Mission & Programs

OUR MISSION

ISSUE Project Room is a pioneering art and performance center dedicated to providing artists with a dynamic environment in which to create and perform new and challenging work according to their vision.

OUR PROGRAMS

Each year ISSUE fosters new work by hundreds of artists whose creative practice in music, sound, visual arts, film, literature, and genre-defying new art forms embodies the highest spirit of artistic integrity and exploration.  New works are presented as single events or as part of themed series.  Some of our thematic programming includes:

Artist In Residence (AIR)
Established in 2006, this program provides four emerging artists each year with a 3-month residency including rehearsal space, production, curatorial, and pr/marketing support to create new works, reach the next stage in their artistic development, and gain exposure to a broad public audience.

ISSUE’s Artist-in-Residence program is made possible by individual members in the community who have donated to the Suzanne Fiol Memorial Fund and through generous support from the Jerome Foundation and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York’s 62 counties.

Chamber Music Month
Established in 2006, Chamber Music Month, an annual programming series presenting cutting-edge composers and ensembles active in contemporary chamber music. Through 18 concerts reaching audiences totaling more than 700 people, Chamber Music Month explores new developments and experimental approaches to acoustic and electronic composition, fostering a critical dialogue between historical traditions and modern practice.

Chamber Music Month is made possible, in part, through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Darmstadt Institute
“…one of the most significant musical presentations of the season.” – TimeOut NY
Established in 2009 by co-curators Zach Layton and Nick Hallett, this month-long festival held each June explores the pedagogical practice and tradition of experimental arts creation through performances, workshops, master classes, and lectures. The series provides a rare forum for the public to experience the rich tradition of experimental music.

DARMSTADT at ISSUE is made possible, in part, through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York’s 62 counties.

Floating Points
Established in 2005, this series (curated by Stephan Moore) commissions and premieres new works on ISSUE’s signature 15-channel hemispherical sound system. This unique technology makes possible an encompassing activation of the room’s acoustics, allowing artists to use location as a compositional element and encourages remarkable new approaches to sound and composition.

Floating Points is made possible with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Littoral Series
Established in 2006, ISSUE’s Littoral program features innovative contemporary writers, musicians, sound, and video artists. Littoral promotes critical dialogue that examines the intersection of these artistic disciplines, bringing together distinctive artists and uniting diverse audiences from NYC’s innovative creative community.

ISSUE’s Littoral Series is made possible, in part, through generous support from The Casement Fund and the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York’s 62 counties.

Emerging Artists Commission
A series that highlights young avant-garde pioneers who are leading contemporary art in new and important directions. An advisory panel selects eight artists from an open call for work submissions. Selected artists are invited to premiere a new acoustic composition to be premiered by an ensemble of musicians selected and assembled by the advisory panel.

ISSUE Project Room’s Emerging Artists Commission is made possible by individual members in the community who have donated to the Suzanne Fiol Memorial Fund and through grants from the Greenwall Foundation and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York’s 62 counties.

MATA (Bi-Monthly Series)
In 2007, ISSUE and MATA developed MATA Interval, a bi-monthly series developed and produced by young participants in MATA’s Curatorial Associate program, which features emerging composers and performers using software instruments, using video as a parallel practice, and rethinking the notion of chamber ensemble in the digital age to map areas where the traditional and the experimental coexist.

Theoretical Series
A new critical discourse series presenting monthly talks, panels, and classes that actively engage artists, writers, and audiences in examining key issues in contemporary aesthetic theory, media, urban space, and politics.

Visual/Sound Installation
Regular exhibitions featuring new, site-specific work. Past exhibits include Tristan Perich’s 18 Linear Constructions, Kaffe Matthew’s Sonic Bed, Heather Dewey-Hagborg’s Totem, and Sounds from Sydney, an exhibition curated by Australian musicologist Caleb Kelley.

You can support continued programming by making a fully tax-deductible donation or by becoming a member.