Hallo – I am Marsha Reid, Executive Director of Kindred Arts. I am an interdisciplinary arts presenter and producer, cultural organiser and arts activist based in Harlem, New York. My nonprofit work and collaborative projects address cultural equity, public space, community and Communitas.
Currently, I am curating public programs for Monumental Tour, a public art exhibit traveling across the United States, empowering social change through the arts. My previous curatorial and production credits include artistic planning for The Metropolitan Museum of Art; as well as Lincoln Center outdoor festivals, programming and presenting concerts, lectures, festivals and large-scale performance.

It’s a mixed bag of aspiration and invitation! Kindred Arts conceives and produces interventions in public spaces that speak to community and that celebrate our unique cultural traditions. We are guided by a passionate belief in the power of art and community to create inspiring personal experiences and foster social progress. For example, while I dreamed about activating the city of Oakland, the birthplace of the Black Panthers, and found a way to make that happen, I also responded to invitations from organisations in Chicago, who were willing to work with me to make it happen.

Each work has a different origin and arrival story. Yes, artists are engaged individually.

Deindustrialisation in America is an American issue, which in turn makes it an African American issue. This work speaks to the effects of deindustrialisation on the African American Middle Class. My disclaimer: of course, art is subjective and subjectivity is based on personal opinions and feelings rather than on agreed upon facts.

I think that exclusion is a bigger problem than lack of accessibility. Much of my work is negotiating the right to be in public space. To hold space is a powerful thing, which makes space inherently political, and as such it is tied up with a host of agencies – who all have to be navigated, in order for us to exhibit, and when I say us – I am speaking about our culture, as well as the objects.
As municipalities and cultural institutions re-imagine community engagement in a post-uprising and post-Covid society, there exists an opportunity to roll back some of those exclusions and to fundamentally rethink how we program outdoor public space to reflect and honor all human identities and experiences.

During his lifetime, despite his many significant contributions, he remained virtually unknown outside Philadelphia's architectural community until the 1970s and 1980s. We now appreciate Abele as one of the early twentieth century’s most adept designers of revival buildings, who rejuvenated many long-dormant styles as vital, modern forms of architectural expression.

We think a good way to start is by acknowledging it. Many of the histories that we cover and talk about aren't pleasant, and we––society–– have a way of turning away from stories that don’t offer some form of escapism.
We must repeat these stories until the atrocities are scorched into our consciousness and we do something about them. It’s the only way to affect any significant change.

If you ask, I believe they’d respond that they are meeting their inclusion quotas. And we certainly see some really fantastic world programming, albeit intermittently. Of course, more can be done, but change comes from the top down. Those two particular arts institutions can only be as liberal as their funders and supporters will allow.

Same answer as before! Imagine having a history so genocidally terrible that you are ashamed to teach it in schools? We have to keep telling these stories until the atrocities are scorched into our consciousness and they are never repeated or omitted.

The public. As hard as white male patriarchy struggles to hold on, we ultimately hold the power to change the elected and the gate keepers.

Ah Politics. My opinion doesn’t matter here. It seems like a tough job though!

We are currently working on 2022 and growing our cast of featured works. We look forward to meeting and building community in as many states as will have us!