Park Avenue Armory Launches 'Now is the Time' with Toshi Reagon and More
The public is invited to celebrate the kickoff of this program with a public conversation and concert in the Armory's Veterans Room on March 28.
Park Avenue Armory will continue its 2026 Making Space Public Programming series with a season-long, two-part initiative, Now is the Time: Artists Go to Work, presented in partnership with The Toni Morrison Foundation and the Princeton Atelier. Inspired by Toni Morrison's belief that in challenging times artists must go to work and the timestamp of America's 250th anniversary, this initiative explores new ways of creating spaces for artists and creative collaborators to reflect, connect, strategize and support one another at a time of ongoing struggle, to reignite creativity and mutual care across communities.
The public is invited to celebrate the kickoff of this program with a public conversation and concert in the Armory's Veterans Room, Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 7pm, featuring poet, performer, and activist Staceyann Chin, with Grammy Award-winning bassist, composer, and educator Esperanza Spalding, and multi-talented and versatile singer, composer, musician, curator, and producer Toshi Reagon.
Part I of this public happening begins at 7pm, with Now is the Time co-conveners Avery Willis Hoffman (Artistic Advisor, The Toni Morrison Foundation; Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, Court Theatre at University of Chicago; former Program Director, Park Avenue Armory), Tina M. Campt (Director, The Princeton Atelier; Roger S. Berlind Professor in Humanities, Princeton University), and Tavia Nyong'o (Curator of Public Programming and Scholar-in-Residence, Park Avenue Armory) welcoming audiences and offering a framework for both the evening and the work of the following months. The conveners invite Staceyann Chin to take the stage for a conversation to discuss the residency projects they've founded: Chin's Kindred on the Rock, a 70-acre homestead in Jamaica for artists, activists, and community-minded individuals, and spalding's Prismid Sanctuary an eco-cultural hub in Portland, Oregon created by and for Indigenous, Black and POC artists and cultural workers. Following this conversation, Ford Foundation fellow, musician, and artist Toshi Reagon teams up with her band Big Lovely and additional vocalists for a set of her signature blend of sonic Americana, from folk to funk, blues to rock.
"This season Making Space marks the tenth anniversary of the public program, and we are choosing to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by highlighting the centrality of the arts and artists to our civic freedoms," says Tavia Nyong'o, Curator of Public Programming and Scholar-in-Residence at Park Avenue Armory. "We are proud to team up with The Toni Morrison Foundation and the Princeton Atelier that Morrison founded in order to bring to our Armory audience urgent and hopeful declarations of interdependence for our time."
This kick-off event closes a weekend of public and private discussions at the Armory and Princeton University, focused on what remains "unfinished" in America's promise of freedom and how we might move forward guided by the theme of interdependence. Conveners bring together a group of thought leaders to share reflections on the state of the arts, generate strategies for creating new structures for art and gathering, and plan for the Now is the Time: Artists Go to Work - Part II convening in October 2026. This group includes: former Program Director for Arts and Culture at The Mellon Foundation Emil Kang; curator and choreographer Rashida Bumbray; Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington; Staceyann Chin; MacArthur Fellow and movement artist Okwui Okpokwasili and her co-founder of Sweat Variant, director, composer and designer Peter Born; and Esperanza Spalding; among others. On Friday, March 27, The Princeton Atelier hosts this group for a panel discussion on the power of artistic convening and collaboration as part of the on-going legacy of the Atelier's founder, Toni Morrison, at 4:30pm in the Wallace Theater at the Princeton Arts Complex. Additional information and ticket information available here.
The season-long initiative concludes with Now is the Time: Artists Go to Work - Part II taking place at Park Avenue Armory over the course of two days, Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4, 2026. Additional details and participants for this convening weekend will be announced after the March 2026 planning and discussions.
Held in the Armory's historic period rooms and spaces, Making Space at the Armory is an insightful series of cutting-edge conversations, performances, and activations that provides a unique forum for bridging art and culture. These happenings-curated by writer, scholar, and Guggenheim fellow Tavia Nyong'o-make space for new points of view and unique perspectives from a diverse array of artists, scholars, cultural leaders, and social trailblazers. In addition to the second installment of Now Is The Time: Artists Go To Work coming up in October, Making Space at the Armory also presents: Live From the Armory, a live podcasting event on June 6 in the spirit of the live broadcasting of Orson Welles' The Fall of the City from the Armory in 1937, featuring participants Randy Cohen (Person Place Thing), Ramzi Fawaz (Nerd from the Future), and Karen Tongson (The Art of Grief), among others; and Voices Rising: Korean Diaspora Voices in Performance on September 24, a conversation considering how Korean artists influence US culture, presented in partnership with the Serica Initiative. Continuing the Artist Talks, Wade Thompson Drill Hall artists will sit down for discussions about their practice in the intimate Veterans Room, including conversations with: choreographer Benjamin Millepied; artist, musician, and composer Céleste Boursier-Mougenot; director Simon Stone; composer Steve Reich; and visionary performance artist Marina Abramović. Earlier this season, Fox Tactics: Artists at Work in Trying Times brought together Performance Space Artistic Director Taja Cheek, Obie Award-winning performance artist and co-founder of JACK performance space Jennifer Kidwell, multi-hyphenate artist and activist Narcissister, and interdisciplinary curator and writer Lumi Tan for a conversation on making work in the face of censorship and political backlash.
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