Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
Wednesday 3 September | 9AM - 7PM LaGuardia Performing Arts, 31-10 Thomson Avenue Queens, NY 11101
A one-day conference on performing arts in public space. For artists, producers, programmers, funders, researchers, and public sector and private development professionals.
“In Via Publica” is the title of a one-day symposium presented as part of the inaugural DOWN TO EARTH festival — New York City’s first International Festival of Multidisciplinary Creation in Public Spaces. The festival brings world-class international performances in theater, contemporary circus, opera, installation, and participatory events—completely free of charge—directly to the city’s vibrant and diverse communities.
In Via Publica calls civic actors from the arts and culture, public administration, private development, and the academy to convene and ask: what many vital roles poetics must play in public spaces in the US today —from restoring safety and play to contested and conflicted environments to enriching shared spaces with consumption-free beauty and wonder to fostering social cohesion across differences to bolstering democratic participation and engagement. Together, we will shed light on the unique impacts that are made possible when new creations by performing artists making work for public spaces are centered within professional performing arts presenting practices; democratic and civic engagement endeavors; city branding/tourism campaigns; and creative placemaking efforts.
Registration is free, but required.
DOWN TO EARTH, NYC’s First International Festival of Multidisciplinary Creation in Public Spaces, brings world-class international performance, theater, contemporary circus, opera installation, and participatory events—absolutely free—directly to New York City’s vibrant, diverse communities. An initiative that embraces global exchange and democratizes cultural expression, the inaugural festival runs from August 29–September 7, 2025. The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY serves as the festival's producer, organizational and curatorial home, and fiscal agent.
Here in NYC, partnering with parks in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens and collaborating with more than 10 dynamic cultural and community organizations, we’re staging performances and workshops across multiple urban spaces. Citizen expression beats at the heart of the festival’s artistic vision. DOWN TO EARTH affirms art’s critical role in the economic, social, and mental well-being of all New Yorkers. With a focus on how artistic presence transforms the experience of place, and the powerful role of outdoor creation in transforming communities and spaces, DOWN TO EARTH seeks to expand access to cultural expression, privilege public assembly, and combat the injustices inherent in socio-economic exclusion. Central to the festival's mission is our commitment to dismantling cultural barriers by offering free programs for students, youth, immigrant communities, and families.
By attracting a diverse public to free outdoor arts and in-situ performances that are accessible and inviting, the festival will redress the shortcomings of an expensive system of cultural dissemination.
