ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

The Last Resort Artist Retreat hosted Lift as You Climb: Achieving Growth, Sustainability, and Impact for Black Cultural Workers, a five-day symposium and retreat. Sponsored by Tiffany & Co.’s social impact platform Tiffany Atrium, Lift as You Climb welcomed two cohorts (in November and December, 2023) of leaders in arts and culture fields to connect in fellowship and conversation around three focus areas: Black cultural workers' growth, sustainability, and impact.

Cohort members participated in panels and presentations to exchange ideas, knowledge, and best practices within their respective fields. Participants explored the intersection of their creative practice, kinship, and the challenging cultural landscapes they work within. We created a space where debate, reflection, and exchange could bridged diverse perspectives. Members of the cohorts ultimately generated new ideas among each other and outlined their commitment to taking strategic actions towards change.

In line with its mission, TLRAR offered participants activities for reflection and rejuvenation through wellness programming and social, non-transactional activities such as communal meals and leisure time.

  • Growth

    The networking aspects of the symposium along with group activities exposed cohort members to new ways of thinking and perspectives that revealed unforeseen possibilities.

  • Sustainability

    Dialogue centered around innovative approaches to address and understand holistic sustainability allowed for knowledge and strategies to be passed between fellows.

  • Impact

    Cohort members sifted through past and recent experiences together, which offered new perspectives and valuable advice about managing next steps for current challenges and setting future goals based on desired growth and sustainability.

PARTICIPANTS

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Panel on growth with Jess Garland and Elan Cadiz-Ferguson

Focus: Experimentation in new media and performance as a means of resistance and affirmation.

Panel on growth with Kwesi Abbensetts and Mikal Floyd-Pruitt

Focus: Exploring a personal “brand” while sustaining a practice of experience-based art and a creative lifestyle.

Panel on impact with Muhammad Najee-Ullah and Dr. Jamil Smith

Focus: Tools, whether medical or technological, that aid body and mind in unlocking bodily and mental equilibrium.

Panel on impact with Idris Brewster and Toccarra A.H. Thomas

Focus: Innovation in the creative field and how to consider those affected by change.

Panel on sustainability with Kilolo Luckett and Jade R Rogers

Focus: Pedagogical approaches to critical analysis of institutional practices.

Panel on sustainability with Fatima Laster and Kleaver Cruz

Focus: Defining “Black Joy” and utilizing it as means to cultivate limitlessness in Black communities.