Knowledge Friday with Mary Jane Marcasiano
Photo by Ralph Gibson
FRIDAY, JULY 7th | 6 PM
TICKETS:
Members: Free, RSVP required
Non-Members: $10
Mary Jane Marcasiano kicks off our first Knowledge Friday of the Summer! Marcasiano's creative career spans over 40 years; from 80's Soho fashion designer to today's collaborations with performing artists. A known style icon, Marcasiano is a community mainstay due to her work in costume design, fashion, and textiles as well as her interest in culture and institutional change. Marcasiano will discuss the process of being a designer and using her "cultural antennae" to stay relevant, and how the process of reinvention continues to invigorate her life and her creativity.
Having established her design company in 1977, Marcasiano currently focuses her design work on costumes for dance, film, theater, and for GRAMMY award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo. Along with design, Marcasiano has a passion for activism and philanthropy, in 2007, she created the made with Love Project, dedicated to supporting women's crafts and children's aid programs in Brazil and Africa. Currently, Marcasiano serves as Director of Strategic Partnerships to Cinema Tropical, a non-profit promoting Latin American cinema in the US, and as Director of Development to IMPACT Repertory Theater, a program for under-resourced youth in Harlem.
Knowledge Fridays, held the first Friday of each month, highlight outstanding East End locals with various backgrounds and careers. The program allows the audience to meet and learn about dynamic, inspiring, and fascinating East Enders who adore the community. It is a monthly program open to the public and free to our members.
ABOUT MARY JANE MARCASIANO
Marcasiano founded her design company in 1977 after graduating from Parsons School of Design and was honored with the Cartier, DuPont, Cutty Sark, and Wool Knit Awards. Her design work is currently centered around costumes for dance, film, theater, and for Grammy Award-winning singer and Unicef Ambassador Angelique Kidjo. In 2007 Marcasiano created the Made with Love Project, dedicated to supporting women's crafts and children's aid programs in Brazil and Africa. Marcasiano serves as Director of Strategic Partnerships to Cinema Tropical, a nonprofit promoting Latin American cinema in the US, and as Director of Development to IMPACT Repertory Theater, a program for under-resourced youth in Harlem. In the Spring of 2019 MArcasiano received her Masters Degree from NYU Gallatin for her Thesis "UpScale: Scaling Up Nonprofit Capacity." Her Masters studies focused on the intersection of Art, Nonprofits and Social Change. Marcasiano is honored to be invited to work with artists representing the cultures of West Africa and the African Diaspora..