FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Artists atiya jones and Adil Mansoor of Time Sensitive receive $100,000 Arts Equity Reimagining funding supporting queer and BIPOC artists
EAST LIBERTY, PA, September 29, 2021 – Kelly Strayhorn Theater celebrates Time Sensitive collaborating artists Adil Mansoor and atiya jones for receiving $100,000 in funding support from Arts Equity Reimagined.
Fiscally sponsored by Kelly Strahorn Theater, Time Sensitive is an artist residency which will provide two emerging queer, trans and/or BIPOC artists partial financial support over the duration of one year, allowing each artist time and space to commit to professional development. The program is a response to the creative exploratory hours artists lose as they participate in the gig economy, in turn providing direct financial support and creative liberty as participants navigate pathways out of the notably unsustainable gig economy.
Time Sensitive argues that time is a luxury most often afforded to artists coming from privileged backgrounds, which given our societal history, tend to be white. Cultural isolation affects the mental health, and therefore the productivity of queer, trans, and BIPOC artists. Time Sensitive hopes to build a more equitable arts economy by acknowledging these disparities in our community and addressing them directly.
Artists atiya jones and Adil Mansoor were brought together, first by a mutual friend, before bonding over cultural exhaustion and feelings of institutional isolation. As BIPOC and queer creatives, they are often the marginalized voice that offers “diversity” in the room. Their lived experience is an advantage for any white-led organization, however there isn’t a system in place to compensate them for that. Their mutual desire to tell and depict their stories first hand without counter-cultural filtration or exploitation bonds them in this collaboration. They share a strong desire to create for the interests and needs of their communities, as opposed to meeting financial obligations. This opportunity would be the first of its kind for the artists.
Time Sensitive projects will take place during 2021-2022. Keep up with the artists by following atiya jones at atiyajones.com and Adil Mansoor at adilmansoor.com.
About the Artists
atiya jones is a multidisciplinary visual & conceptual artist, exploring themes of human connection, gentrification, migration and isolation, while visually depicting accumulative actions / community presence through her WildLines. She utilizes her artwork to create and hold discourse centering the Black-experience she’s had, as an artist, woman, transplant, and wanderer.
In Pittsburgh some of her public installations can be found throughout the East End at Crown Barbershop, Fieldwork Gallery, The Carnegie Museum of Art in “Locally Sourced,” Trace Brewery, Tryp Hotel, Knotzland, Moss Architects and the former Regent Square Theater. Previous clients include Pantene Pro-V and Head & Shoulders, Old Blood Noise Endeavors, and restaurants The Vandal and Speedy Romeo (NY). http://www.atiyajones.com/
Adil Mansoor is a theatre director and educator centering the stories of queer folks and people of color. Directing projects include Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Hatch Arts), Chickens in the Yard by Paul Kruse (Hatch Arts and Quantum Theatre), Desdemona’s Child by Caridad Svich (Carnegie Mellon University), Dark Play or Stories for Boys by Carlos Murillo (Carnegie Mellon University), Through Broken Doors, an ensemble generated digital archive (Pittsburgh Playhouse), and an upcoming production of Will Arbery’s Plano (Quantum Theatre). Adil is currently developing Amm(i)gone, a solo performance adapting Sophocles’s Antigone as an apology to and from his mother. Amm(i)gone is National Performance Network (NPN) Creative and Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Theater Offensive, and NPN.
Adil has developed and directed new work with NYU, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, and PearlArts Studio. He is a founding member and resident director with Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective. As an educator, Adil has worked with Sarah Lawrence College, Point Park University, Middlebury College, The Mori Art Museum, The Andy Warhol Museum, and more. He was the Programs and Artistic Director for Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQA+ youth arts organization in Pittsburgh for over 5 years. He is an alumnus of DirectorsLabChicago and Quantum Theatre’s Gerri Kay New Voices program. He is a 2050 Directing Fellow with NYTW for the 2020-2021 season. Adil received his MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University. https://www.adilmansoor.com/
About Kelly Strayhorn Theater
Kelly Strayhorn Theater is a non-profit community performing arts center in East Liberty, advancing live art through strategic vision and community collaboration with two venues running along Penn Avenue. KST’s Alloy Studios is a cultural hub in the heart of East Liberty, and the historic Kelly Strayhorn Theater is located in the thriving business district. More than 20 years after its founding, KST continues to use its broad reach to impact the contemporary arts and the community.