-Courtesy of Bryan Buttler Media Relations, LLC
Creative producer and civic organizer Bryan Joseph Lee (Executive Artistic Director) is thrilled to announce the launch of theurbanX.org, a new international arts program that connects Black and Brown creatives across the diaspora through the lens of urban culture. The pilot initiative officially launches in May 2023 with an artistic residency in Mexico City, Mexico, and the inaugural cohort of New York-based creators will include Brisa Areli Muñoz, UGBA, Zhailon Levingston, Diego Alejandro González & William Carlos Angulo, and Iyvon E. A second cohort of Mexican creators will be selected in Fall 2023 for a series of residencies in New York City.
“As a Black Queer creator who has been in dialogue with the global artistic community for decades, I am deeply curious about what connects us,” says Executive Artistic Director Bryan Joseph Lee. “What does it truly mean to be a part of the global majority? What technology do we have to share with and learn from our siblings around the world? Across borders and boundaries, Black and Brown folks have used culture as a means of creative expression and a lever for social change. I’m thrilled to launch theurbanX.org as a platform for artistic expansion and a resource for creative changemaking around the world.”
Founded to serve Black and Brown artists across the diaspora, theurbanX.org’s mission is to harness the power of urban culture and the arts to build bridges across borders, share knowledge and resources in community, and empower creators of the global majority. Multidisciplinary and intersectional by design, the inaugural cohort of six U.S.-based artists will utilize hip hop, poetry, playwriting, choreography, dramaturgy, music, and healing ritual as modes of creative expression.
The core of theurbanx.org’s program model focuses on three areas: expansion, connexion, and exchange. Through a series of fully-funded international micro-residencies, participants will receive time, space, and the opportunity to see themselves and their work in a global context. Participants will also engage with like-minded creatives in their host city, and spark collaborative conversations with artists of their choosing. Opportunities for creative exchange will be designed by each participant, and may include public sharings, listening sessions with local artists and community leaders, masterclasses, workshops, performances, and more.
As Executive Artistic Director of theurbanX.org, Bryan Joseph Lee brings a 20-year commitment to international development, artistic producing, and cross-cultural exchange. He is the founder of CNTR ARTS, a creative agency that centers artists, activists and communities of color. Previously, Bryan served as Director of Public Forum at The Public Theater, and Executive Producer at Musical Theater Factory. In 2022, Bryan was the opening keynote speaker at TedXBroadway’s 10th Anniversary Summit. He is a member of The Shubert Organization’s Artistic Circle, a 2018 Global Fellow of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at The University of Maryland, and was named a 2016 Rising Leader of Color by Theater Communications Group (TCG). Bryan holds a degree in International Relations with a focus on Latin American, Latiné and Caribbean Studies from Dartmouth College.
More information on community-led offerings and program activity will be shared on theurbanX.org, as well as Instagram (IG: theurbanXorg). theurbanX.org is a fiscally sponsored project. For more information or to support the inaugural pilot, visit theurbanX.org.
Philadelphia RowHome Magazine's Blog 