Miami Light Project Executive & Artistic Director, Elizabeth Boone is pleased to announce the line up of non profit arts organizations that will be tenants in the soon to be completed Wynwood performance space, The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse. The M Ensemble Theater Company and Arts for Learning will join Miami Light Project at the newly named facility, The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse, bringing year-round performances and youth education programming to Wynwood. The Light Box is currently seeking a fourth arts-oriented tenant to round out the space. The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse is located at 404 NW 26 Street, Miami, in the heart of the Wynwood Arts District.
Envisioned by Miami Light Project Artistic & Executive Director Elizabeth Boone as a laboratory for artists and an intimate place of gathering where new work is experienced in its various stages of development, The Light Box will provide a creative setting in which artists are able to intersect with audiences in new ways. The Light Box will be a place where audiences gain a deeper understanding of how work is created and what motivates an artist to make new work.
Of equal importance in The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse concept is the notion that cultural workers, the producers of the new work being developed by artists, will also benefit from increased creativity and productivity by sharing workspace and developing a cooperative work model. In 2009, Miami Light Project received a $400,000 grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Arts Partnership Program, which together with a 1-to-1 match from Goldman Properties, supported the creation of The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse. In 2010, architect Oscar Glottman, joined the project and construction began on the space in Fall 2010. The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse is scheduled to open in April 2011.
About the Tenants
Miami Light Project
Founded in 1989, Miami Light Project is a not-for-profit cultural organization which presents live performances by innovative dance, music and theater artists from around the world; supports the development of new work by South Florida-based artists; and offers educational programs for students of every age. Since our inception, we have reached a diverse cross-section of communities throughout Miami-Dade County with an extensive outreach effort that includes partnerships with other arts organizations, universities and social service agencies. Miami Light Project is a cultural forum to explore some of the issues that define contemporary society. Joining the space under MLP’s umbrella is our two resident theater company, Mad Cat Theatre Company and Teo Castellanos D-Projects.
The M Ensemble
The M Ensemble is Florida’s oldest established African-American theater company offering musical, contemporary, classical and original plays; theater workshops for children and adults; and special vibrant presentations for Kwanzaa and Black Music Month. Today the company is listed as a major cultural arts institution by the Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council. It exposes Miami-Dade inner-city youth to the fundamentals of live stage performances and provides opportunities for them to learn about the business of arts and entertainment. And, although success has been allusive at times, the results have been phenomenal. M Ensemble has definitely raised the level of awareness of the theatre industry in South Florida’s African-American community.
Arts for Learning
Arts for Learning (A4L) is an arts-in-education nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing teaching and learning through the arts. As one of Miami’s leading sources of arts-in-education services, A4L works with professional visual and performing artists to provide quality arts-based programs that connect the arts to other core-curriculum subjects to support academic achievement and child development. All A4L programs teach life and communication skills, support literacy and problem solving skills, foster self-discovery, and build self esteem. A4L’s comprehensive services include teacher professional development, multimedia classroom resources, and community arts instruction and programming. These services are delivered to approximately 10,000 students in more than 100 schools, preschools, after-school programs and summer camps throughout Miami-Dade County.
The Spring/Summer 2011 Light Box at Goldman Warehouse Calendar is as follows:
April 13 Miami Light Project and the Arsht center present Muñequitos de Matanzas Afro-Cuban Dance and Drumming Master Class
Renowned for their fiery rumbas, dynamic drumming, and sacred rituals, Los Muñequitos are recognized throughout the world as one of the most vital ensembles to sustain and popularize the African roots of Cuban culture. This 90 minute master class will be for both dancers and drummers, with the last portion of the class concluding in all out jam!
May 12-13 Miami Light Project presents Reggie Watts
Evading capture or definition, Reggie Watts is the spellbinding vocal artist whose improvised songs of looped vocals delight audiences internationally. Reggie loves to disorientate and confuse people in the most entertaining way and creates an evening of improvised sonic revolution incorporating hip-hop, trip-hop, 80’s pop alternative, nu-metal and classical opera so no two songs or shows are ever the same!
May 21 Miami Light Project presents the Dance Your @$$ Off With Friends Party
Miami Light Project’s annual Friends Dinner will culminate in a wild dance party featuring guest performers.
June 2-4 Miami Light Project presents Teo Castellanos D-Projects’ Fat Boy
Written and directed by Teo Castellanos, Fat Boy, coalesces ancient and current art forms to tell a timeless and timely story through. Fat Boy explores its theme of abundance and waste through movement and thumping dancehall beats. By deconstructing the narrative elements of American consumerism and wastefulness juxtaposed with world hunger and poverty, Fat Boy tells its compelling story
June 9- July 17, The M Ensemble presents Home
Written by Tony Award nominee Samm-Art Williams, Home is the whimsical, touching, and at times tragic story of Cephus Miles, , a young farmer in fictitious Cross Roads, North Carolina who is content to work his land, swap stories with his neighbors, and continue living in the manner of his forebears- until tragedy strikes and he loses it all..
July 21- August 13 Miami Light Project presents Mad Cat Theater Company
MLP’s resident theater company, Mad Cat Theatre Company, returns home with a world premier by Paul Tei, Always Crashing in the Same Car.
Additional dates and programs will follow.
The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse is located at 404 NW 26 Street, Miami, FL 33127.