Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is proud to announce the 2019 FUTUREMAKERS Symposium, Creative Strategies & Community Placekeeping,Thursday, September 19, 9:30am – 7:00pm at KST’s Alloy Studios and Kelly Strayhorn Theater. This all day event includes a dynamic range of activities centered around KST’s FUTUREMAKERS program. The goal of FUTUREMAKERS is to invest in new talent and foster the ideas of visionaries within our community.

“Everywhere we look we see visionaries – people with ideas for making the world better and the energy and commitment to try.” – janera solomon, Executive Director, Kelly Strayhorn Theater

The Symposium program includes: 

9:30am – 10:00pm,  Registration and Breakfast

10:00am – 10:30am, Imagining A New Future, Reflections on Community Centered Practice 
A presentation from KST Executive Director, janera solomon, reporting on the findings from dialogues considering history, art, and community in East Liberty.

10:30am – 12:00pm, 2019 Fellows Presentations
FUTUREMAKERS, Ben Barson, LoRen Briggs, Kirsten Ervin, Ricardo Solis Moreno, Debra Titus, and Ally Wolf share their projects and participate in public conversations around community-driven visions for the future of East Liberty. See below for more details on the FUTUREMAKERS Fellows.

12:00pm – 1:30pm Lunch and Informal Chats with FUTUREMAKERS

1:30pm – 3:30pm 400 Years of Inequality Workshop
400 Years of Inequality is a diverse coalition of organizations and individuals calling on everyone to prepare observances of the 400th Anniversary of the arrival in 1619 at Jamestown of the first Africans to be sold into bondage. Havanna Fisher and Jacqueline Castañeda, will lead a workshop that asks participants to link arms in radical equality, to unify, account for the past, and assume the rights and responsibilities of the future for all. See below for more details on 400 Years of Inequality and speakers Havanna Fisher and Jacqueline Castañeda.

3:30pm – 4:00pm Coffee Break 

4:00pm – 5:00pm East Liberty Walks
Lead by KST Executive Director, janera solomon and local Pittsburgh artists, these walks will share aspects of East Liberty and its rich history with attendees.

5:00pm – 7:00pm Neighborhood Happy Hour
Featuring 2019 Fellow Ricardo Solis Moreno’s The Upcycled Art Fest, a marketplace of crafts and other goods made from at least 50% recycled materials. Participating artists include Thirphozs htwe, Kit Ward, Jennie Kay Snyder, Anita Arguello, Brad Bianchi, and Christina Roselle.

The FUTUREMAKERS Symposium is presented with support from the Opportunity Fund, The Heinz Endowments, and BNY Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Photos by Beth Barbis