Upcoming events.
THE ART OF REMEMBRANCE: Días de los Muertos Opening Ceremony
Join us in blessing our ofrenda with one another in community. The evening will begin with altar meditations curated by spiritual curator, coach, and nomad Donney, and a blessing of the altar led by Rasu Jilani, Priest of Ifa Yamoja. Janis Russel, Director of the Lafayette Inspirational Ensemble, will lead us in song, and the evening will conclude with closing remarks by Hi-ARTS Executive Director, Aaron L. McKinney.
THE ART OF REMEMBRANCE: Días de los Muertos Altar Activations
In between activities, visitors are invited to mingle, meditate, pray, journal, tend to the altar, and/or participate in shrine making and marigold folding.
THE ART OF REMEMBRANCE: A Celebration of Movement & Memory with Tanya Birl-Torres & The Zora Project
Join us on November 5 at 5pm at Hi-ARTS for the Closing Ceremony of The Art of Remembrance: Días de los Muertos.
As the holiday comes to a close, join us for a casual yet intimate closing and celebration of a vibrant Días de los Muertos. Fret not — the altar will still be open for visits and another round of thematic programming will follow in Spring 2027.
THE ART OF REMEMBRANCE: Closing Ceremony & Mixer
Join us on November 5 at 5pm at Hi-ARTS for the Closing Ceremony of The Art of Remembrance: Días de los Muertos.
As the holiday comes to a close, join us for a casual yet intimate closing and celebration of a vibrant Días de los Muertos. Fret not — the altar will still be open for visits and another round of thematic programming will follow in Spring 2027.
ARTIST LAB | Pitch Prep: Artist Bio & Statement
Residency Application season is around the corner! Join us for Pitch Prep with Robyn Ayers, a hands-on workshop for artists at any stage of their careers. In this first session, we’ll dig into the writing that helps you introduce yourself, advocate for your work, and bring your ideas to the page.
This is a two-part series! We encourage participants to sign up for both sessions, which build on one another and take your materials from first draft to submission-ready.
Tickets: $5-20 | Pay what you can
ARTIST LAB | Pitch Prep: Project Proposals
Ready to keep building? Join us for Pitch Prep with Robyn Ayers, the second session of our two-part workshop, where we’ll move from introducing your work to developing the materials that help bring your projects into focus.
In this session, we’ll dig into the writing that helps you articulate your project, communicate your creative vision, and map out your developmental process.
Tickets: $5-20 | Pay what you can
BUFFALO'ED: A Staged Reading and Dialogue on Afro-Asian Histories
Friday, October 9, 6:30pm
Join us for a staged reading of playwright Jeannie Barroga's BUFFALO'ED directed by Claro de los Reyes. The reading will be followed by a facilitated conversation by historian Michael Salgarolo and scholar Cynthia Marasigan. This event is presented in partnership with Hi-ARTS, and is a featured program within Baryo Brooklyn: a public programs series on Filipino History in Brooklyn
Buffalo Soldiers and the Philippines' is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.
Tickets: $0-$17.85
OPEN CALL Application Deadline
OPEN CALL: Solo & Duo Edition
Hi-ARTS is now accepting applications for 2026-27 CRITICAL BREAKS and SKY LAB Artist Residencies. This cycle, we are on the lookout for Solo & Duo projects seeking their next big break.
Placing an emphasis on process and creative exploration, we take pride in providing our artists with financial support, time and space, and public programming opportunities. We do this through two developmental residencies: CRITICAL BREAKS and SKY LAB.
CRITICAL BREAKS is a residency program for artists who are in a pivotal phase of developing new work, while SKY LAB supports artists who center community at the root of creative development, research, and process.
ARTIST LAB | In Practice with Shamel Pitts
Hi-ARTS and Tribe present ARTIST LAB | In Practice, a movement workshop with award-winning choreographer Shamel Pitts.
Through a 6 Step Program of Artistic Practice | Creation Process, Pitts will explore the following questions:
How do these 6 steps inform the rehearsal & artistic process?
How might what is learned as an artist inform you as an administrator?
How might your Artistic Practice/Artistic Life inform your administration working style/flow within an arts organization?
Attendees should bring pen & paper, and arrive in comfortable clothing, ready to dance as he guides them into movement.
