The Sanctuary For Independent Media

Holiday Interfaith Justice and Peace Circle at Freedom Square
2022-12-10 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Freedom Square, 35 5th Ave, Troy, NY, 12180, United States
Join us in a celebration of light and community. Around an evergreen tree, we will light candles, tie the names of loved ones on branches, and share our light to set intentions for love, justice and peace. Before the tree lighting there will be warm beverages, snacks, arts and crafts, and a radio-making station. Bring your wishes for light, justice and peace, as we reflect on current times and come together with sacred intention, embracing all religions and beliefs.

Co-sponsors: Troy MLK Labor & Community Network, Troy Central Little League, People’s Health Sanctuary, Hudson Mohawk Magazine, SNUG, The Fish Market Project, Mothers Out Front, Troy Bike Rescue,…. and more to come!

Documentation of the Event

Photos by Robert Cooper:

Learn more about our Holiday Interfaith Justice and Peace history

Local and diverse communities of friends and networks have been gathering at the Sanctuary for over a decade. Because of the pandemic, we are not able to have our full community celebration inside… but please join us to continue our tradition of joining together to celebrate the light within each of us and our collective powers!

Check out this video of our fifth annual North Central Holiday Justice & Peace Celebration, which culminated in this interfaith gathering at Freedom Square on Dec. 30, 2016. Share the light in joy and resistance!

Aileen Javier, Board President, The Sanctuary for Independent Media, sharing her amazing light during the 2021 Holiday Interfaith Justice and Peace Circle at Freedom Square.

How you can participate

Please bring your wish for light in the new year. Also, there’s lots of ways you can support this community event, including:

Volunteer to run a small art or activity table

Bring toys and gifts for children

Bake Holiday Cookies

Bring decorations for the interfaith tree and Freedom Square

Reach out to your friends and networks to spread the word

Sign up for our set up or clean up crews

Other ideas? Let us know my emailing info@mediasanctuary.org. Thank you!

Troy Black History Celebration 2023
2023-02-25 16:00 - 19:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Join us for an in-person celebration of Black History Month with an exhibition, music, spoken word, and community. Troy NAACP, Team HERO, Coalition for Black Trade Union, and The Sanctuary for Independent Media have partnered together in Troy to honor our Black history and its living legacy. The exhibition is curated by Malik Muhammad, music by King Malachi, spoken word by Diamond Owens, and Shania Jackson, and beats by DJ Hollyw8d.

Masks are encouraged and will be available at this event. If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of illness please stay home and rest.

Featuring:

Brother Malik Muhammad is the curator of The Sankofa Project, a traveling visual museum which showcases photos and text of the history of Black people.

Music performance by King Malachi. Website.

Beats by DJ Hollyw8d. Website.

Spoken word by Shania Jackson.

Spoken word by Diamond Owens.

Spoken word by Justin Irby.

Co-Organizers:

NAACP Troy Branch #2182-B: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) mission in the 21st century is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.” Contact: TroyNYNAACP@gmail.com or on facebook.

Team HERO: H.E.R.O. standing for Helping Everyone Recognize Opportunities which focuses on youth mentoring, character and leadership development and linking families to resources. https://www.facebook.com/TeamHero101

Coalition for Black Trade Union: CBTU is not a black separatist or civil rights organization. It is the fiercely independent voice of black workers within the trade union movement, challenging organized labor to be more relevant to the needs and aspirations of Black and poor workers. https://cbtu.org/about.html

"Storming Caesars Palace" Film Screening
2023-03-08 19:00 - 21:30 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Join us for a film screening of the Indie Lens Pop-Up Storming Caesars Palace followed by a community-driven conversation and local resource sharing by local partners. Presented by WMHT in partnership with The Sanctuary for Independent Media, NYS Poor People’s Campaign, Rensselaer County Dept. of Social Services, Troy Area United Ministries (TAUM), Unity House, and YWCA of the Greater Capital Region.

REGISTER

Masks are encouraged and will be available at this event. If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of illness please stay home and rest.

About This Film

After losing her job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas, Ruby Duncan joined a welfare rights group of mothers who defied notions of the “welfare queen.” In a fight for guaranteed income, Ruby and other equality activists took on the Nevada mob in organizing a massive protest that shut down Caesars Palace. (See preview.)

More information available at https://pbs.org/stormingcaesars

David Carpenter: "Science for the People"
2023-03-19 14:00 - 17:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Join us for a celebration of SUNY Albany Professor David Carpenter’s long career as an environmental advocate! We’ll be gathering with Dr. Carpenter along with some of his graduate students and colleagues, as well as representatives of some of the many grassroots organizations who have worked with David over his decades-long career. Dr. Carpenter will speak, along with former EPA Region 2 administrator Judith Enck and other local luminaries. We’ll hear an update on the ongoing legal case surrounding Monsanto’s pollution of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, and other local environmental struggles. But mostly we’re gathering to acknowledge a true hero of the environmental justice movement!

The celebration will close with a free community meal of soup and cake. This is a zero waste event–bring your own reusable plate, utensils, cup and napkin!

Co-sponsored by NATURE Lab, United University Professions- Albany Chapter, Beyond Plastics, Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena-Coeymans, Rensselaer Environmental Coalition, PAUSE, Green Education & Legal Fund, UNCAGED, Environmental Advocates NY, Riverkeeper, NYPIRG, Lights Out Norlite, Healthy Schools Network, Community Advocates for a Sustainable Environment, Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline, Zero Waste Capital District, Housatonic River Initiative, Inc, and Housatonic Environmental Action League, Inc.

Download the flyer here.

Masks are encouraged and will be available at this event. If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of illness please stay home and rest.

