James Clements And John Maria Gutierrez Awarded Queens Arts Fund Grant

James Clements (he/him) and John Maria Gutierrez (he/they) have awarded the 2022 Queens Arts Fund's Arts Access Grant from the Queens Council on the Arts for their upcoming presentation of "Brother's in Arms" at Culture Lab LIC's home, the Plaxall Gallery, in Queens.

"Brothers in Arms" is a devised multi-disciplinary theatre piece exploring isolation, survival, connection and intimacy between male-identifying folks, co-created and performed by James Clements (he/him) and John Maria Gutierrez (he/they). Set in an undefined space during a moment of conflict and crisis, the piece, built from the wildly varied experiences of its Dominican-American and Scottish creators, unpacks shifting ideas about masculinity, memory, camaraderie and communication. The piece combines movement, dance, music, poetry, video, verbatim text and imagined language, and was originally developed at La Mama E.T.C. It was presented as a workshop production in the Downstairs theatre, and streamed through Culturehub along with a talkback moderated by José Rivera Jr.

The piece has been further developed through Culture Lab LIC's Emergence Residency Program. Emergence is an artist residency program that offers artists & companies free rehearsal and performance space to develop and produce new work. This winter residency program will give 10 artists/companies across all disciplines space to develop new work between January and April. Artists will have an opportunity to connect with a mentor in their chosen medium, and a platform to showcase their work in progress on Culture Lab's website and social media. Work created at Culture Lab will be showcased at Culture Lab's outdoor stage, or indoor theatre in the spring. Clements and Gutierrez will present a sharing this summer on soon-to-be-announced dates.

Recently, Clements and Gutierrez were awarded the 2022 Queens Arts Fund's Arts Access Grant from the Queens Council on the Arts. The Art Access Grant is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Greater New York Arts Development Fund, in partnership with the City Council.

Culture Lab LIC is a 501(c)(3) formed to bring accessible high quality art of all genres to our community, and to support local artists by providing rehearsal, performance, exhibition space, as well as a robust residency program. CL is dedicated to upholding, equity, diversity and inclusion across all their platforms.