Boombox: Speakers Wanted

 I am looking for artists and other interesting people to participate in a series of conversations on Governors Island this summer as part of ArtCrawl Harlem’s Boombox exhibition. Is that you?

Boombox: A four part, multi-disciplinary conversation about identity through the lens of Hip Hop culture.

Born in the early 1970s in the predominantly African American, Latin and Caribbean culture of the South Bronx, Hip Hop has become one of the most successful musical genres of all time, expanding internationally into the worlds of dance, fashion and art. Now firmly embedded in the mainstream, Hip Hop is celebrating its 50th year. In honor of its global influence, the Boombox Salon Series will bring together diverse panels of culture producers to examine how the enduring spirit of Hip Hop has influenced generations across the globe and shaped our discussions about identity and authenticity. 

Salon Topics:

Growing Up Hip Hop – How has Hip Hop impacted the people who grew up with it, as well as subsequent generations? How has Hip Hop been a tool of education and social change? 

Celebrating Black Joy – How has Hip Hop functioned as a vehicle for Black joy and excellence? What is the role of appropriation and commodification in the continuing quest for authenticity?

Unpacking Interracial Identity – How have people from outside the original Hip Hop community been influenced by the experiences and values outlined in the music? What is the role of the normalization of interracial relationships and identities in the commercial success of Hip Hop? What is the connection between Hip Hop culture and the erosion of segregation in society?

Black Exceptionalism – How has Hip Hop culture been conflated with Black culture? What notions of Black identity have arisen from inside Hip Hop and as compared to Hip Hop? Are Black people who don’t fit into the rapper stereotype seen as “exceptions?” What values and characteristics has hip hop championed, and have they been set up in opposition to values that are perceived as being “white?”

Boombox Second Sundays:

  • May 14, 2023 
  • June 11, 2023
  • September 10, 2023
  • October 8, 2023

Please save these dates and let me know if you would like to join the conversation with a diverse group of creatives. You never know what will arise out of your participation in the conversation…

Free Your Mind: Artist Talk 10/15/22

Please join me for my artist talk this Saturday, October 15 from 1:00-2:00pm on Governors Island at to learn more about my social justice public art project Free Your Mind.

Location: Art Crawl Harlem House; 406b Colonels Row, Governors Island, NYC

Free Your Mind is a public textile art project aiming to collect, exhibit, embed and release personal narratives about Microaggressions in a multi-sensory installation facilitated by artist Theda Sandiford.

Participants are invited to write a story about a microaggression they have experienced onto a ribbon and tie this ribbon onto a net to release this story from their personal narrative. This is a story ribbon.

The installation evolves with each new story ribbon, keeping a public record of disempowering interactions, that can be exposed and talked about. Participants have the feeling of being seen and acknowledged while interacting with the work.

In 2021 Free Your Mind toured, collecting story ribbons in Bayonne NJ, Jersey City NJ, Sunsets @ The Standard, Miami Art Week. The installation is currently at Governors Island May through October 2022 and made stops in Indianapolis for Butter Fair. Free Your Mind is scheduled to travel to Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Newark and Michigan next year in 2023. ​​

October Exhibitions

Sensing Woman

Dates September 27- October 1

Location: C24 Gallery, 560 W 24th St, New York, NY 

Tickets are available for purchase at https://sensingwoman.org/

VIP Opening Sept 27th @ 6:30pm with Eve Ensler, the playwright of the Vagina Monologues.

My Artist Talk is Thursday, September 29th 10:30am

The REBEL Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: September 29 – October 28 

Opening Reception September 29  6pm-9pm

Location: The Untitled Space 45 Lispenard St, New York, NY

Emotional Baggage Cart Installation JCAST 2022

Friday, September 30, 5:00-9:00pm

Location: Art 150, window of studio #231. 150 Bay Street. Enter at Provost and First Street and ride the elevator to the 2nd floor. Studio # 231

Clutch My Pearls @ JCAST 2022

Saturday, October 1, 1:00-6:00pm

Sunday, October 2, 1:00-6:00pm

Location: Nimbus Arts Center, 329 Warren St, Jersey City, NJ

Bridge Art Gallery presents Garden Renaissance

Exhibition Dates: September 8 – October 2

Location:  Firmament Gallery Space at the Nimbus Arts Center in Downtown Jersey City.