Judith Enck and Dr. David Carpenter at Dunn Landfill

David Carpenter is a public health physician whose current position is Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, as well as Professor of Environmental Health Sciences within the School of Public Health at the University at Albany. After receiving his MD degree from Harvard Medical School he chose a career of research and public health. After research positions at the National Institute of Mental Health and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, he came to Albany in 1980 as the Director of the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health, the third largest public health laboratory in the US after NIH and CDC. In an effort to build ties to an academic program, he initiated efforts to create a partnership between the New York State Department of Health and the University at Albany, resulting in the creation of the School of Public Health in 1985. He was then appointed as the founding Dean of the School of Public Health, a position he held until 1998 when he became the Director of the Institute of Health and the Environment. In 2011 the Institute for Health and the Environment was declared a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization in Environmental Health. While his early research was study of animal and cellular models of brain function, his more recent studies have focused on environmental causes of human disease. He has more than 485 peer-reviewed publications.

Photos from the event

By Robert Cooper

photograph by Caroline Tennant

Author Joshua Frank presents "Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America"
2023-03-25 19:00 - 21:00
Join us for an in-person book talk with Joshua Frank author of Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America. The 2022 book (Haymarket Books) examines the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State, which once was home to the United States’ largest plutonium production site.

“In the context of renewed support for atomic power as a means of combating climate change, Atomic Days provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology—from weapons to electricity—and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers and the global environment.”

About the Book

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State is laced with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste. The threat of an explosive accident at Hanford is all too real—an event that could be more catastrophic than Chernobyl.

The EPA designated Hanford the most toxic place in America; it is also the most expensive environmental clean-up job the world has ever seen, with a $677 billion price tag that keeps growing. Huge underground tanks, well past their life expectancy and full of boiling radioactive gunk, are leaking, infecting groundwater supplies and threatening the Columbia River.

Whistleblowers, worried that the worst is ahead, are now speaking out, begging to be heard and hoping their pleas help bring attention to the dire situation at Hanford. Aside from a few feisty community groups and handful of Indigenous activists, there is very little public scrutiny of the clean-up process, which is managed by the Department of Energy and carried out by contractors with shoddy track records, like Bechtel. In the context of renewed support for atomic power as a means of combating climate change, Atomic Days provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology—from weapons to electricity—and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers and the global environment.

Joshua Frank is an award-winning California-based journalist and co-editor of the political magazine CounterPunch. He is the editor and co-author of several books. Most recently, he is the author of the book Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America (Haymarket Books 2022).

Be The Media! Workshop: Participatory Design in Journalistic Process
2023-04-01 17:00 - 18:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
With Directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville, and Documentary Participant Kristal Bush

Join us in this workshop to learn about the art of co-creation from the film team of A Woman on the Outside, discussing how the directors centered Kristal’s voice and the active collaboration between the film team and participants in the documentary process. A focus will be on how the team grappled with both the journalistic process and the ethical questions of documentary today, as well as how they developed the cinematic language to incorporate Kristal’s self-documentation and the filmmakers’ footage. They will share the importance of spending time together, relationship and trust building, and how to collaborate on a story.

Curators: Branda Miller.

Sponsored by: iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Masks are encouraged and will be available at this event. If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of illness please stay home and rest.

After the workshop, at 7pm, A Woman on the Outside will be screened at the Sanctuary, followed by a panel discussion.

Director’s Statement:

More than a quarter of women in this country have had a loved one incarcerated. For Black women like Kristal, the odds are even higher. To love someone who’s locked up isn’t a marginal experience – it’s an American one. For six years, we have collaborated with Kristal and her family to make a film about their experience, through the female lens. Braiding Kristal’s photos, videos and voice with our verite footage, we strove to go beyond a story about prison to tell one of family, love and how women care for themselves while caring for others.

Zara Katz (Director/Producer)

Zara Katz is a filmmaker and photo producer for editorial, documentary and branded content, specializing in crafting character-driven visual stories. Katz is currently Photography Director at NBC News.com, and has worked with outlets including The New York Times Lens blog, Time magazine, Medium, The Guardian U.S., Pop-Up Magazine and Lifetime/A+E Networks. She was the Senior Photography Producer on a Getty Images/Dove campaign photographed by more than 100 women and non-binary photographers, which won the Silver Glass Lion at Cannes in 2019.

Lisa Riordan Seville (Director/Producer)

Lisa Riordan Seville is an award-winning reporter and independent filmmaker whose stories explore how money, power and policy shapes the lives of everyday people. Her investigative and enterprise work has appeared across NBC News platforms, on BuzzFeed News, The Guardian U.S., Lifetime/A+E Networks and WNYC Radio. It has been recognized with a Peabody, a Hillman Award and a Sigma Delta Chi from the Society of Professional Journalists, among others. Her most recent piece was a cover story for New York Magazineabout the deaths of 15 men in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.

"A Woman on the Outside" Film Screening
2023-04-01 19:00 - 22:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Join Directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville and protagonist Kristal Bush for the screening of the documentary film A Woman on the Outside, about the struggle to keep families connected despite incarceration. Before the film screening, all three women will give a Be The Media! workshop and give a brief opening reception to the Women on the Outside exhibition. After the film there will be a panel discussion with local prison justice activists.

5pm: Be The Media! Workshop: Participatory Design in Journalistic Process with directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville with documentary participant Kristal Bush.6:30pm: opening reception for the Women on the Outside exhibition in the Sanctuary cafe.7:00pm: screening of A Women on the Outside followed by a panel discussion and networking.

Curator: Branda Miller.

Sponsored by: iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Co-sponsored by: The Chris Wilson Foundation, The Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign, Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, The Center for Law and Justice, and Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration.

Masks are encouraged and will be available at this event. If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of illness please stay home and rest.

