Brooklyn Arts Group Gets Its Own Home
Toya Lillard is not a real estate agent, but she has certainly mastered the art of giving a tour. As the executive director of 651 Arts, a Brooklyn-based organization dedicated to African diasporic performance, she has been proudly showcasing the organization’s new headquarters. Located across the street from the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Mark Morris Dance Center, the fourth-floor space at 10 Lafayette in the city-owned arts complex is a major milestone for 651 Arts, complete with a black box theater and three rehearsal studios.
This new space is not just a shiny addition to Brooklyn’s vibrant arts district; it marks a turning point in the organization’s 37-year history. For the first time, 651 Arts has a home of its own. “The space allows 651 Arts the opportunity to control their own destiny,” said Mikki Shepard, one of its founders. The organization is no longer reliant on borrowed venues, allowing it to chart its own course and serve its community more effectively.
The timing of the opening is significant, with the first major performance, André Zachery’s Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans + Other Legends, premiering on January 16. Alongside this, 651 is addressing a critical need for affordable artistic spaces in Brooklyn by offering subsidized rentals to local artists. “There’s a dearth of affordable space for Black artists to create,” Lillard said. “We’re trying to answer that need.”
651 Arts began as an outgrowth of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in the 1980s, operating out of office space at 651 Fulton Street, the address that inspired its name. The organization was born out of a community call for representation. As Lillard explained, local residents questioned why BAM prioritized audiences from outside the neighborhood, saying, “We’re here. We’ve been here.” This demand sparked 651’s mission to uplift Black artists and connect them with the local community.
Over the years, 651 Arts supported groundbreaking work by artists like Anna Deavere Smith, Sekou Sundiata, and Ronald K. Brown, and facilitated international exchanges through programs like Africa Exchange. However, despite its achievements, 651 has always relied on other institutions’ stages and schedules to host its programming. After its 25-year lease at 651 Fulton ended in 2013, the organization was chosen to occupy the new arts complex, but years of construction delays, compounded by the pandemic, postponed the move until now.
As the organization settles into its new home, Lillard has been conducting “friends and family tours” to connect with the local community, including artists, arts organizations, and Black business owners. She is keenly aware of the building’s location in an area increasingly marked by gentrification. “There’s been a lot of cultural erasure,” she said, noting the importance of ensuring that the community 651 was created to serve feels welcome and included.
The premiere of Against Gravity exemplifies the organization’s commitment to telling powerful stories rooted in Black history. Created by Zachery, the piece explores the cultural erasure of the 1980s and ’90s, focusing on figures like Fred Hampton, Harold Washington, and Ben Wilson. Drawing inspiration from the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, Zachery weaves a narrative that reflects on identity, survival, and resistance. “Across our diaspora, the necessity of flight has been part of our survival mechanism,” Zachery said.
For Lillard and 651 Arts, the new headquarters represents a leap of faith and a commitment to the community. “This is a risk we’re taking,” she said. “We’re not BAM. We don’t have huge reserves. But it’s a risk we hope will pay off.” As the organization embarks on this next chapter, Lillard remains focused on creating a space where artists and audiences alike can thrive. “We’re all going to have to defy gravity,” she added. “We’re going to have to figure out another way to fly.”
