THE UPTOWN COLLECTIVE
The ARTS have shown themselves to not only insert cultural enterprise into the world, but also serve as a healing tool. The Uptown Collective is a community that helps develop and support the whole artist: mind, body and spirit.
The Uptown Collective is designed to not only connect artists across multiple genres but engage them in creating, developing and producing original work.
The Griot Circle is a generative writing workshop led by Jamal Joseph, where participants aged 50+ create new works across poetry, memoir, short story, monologue, or scene, honoring the rich tradition of storytelling through fresh creative expression.
In the spirit of the African griot, this generative writing workshop invites participants to create new short works in their chosen form—memoir, short story, poetry, monologue, or scene. It is a space to birth new stories, not revise old ones.
Unlock your storytelling voice in Page to Possibility, a free 4-week screenwriting workshop led by NYU Tisch Professor Susan-Sojourna Collier. Creatives 50+ will develop an original scene and outline while exploring new storytelling techniques.
No experience needed—just your story and your imagination!
COMPONENTS OF THE COLLECTIVE
CONTENT Programs and classes that help advance your skills.
CREATION Plays, web series, bands, etc. Projects that needs workshopping, incubation, and/or space for development.
CONVERSATIONS Collective Conversations and talkbacks, discussion groups, wellness support groups
COACHING Classes taught by fellow artists, mentorship matchups, one-on-one conversations with experts
COLLABORATION Partnerships with arts-based organizations to expand funding and performance opportunities.
THE CREATIVE ARCHITECTS OF THE UPTOWN COLLECTIVE
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ERIN CHERRY
Actor. Producer. Coach.
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DESIREE ELDER
Writer. Creative Director.
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KIMBERLEE WALKER
Actor. Writer. Model.
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RENIKA WILLIAMS
Actor. Writer. Teaching Artist.
START YOUR ARTISTIC JOURNEY HERE.
Are you a writer with a new script you’ve been polishing but haven’t heard it out loud?
Are you a writer who has a finished piece you’d like to see read for an audience?
Are you an actor who’d loves doing creative projects and getting paid for them?
The Uptown Collective is for you! We are always on the hunt for writers and actors. Let us host your first table read or staged reading. UC table reads are closed-door sessions involving a writer and professional actors. Staged readings are public performances involving a writer, professional actors and an audience.
Click the button below to get started.
Contact us directly at uc@dreamcenterharlem.org
The Uptown Collective programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and
the New York State Legislature.