“A Woman on the Outside” Q&A

About the Film

Growing up, Kristal watched nearly every man in her life disappear to prison. She channeled that struggle into keeping families connected, both as a social worker and with her van service that drives families to visit loved ones in far-off prisons. But when Kristal’s dad and brother return to Philly, her happiness meets the realization that release doesn’t always mean freedom. Passionate, funny and resilient, Kristal remains determined to carve out a different future — for herself and for her young nephew, Nyvae. Part observational documentary, part family album, A Woman on the Outside is a tender portrait of one family striving to love in the face of a system built to break them. website

https://vimeo.com/725900136?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=9616283

By the end of the trip, Lois and Rachel, who are newer riders, laugh and talk with the other women. Kristal’s regular riders say they look forward not just to the visit, but to catching up with friends they have made on the van.

“It’s something to look forward to,” Tanesha says of visiting day. “We talk about this stuff all week long, all of us. Sometimes we all get together and cook food and sit down and talk. Because that’s what we be needing. From one sister to another. From one wife to another.”

Photos and Videos by Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville

Filmmaker Bios

Zara Katz (Director/Producer) is a filmmaker and photo producer for editorial, documentary and branded content, specializing in crafting character-driven visual stories. Katz is currently Photography Director at NBC News.com, and has worked with outlets including The New York Times Lens blog, Time magazine, Medium, The Guardian U.S., Pop-Up Magazine and Lifetime/A+E Networks. She was the Senior Photography Producer on a Getty Images/Dove campaign photographed by more than 100 women and non-binary photographers, which won the Silver Glass Lion at Cannes in 2019.

Lisa Riordan Seville (Director/Producer) is an award-winning reporter and independent filmmaker whose stories explore how money, power and policy shapes the lives of everyday people. Her investigative and enterprise work has appeared across NBC News platforms, on BuzzFeed News, The Guardian U.S., Lifetime/A+E Networks and WNYC Radio. It has been recognized with a Peabody, a Hillman Award and a Sigma Delta Chi from the Society of Professional Journalists, among others. Her most recent piece was a cover story for New York Magazine about the deaths of 15 men in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.

Panelist Bios

Kristal Bush is the protagonist of the documentary film A Woman on the Outside.

Jose Di Lenola, Clemency Campaign Director of RAPP

At the age of 16, Jose was sentenced to 26 1/3 years to life for second-degree murder and served eighteen of those years in Attica prison and various correctional facilities. While incarcerated he worked as a rehabilitation peer educator in relapse prevention, anger management, and mental health; and mentored at-risk youth diversionary programs. Jose co-founded and served as President of the Attica Lifer’s Organization and consulted several organizations. Jose was released in December 2021, has his own consultation business, Carceral Consultation, and is the Clemency Campaign Director for the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP).

TeAna Taylor, Co-Director of Policy & Communications and Capital Region Organizer at RAPP

TeAna advocates for children of incarcerated parents, informed by their father’s nearly two decades of incarceration and working with We Got Us Now and the HALT Solitary Campaign. They have been engaging their community in restorative justice work for the past five years. They created and maintained a peer mediation program at a local middle school, leading mediations between youth, parents, and teachers; facilitating circles that ranged from community building within classrooms to repairing harm between community members; providing conflict coaching sessions for students; and training students in peer mediation and conflict resolution. TeAna has also facilitated circles to address issues faced by students and faculty of color at their alma mater, SUNY Schenectady, that led to policy change for a more inclusive and diverse campus.

Co-sponsors

The mission of the Chris Wilson Foundation is to transform the incarceration system by providing better and more sustainable programming for incarcerated individuals that centers personal relationships, resilience, development and agency. Our Master Plan Program focuses on trauma and resilience, systemic oppression and mass incarceration and goal-setting and reentry. The program is being implemented in three states, and is currently running at the Capital District Youth Detention Center in Albany.

The Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign is a grassroots advocacy organization created and led by formerly incarcerated people and family members of people in prison. We work to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences. We work to dismantle the racist policies of mass incarceration by expanding the use of parole, compassionate release, clemency, and other forms of release in New York State. We work with other organizations across the country to end life imprisonment in the United States. By organizing community power to free incarcerated elders, we work to uproot a system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color.

The mission of Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York is to provide high quality, effective legal representation and assistance to indigent prisoners, help them to secure their civil and human rights and advocate for more humane prisons and for a more humane criminal justice system.

The Center for Law and Justice recognizes that the criminal justice system in the United States has a history of racism and classism, stemming from both laws and practices, that continues to this day. It is the center’s mission to reform the criminal justice system and dismantle its oppressive elements.

The Center for Law and Justice aims to eliminate the gap between law and justice by creating an equitable criminal justice system which values all human life and acknowledges community members as partners in public safety. The center seeks to achieve this goal through amplifying the voices of marginalized people and communities, while educating and empowering those same communities to demand an end to mass criminalization, mass incarceration, and systemic oppression.

Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration (CAAMI) seeks to challenge and dismantle mass incarceration and the systems of oppression that sustain it. We do this through coordinated actions and by opening the dialogue about mass incarceration and the criminal injustice system in a way that is empowering to all individuals and communities affected by them. CAAMI defines “mass incarceration” as both the excessive quantity of people caught in the criminal justice system, and the racially discriminatory and cruel quality of the current punitive model of social control. Police brutality, racially disparate sentencing, and post-prison discrimination function as a self-reinforcing system that damages communities.

"Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future" with Eljuri & Taína Asili
2023-04-21 19:00 - 21:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Two amazing Latinx artists, Taína Asili and Eljuri reunite on the Sanctuary stage for the first night of our weekend celebration Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future! Join us on Friday, April 21, for an eclectic mix of salsa, reggae, and political hip-hop that will speak to your soul and make you move!

Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future! is a weekend celebrating the contributions of Steve Pierce to the Sanctuary’s legacy.

“Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future” Sanctuary Weekend Celebration!

Join us for a weekend celebrating this historic time at the Sanctuary, starting with a night of amazing music by Taína Asili and Eljuri and ending the following night with a presentation by Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman! During this weekend celebration, each evening will include refreshments and reflections from friends old and new about how the Sanctuary (and Steve) has made an impact on them!

