651 Arts Announces 2025 Fall/Winter Season In New Downtown Brooklyn Home

651 ARTS, Brooklyn’s premier hub for African Diasporic performing arts, has announced its 2025 Fall/Winter Season, marking its first full season in the organization’s new permanent home at 10 Lafayette Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn.

The milestone season brings together a powerful lineup of performances in film, dance, theater, and music, showcasing the depth and diversity of Black artistic expression.

“This season is a major milestone for 651 ARTS — our first full season presented in our permanent home,” said Executive Director Toya A. Lillard. “The works we are presenting embody the innovation, resilience, and brilliance of the African Diaspora. They invite us to gather in community, to celebrate, to question, and to dream together.”

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival

October 25, 1–9 PM | 651 ARTS, 10 Lafayette Avenue
651 ARTS opens its season by hosting a day of screenings, talkbacks, and networking events with the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, now in its 28th year. An Academy Awards–qualifying event, Reel Sisters celebrates women of color in film, with featured documentaries including Boil the Cabbage (dir. Candace Mae Williamson) and Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps (dirs. Shellée M. Haynesworth and Michelle Parkerson).

651 ARTS Artist-in-Residence: Maleek Washington – Bricks

October 29, 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM | The Apollo’s Victoria Theater, 233 W. 125th St.
Choreographer and performer Maleek Washington launches 651’s new residency program with Bricks, a new musical by Charlene Jean and Franklin Rankin. Presented in partnership with The Apollo’s New Works Program, Bricks explores ancestral love, protection, and spiritual inheritance through music and movement.

Nicholas Ryan Gant: Restore

November 15, 7 PM | 651 ARTS, 10 Lafayette Avenue
Vocalist and composer Nicholas Ryan Gant performs selections from his forthcoming album Restore, blending gospel, R&B, and soul in a concert that explores reconciliation and renewal. Gant’s music draws from his collaborations with Mariah Carey, Childish Gambino, and other leading artists.

Najee Omar: Little Black Book

December 5–6, 7 PM | 651 ARTS, 10 Lafayette Avenue
Award-winning writer and performer Najee Omar presents Little Black Book, a hybrid performance of poetry, theater, and music tracing one man’s journey of love, heartbreak, and queer self-discovery. Omar’s work creates a powerful space of vulnerability and celebration of Black queer intimacy.

The Incredible Drunkertons

December 11–13, 7 PM | 651 ARTS, 10 Lafayette Avenue
Closing the season, The Incredible Drunkertons offers a glittering disco-era variety show led by Sizzle and Funk, a pair of fictional “recovering child stars.” Mixing satire, nostalgia, and music, the performance pays tribute to the spirit of 1970s pop culture with humor and heart.