Call for Artists: The 8th Annual Arts to End Violence Festival

Crown Heights Community Mediation Center Kicks of The 8th Annual Arts to End Violence Festival

The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center (Mediation Center) is a unique neighborhood institution geared towards making Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant safer and healthier for all residents. Our mission is to work to be an example to the city and the rest of the world of how neighborhoods torn apart by violence can become safe, healthy, and vibrant places for all people through the collaborative efforts of neighbors, government, and community organizations. The Mediation Center offers resources, referrals, and trainings, and runs youth development and anti-violence programs including S.O.S (Save Our Streets) Brooklyn, Make It Happen, Justice Community Plus, and YO S.O.S (Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets).

Arts to End Violence is the Mediation Center’s annual celebration of local talent, neighborhood pride, and community building. We believe in the power of art to bring people together, facilitate healing, and motivate positive social change. Through our Arts to End Violence workshops, staff engage young people in discussions about the impact of art in social justice movements and in the community as well how it can be used as a tool for healing from the trauma caused by gun violence.

Call for Art Submissions
The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center will hold the 8th Annual Art Showcase and Gallery Opening on May 24th from 6:30-8:30 PM. Selected works from artists of all ages, including professionals and those new to the art world, will be displayed at the Ron Taylor Gallery located at 1160 St. Johns Place, between Kingston and Albany Avenues in Crown Heights. To be considered for the gallery, art must be 2 dimensional, focused on themes of anti-violence and community, and accompanied by an artist statement. Artwork must be submitted by May 7th 2018 in order to be considered for the gallery show. All additional details and online submission information are available at crownheights.org/arts/gallery.

“There is a role for everyone in the movement to end gun violence. Artists can play a critical role in helping us have empathy for each other see community challenges from different perspectives and help us envision a collaborative and peaceful future.” says Amy Ellenbogen, Director of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, home of the S.O.S. Program. “Efforts are needed at the local level from artists who can help us strengthen our collective identity so we can stop violence, heal from violence, and reinforce our responsibility towards each other..”

About S.O.S. Crown Heights

In Brooklyn, S.O.S. works to stop shootings and killings within the neighborhoods of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. There are also two sister-sites operating in the South Bronx and the Morissania neighborhood. In Brooklyn, the program focuses on several fronts to disrupt violence: S.O.S. Violence Interrupters mediate conflicts on the street, Outreach Workers work with the people most likely to be involved in shooting incidents to change their thinking and behavior, and Hospital Responders meet with victims of gun violence and their families at the emergency department at Kings County Hospital to prevent retaliation and interrupt the cycle of violence. S.O.S. works closely with neighborhood leaders and businesses to promote a public, community-supported campaign against gun violence. S.O.S. has an ongoing and critical collaboration with local clergy through S.O.S. C.A.N., in which clergy members assist in mobilizing participation in vigils within 72 hours of an incident, provide counseling, and promote a message of nonviolence.

For more information about S.O.S. visit www.soscrownheights.org, like our Facebook page (facebook.com/soscrownheights) and follow our twitter (www.twitter.com/SOScrownheights). S.O.S. is a project of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center. The Mediation Center is a project of the Center for Court Innovation—a public-private partnership between the Fund for the City of New York and the New York State Unified Court System.