The HomeBase Project was founded in NYC in 2006 by artist and curator Anat Litwin as a nomadic grassroots, non-profit, artist-run project that explores the meaning of Home. Since it has traveled to 5 neighborhoods in NYC & Berlin, with the next project marked for Jerusalem, developed two signature residency models – a nomadic residency and HB Build – and is in the process of cultivating a new service for cities.
HomeBase has been acknowledged in the media as a ‘New Model for Public Art’, featured in major publications such as the New York Times and New York Magazine, and has been invited to participate in international venues such as the Guggenheim LAB, Berlin, Volta art fair Basel & NY, and in the upcoming Res Artis Conference in Tokyo.
The ‘journey home’ of the HomeBase project continues to evolve thanks to a commited team (link), co creators of the project. The Basic Model consist of the following components:
- Residency & Research – Artists, Social entrepreneurs and HomeBase team members inhabit a site, participate in an Artist-in Residency program that includes group dinners and education workshops with invited guest lecturers that are intended to stimulate the exploration of home in relation to the site, addressing issues related to the history of the neighborhood, the architecture of the building, and cultural notions of home. During the residency, the artists are assigned their own room in which to create their individual work of art;
- Public Program – After the residency HomeBase opens it’s doors free to the public. Viewers are invited to view numerous art rooms, as well as experience a full range of interactive cultural programming including lectures, workshops, performances, events, parties, game playing and open mic sessions around the notion of home, featuring guest artists, neighbors and partnering organizations.
- Documentation – The process of building the HomeBase project is documented from start to finish and includes collaborative efforts and logistics of the artistic team, group dynamics, the individual creative processes of the artists, and the interaction with the neighborhood, artistic community and public.
