such a blessing to see it from this different lens.

This is part of why I know BAX is such a special place and will be so for years to come!!!

Hope I see you all at the SO LONG SALON!!!!

Greetings everyone!

I have begun a season of “lasts”. Last fall faculty meeting, last fall open house, last September AIR meeting; you get the idea. As we move towards this season and my retirement at the end of 2018 I am no less passionate or enthusiastic about the people, programs, and core values that make up BAX and I hope to spend time with you all over the next few months. Stop in and stay posted for opportunities to reflect, plan and celebrate!!!!

Dear Friends,

We are winding up an extraordinarily busy summer and most of us will take a break in the last two weeks of August. I want to take a moment and acknowledge the BAX staff, the summer staff including School Breaks Director Andrew Jannetti and all the summer space grantees who have been creating work here over the past 2 1/2 months. I also want to acknowledge the search committee on our Board of Directors who has been working above and beyond to identify a new Executive Artistic Director.

Whew we made it!!! See ya in September.

In the last weeks of her internship at BAX, Community Outreach Intern Sophie Tibiletti reflects on her time working within the Education Department. Tibiletti has been working closely with Education staff and throughout our community of partner schools, contributing teaching assistance, administrative work, documentation, and countless other things, not to mention a fresh, enthusiastic perspective on the work that is done at BAX and beyond its walls.

When Tibiletti started 6 months ago, she hit the ground running by playing an integral role in BAX’s annual YouthWorks Festival. YouthWorks is a free, 6-week program offering young artists the opportunity to conceptualize, create, develop and produce their own works. Under the wing of Donna Costello, long-time teacher at BAX and YouthWorks Director, Tibiletti worked diligently to organize resources for each group of young artists, and she moderated YouthWorks coaching sessions to ensure that everyone got the most out of their creative process and that works were developed in a supportive, nurturing environment. Working so closely with Costello, Tibiletti witnessed a seasoned creative director and her exemplary leadership at work.  “[This was] definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve had with youth education. I’ve never really gotten to experience children making their own work; it was really rewarding work being able to witness their process. To see them get to choose their lighting, their costumes, what they wanted to present…I realized this is the kind of thing I want to be a part of,” Tibiletti remarks.

Unique to her time working on the Festival, Tibiletti was able to meet and learn from two previous Community Outreach Interns who coached for YouthWorks this year: Rachel Freeburg and Kelindah Schuster. “I’ve met both of them, they’ve both worked with YouthWorks as coaches, they are both faculty at BAX,” she muses. They served as a personal and valuable resource for her, offering advice and insight into the work she’s done this season. “I hope that I meet whoever is in this position next year.”

As the Festival came to a close, Tibiletti began her work with partner schools. Once a month on Saturdays, she traveled to PS. 172 with BAX teacher Kate Bell, to assist with Bell’s Family Arts & Engagement Program at the school. Still ongoing, this program invites parents, siblings and other family members to the school to celebrate and recognize each family’s cultural history. Serving a range of kids from ages 4-12, Tibiletti recalls the challenges and rewards she’s witnessed: “Kate is awesome at reading the room and and altering what she has planned to fit the needs of who is there. She approaches the room strategically and finds ways to establish a common ground and dynamic roles for each student.” Once her internship at BAX is over, Tibiletti plans to continue working with Bell through to the end of the program; “I’m trying to learn from the teachers at BAX, because I’m trying to be a teacher myself someday.”

Tibiletti also traveled to PS. 24 in Sunset Park and PS. 154 to provide documentation of BAX’s teaching artists in residence at work. Tibiletti observed BAX teacher Maira Duarte in the classroom, which provided a lot of insight and inspiration to her own path as an aspiring teacher in public schools. “I had never seen a dance teacher in a school before…there are things I didn’t know about it,” she says, reflecting on the opportunity to be around schools where children have access to dance and performing arts. “Something I want to be a part of is making sure dance is accessible to young people.” Tibiletti also jumped in on some of Freeburg’s Saturday classes. She embraced the Education Department and took ownership of her resources to learn countless different approaches, teaching styles and creative strategies.

The relationships Tibiletti has forged during her time as Community Outreach Intern will continue to grow. Having moved here after graduating from University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a BFA in Dance, this was the one thing she was sure of in her post-grad summer. A first step in the network of New York City arts and education, she will move forward in pursuing her professional dance career in the city and work to find more opportunities in education.