It seems incredible but, thanks to Steve’s leadership, we owe just $25,000 left to pay off the complete mortgage for our entire Sanctuary campus! This includes four buildings — the Sanctuary with presentation venue, live production, radio and video studios; NATURE Lab with a level-1 Biology Laboratory and Peoples Health Sanctuary, the NATURE Lab Residency House, the Carriage House, plus Collard City Growers Gardens’ four lots and our outdoor community presentation space Freedom Square!

Your contribution, of any size, would greatly contribute to the impact of our organization by helping us move into the future with a new Executive Director with our goal of being fully debt free!

See all ticket options here.No one will be turned away for a lack of funds

Photos by Sara Beck

Taína Asili is a New York-based Puerto Rican singer, filmmaker and activist carrying on the tradition of her ancestors, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. Taína Asili combines powerful vocals with a multi-genre fusion – confidently weaving between salsa, rock, reggae, cumbia, reggaeton, and hip hop – with multilingual songs that beat with the heart of social change. Asili’s music offers a sound that spans continents, exuding strength of Spirit, inspiring audiences at venues across the globe – From Carnegie Hall to the Women’s March on Washington to the main stage of San Francisco Pride. With energetic and infectious rhythms, Asili’s music urges people to get on their feet and dance to the rhythm of rebellion.

Cecilia Villar Eljuri is a revered storyteller and genre fuser. She is a Latina artivist living in NYC who tours internationally sharing her music and message of empowerment. Touted as one of the top Latinx guitar players in the world, Eljuri navigates through the musical landscapes of her Ecuadorian, Spanish and Lebanese heritage all presented with an elegant and socially conscious voice. As a musical activist for Immigrant and Women’s Rights, Eljuri has her guitar strings and voice on the pulse of some of the most timely issues echoing through our communities.

"Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future" with Amy Goodman
2023-04-22 19:00 - 21:30
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! comes to the Sanctuary stage for the second night of our weekend celebration Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future! Join us on Saturday, April 22, for a conversation about the role and future of independent media, followed by a conversation about stories over the past two decades building the Sanctuary’s campus with outgoing Executive Director Steve Pierce. They will be joined by Hudson Mohawk Magazine’s Willie Terry and moderator KP Holler, the Executive Director of Media Alliance.

Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future! is a weekend celebrating the contributions of Steve Pierce to the Sanctuary’s legacy.

Co-sponsored by: Women Against War.

*Masking is mandatory for this event

“Rooted in Independent Media, Growing Toward a Just Future” Sanctuary Weekend Celebration!

Join us for a weekend celebrating this historic time at the Sanctuary, starting with a night of amazing music by Taína Asili and Eljuri and ending the following night with a presentation by Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman! During this weekend celebration, each evening will include refreshments and reflections from friends old and new about how the Sanctuary (and Steve) has made an impact on them!

It seems incredible but, thanks to Steve’s leadership, we owe just $25,000 left to pay off the complete mortgage for our entire Sanctuary campus! This includes four buildings — the Sanctuary with presentation venue, live production, radio and video studios; NATURE Lab with a level-1 Biology Laboratory and Peoples Health Sanctuary, the NATURE Lab Residency House, the Carriage House, plus Collard City Growers Gardens’ four lots and our outdoor community presentation space Freedom Square!

Your contribution, of any size, would greatly contribute to the impact of our organization by helping us move into the future with a new Executive Director with our goal of being fully debt free!

See all ticket options here.No one will be turned away for a lack of funds

Photos by Robert Cooper

Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard honored Goodman with the 2014 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.” She is the first co-recipient of the Park Center for Independent Media’s Izzy Award, named for the great muckraking journalist I.F. Stone, and was later selected for induction into the Park Center’s I.F. Stone Hall of Fame. The Independent of London called Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! “an inspiration.”

Goodman has co-authored six New York Times bestsellers. Her latest, Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America, looks back over the past two decades of Democracy Now! and the powerful movements and charismatic leaders who are re-shaping our world. Before than, The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope, and Breaking the Sound Barrier, both written with Denis Moynihan, give voice to the many ordinary people standing up to corporate and government power. She co-authored her first three bestsellers with her brother, journalist David Goodman: Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (2008), Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back (2006) and The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them (2004). She co-writes a weekly column with Denis Moynihan (also produced as an audio podcast) syndicated by King Features, for which she was recognized in 2007 with the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting.

Goodman has received the Society for Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence; American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award; the Paley Center for Media’s She’s Made It Award; and the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship. Her reporting on East Timor and Nigeria has won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its “Pick of the Podcasts,” along with NBC’s Meet the Press. PULSE named Goodman one of the 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009.

She has also received awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Project Censored. Goodman received the first ever Communication for Peace Award from the World Association for Christian Communication. She was also honored by the National Council of Teachers of English with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

Death Cafe
2023-04-27 19:00 - 21:00
Where: 2nd floor of the NATURE Lab building, 3319 6th Avenue.

Join us for for a Death Cafe, an evening of discussions about death and how to make the most of life under the context that there is an end. The discussions will take place as a group and in breakout discussions at People’s Health Sanctuary in NATURE Lab.

At a Death Cafe people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death. Our objective is ‘to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives’. A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session.

Death Cafes are always offered:– On a not-for-profit basis– In an accessible, respectful and confidential space– With no intention of leading people to any conclusion, product or course of action– Alongside refreshing drinks and nourishing food – and cake!

For more info on Death Café, check out: https://deathcafe.com.Credit to Jon Underwood with founding Death Café based on the work of Bernard Crettaz.

This event is co-sponsored by People’s Health Sanctuary at NATURE Lab and organized by Veronica Maroulis.

