Join Light Work’s Urban Video Project for a series of Community Night pop-up exhibitions and events on the plaza this summer!

Times for all programs are dusk to 11 p.m. unless otherwise stated.

These events are FREE & OPEN to the public.

The Jackie Warren-Moore Monologue & Poetry Festival
Sunday, July 17 
7:00-8:30pm INDOOR program in the Everson’s Hosmer Auditorium**
8:45-10:00pm OUTDOOR projection in the plaza**

PLEASE NOTE:
Due to the high probabilty of rain in the the forecast Sunday night, the performance component of this program is shifting 1 HOUR EARLIER and moving indoors. The outdoor projection program, which is 13 minutes long, will run on a loop from 8:45-10pm on the plaza.

Enjoy performances by young “Word Warrior” artists. The program will include music, dance, and a special video projection of the late author, activist, and columnist Jackie Warren-Moore reading   her passionate poem, “Dear Martin.”

Chairs and blankets are encouraged.

Produced in collaboration with the Everson Museum of Art and Lightwork UVP, sponsored by M&T Bank.

Festival support is provided by the Central New York Community Foundation – Black Equity & Excellence grant, and Tier Three Program Support, a regrant program of Onondaga County with the support of the County Executive and administered by CNY Arts.

Fingerboard Skate Park Orchestra: Amplifying the Sounds of Shredding
July 29 | 8:30—10:00pm

video live stream on the plaza

Designed by a group of skaters in Greensboro, NC, who were asked to envision and create a blueprint for the ideal skate park, the Fingerboard Skate Park Orchestra invites local skateboarders to ride tiny scaled-down replicas of skateboards with their fingers rather than their feet! Performed by Flower Skate Shop followed by Open Community Skate—Live Feed Projected on the Everson Façade in Collaboration with Urban Video Project.

In doing so, “skaters’ will perform live outdoor sound work, spotlighting and centering the expertise of the Syracuse skateboarding community. Find the full roster of event-related programming here.

The Fingerboard Skate Park Orchestra is a nomadic, socially engaged project that brings together local skateboarders to fingerboard and simultaneously performs live outdoor sound work.

WoW! at the Everson
Thursday | August 18 | 8:00–9:30 p.m. 

Devised by Karin Coonrod in 2020, WoW! is the new hybrid event bringing living poets and film together outdoors. A drive-in movie meets poetry slam. In response to the host of performance cancellations in 2020, Coonrod and Compagnia de’ Colombari turned her original production of More or Less I Am into seven short films.

Whitman is the iconic New York poet whose radical poem Song of Myself shouts out with joy the inclusivity of democracy in the Americas. Recorded over three weeks, with over 50 performers from all over the world, the films embody Whitman’s words. In collaboration with institutional partners and living poets across the globe, WoW! activates us as a community in a collective celebration of freedom.

The one-hour event begins at dusk and will be screened on the façade of the Everson. Following each film, a local poet will stand and “talk back to Whitman” in their own words, challenging or quarreling with him, thus weaving together film and live recitation. Local food vendors will be present, and a post-performance convening will encourage conversation amongst the audience, poets, and performers.

This program is made possible through the generous support of Colgate University.

The Stand: Summer Photo Contest 2022
August 21 – 23 | Sunday – Tuesday | 8:00–9:30 p.m. 

Light Work’s Urban Video Project in partnership with The Stand Newspaper, will host a four-day exhibition highlighting images by 2022 Summer Photo Contest participants. Each summer, The Stand Newspaper sponsors its annual Photo Walk, encouraging community members to explore, meet neighbors, and document the city of Syracuse in photos.