Hi-ARTS Heads Into Its Fall Season with New Residencies and a New Executive Director

East Harlem arts organization Hi-ARTS is celebrating its 20th anniversary with new residencies, a grant from the Howard Gilman Foundation to establish Hi-ARTS’ first-ever operating reserve and the appointment of Aaron McKinney as new executive director. The national incubator of works such as Dominique Morisseau’s Blood at the Root, Alex Alpharaoh’s WET: A DACAmented Journey and Liza Jessie Peterson’s The Peculiar Patriot. Hi-ARTS is the only institution in New York City, and one of the few in the country, exclusively dedicated to supporting and developing Hip-Hop and the urban aesthetic. Hi-ARTS also produce the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, which has been held in many cities nationally, including Washington, D.C.

Hi-ARTS also recently announced its Fall 2021 artists-in-residence for Critical Breaks, the company’s residency for artists who are at a pivotal phase in creating new work, and Sky Lab, which supports socially engaged artists who center community in the development of their work, including practitioners who create outside of the traditional studio or theatre.

Critical Breaks artists are Alexander Lambie, Tanika I. Williams, and the collaborative duo Kirya Traber and Sissi Liu. Joining Sky Lab are dance-theatre collective Sydnie L. Mosley Dances (SLMDances) and LINDALA. All artists reflect Hi-ARTS’s mission to foster creators who employ hip-hop and urban aesthetics, especially Black artists and artists of color, and amplify their work within and beyond the organization’s home in East Harlem.

McKinney brings 20 years of experience in theater and has been serving as interim executive director since Dr. Raymond Codrington departed the executive director spot at Hi-ARTS to head the Weeksville Heritage Center. Prior to that, McKinney had served as General Manager at Hi-ARTS since October 2016.

McKinney’s professional leadership in performing arts and producing has been aimed at centering the dialogue that has always existed between the arts and social justice activism, highlighting how the intersection of these worlds serves as a vessel for addressing some of our most pressing social issues. Among the projects he has produced are the Off-Broadway debut of Theatre Evolution’s The Contract, a drama addressing the intersection of spirituality and sexuality, and the development phase of the musical Lunatic Sun about the effects of consumerism and gentrification.

For more information about Hi-ARTS, please visit https://www.hi-artsnyc.org/