Pitts will also demonstrate how these 6 steps show up inside of the rehearsal process of Touch of RED with dance partner Channce Williams.
Touch of RED: RECOLLECTION
Hi-ARTS and TRIBE are pleased to invite you to the film screening of the dance documentary Touch of RED: RECOLLECTION.
Touch of RED: RECOLLECTION is an ethereal dance documentary following MacArthur fellow Shamel Pitts, as he embarks on a storied journey of discovery through multiple art residencies with members of his Brooklyn-based arts collective TRIBE. The documentary directed by Taylor Antisdel weaves together the threads of memory and experience as we witness Shamel creating his live work, Touch of RED.
Join us for the first screening of this documentary in the heart of our hometown, Brooklyn.
Complete your experience by joining our workshop with Shamel Pitts at Hi-ARTS. More details here.
Free with RSVP
WORK IN PROCESS: SWEETFISH!
SWEETFISH! is a play with music that deals with themes of race, colour, gender, and sexuality, but really about the silent power that exists behind relationships — all with a strong dose of camp and drag.
Tickets: $5-20 | Pay what you can
WORK IN PROCESS: America is in the Heart
America is in the Heart is an adaptation of what is considered to be the first novel, of the same name, that depicts the Filipino-American experience, written by Carlos Bulosan and published in 1946. Adapted for performance, America is in the Heart will serve as a means of building solidarity across class, age and race; shedding light on how forgotten ancestors contributed to and built the labor movement in 1930s California while asking, “how can we follow in their footsteps?”
Tickets: $5-20 | Pay what you can
WORK IN PROCESS: GUTTAH PART II
Join us on March 26 for Maleek Rae’s GUTTAH PART II: ecdysis. Developed through CRITICAL BREAKS, GUTTAH PART II: ecdysis, the second installment of the trilogy series set in Detroit that reframes life in the hood as one of royalty, spirit, and ceremony. The work employs music and movement to explore Black bloodlines, family, transness, and transformation. During their Hi-ARTS residency, Maleek will focus on deepening music as a foundational ceremonial practice.
Tickets: $5-20 | Pay what you can
WORK IN PROCESS: Collective Thread
For the last 4-weeks, MODArts Dance Collective has been facilitating their Move to Change Residency with support from Hi-ARTS. Join them on November 1 for an intimate showing will highlight each artist's creative process in a work-in-progress solo, culminating the tenure of a four Saturday residency.
Staged Reading "Twelve Angry Black Women" by Andrea Ambam
Suspicious, indeed. In TWELVE ANGRY BLACK WOMEN, a new experimental & speculative play by Andrea Ambam, the fate of a peculiar and unprecedented case in American history rests in the hands of an all-Black, all-Femme jury.
Set within a USA stamped as a backsliding democracy, TWELVE ANGRY BLACK WOMEN is a theatrical truthtelling experience where satire, ritual, and reenactment collide to stress-test American democracy and contemplate the consequences this country would face if Black women voted not with our resilience, but our righteous rage.
This staged reading is directed and choreographed by Obie Award-winner nicHi douglas, with music composition by Obie Award-winner S T A R R busby.
Staged Reading "Twelve Angry Black Women" by Andrea Ambam
Suspicious, indeed. In TWELVE ANGRY BLACK WOMEN, a new experimental & speculative play by Andrea Ambam, the fate of a peculiar and unprecedented case in American history rests in the hands of an all-Black, all-Femme jury.
Set within a USA stamped as a backsliding democracy, TWELVE ANGRY BLACK WOMEN is a theatrical truthtelling experience where satire, ritual, and reenactment collide to stress-test American democracy and contemplate the consequences this country would face if Black women voted not with our resilience, but our righteous rage.
This staged reading is directed and choreographed by Obie Award-winner nicHi douglas, with music composition by Obie Award-winner S T A R R busby.
Journal 2 Journey Application Deadline
Journal 2 Journey (J2J) is a pre-professional, creative youth development program designed to expose youth to the world of devised theater with a focus on Youth Leadership Development, Tiered Mentorship, Artistic Rigor, and Social Justice.
J2J is designed to inspire young artists to imagine the possibilities of writing that expand beyond traditional forms, styles, and genres while providing a platform that celebrates their voices. Previous participants have gone on to pursue successful careers as stage actors, playwrights, and designers.