The Tony Award-winning non-profit Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) has announced that its annual gala, The Artivism Ball, will honor Emmy winner Colman Domingo and Co-Executive Director of the New York State Alliance for Quality Education Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari this year. The event will be held October 14 at 583 Park Avenue.
Zhailon Levingston (Cats: "The Jellicle Ball"), who serves on BAC’s Board of Directors, will direct the gala program. The evening will feature live performances from BAC's past and future, and funds raised will support the organization’s ongoing mission to amplify and empower artist-activists on Broadway and beyond.
“The work Colman Domingo is doing as a producer and star of the A24 film Sing Sing, which highlights the Rehabilitation for The Arts program in prisons, is the very example of what BAC knows is possible when artists use their platform to tell under sung stories," BAC President Britton Smith said in a statement. "Narrative change will impact culture, and culture will shift policies that impact the lives of many. We are honored to lift up Colman and thank him for his long journey as an artist who will be remembered as a voice of liberation and impact beyond the stage and screen."
"Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari and the Alliance for Quality Education model what it looks like to fight for the rights of Black and brown students in NY with grace, rigor, spirit, and diligence," Smith continued. "We honor Zakiyah for leading the masses into a deeper understanding of what’s possible when we truly care for the rights of our students, and we stand with countless parents and advocates who have witnessed her transformative leadership in this space. As an organization BAC has evolved over the past year, so the theme of this year’s Artivism Ball is reintroduction. We are excited to share our latest programming, regrounding in our founding commitment to activate theater artists as change agents, and to spotlight the new staff and leadership team members who have led these initiatives. As we learned from last year’s inaugural Ball, the gala offers us an opportunity to be in fellowship with our larger community…and to dance!"
Founded in 2016, BAC's mission is to use arts and storytelling to build a more equitable society, and build the collective capacity of individuals, organizations, and coalitions to do the same. In 2021, the organization was honored with a Special Tony Award.
Visit ArtivismBall.com for tickets.