Veronica Maroulis is a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s in Business Analytics. After being introduced to the work of The Order of the Good Death and content by Caitlin Doughty via YouTube, she has been fascinated by death and the macabre. Veronica is an advocate for alternative death care and death justice and wants to encourage thoughtful conversations about death to destigmatize the taboo topic. Death is an inevitability of life and Veronica wants to give people the resources so that they receive the death care they want and deserve.

Hudson Mohawk Magazine Radio Open House
2023-05-13 13:00 - 15:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
For all the radio lovers and radio curious, join us for an open house where you will have a chance to engage with Hudson Mohawk Magazine producers, engage with our content in an interactive way, and come into the radio studio to get your own story out there.

At 2pm, join us for a workshop about how to make a Hudson Mohawk Magazine radio story. This is also a time for visitors to contribute ideas that they would like to hear on the radio.

Hudson Mohawk Magazine is volunteer-produced, local news, and public affairs show is broadcast live on WOOC 105.3 FM Monday through Friday from 6-7 p.m., and repeated at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. the following weekday.

Celebrate grassroots media, suggest stories we should cover from the local community, and get your own voice on the radio. Learn more about our radio program here.

Register

Doing Death Justice: How to Get the End of Life Care You Want and Deserve
2023-05-17 19:00 - 21:00
Where: 2nd floor of the NATURE Lab building, 3319 6th Avenue.

Discover end-of-life options available to you in a talk with Corinne Carey from Compassion and Choices. You will learn how to prepare for the care you want leading up to and after your death. There will be information about choosing your healthcare proxy, drafting a living will, and different funerary care options.

This event is co-sponsored by People’s Health Sanctuary at NATURE Lab and organized by Veronica Maroulis.

Corinne Carey, co-moderator, is a lawyer and a political and public affairs strategist who takes on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence and human rights principles. Her policy work is grounded in her long history in the harm reduction movement. She founded and directed the Harm Reduction Law Project, and has also worked for Human Rights Watch and the New York Civil Liberties Union. She serves as the state director for Compassion & Choices in New York, and also works as a political & public affairs correspondent for the Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Veronica Maroulis is a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s in Business Analytics. After being introduced to the work of The Order of the Good Death and content by Caitlin Doughty via YouTube, she has been fascinated by death and the macabre. Veronica is an advocate for alternative death care and death justice and wants to encourage thoughtful conversations about death to de-stigmatize the taboo topic. Death is an inevitability of life and Veronica wants to give people the resources so that they receive the death care they want and deserve.

Freedom Fest 2023
2023-06-24 14:00 - 17:00 | Freedom Square, 35 5th Ave, Troy, NY, 12180, United States
Freedom Fest is back! Join us for an outdoor concert and summer celebration featuring artists of the Capital Region who have been inspired by the 50 year history of hip hop music and culture! Performances kick off at 2:00 pm and featuring Victory Soul Orchestra with special guests UND3RSTANDING. The event MC is H Bosh Jr.

THE EVENT HAS BEEN MOVED INDOORS DUE TO RAIN! The event location is at the Sanctuary main space: 3361 6th Ave, North Troy

This free, all-ages event will feature:

Live music by Victory Soul Orchestra & UND3RSTANDING

BPM Lessons beat making station by Jae Joseph

Face painting

Food & refreshments

Art activities

Garden activities

Community resource fair

and more!

Co-sponsoring this event are many fabulous organizations doing great work across our community including Troy Area Labor Council, Poor People’s Campaign, Troy Central Little League, SNUG, CEO, Oakwood Community Center, TRIP, Shades of Cocoa, and UAlbany TRIO EOC Program.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Victory Soul Orchestra is a hometown horn funk favorite. The dirty sounds of New Orleans brass drive their sound with some influences including Galactic as well as the Dap Kings. You can also find them fronted by Albany’s own JB!! aka Dirty Moses and singer Dali Soto. Their efforts combined help create a funk/rap show that brings the house down. In January 2019 they released their first album, ‘Astrobeat’ – now available on vinyl and all streaming platforms!

Und3rstanding is a three-man Hip-Hop group from Upstate New York featuring Sev Statik, SES Vth, and Knowle’ge. Individually, these artists stand as giants in the realm of underground hip-hop, but collectively, they form a powerful group with a mission to entertain, enlighten and embody what it means to be an emcee. The name Und3rstanding alludes to supreme mathematics and the principles of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding – a set of teachings that each of the members have learned from and hold dearly.Founded in 2015, the members of Und3rstanding had quickly become fans of each other and after performing at several events in the Albany area. It was Sev Statik who tossed out the idea that they should combine talents and “form like Voltron” into a super lyrical squadron. Knowle’ge and SES Vth agreed, and from there they began recruiting the soulful boom-bappington master producer himself, Deborah’s Son, to produce their project. That collaboration led to the trio’s debut self-titled album, Und3rstanding, released in March 2018.

Documentation of Event by Robert Cooper

Youth Radio Workshop, Pt.1
2023-07-08 10:00 - 11:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
When young people get behind the mic, we are offered fresh perspectives on the world around us. In this workshop, youth will be guided on creating radio content from idea conception, question development, and recording strategies in part one to editing of recording, header and footer narration, and preparation for broadcast in part two. Participants will hear their story broadcast on Sanctuary Radio’s Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Youth Sanctuary and Hudson Mohawk Magazine are coming together to offer this two-part workshop for young journalists at a time when media literacy is more important than ever. This workshop will foster a young person’s visions and encourage critical thinking. Participating youth should come with an adult who will support the young person where needed and help to get a recording before part two. No experience is required- we have volunteers to assist.

Part 1 (July 8): Idea Development & Interview TrainingPart 2 (July 29): Editing Story & Station IDs

Register

Part 1: – Review the basics of journalism such as objectivity, etc.– Work on creating a story concept and planning to reach out to potential interviewees.– Practice interviewing and how to record conversations.– Create a plan to record interviews over the next three weeks.

