Friday, Aug 25th – Sunday, Aug 27th
Our community, country, and the world need artists’ contributions to heal and build something new.
SeaCHANGE conference explores how we make that vision real. Join Theater for the People, Green Acre, and Kinship on August 25th, 26th & 27th. We’re bringing together people interested in the arts, healing and social change.
Unlike a traditional conference, this one has lots of time for meaningful conversations with the other participants; art, movement and other creative expressions; and time to suggest your own topics for conversation. Each day explores one question:
- What would you like to see change?
- How can the arts & the creative process be a way to experience & grow empathy?
- How can we use the arts to build the community we dream of?
Plus, there’ll be a bonfire, mixer, dancing, and an open mic night.
This is one you don’t want to miss. You’ll leave inspired, recharged, and more connected. Together, we’ll grow our ability to support each other and our communities in responding in creative ways to challenges.
This conference is intended for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and community members of all cultural backgrounds who are actively engaged in the arts, community building, social justice, inclusion, spirituality, and/or leadership work with children, youth, or adults. If you are committed to transformational conversations and change-making work, this space is for you!
Hosts & Guides
Hosted by Victoria Carrington, Najee Brown, Beth Tener and Robert Sapiro, our artistic guides will inspire us with stellar workshops and stimulating engagement: Jeff Jean-Philippe (Dance & Movement), Diannely Antigua (Creative Writing & Poetry), Nailah Randell-Bellinger (Choreographer/Educator), Duaa Zahra, Adria Katz and Titi de Baccarat (Visual Artists), Toni Singleton (Nurse/Educator/Dancer), Elae Weekes and Russ Grazier (Performing Artists), and Catherine Cote (Human Connection/Communication).
Last Year’s Highlights
Hi, this is Najee Brown and I’m just so excited about this weekend we had three Incredible days at Green Acre Bahá’í Center of Learning doing the SeaCHANGE conference.
I just can’t begin to say how excited and how proud and like over the moon I am of what I experienced this weekend—people just opening up and being vulnerable and showing their humanity like never before, simply because they felt like they were in a safe space.
Testimonials
“Honestly I came here just wanting to create art, just being open-minded, not really knowing what to expect, and I came out with so much more than I could have ever hoped for. So that was something that was really beautiful about this experience and I just hope to do this again someday.”
“If I could describe this weekend in one word it would be ‘replenished,’ ‘potential,’ ‘invigorating,’ ’transformational’.”
“There were so many elements of how we were able to weave the creativity and the gifts of the artists, and the musicians, and the dancers here, and then seeing how the young and the old and people from so many identities and backgrounds came together. It’s so rare to be in that space, so it really exceeded my expectations.”
“One of the greatest parts of this gift, the little bit that I’ve been able to be here, was the diversity of the people, of different ages and different backgrounds, but the warmth—the warmth that was felt here the minute and I walked in the door, and the motivation behind the themes to help one another.”
“The only thing I can do is just sing, but art is more than that—you know, just singing—it’s everything.”
“I saw the dance instructors that were going to be leading workshops and I was really looking forward to, as a disabled person, some of the benefits and knowledge those people would bring to me through SeaCHANGE conference and I got that.”
“What feeds me is the heart and the spirit and even the body, and this weekend was this gorgeous collaboration between all of those elements: not just the mind, but the heart, and the spirit, and the body—and that is medicine.”
“I learned that I don’t have to be out here alone anymore, and I don’t have to hide who I am anymore.”
“Seeing folks interact with some of the artwork that was on the wall, particularly a piece called ‘Unbound’ by Arya Badiyan, which was about hair, and it was about hair filling the space of this picture—and it’s a beautiful, beautiful painting—but I got to see four different women respond to that in such a deep and visceral way. It obviously meant so much more than just the hair—it was about freedom.”
