Virtual Griot Season 2 – 651 ARTS: The Past and Future of Culture Architects

651 ARTS is a legacy organization founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1988 with the sole purpose of amplifying, celebrating and uplifting the contemporary performing arts of the African Diaspora.

But how well do you know them?

As with many cultural institutions of color, the story and mission of 651 ARTS has often gone either undocumented or without a platform reflective of their true impact. This truth reveals an important lesson of history, memory, and erasure. Like so many of our Black stories and family histories, the details—the recipes—leave with the elders if we do not take the time and care to remember and reclaim them.

VIRTUAL GRIOT is an original digital docuseries featuring creatives in the role of Griots as they relay the stories responsible for keeping history, tradition, and culture alive. The series’ second season, 651 ARTS: The Past and Future of Culture Architects, commemorates the organization’s origin story, as told by the powerful Black women who spearheaded it.

Follow the story of this remarkable institution as they prepare to embark on their greatest adventure into a new and exciting but unknown space, exploring why access to history and context is an institutional, personal, and spiritual requirement.

As we step forth into a seemingly blank canvas, our stories serve as the writing on the walls. A reminder that the canvas is not blank at all, but rich with the memory, wisdom and well wishes of those who came before.

Featuring Mikki Shepard, Maurine Knighton, Shay Wafer and Toya A. Lillard, this second season of Virtual Griot is an excavation of the organization’s rich history and existing foundation. A nod to the Sankofic practice of looking backward to inform how we move forward, 651 ARTS: The Past and Future of Culture Architects serves as both a collective memory, and as a blueprint for the future.

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Episode 4: Pioneering the Future

What does the future look like? 651 ARTS current Executive Director, Toya A. Lillard talks to us about the full circle moment that finds her leading an institution in which her predecessors are also her mentors.

Embracing the Sankofic principles of looking to the past to build the future, Lillard considers what it means to be a living archive for our community, and to uphold legacy whilst forging new ground, in a new building and a new Brooklyn.

Episode 3: Investing in Culture

The obstacles faced by 651 ARTS were not unique or unknown to any cultural institutions of color. Specifically, the pursuit of financial support from entities who were more inclined to back predominantly white institutions, looking to cultivate Black audiences. Overcoming systemic barriers by means of partnership, relationship and community is a timeless strategy for folks of color, and one that allowed 651 ARTS to continue its mission of promoting black artistry and cultural exchange.

Episode 2: Get with the Program

Visionary: noun

  1. a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like.

Get with the Program explores the cultural and programmatic contributions made by 651 ARTS both institutionally, as well as the distinct individual contributions made by each leader. Through groundbreaking programs in theater, dance, music, and festivals the landscape of the performing arts was redefined, whilst paving the way for the remarkable programs that have since emerged from 651 ARTS.

Nothing short of visionary.

Episode 1: Foundations

651 ARTS, a 35-year-old legacy organization in Brooklyn, NY is a place to create and experience art that is led by centers and celebrates Black voices.

But how do you build a legacy organization?

Foundations introduces 651 ARTS and its co-founder Mikki Shepherd as she walks us through the organization’s origins, from conception to realization. Shay Wafer and Maurine Knighton (who also led the acclaimed institution) discuss the history, influence, and very necessary presence of organizations like 651 ARTS in Brooklyn, then and now.