2:30 – 4:00 PM
Session E - MAIN GALLERY
The Laundromat Project, supporting artists and communities where they live
Hatuey Ramos-Fermín
(presentation and workshop)
We amplify the creativity that already exists within communities by using arts and culture to build community networks, solve problems, and enhance our sense of ownership in the places where we live, work, and grow. We envision a world in which artists are understood as valuable assets in every community and everyday people know the power of their own creative capacity to transform their lives, their relationships, and their surroundings.
This session introduces participants to the work of the Laundromat Project and includes a hands-on participatory community and neighborhood mapping workshop. This workshop will focus on how to leverage and engage community resources and assets to support creative projects.
Hatuey Ramos-Fermín is an artist, educator, and cultural producer. He is the co-founder of meta local collaborative, an artist collective, and Boogie Down Rides, a bicycling and art project celebrating cycling in the Bronx. He has organized projects at a security guard training school (in tribute to Fashion Moda), community centers, churches, restaurants, laundromats, as well as galleries and museums. He has mentored young adults at Center for Urban Pedagogy and The Bronx Museum of the Arts, where he also served as Curator of Education. Ramos-Fermín has also participated in the Elizabeth Foundation for the Art’s Shift Residency, and Laundromat Project’s Create Change Public Artist Residency. He received his BA from the University of Puerto Rico and his MFA from St. Joost Art and Design Academy. Hatuey is the Director of Programs and Community Engagement at the Laundromat Project. hatueyramosfermin.com
The Laundromat Project believes art, culture, and engaged imaginations can change the way people see their world, open them up to new ideas, and connect them with their neighbors. When artists have the opportunity to build and contribute their unique skills and perspectives to the needs of their neighborhoods, they can be invaluable assets in furthering community wellbeing. When the skills and strategies for igniting creativity are made broadly available to everyday people and purposefully applied as tools for visioning a new and better world, these can be powerful forces for positive, transformative change. We know we have been successful when, over time, our neighbors—artists and everyday people, newcomers and old-timers, individually and collectively—become more involved in the civic and cultural affairs of their communities, feel more deeply connected to the places and people where they live and work, and bring a sense of creativity to community concerns. laundromatproject.org
El Proyecto Lavandería: Apoyando a artistas y comunidades en el lugar donde viven
Hatuey Ramos-Fermín
(presentación y taller)
Ampliamos la creatividad ya existente dentro de las comunidades usando las artes y la cultura para construir redes comunitarias, resolver problemas y aumentar nuestro sentido de propiedad en los lugares donde habitamos, trabajamos y crecemos. Imaginamos un mundo en el cual los artistas son reconocidos como valiosos recursos en cada comunidad y donde la gente conoce el poder de sus propias capacidades creativas para transformar sus vidas, sus relaciones y su entorno.
Esta sesión introduce a los participantes al trabajo del Proyecto Lavandería e incluye una comunidad participativa y un taller de mapeo del barrio. Este taller se enfocará en cómo hacer uso y comprometer los recursos y valores de la comunidad para apoyar proyectos creativos.