Ideas for radio stories:– Visit an aquarium, a park, or an event and report on the experience. Maybe ask an employee questoins for some additional context.– Get an interview with someone who interests you. This could be someone in your dream career, a family member, or someone who impacts your life.– Think about the things that interest you. How can this become a story? Let’s brainstorm during this workshop!

This workshop is modeled off of the work that our two youngest producers have done to create radio content with support of a parent. Hear an interview with Matilda Rinker-Tennant and Carolyn Tennant about creating radio content. Hear Nikolai Nagel-Dreby and Moses Nagel talk about their work creating radio in this HMM special.

Youth Sanctuary Radio

Read More

Beating the Heat at Grafton Lake

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Bunny Shelters Fill Up After Easter

Read More

Youth Tell Their Story Through Media

Read More

Youth Congress – Kriti Sharma Talks Making Change with Protest

Be5 STEM-Xperience Workshops
2023-07-08 10:00 - 13:00
Geared at getting students in grades K-8 excited about experiencing STEM, Dr. Emilly Obuya will lead one hour workshops that use a variety of games, activities, and experiential learning to guide youth through their discovery of electrical circuits, coding, chemistry, robotics, and more! Join us on Saturdays all summer long from 10:00 am – 11:00 am or 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm at NATURE Lab! **Please note this event is not produced by Media Alliance/The Sanctuary for Independent Media and all questions should be directed to Be5 STEM Club at info@be5stemclub.comSpace is limited, so sign up in advance!

Healing Day, July 2023
2023-07-22 11:00 - 16:00 | People’s Health Sanctuary, 3319 6th Avenue, 2nd Fl, Troy, New York, 12180, United States
People’s Health Sanctuary is excited to host the first Healing Day in a monthly series of events. Healing Day is a way to connect with community members, healers, providers and anyone invested in building a robust network for communal health across the Capital District. We will be offering services from holistic healers, resource sharing by healthcare providers and service groups, child activities, and free food.

We strive to “re-member” what community health can look like, so we welcome community members, and we will be offering healing work on donation basis including body work, yoga, and energy work. In addition there will be community resource & healthcare information, movement activities, food, and child and family-friendly activities!

Register Here

11:15-11:45am Opening Circle and Introductions11:45am Tour of the People’s Health Sanctuary 11:45-1:00pm Flower Crown Making (kid-friendly!)3:00pm Medicinal Garden Tour of CCG with Sienna Thiem3:45pm Closing Circle Food and snacks during the day!

Throughout the day, we will be hosting three amazing bodywork practitioners doing donation based healing! Sign-up with them will be on a rolling basis:

Grassroots Mind Body Energy- Justine: a licensed massage therapist, Usui Reiki Master, and a nationally certified Addiction/Recovery counselor and Abuse/Trauma counselor. Justine is a passionate healer with an alternative approach and is dedicated to helping clients move through a wide range of physical, emotional and spiritual transitions in the most efficient and transformative way possible.

Sara S: is a vegetable farmer and licensed massage therapist. She is passionate about helping other laborers mend their bodies and tend their hearts. Sara trained at the Center for Natural Wellness in Albany and primarily does sports, Swedish, and prenatal massage.

Root3d: They center the liberation, healing, + power of BIPOC by rooting within the 3 dimensions: the mind, body, and spirit. Root3d offers workshops, weekly group healing classes and talk therapy groups, as well as individual sessions.

Desirea will host yoga, time dependent on heat and air quality!

In addition, we will be hosting tabling with community partners:

Blood Pressure Checks with StrongMe!, and Dr. Pride-Boone: Strong Me! is a 12 week, physician-led, Structured Family Weight Management Program whose Mission is to combat Pediatric Obesity. At the end of 3 months, 90% of children who participate in Strong Me! experience a stabilization of their BMIs (Body Mass Index) and 90% demonstrate the development of new healthy habits including increased consumption of vegetables, fruits, water as well as increased frequency in exercise sessions per week. Three months after leaving the program, 60% of children have maintained these habits. Strong Me! is a Stage 2 program that meets the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Strong Me! enables families to develop and sustain healthy health habits. Strong Me! is committed to combating the National Pediatric Obesity Epidemic

SNUG/Trinity Alliance: A play on the word gun, it is now an acronym that stands for Should Never Use Guns. Each of us brings their own special something or quality you could say. Together we work to reduce gun violence by mediating conflicts. With those that are at the highest risk of shooting someone and being. And unfortunately, we have lost some along the way. But this in-turn only makes us stronger.

Project SafePoint: Harm Reduction services

Equality for Troy

Colorectal screening kits donated by Soul Fire in the City

We will be hosting community needs surveys throughout the day and we hope to use these Healing Days as a way to connect with the ever growing network of healers, providers, and community members. We aim to “re-member” an ideal of communal health to aid us in the times to come. We look forward to “walking while questioning” with you all.

Healing Day series will take place on July 22, August 12, and September 9 from 11am – 4pm at the People’s Health Sanctuary (3319 6th Ave Troy, NY). Please contact us at PHS@Mediasanctuary.org with any questions.

People’s Health Sanctuary (PHS) is a community-led mutual aid health initiative, based in North Central Troy. Our theory of change is based in racial and transformative justice to create a liberatory model of community health care for all. Our goal is to establish a central space to share health skills, provide basic integrative care, and explore ways to build networks of communal health. The PHS is a space for gathering, sharing food, moving your body, working through grief, cultivating a sense of safety, and embodying a culture of care.

Youth Radio Workshop, Pt.2
2023-07-29 10:00 - 11:00
When young people get behind the mic, we are given fresh perspectives on stories. In this workshop, youth will work with an adult to develop a story idea, create questions, record and edit an interview which will be aired on Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Youth Sanctuary and Hudson Mohawk Magazine are coming together to offer this two-part workshop for young journalists when media literacy is more important than ever. This workshop will foster youth’s visions in creating a radio story. Participating youth should come with an adult who will help create the story from beginning to end. Participating adults don’t need previous experience.

