upcoming
Off-Broadway: Mary Kathryn Nagle's Manahatta
Showing November 16 through December 23, 2023
"Mary Kathryn Nagle's Manahatta begins its New York premiere Off-Broadway at The Public Theater's Anspacher Theater November 16, ahead of a December 5 opening night. The extended run will continue through December 23. Laurie Woolery is at the helm.
The work follows a young Native woman with an MBA who reconnects with her ancestral Lenape homeland after moving from Oklahoma to New York for a banking job in 2008. The piece was written as part of The Public's Emerging Writers Group, and returns to The Public for a full production following earlier runs at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre.
The cast includes Rainbow Dickerson as Toosh-ki-pa-kwis-i and Debra, Elizabeth Frances as Le-le-wa'-you and Jane, David Kelly as Jonas Michaelius and Michael, Jeffrey King as Peter Minuit and Dick, Enrico Nassi as Se-ket-tu-may-qua and Luke, Joe Tapper as Jakob and Joe, and Sheila Tousey as Mother and Bobbie. Jessica Ranville and Rex Young round out the company as understudies.
The production features scenic design by Marcelo Martínez García, costume design by Lux Haac, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, sound design and composition by Paul James Prendergast, hair and wig design by Younghawk Bautista, fight and intimacy direction by Kelsey Rainwater, and movement direction by Ty Defoe. Amanda Nita Luke-Sayed serves as production stage manager, and Janelle Caso is stage manager. Lenape Center Executive Director and Co-founder Joe Baker is serving as cultural consultant."
past works
Nora Thompson Dean: Lenape Teacher and Herbalist
Exhibition June 6 through September 17, 2023
"An exhibition in the Rotunda of the 1906 Library and an installation in the Morgan Garden, developed collaboratively with the Lenape Center and Hudson Valley Farm Hub, honors Nora Thompson Dean (1907–1984), a Lenape teacher and herbalist who worked to preserve Lenape culture. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Dean made multiple influential visits to Lenapehoking, the ancestral lands of the Lenape (an area that now encompasses New Jersey and sections of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut). The exhibition, incorporating letters, photographs, and printed materials, sheds light on different aspects of Nora Thompson Dean's life and teaching. It is complemented by an installation of plants important to the Lenape in the Morgan Garden, including corn, squash, and beans.
This exhibition and garden installation is organized by the Morgan Library & Museum in collaboration with The Lenape Center and the Hudson Valley Farm Hub. It is made possible by the Sherman Fairchild Fund for Exhibitions."
Media and Articles
Mayor Adams Hosts First-Ever Mayoral Reception Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Heritage
Mayor Adams Hosts First-Ever Mayoral Reception Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Heritage
Mayor Adams Hosts First-Ever Mayoral Reception Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Heritage
Joe Baker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Lenape Center, speaks at Gracie Mansion to kick off the first ever Native American Heritage Month with Mayor Eric Adams at Gracie Mansion.
Lenapehoking exhibit at Brooklyn Public Library
Mayor Adams Hosts First-Ever Mayoral Reception Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Heritage
Mayor Adams Hosts First-Ever Mayoral Reception Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Heritage
The Lenape diaspora, once on the brink of erasure, championed in New York exhibition.
Article by Gabriella Angeleti
Google Arts & Culture
Mayor Adams Hosts First-Ever Mayoral Reception Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Heritage
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
Through a partnership with Google Arts & Culture, Lenapehoking, the first Lenape-curated exhibit on Lenape land, can now be accessed virtually. The virtual exhibit includes photos and descriptions of the pieces on display, historical context for the exhibition, and additional resources highlighting Lenape Center's work in resisting erasure and coming home to Lenapehoking.
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
Contributors to A Lenapehoking Anthology explore the personal journeys of people seeking welcome in their ancestral homeland while pushing back against their erasure.
(Recording available below)
Urban Omnibus - Home in Lenapehoking
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
The Met - Committing to the Beauty of Lenape Art
An interview with Joe Baker and Hadrien Coumans about their collaboration with BKSK Architects in building the turtle shell above the former Tammany Hall, an intention to build civic understanding of people and place in Lenapehoking.
The Met - Committing to the Beauty of Lenape Art
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
The Met - Committing to the Beauty of Lenape Art
How Joe Baker reclaimed a historic artform in order to assert his Lenape identity.
Article by Benjamin Korman