Recess’s Instagram post about opening its doors today. Image of wall vinyl courtesy of Citron Kelly and We Are Canaries. (screenshot via recessart/Instagram)
For many people including myself, today is a day of grief. But it’s also, hopefully, a day to start thinking about the way forward — to process how you feel, to think about your community, to listen to others, and to begin having important conversations. A few cultural institutions and groups are creating spaces for people to do just that. I see it as a vital action — like Hrag, I believe that art and culture have a role to play in confronting the beasts of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and so much else. I believe that artists, writers, and other creators can help with this fight. Here are a few gatherings happening around NYC today and tomorrow. If you know of other events, please leave information about them in the comments; I’ll update this list as I hear about more.
Artists Space
When: Wednesday, November 9, 3pm
Where: 55 Walker Street (Tribeca, Manhattan)
For those who want somewhere to go ASAP, head to Artists Space. This #DecolonizeThisPlace gathering “is meant as a space to share reactions and thoughts, check in about resources we have to share now and in future, and think thru some good uses of our energies or how to conserve them.” Note the guidelines for the event:
-Ask people their pronouns; do not assume!!!
-Prioritize trans femmes of color and nonbinary people of color
-White people: no talking, just listening
-Cis-gender straight people of color- prioritizing queer and trans people is MANDATORY and also a good and fun thing to do!
There will be free food, coffee, and tea. More info here.
Recess
When: Wednesday, November 9, 12–6pm
Where: 41 Grand Street (Soho, Manhattan)
Focusing on the question of care, Recess will be open all day and “offer a space of care, food, drink, and rest. Bring loved ones, children, family, friends. … Please come slow down with us, step back. We need each other.” More info here.
yours ours & mine
When: Wednesday, November 9, 6–8pm
Where: 54 Eldridge Street (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
The gallery is offering a space “for people to gather, discuss, and begin to heal together,” with some beer and pizza on hand. It adds, “Please come by, even if for a little, so we can embrace our community.” More info here.
The Center for Fiction
When: Wednesday, November 9, 7pm
Where: 17 E 47th Street (Midtown East, Manhattan)
The center is hosting “an informal gathering for solidarity, conversation, drinks, readings, and camaraderie,” tonight — “a party against the dark, a stand against the shadow, a gathering for light and sanity.” More info here, and email rosie@centerforfiction.org if you’re planning to attend.
Participant Inc.
When: Wednesday, November 9, 7pm
Where: 107 Norfolk Street (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
The alternative art space is “Calling all strangers, frienemies, lovers, ex’s, dopers, doers, daughters, brothers, sisters, teachers, lawyers, doctors, mothers, fathers. We need to organize ASAP — self organize health, education, housing, navigating legal systems, citizen status, music, artwork …. Let’s trade skills and resources. Lets get through the day. Work. Feed. Walk. Think.” #whatnext. More info here.
Verso Books
When: Wednesday, November 9, 7pm
Where: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010 (Dumbo, Brooklyn)
Publisher Verso Books has organized this “flash panel to address the questions surrounding Donald Trump’s victory.” Participants right now are writer and activist Muna Mire; Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of Jacobin magazine; The Nation writer John Nichols; Ken Chen, executive director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop; and Jamila Hammami, founder and executive director of the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project. More info here.
School of Apocalypse
When: Wednesday, November 9, 7:30pm
Where: Pioneer Works (159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn)
The School of Apocalypse, which has been holding courses and monthly meetings at Pioneer Works since August, is feeling like an especially apt group at the moment. Organizer Catherine Despont writes, “We are reeling at the election results, and imagine you are too. We are asking what this means for our work and lives together. … We will figure this out together.” More info here.
NYU
When: Thursday, November 10, 1–4pm
Where: King Juan Carlos Center Auditorium (53 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, Manhattan)
This “urgent teach-in” will be an attempt by NYU faculty and students “to help make sense of what a Donald Trump presidency means for this country and the world.” Free and open to the public, just bring a picture ID.
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
When: Thursday, November 10, 5:30–9pm
Where: 112 W 27th Street (Flower District, Manhattan)
If you need one more day before you jump into the fray, the AAWW will hold its gathering tomorrow. “We’re calling all writers, readers, activists, intellectuals, agitators, friends, family, friends, and community,” it writes. “We are holding a space for our community to heal together and share some light and love. We are here if you want to grieve, if you want to breathe, or if you want to fight.” There will be pizza. More info here.
Yellow Jackets + BUFU
When: Thursday, November 10, 7–10pm
Where: 65 Fifth Avenue (Union Square, Manhattan)
BUFU — a project dedicated to deconstructing the Black and Asian relationship, whose name stands for “by us, for us” — is teaming up with Yellow Jackets — a queer and intersectio
Queens Museum
When: Friday, November 11–Sunday, November 13
Where: Queens Museum (New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens)
One of the city’s most progressive art museums is holding a three-day “open house for unity.” Admission will be free, and there will be art making for all (kids and adults) as well as resources for “people who may feel vulnerable.” More info here.
Mayday Space
When: Saturday, November 12, 3:30–8pm
Where: Mayday Space (176 St. Nicholas Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn)
This Bushwick community space will host a multipart “post-election gathering of resistance and resilience.” Depending on when you attend, you can take part in cooking, art making, brainstorming, and strategizing. It will be “our first of many open gatherings to process what has just happened,” organizers write, “and to embody the kind of solidarity and community we’re going to need to get through this.” More info here.
Panoply Performance Laboratory
When: Saturday, November 12, 4–6pm
Where: 104 Meserole Street (East Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
This is specifically meant to be a meeting for discussing civil disobedience and direction action. “Planning/scheming/acting/
