A Journey through BIG ART in small places

From the moment you walk through the door, you're in the thick of it. You first come to the event center -- ground zero for this high-energy explosion of art and performance. There's a large master map and schedule of events to help you plan your route, so it's always a place to return to and get the scoop on something you haven't seen yet. You can pick up a program with its travel-size map and schedule, or grab a bite and just hang out. With a low admission price and complimentary beverages and snacks, BIG ART is a feast for all your senses.

Any direction you go, in every nook and cranny, you encounter hot downtown artists -- as innovative in their art as they are resourceful with their environment. For us, site-specific means working with the space -- not changing it, but letting you experience it in a completely new way. Stairwells, school rooms, residences, offices, hallways, kitchens, courtyards -- even a coat closet and an out-of-order bathroom -- have all been used in the past.

A fifteen-minute piece might perform a dozen times; another could last the whole day. Performance times are staggered so you can catch a little dance here, a little music there. We've designed the event to be audience-interactive, both during and in between performances. You can stick around for post-performance discussions, open rehearsals and meet-the-artists receptions...then head off to another featured performance or move on to an installation or video site.

The real beauty of BIG ART in small places is that the event is just the beginning for these works; they'll continue to grow and change. Because of BIG ART, one artist was invited to create a new piece at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum; another toured a dance/puppet work to a Foxboro, MA festival; and still another was commissioned to create an installation for an NYC dance club. We're proud of the part we played in these artists' success and look forward to continuing our collaborations with them, helping their work reach new audiences.