From The Street to Your Screen

We’re truly living in an unprecedented moment in which all of our lives- and plans- have radically shifted. On March 13th, CALL made the decision to transition all of our staff to remote working. Over the past two weeks, we have been strategizing how to sustain and advance our programs, and support our partners: the artists, scientists, and community leaders who are developing solutions to urgent environmental issues of climate, equity,  and  health. 

Spring is one of the busiest seasons at CALL. This year, we had planned two WORKSHOPS, a CALL/Conversation, six CALL/WALKS, a launch event for a new self-guided WALK, and a community-engaged artist project. The advice we’ve received is to suspend all public programming up through June. Rather than postpone or cancel all of these events, we are working to bring you digital programs and materials to engage with, from virtual walks to online conversations. The best way to engage with our virtual spring programming is to follow us now on social media; we’ll be posting regular updates and sharing new content on a weekly basis. To be invited to any special online programming, such as live talks, be sure to sign up for our newsletter as well.

You can look forward to:

An self-guided audio tour of Nicolás Dumit Estévez and John Butlers 2019 CALL/WALK in Van Cortlandt Park will be released in April.

DIGITAL CALL/WALKS & AUDIO CONTENT

We'll be inviting our collaborators to submit short-form mini walks on IGTV, and working on more extensive, interactive virtual walks through story-mapping tools. We're also releasing our first self-guided audio tour.

ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS, & REFLECTIONS

We'll be conducting interviews with the artists we're working with, and publishing essays that touch topics at the heart of our mission.

ENHANCED ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

We'll be using the social tools at our disposal to solicit feedback, opinions, and ideas for the development of our projects, using the digital landscape as a platform for virtual workshops

City as Living Laboratory has consistently advocated for the transformative power of broad partnerships. None of our work is possible without the insight, creativity, and energy of the partners and collaborators we work with. As our society weathers the storm that is COVID-19, we believe it is the strength and power of collaboration that will see us through to the other side. We recently saw an interesting comment on our present circumstances, saying what we were undergoing was not quite social distancing, but spacial distancing. Our team at CALL is much more than 6 feet apart- at this moment we are spread across state lines- but in some respects, we’re working together more closely than ever before.

In so many ways, throughout our networks, we are seeing the social ties that bind us to be stronger than ever. As we support our keyworkers and community members by staying at home, we dream up new ways to collaborate, communicate, and create. CALL celebrates the unique capacity of artists to generate creative, responsive work that rallies us and transforms the way we respond to our most complex issues. It is so important to us that we continue to deliver thoughtful, creative programming during this challenging time. If you are in a position to do so, you can help us put on digital programs that advance the projects we are developing and support the artists we work with. 

You are an important part of our efforts to make our cities more resilient and we want to thank you for all you are doing to support your family, friends, and communities during this challenging time. We can't do it without you.

Be strong, nurture hope, and stay involved!