Mission

The Bushwick Starr is an Obie Award winning not-for-profit theater that presents an annual season of new performance works. We are an organization defined by both our artists and our community, and since 2007, we have grown into a thriving theatrical venue, a vital neighborhood arts center, and a destination for exciting and engaging performance. We provide a springboard for emerging professional artists to make career-defining leaps, and we are a sanctuary where established artists come to experiment and innovate. We are also a neighborhood playhouse, serving our Bushwick, Brooklyn community's diverse artistic needs and impulses.

In 2020, the consulting firm P.S.314 worked with us to create a capital campaign strategy that began as a plan to raise funds to support a new lease and the costs associated with moving into and outfitting a new space and pivoted to a plan to purchase and build out The Starr’s new home. In February 2022 we engaged P.S.314 once again to guide us through the process of developing a Strategic Plan for FY23 - FY25. This plan focuses on the transitional period from construction of the building in FY23 to FY24 - 25 when we are fully operational in our new home and beginning to take advantage of the myriad opportunities it can provide.

¡WEPA!

The ¡WEPA! Bushwick participatory action research project was conducted by El Puente and The Bushwick Starr.

Built upon the principles of equity, self-determination and belonging, the researchers aimed to listen closely to Bushwick community members, especially those who are often left out of decision making and research. It reached across geographic areas, organizations, affiliations, groups, income levels, ethnicities and ages, in order to prepare a community sourced inventory of existing neighborhood cultural assets and resources. The study worked to identify traditions, events, activities, and spaces that longtime residents want to be preserved, brought back, or created, especially in response to the planned rezoning.

The research data and analysis outlined in this report represent the voices of over 550 residents, artists, arts providers, community leaders, cultural workers, parents, students, teachers, churchgoers, visitors, political representatives, engaged in schools, libraries, small businesses, galleries, theaters, parks, churches, daycare centers, community centers, senior centers, bodegas, tenant association meetings, and community planning meetings.

HISTORY:

The Bushwick Starr began in 2001 as a developmental space for the New York based theater company, Fovea Floods, Inc. In 2004, the company helped to fully convert the space to a black-box venue while producing a large-scale theatrical run. In the subsequent years, as the neighborhood of Bushwick began to transform into a thriving artistic nexus desirous of space and support, we decided to open our doors to other artists. Since doing so, we have quickly grown into a bustling theatrical venue, enjoyed by artists and audiences near and far.

CORE VALUES:

Through serving both emerging and established artists, and building a strong and meaningful bond with our local schools and community, the Starr has become a pillar of the New York City cultural map and a trusted theater where people can experience new, high quality work in a warm, intimate environment. The Bushwick Starr develops new work by a highly curated group of emerging and established performing artists that challenge traditional perceptions of theater and performance.

We believe in the power of art to communicate in surprising ways. The work we present is bold, new, and daring, often melding disciplines, and always full of ideas. The Starr supports artists with 360 degree love by offering an attentive, nurturing, and supportive environment for our artists, helping them develop their best work under ideal circumstances. We provide a space that houses and ignites the conversation around intersecting communities and creates a cultural bridge through ongoing community programs and events.

VISION:

The Bushwick Starr aims to be a thriving cultural institution rooted in its founding mission to nurture artists in creating their most ground-breaking work, while also exemplifying the idea that affordable, equal access art can obliterate boundaries of class and cultural divides, and that live theater is essential in preserving our generation's ability to connect, engage, and participate in the present moment.