Part 1 (July 8): Idea Development & Interview TrainingPart 2 (July 29): Editing Story & Station IDs

Register

Part 2: – Review recordings– Get recording onto editing software and go over basic editing training– Give those who are not working on editing an opportunity to short radio promos for radio rotation– Hand out “Hudson Mohawk Magazine correspondent” badges to the new journalists

We have computers and headphones for participants to use, however, if you have your own laptop or headphones, we encourage you to bring your own equipment.

Hudson Mohawk Magazine Open Hours
2023-08-01 15:00 - 19:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Hudson Mohawk Magazine (HMM) is radio for the community, by community volunteers. If you are curious about the radio and have questions, if you’re interested in getting involved, or if you need some support in production, these open hours are a perfect time to come to the main Sanctuary space to work directly with HMM producers.

Our volunteer HMM producers come with a range of skills and experiences. Many volunteers join with little to no experience. These sessions give support to producers of all levels. This is also an opportunity to train new engineers and hosts.

Join our excellent team of grassroots journalists and report on local stories that interest you. Feel free to reach out to us by emailing HMM@mediasanctuary.org or call 518-272-2390.

Healing Day, August 2023
2023-08-12 11:00 - 16:00 | People’s Health Sanctuary, 3319 6th Avenue, 2nd Fl, Troy, New York, 12180, United States
People’s Health Sanctuary is excited to host the second Healing Day in a monthly series of events. Healing Day is a way to connect with community members, healers, providers and anyone invested in building a robust network for communal health across the Capital District. We will be offering services from holistic healers, resource sharing by healthcare providers and service groups, child activities, and free food. The next Healing Day will be September 9th, so put it in your calendars!

We strive to “re-member” what community health can look like, so we welcome community members, and we will be offering healing work on donation basis including body work, yoga, and energy work. In addition there will be community resource & healthcare information, movement activities, food, and child and family-friendly activities!

Register Here

10-12 pm DE-FENCE: Medicine in the Margins workshop

11:30-12 Opening Circle and Introductions

11 am-ongoing: Clothing giveaway by Dope Thrift Finds

12 pm Yoga with Desirea (inside PHS space)

12 pm Youth movement activity outside with PHS community health intern Nilaan

1-2 pm Kids activity with Root3d: Own your feelings with sound meditation

1 pm: Cooking Demo with Cornell Extension

1-4 pm Meditative listening sessions with Lisa Schonberg: The Insects are Present

2 pm: Collard City Growers Medicinal Plant Tour with Sienna Thiem

3 pm Yoga with Desirea (inside PHS space)

3:45 pm Closing Circle

Food, snacks, grilling during the day!

Throughout the day, we will be hosting several amazing bodywork practitioners doing donation based healing! Sign-up with them will be on a rolling basis:

Massage– Grassroots Mind Body Energy- Justine: I’ve been a professional Licensed Massage Therapist since 2014. I am a graduate of The Center for Natural Wellness School of Massage Therapy in Albany, New York. In addition to being a proficient and passionate Licensed Massage Therapist, I am also a Usui Reiki Master and a nationally certified Addiction/Recovery counselor and Abuse/Trauma counselor with credentials of ministry through the Universal Life Church. I’m a passionate healer with an alternative approach and am dedicated to helping clients move through a wide range of physical, emotional and spiritual transitions in the most efficient and transformative way possible. My treatments are specifically tailored to the needs of each client to make sure they receive the approach that works best for them. Time and again my clients and I have seen the incredible healing transformations that can take place when a total mind/body connection approach is taken.

Massage– Sara S: is a vegetable farmer and licensed massage therapist. She is passionate about helping other laborers mend their bodies and tend their hearts. Sara trained at the Center for Natural Wellness in Albany and primarily does sports, Swedish, and prenatal massage.

Reiki, energy healing, intuitive spiritual readings- Root3d: We are here to center the liberation, healing, + power of BIPOC by rooting within the 3 dimensions: the mind, body, and spirit. Root3d offers workshops, weekly group healing classes and talk therapy groups, as well as individual sessions.

Yoga with Desirea

Medicinal plant sketching and sensing with Margaretha Haughwout, who is hosting the DE-FENCE workshop

In addition, we will be hosting tabling with community partners:

Blood Pressure checks with Chasing Health: Founded by Dr Omorogbe, Chasing Health Inc. teaches underserved communities of color about high blood pressure by providing free blood pressure screenings, health education, and coaching at barber shops, beauty salons, non-profit organizations, churches, and schools locally and abroad.

Youth Movement with Nilaan of Strong Me! Family Weight Management Programs: Strong Me! Family Weight Management Program is a 24 week weight management program for families seeking help with improving their eating and exercise habits. Strong Me! has been helping families achieve success for over 20 years and has operated in several states and regions of the United States under the direction of Dr. Pride-Boone, a Board-Certified, Harvard-trained Pediatrician. StrongMe! is currently offering programs in North Troy, NY and working with the People’s Health Sanctuary in North Troy. For more information visit their website at www.strongme.org

SNUG/Trinity Alliance: A play on the word gun, it is now an acronym that stands for Should Never Use Guns. Each of us brings their own special something or quality you could say. Together we work to reduce gun violence by mediating conflicts. With those that are at the highest risk of shooting someone and being. And unfortunately, we have lost some along the way. But this in-turn only makes us stronger.

CEK RN: When you need someone to accompany you to your medical appointments or help you understand your treatment, turn to CEK RN Consulting, Inc. in Albany, New York. Our team is guided by Coretta E. Killikelly, our founder. She is a doctoral prepared nurse and she has a Master of Science in Nursing, specializing in Adult Health Education, and with more than 19 years of experience in the areas of Geriatric, Ambulatory care, Management, Case Management, and Health Education.

