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. 

Rooted and Rising: A Juneteenth Celebration – Artist Call

Uptown Legacy Connect is seeking artists aged 50 and older to perform at Rooted and Rising: A Juneteenth Celebration on June 20 at 5:30 PM at FCBCNYC in Harlem. We’re calling on singers, poets, dancers, and musicians to share their gifts in a powerful evening honoring legacy, freedom, and creative expression.

To be considered, email a sample of your work to
UptownCollectiveSubmissions@gmail.com

by June 13 or until all spots are filled.

Join us on Friday, June 27, 2025, at The Dream Center for Rooted and Rising—a powerful celebration spotlighting the brilliance of Black artists aged 50 and older.

Presented by the Uptown Collective, this evening of live performance features original work from singers, poets, dancers, and musicians whose creativity is as deep as their roots. The program honors the legacy of Black artistic expression while making space for joy, community, and connection.

Following the performance, guests are invited to a vibrant mixer with food, music, and celebration.


Doors open at 5:30 PM
Free and open to the public

Because creativity doesn’t retire—it reignites.

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

  • ERIN CHERRY

    Actor. Producer. Coach.

  • DESIREE ELDER

    Writer. Creative Director.

  • KIMBERLEE WALKER

    Actor. Writer. Model.

  • 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.