Looking Glass Thursday: Tenement St. Workshop

GMT's Alex Scally checks in with this week's feature, which looks at the Brooklyn, NY-based artists collective, Tenement Street Workshop. Looking Glass 8.12: Tenement St. Workshop from GlassMind Theatre on Vimeo. During our production of Antartica, GMT was approached by fellow Baltimore artist (and Looking Glass alum) Philip Edward Laubner to participate in his July multimedia event, Instant Gratification. Phil expressed great interest in adding more performance art to the bill, namely spoken-word and slam poety. Without hesitation, one group came to mind: Tenement Street Workshop. In early June, I contacted Patrick Letterii, a former classmate and founding member of TSW. I knew that they were currently touring their newest original, God On The Roof, a coming-of-age story told through slam poetry and visual media. I explained Instant Gratification and proposed creating or expanding a slam poetry work as a collaborative project for the event. The entire group embraced the opportunity by not only staging the Baltimore premiere God On The Roof, but also writing a piece for Glass Mind's members and associate artists. It was a real pleasure that, despite the long-distance relationship, we were able to build something together and showcase the strength of our companies for one audience. Whether it be a concert on the roof of a Bushwick warehouse, a festival at Carnegie Mellon University, or a hybrid performance in a Pigtown art gallery (see video), Tenement Street Workshop continue to build a strong following as innovative and resourceful liaisons of the East Coast arts scene. For more information and upcoming performances, please see www.tenementsteet.org.