Cornell Cooperative Extension with Felisha Chandler: The mission of Cornell Cooperative Extension Of Rensselaer County is to put experience and research knowledge to work through educational partnerships that improve residents’ lives and communities. Felisha Chandler from Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Rensselaer County is a Nutrition Program Educator. Felisha’s primary responsibility is to educate the community about nutrition through CCE’s free Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). She teaches participants how to stretch their food dollars and maximize the amount of nutrient rich foods into their daily diets. Key audiences include families working to make ends meet, 18-25 year olds living independently, non-custodial parents, foster parents/ guardians and youth. Felisha prides herself on teaching in a hands-on way that is fun and educational. Her lessons allow for a full experience from nutritional content and smart meal planning to safe food preparation and sampling. Felisha brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the program with over 19 years of teaching with CCE of Rensselaer County. In addition to having degrees in Culinary Arts and Hotel and Restaurant Management from Schenectady County Community College, she has 13 years of experience being a Hospitality Director and was a Sou Chef for the WHMT Farm to Table series. Recently, Felisha received certificates from eCornell in Wellness Counseling and Nutrition and Healthy Living, Medicinal Plants and Plant Based -Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center of Nutrition Studies. Currently Felisha is working toward becoming a Registered Dietician with a specialty in wellness for those recovering from drug addiction and diabetes awareness and prevention for youth.

Project SafePoint: Narcan kits being offered for the communityHarm Reduction services

Equality for Troy: Combating systemic injustices and racial inequity in The City of Troy, NY and Rensselaer County

Dope Thrift Finds: Hi my name is Julianna! Over the past few years I have developed a passion for sustainable clothing. Personally, I love to have many options to choose from so I found a way where I can have many options without all the waste. Secondly, I try my best to prioritize well made fabrics like cotton because a lot of the clothes available today are made with synthetic fabrics disrupting women’s hormones in particular. Please feel free to share your finds on instagram tagging @dope.thriftfinds.

Community Rising Project: The Community Rising Project, a Non Profit Organization is a (comprehensive) Advocacy, Advancement and Support center for individuals of Color and those that support them, who are directly impacted by trauma and their involvement in the justice system. We are community members that have suffered oppression and harm due to racism, sexual violence, domestic violence, incarceration, homelessness and poverty.

Colorectal screening kits donated by Soul Fire in the City

We will be hosting community needs surveys throughout the day and we hope to use these Healing Days as a way to connect with the ever growing network of healers, providers, and community members. We aim to “re-member” an ideal of communal health to aid us in the times to come. We look forward to “walking while questioning” with you all.

The Healing Day series takes place on July 22, August 12, and September 9 from 11am – 4pm at the People’s Health Sanctuary (3319 6th Ave Troy, NY). Please contact us at PHS@Mediasanctuary.org with any questions.

People’s Health Sanctuary (PHS) is a community-led mutual aid health initiative, based in North Central Troy. Our theory of change is based in racial and transformative justice to create a liberatory model of community health care for all. Our goal is to establish a central space to share health skills, provide basic integrative care, and explore ways to build networks of communal health. The PHS is a space for gathering, sharing food, moving your body, working through grief, cultivating a sense of safety, and embodying a culture of care.

The Insects are Present
2023-09-01 05:00 - 08:00
The Insects are Present is a participatory installation by artist Lisa Schonberg that engages with insects and their sound to compose music compositions. Alluding towards Marina Abramović’s 2010 work, Schonberg’s installation asks audience members to spend an extended time listening to insects in real time, both through hearing and touch. Schonberg developed this modular system during field research in Oregon, the Brazilian Amazon, the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (AL), and New York, adapting recording and playback elements to insects and their sounds at each study site. Participants will be invited to contribute their own sounds to the work in an assertion of our ongoing connection with the insects in our shared living environments.

The installation will take place at Ellie Irons’ Lawn (Re)Disturbance Laboratory, part of NATURE Lab and the Sanctuary’s Eco-Art Trail in North Troy. Participants are encouraged to sign up for a listening session in advance at this form (or click the registration button below). A limited number of walk-in sessions will also be available.

Dates/Times:

Friday Aug 11, 3-6 pm (during Collard City Growers Open Hours)Saturday Aug 12, 1-4 pm (during People’s Health Sanctuary Healing Day)Sunday Aug 13, Sunset: 8-11 pmSaturday Aug 26, 10am-1 pmSunday Aug 27, 1-4 pm Friday Sep 1, Sunrise: 5-8 am

MediaSanctuary · "The Insects are Present" at Lawn (Re)Disturbance Laboratory

Lisa Schonberg is a composer and percussionist creating sound works based on ecological research. Informed by her background in entomology, Schonberg is interested in how listening to cryptic sound can reveal and challenge assumptions about insects and other overlooked soundmakers. Since 2017 she has been collaborating with Brazilian entomologists on ATTA (Amplifying the Tropical Ants), a project investigating ant bioacoustics in the Amazon. Her other recent work includes investigations of old-growth forests in Oregon, endangered Hawaiian Hylaeus bees, mushrooms, and plastics. Schonberg’s compositions are performed by percussion ensembles Secret Drum Band, Antenna, & UAU, and presented as solo performance and installation. Schonberg presents workshops on methods for environmental listening, including workshops with Allie ES Wist for their collaboration Sensory Kinship of the Third Kind. She is the author of Text Scores for Getting to Know the Invertebrates, The Hylaeus Project, and the The DIY Guide to Drums, and has presented work or performed at FILE Festival (BR), the Pompidou, the Brooklyn Museum, Bosque da Ciencia (BR), the American Museum of Natural History, and Museo Reina Sofia (SP). She has developed her work through residencies at Labverde, the Banff Centre, Pioneerworks, HJ Andrews Experimental Station, and Signal Fire.
