Park Avenue Armory is proud to announce the latest program in its Making Space Public Programming Series, Hidden Conversations, presented in partnership with National Black Theatre (NBT), Sunday, June 18, 2023 from 3pm to 8pm. This performance and salon continues Making Space’s programming efforts to center and uplift unheard artistic voices and conversations, in this case the perspective of Black voices and Black artists on important questions in artistic discourse. Held on Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s birthday, this program is geared toward uplifting the work, brilliance, and impact of Teer’s legacy as well as the ways she and many others serve as the hidden architects of culture, helping to empower society and drive innovation, community care, and social impact.

The day opens with a live concert by Harlem Soapbox led by artist and creator Marija Abney and pianist, composer, and bandleader Sean Mason in the Veterans Room. An organization of freelance musicians created during the COVID-19 pandemic, Harlem Soapbox leads audiences on a journey into the music of the 60’s and the Black Arts movement. These eclectic artists come together for a sonic mash-up of some of the songs that helped to power and inspire the social movements of that time.

Two panel discussions follow the opening performance, tackling ideas about the past, present, and future of Black theater in the United States. The first panel, moderated by archivist and filmmaker Steven Fullwood and titled “Letters to the Future,” features the queen of funk Nona Hendryx and NBT CEO Sade Lythcott, discussing the crafting of the AfroFuture and National Black Theatre’s contribution to the canon. Second, a panel titled “June Jordan’s City of the Future” explores poet, playwright and essayist June Jordan’s legacy and impact on architecture as it relates to the lives of Black families and communities in the city of the future; this conversation also places the redevelopment of NBT’s building to serve as a destination for Black culture through theater in this context. Discussing the topics of architecture, cultural and civic renewal through built space, and how a creative practice can help protect the future; this panel features Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, artist and cultural strategist Ebony Noelle Golden and others, and is moderated by Camille Bacon, writer and manager of McArthur Binion’s studio, with a creative offering to start the conversations by poet Mahogany L. Brown.

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