Joyful Resistance (solo show)

Exhibition Dates: September 8 – October 7

Location: Ivy Brown Gallery; 675 Hudson St, New York, NY

Community Art Making: Wednesday, September 28, 3:00-6:00pm

Closing Reception: Friday, October 7, 3:00-5:00pm

Newark Arts Festival

NAF will celebrate “Artful Healing,” this Fall in New Jersey’s largest city. NAF will showcase Newark’s dynamic and diverse arts and culture sector from Thursday, October 6 through Sunday, October 9, 2022. 

Dates: Thursday, October 6 -Sunday, October 9

Location: Newark Museum of Art, 33 Washington Street, Newark, NJ,

Inside And Out

Dates: October 8- December 16

Opening Reception, Saturday, October 2022, 5:30-7:30pm

Location: The Gallery at Hillside Square, 8 Hillside Avenue, Montclair NJ

Free Your Mind Artist Talk @ Art Crawl Harlem/ Governors Island

Artist Talk, Saturday October 15, 1:00pm  

The installation runs through the end of October 2022

Location: Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row

Wonderland

Exhibition Dates: September 15 – October 20, 2022

Location: Trolley Barn Gallery; 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

2022 New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence.

Exhibition On View: June 18, 2022 – April 30, 2023

Museum Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9am to 4:45pm; Closed Mondays & all State Holidays

Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ

Sculpture Walk Springfield 2022-2023

Exhibition Dates: Now through May 21, 2023

Location: 411 N. Sherman Parkway, Springfield MO

Free Your Mind: Live Demo This Weekend

Live Art Demos: August 6 and August 20 from 11a – 3pm.

Location: Governors Island, ArtCrawl Harlem house, 406b Colonels Row

The installation runs through the end of August 2022

Free Your Mind is a collection of personal narratives. Participants are invited to share a personal experience with implicit bias to release this story from their personal narrative. Later, artist Theda Sandiford will weave these stories into a protective blanket.

Share your Story here

I’m on Governors Island Every Saturday

Free Your Mind Public Art Installation @ Art Crawl Harlem

Live Art Demos on July 23, July 30, August 6 and August 13 from 11a – 3pm.

Location: Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row

The installation is on display through the end of August 2022.

Come hang out and play with me while I live weave a new emotional baggage cart. Feel free to bring any recycled fibers or textiles to weave onto the cart. No experience necessary.

Free Your Mind from Microaggressions

“Free Your Mind” is a cascade of story ribbons tied to fishing nets draped upon the wall like a blanket. Visitors are invited to share written statements about experienced microaggression on a “story” ribbon which I will weave into the “Free Your Mind” blanket. Infusing the essence and yarn of each participant into the social fabric of a protective blanket.

Free Your Mind Public Art Installation

Exhibition Dates: May 7, – August 27, 2022. On view for the public Thursday  through Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00PM.

Location: ArtCrawl Harlem @ Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row

Theda In Residence: June 11, June 25, July 16, July 23, July 30, August 6, August 20 from 11a – 2pm.

June Exhibitions

Chutes and Ladders Installation

JC Friday June 3, 6:00-9:00pm

Location: Art 150, window of studio #231. 150 Bay Street.

Enter at Provost and First Street and ride the elevator to the 2nd floor. Studio # 231

Free Your Mind: Public Art Installation @ Art Crawl Harlem/ Governors Island

Exhibition Dates: through August 2022

Live Art: June 11, June 25, July 2, July 16 from 11a – 2pm.

Location: Governors Island, Art Crawl Harlem 406b Colonels Row

2022 New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence exhibition.

Exhibition Preview Reception: Thursday, June 23, 2022 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Exhibition On View: June 18, 2022 – April 30, 2023

Museum Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9am to 4:45pm; Closed Mondays & all State Holidays

Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ

Tell Me More About Yourself (Self-Portraits and other Autobiographical Endeavors)

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 25, 2022 from 6:00-9:00pm

Exhibition Dates: June 25, 2022 – August 5, 2022

Location: Gallery Aferro, 73 Market St, Newark, NJ

Public Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12:00-6:00pm

Sculpture Walk Springfield 2022-2023

Exhibition Dates: Now through May 21, 2023

Location: 411 N. Sherman Parkway, Springfield MO

Closing this Month

Theda Sandiford’s: Joyful Resistance closes June 4, 2022 atThe Center for Contemporary Art; 2020 Burnt Mills Rd, Bedminster, NJ.

Future Perfect/Imperfect: The Next Century closes June 9 at Silvermine Gallery: 1037 Silvermine Road, New Canaan, CT.  Gallery Hours: Tuesday- Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm