Close

Overview

MADE HERE is a documentary series and website focusing on performing artists based in New York City. A collage of intimate interviews, performances and behind-the-scenes footage, MADE HERE mirrors the rich diversity of the artists and communities they serve. 

The first season was launched in May 2010, and by the end of September, had released 15 short episodes featuring 40 artists and covering five major issues: Creative Real Estate, Day & Night Jobs, Family Balance, Activism and Technology. Already, the website has exceeded initial projections, with over 12,000 unique visitors from 94 countries. Season Two rolls out from March through July 2011 with three episodes each month on: Identity, Creative Practice, Money, Lifework, and Home. This website provides a platform for audiences to offer feedback on the episodes, artists to share and discover resources, and communities to engage on the issues. In addition, each topic is accompanied by a monthly live screening and panel event. MADE HERE is supported by a 2009 Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund award. Additional support has been provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the New Generations Program administered by Theatre Communications Group.

The Team

HERE has been a premier arts organization in NYC and a leader in the field of new, hybrid performance work since 1993. Under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Kristin Marting and Producing Director Kim Whitener, HERE has served over 12,000 emerging to mid-career artists developing work that does not fit a conventional programming agenda. Work presented at HERE has garnered 14 OBIE awards, including the 2009 Ross Wetzsteon Award, an OBIE grant for artistic achievement, five Drama Desk nominations, four NY Innovative Theatre Awards, an Edwin Booth Award and a Pulitzer Prize nomination. HERE proudly supports artists at all stages in their careers through full productions, artist residency programs, festivals and subsidized performance and rehearsal space. Work at HERE is curated based on the strength and uniqueness of the artist’s vision.  HERE’s Artist Residency Program (HARP) provides development, commissions and full production for 15-18 artists over one-to-three years. HERE is located at 145 Sixth Avenue, one block below Spring Street. For more info, http://visit www.here.org.

Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Long Beach, CA, Tanya Selvaratnam is a producer, writer, actor, and activist. Since 2008, she has also been the Communications and Special Projects Officer for the Rubell Family Collection. Tanya’s productions include BEGINNINGS, an original short film series for the Sundance Channel; Catherine Gund’s WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE? (Berlin International Film Festival premiere; Discovery’s Planet Green broadcast), Chiara Clemente’s OUR CITY DREAMS (Locarno Film Festival premiere; Film Forum run; Sundance Channel broadcast), Jed Weintrob’s ON_LINE (Sundance Film Festival premiere; STARZ broadcast) and THE F WORD (Tribeca Film Festival premiere; IFC broadcast), and Gabri Christa’s DOMINO (Black Filmmakers Foundation Lab). As a theater artist, Tanya has performed around the world in shows by The Wooster Group, The Builders Association, Jay Scheib and many others; appeared in films and video installations by Carrie Mae Weems, John Malpede, Sharon Hayes, Andrea Geyer, David Michalek, and Jennifer Reeves; and been a fellow at Yaddo and Blue Mountain Center. As an activist, she has worked with the Ms. Foundation, World Health Organization, Third Wave Foundation, and Groundswell Community Mural Project. Tanya received her graduate and undergraduate degrees in Chinese language and history from Harvard University.

contact: tanya@here.org

Chiara Clemente is a film director who explores identity, cultural contrast, and the creative process. Her love of art can be traced back to a childhood spent tiptoeing around paintings in her father's studio. After attending film school at Art Center in Pasadena, she directed her first art documentary in 2000 for RAI in Italy. In the following years, Chiara continued to film and collaborate with artists such as Jim Dine, Brice Marden, and Frank Gehry. In 2005, she began filming her first critically-acclaimed tdocumentary, Our City Dreams, which followed the lives and work of five contemporary women artists (Nancy Spero, Marina Abramovic, Kiki Smith, Ghada Amer and Swoon) in New York City. Our City Dreams premiered at the prestigious Film Forum in February 2009, screened in more than 30 cities worldwide, and was broadcast on the Sundance Channel. During this period, Chiara also directed several short films: Curiosity for Saatchi and Saatchi, Remembering Sprouse for T Magazine of The New York Times, and a series of short portrait pieces for Anthropology. Her recent works include Beginnings, an original short film series for the Sundance Channel, the online series Made Here: Performing Artists on Work and Life in New York City and a film with Levi's for their new initiative Shape What's to Come. Chiara is also in the process of developing her first narrative feature.

