BCA's Artist Sustainability Workshop Series (ASWS) returns with Taking Back Our Power: Centering Artists at Arts Organizations. This free virtual workshop series is designed to explore case studies that offer knowledge, tools, and expert-peer guidance from organizations that prioritize the creative vision and financial independence of artist communities. In this three-part series, participants will learn the history, mission, challenges, and successes from a volunteer-run independent press, a Chicago-based artist development and web distribution company, and a gallery showcasing work by Bronx artists. Join us as we kick off the series on May 1st - International Workers Day!
Virtual Workshop Schedule
Workshop I: Taking Back Our Power with Women’s Press Collective
Thursday, May 1st, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM EST
In this workshop, full-time organizer and Operations Manager Lisa Daniell shares the history, mission, challenges, and successes of Women’s Press Collective (WPC), a women-led, all-volunteer, non-government funded membership association, dedicated to building independent press to tell the stories corporate media won’t.
Workshop II: Taking Back Our Power with Open Television (OTV)
Thursday, May 15th, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM EST
Scholar, author, and executive producer Aymar Jean “AJ” Escoffery shares the history, mission, challenges, and successes of OTV (Open Television), an award-winning Chicago-based nonprofit platform that develops intersectional television from the bottom-up through intentional artist development and web distribution.
Workshop III: Taking Back Our Power with Studio 13 Gallery
Thursday, May 29th, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM EST
In this workshop, BxArts Factory co-founder and co-executive director, Yolanda Rodriguez shares the organization’s history, mission, challenges, and successes. This case study also explores the origins of Studio 13 Gallery, an in-person and virtual hub showcasing work by Bronx artists.
About the Instructors
Lisa Daniell is a full-time organizer and the Operations Manager for Women’s Press Collective (WPC), an all-volunteer, non-government funded membership association organizing independent, alternative publication resources that can challenge mainstream media lies and truly become a voice for the majority of the people.
Website: www.womenspresscollective.org
Aymar Jean "AJ" Escoffery is the Margaret Walker Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University and 2024-25 Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center. He is the author of Open TV: Innovation Beyond Hollywood and the Rise of Web Television (NYU Press, 2018) and Reparative Media: Cultivating Stories and Platforms to Heal our Culture (MIT Press, 2025). Dr. Escoffery co-founded OTV | Open Television, a platform for intersectional television. OTV programs have received recognition from the Television Academy (Emmy Awards), Webby Awards, Streamy Awards, Gotham Awards, among others. He regularly serves as executive producer of films and series, including Jules Rosskam’s Desire Lines (Special Jury Award, 2024 Sundance Film Festival), Sarah Oberholtzer’s We Call Each Other, and The Cookout with Emmy Award winning producer Makiah Green and Emmy-nominated director Sam Bailey. His work has been recognized by the MacArthur Foundation & Field Foundation (Leaders for a New Chicago, 2019), Variety (Top 50 Entertainment Instructor 2020 & 2021), Filmmaker (25 New Faces of Indie Film, 2018) NewCity (Film Leader 2017 & Film Hall of Fame 2020), Chicago magazine (New Power List, 2021) and Seed&Spark (Filmmaker to Watch 2018).
Website: www.weareo.tv
Yolanda Rodriguez grew up in Maunabo, Puerto Rico and moved to the Bronx in 1997. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education with a Bilingual Extension from Hunter College. Yolanda is an experienced and passionate educator, with an emphasis on bi-lingual education and Spanish as a second language. She currently works for the White Plains City School District as the Dual Language Second Grade Spanish Zone teacher. Yolanda is the founder of the non-profit organization Visiones Culturales, an initiative focused on bringing quality art exhibitions to underserved Latino communities. She is a member of the Puerto Rican Institute for the Development of the Arts and Women of Color in the Arts.
Website: www.bxartsfactory.org