Karina is a New York-based producer and filmmaker, whose projects include an original web series, an interactive online documentary series, promos, how-to videos, and event videography. She has produced, shot, and edited videos for Howcast.com, Downtown Community Television, 13 Playwrights Inc., EmcArts, art.party.theater.company, and is the Associate Producer of "Flag Football," a feature documentary about the journey of four teams in the National Gay Flag Football League to Gay Bowl X. Currently, Karina is the Online Cultural Producer at EmcArts, Inc.  Prior to joining EmcArts, she was a producer for Season One of the documentary series "MADE HERE: Performing Artists on Work and Life" for HERE, where she also served as General Manager/Associate Producer from 2008 to 2011. Prior to HERE, Karina served as General Manager for 13 Playwrights, Inc., Management Associate for Liz McCann/Tony Awards Productions, and Producing Assistant for Carole Shorenstein Hays Productions. Karina has an MFA in Theater Management and Producing from Columbia University, where she wrote her thesis on the strategic use of online tools and technologies for arts organizations. She holds a BA from Harvard College.

Editor: Russ Greene
Theme Song: Reggie Watts
Additional Music: Moby

SEASON TWO ONLY
Assistant Producer: Erin Taylor Kennedy
Camera: Frank Stanley
Sound Mixer: David Pruger, Jarett Livingston
Assistant Editor: Erin Taylor Kennedy
Website Manager: Matthew de Leon
Research & Outreach Associate: Cassie Wagler

SEASON ONE ONLY
Camera: Miklos Buk, Theo Stanley
Sound Mixer: David Pruger, Michael Reilly, Christopher Reifeiss
Assistant Editor: Cat Tyc, Kelly Bray
Production Interns: Debby Brand, Brian Bauman

Art Direction & Design
Open
New York, NY

Design & Production
Rich Watts
Brooklyn, NY

Featuring

SEASON TWO: Jen Abrams, Kahlil Almustafa, Thomas Bradshaw, John Collins, Brendan Coyle, Amanda Curtis, Dana Edell, Oskar Eustis, Miguel Gutierrez, Joan Jonas, Aaron Landsman, Elizabeth LeCompte, Young Jean Lee, Kate D. Levin, Sheila Lewandowski, Abby Marcus, Qui Nguyen, Brian Rogers, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, Steven Sapp, Betty Shamieh, Black-Eyed Susan, Chandra Thomas, Basil Twist, Kate Valk, Reggie Watts, Natasha Williams, Caroline Woolard


SEASON ONE: Moe Angelos, Arthur Aviles, Jess Barbagallo, Anne Bogart, Wally Cardona, Hai-Ting Chinn, Ping Chong Gabri Christa, Chinese Theatre Works, Toni Dove, Yehuda Duenyas, James Tigger! Ferguson, Kuang-Yu Fong Ximena Garnica, Roselee Goldberg, Ain Gordon, David Gordon, Miranda Hardy, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Melanie Joseph, Ben Kerrick, Mari Kimura, Peter Ksander, Taylor Mac, Kristin Marting, Jennifer Miller, Paul D. Miller, Shige Moriya, Julie Atlas Muz, Erin Orr, Vernon Reid, Laine Rettmer, Charles Rice-Gonzalez, Rokafella Elizabeth Streb, Valda Setterfield, Xiaojun Song, Charlie Todd, Kate Valk, Marianne Weems, Jennifer Wright Cook, Ying Zhang

 

Partner Organizations

A.R.T./New York
Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance

Brooklyn Arts Council
Brooklyn Arts Exchange

The Chocolate Factory

Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island

The Field

Harlem Arts Alliance

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

New York Theater Workshop

Queens Council on the Arts

Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden

Academic Advisory Council

Anne Bogart
Thomas Bradshaw
Una Chaudhuri
Elinor Fuchs
Roselee Goldberg

Frank Hentschker
Jay Scheib
Mac Wellman

Close

Contact

 

info@madehereproject.org

 

HERE
145 Sixth Ave
New York, NY 10013

212-647-0202

Close

Support

MADE HERE needs your support so we can continue capturing the lives of performing artists. Every donation helps us expand the project to more issues, episodes, artists, contributors, and audiences.

DONATE

For questions or information on corporate sponsorship, contact info@madehereproject.org.

MADE HERE is supported by a 2009 Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund award.

Issue:

Creative Practice

episode 1: Inspiration

Being an artist requires a consistent outpouring of new ideas and images. Inspiration can come from a moment, relationship, object, vision or observation. It is the artist’s job to allow these influences in, and to harness them for creative work. 

View all Episodes

Resources:

News

The Art of Creativity

An influential 1992 article on the psychology of creativity. The authors look in depth at the process of creative discovery.

Radiolab: Me, Myself, and Muse

Elizabeth Gilbert and Oliver Sacks on making peace with your creative muse.

The important role of artists communities

A Denver Post article on the important role of artist communities and residencies.

STREB: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero

From The Brooklyn Rail, a review of Elizabeth Streb’s part memoir, part-manifesto "How to Become an Extreme Action Hero."

Interview with Black Eyed Susan

A 1988 feature in BOMB Magazine. The actress discusses her life, practice, and the meditative effect of applying stage make-up.

The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition

Review of theatre director Anne Bogart’s influential book on the viewpoints methodology.

The Wooster Group Work Book

The Wooster Group shares rehearsal methods, resources, and reflections on how they operate and develop their work.

Creative Pairs

From "To The Best of Our Knowledge" on Wisconsin Public Radio, a look at the collaborations between famous creative duos.

The Creativity Crisis

Research shows that creativity among American children is declining.

Organizations

Res Artis

Network of artist residency programs.

Artist in Residence

Resources for artists looking to collaborate on projects related to science, technology and business

Alliance of Artist Communities

Online listing of artist communities and residencies.

OurGoods

OurGoods is an online resource for bartering creative work. Users post skills they can offer, or skills they need. Also on the OurGoods site is Trade School, a project where students barter with teachers for classes.

DANCE NYC

Online directory of NYC dance companies, choreographers, rehearsal spaces, and dance schools.

Puppeteers of America

National online listing of puppetry companies and resources.

List of NYC Acting Schools

An up-to-date list of NYC acting school and coaches from BACKSTAGE.COM.

New York Media Arts Map

List and interactive map of NYC based media arts organizations, and resources for media artists.

New Dramatists

Supporting and developing new playwrights since 1949.

Research

Collaborative Arts: Conversations on Collaborative Arts Practice

An online platform for discussing the collaborative process. Includes research, essays and resources for artists.

Institute for Distributed Creativity

Resources, links, and research on collaborations in media, technology and theory.

Creativity and Leadership

A research paper on how creative expression may be associated with a perceived lack of leadership in working environments.

Season 2 Episode Feedback

Post a comment

What did you think about the episodes?

Jump to most recent entry
  • Pete McCabe said:

    “in creating art one get’s the benefit of being looked at, but also the responsability of telling the truth”  Someone much smarter than me said that.
    In the short story Hellscreen, it shows what someone is willing to do to tell that truth as he sees it.  It ends up killing him.  I don’t think you have to die to tell the truth, but its personal toll can have ramifications far beyond one’s expectations; even to the disolution of the self.  Creating art is about more than not being paid well.  What “truth” is… is seemingly undefinable.

    03/05 - 10:40 AM

  • Gabriela Poma said:

    Am just getting through the new videos. Wonderful and so inspiring. This angle: the daily life of an artist.  No one gets to see the difficulty, the hard work, they things given up for art. And to get a glimpse at the intimate parts of their lives is such a privilege.

    03/13 - 07:32 PM

  • laura peterson said:

    About labels and identity: Young Jean Lee’s comment was really gratifying and made me think that a label can be something one earns. It can reflect an amount of discipline and focus in one’s work that leads to a title. Playwright. Choreographer. Whatever it is, which is not to say that it cannot be a blend or a new term, but that it can have weight and purpose and structure.

    03/29 - 01:56 PM

  • Soon-Young Yoon said:

    Love the trailer for the madehere project. Looking forward to more…so important a contribution to history.

    04/06 - 05:05 PM

  • Cheri Magid said:

    I have been loading up on watching made here and am totally addicted. It’s so reassuring to hear others talk of the same things that you deal with and encouraging to see the ways different people live as artists.

    04/06 - 05:06 PM

  • Alex Zafiris said:

    I watched the latest Made Here series. I love the new categorization themes—identity, labels… such a great idea.

    04/06 - 05:08 PM

  • Ximena said:

    I don’t see myself as"exploiting myself because I accept low pay or nor pay” My set of values in relationship with my art lies in other places far away from the values applied to the basic needs I must attend as an individual in this society.

    05/02 - 12:57 PM

post a comment

Your comment:

your stories:

Share your story
  • Where do you go to find inspiration? If possible, shoot a video or photo of that place?
  • Tell about your creative process.
Close

Welcome to the second issue of Season 2! This month, MADE HERE explores the creative practice of our featured artists. We hear about where artists go to find inspiration and about unexpected sources of inspiration. Then, company members and individual artists offer their opinions on the pluses and minuses of collaborating with others versus working alone. Lastly, we delve into the many different processes and philosophies that artists adopt to develop their work.

The three episodes for this issue are: Inspiration (April 4), Collaboration (April 11), and Process (April 18).
 

Discussion Topics

      
  • Season 2 Episode Feedback
  •   
  • Unexpected Inspiration
  •   
  • Together vs. Solo
  •   
  • Your Process
  •   

Resources

Submit a resource

Your stories

  • Where do you go to find inspiration? If possible, shoot a video or photo of that place?
  • Tell about your creative process.