Set in Louisiana, this novel is set against the backdrop of a small Cajun community during the Jim Crow Era. Jefferson, a young black man, is accused and convicted of murder for perpetrating a shoot-out in a liquor store, which left three men killed. Being the sole survivor of a crime that occurred unwittingly, Jefferson is sentenced to death.

In-person meetings at BronxArtSpace
700 Manida St. (entrance on Spofford Ave)
Saturdays, 12-1:30pm: 3/14*, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, & 4/11
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
3/14: Free book giveaway
3/21: Pgs 1-58, chaps 1-7
3/28: Pgs 59-124, chaps 8-16
4/4: Pgs 125-186, chaps 17-23
4/11: Pgs 187-end, chaps 24-end
……….

Online meetings over Zoom
Tuesdays, 7-8:30pm, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, & 4/7
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
3/17: Pgs 1-58, chaps 1-7
3/24: Pgs 59-124, chaps 8-16
3/31: Pgs 125-186, chaps 17-23
4/7: Pgs 187-end, chaps 24-end

Ernest James Gaines was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Chinese. Four of his works were made into television movies.

A Lesson Before Dying, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Gaines was a MacArthur Foundation fellow.

Curated by Hayley Ferber

Exhibiting artists include Yasmeen Abdallah, Cecilia Andre, Angelica Bergamini, Rachel Gislea Cohen, Aruni Dharmakirthi, Hannah Ehrlich, Sara Everett, Peter Fulop, Eileen Hoffman, Sara Jimenez, Josué Morales Urbina, Ami Park, Kat Ryals, Brigitta Varadi, Liberty Worth

On view: March 21 - April 19, 2026

Opening Reception: Saturday, March, 21 from 3-5pm
Closing Reception: Sunday, April 19, 5-7pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, April 4, 2-4pm

Connective Threads brings together 15 artists working across diverse textile processes— sewing, quilting, weaving, and sculptural assemblage among others—to explore connection as both material structure and social metaphor. Spanning two- and three-dimensional works, and incorporating both traditional fibers and unexpected materials, the exhibition highlights the tactile languages through which artists bind, layer, stitch, and interlace forms into a cohesive whole.

Textile practices are inherently connective: threads cross, fabrics join, fragments become unified surfaces. In this exhibition, those physical acts of joining mirror the ways individuals and communities are shaped through difference, interdependence, and shared histories. Each artist’s approach is distinct in technique, scale, and material, yet the works resonate through common gestures of alteration, construction, and transformation.

Across the exhibition, textile processes become a framework for exploring memory, identity, and the cultural narratives embedded within materials. Many of the works engage acts of mending, layering, and recombination as metaphors for the ways histories—both personal and collective—are constructed from fragments. Through processes that are often repetitive and meditative, the artists transform everyday substances into vessels for storytelling, allowing textiles to function not only as surfaces but as repositories of memory and inherited knowledge.

Underlying these explorations is a recurring engagement with transformation and interdependence. Textiles inherently rely on tension, pressure, and the crossing of threads to create structure; similarly, the works in Connective Threads reflect how identities, communities, and environments emerge through networks of relationships. Acts of repair, adaptation, and accumulation appear throughout the exhibition, suggesting that resilience is built not through uniformity but through the capacity to hold differences together. By bringing together diverse approaches to fiber, form, and material experimentation, the exhibition ultimately highlights the ways in which connection is an evolving structure shaped by time, care, and collaboration.

Community partners BronxArtsSpace, Casita Maria, & Inspiration Point join together to present the 1st Hunts Point/Longwood Biennial.

April 17 - 19, 2026

The Bronx- March 2026 This April, BronxArtsSpace, Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education and Inspiration Point proudly present our first-ever Hunts Point/Longwood Biennial, a landmark cultural event taking place April 17–19. This initiative brings together a vibrant network of Bronx arts organizations, artists, curators, and community spaces in a shared celebration of creativity focused on storytelling across disciplines. Additional partners include: Boone Avenue Walls, En Foco, WALLWORKS, and WORTHLESSSTUDIOS.

Marking a significant moment in the Hunts Point/Longwood section of the South Bronx, the Biennial establishes a new platform dedicated to uplifting diverse artistic voices and fostering cross-institutional collaboration. By partnering with fellow Bronx-based organizations, the Biennial expands into three venues with eight partners featuring visual artists such as Ebony Bolt, Ricky Flores, and David Gonzalez plus Latin Jazz ensemble Bronx Banda featuring Arturo O’Farrill. This multi-site experience reflects the borough’s rich cultural history and present day arts ecosystem. Together, the featured artists explore themes of identity, memory, community, and transformation, offering audiences meaningful and immersive experiences with contemporary art.

Across all three partner sites, BronxArtSpace, Casita Maria, and Inspiration Point attendees can experience exhibitions, live performances, open studios, workshops, and special activations.

See full schedule below. This collaborative format encourages audiences to move between spaces and cross the Bruckner Expressway, along a dividing line between neighborhoods.

This is more than an event, it is the beginning of a new tradition. The Hunts Point/Longwood Biennial signals a bold commitment to collaboration, community, and the future of the arts in the Bronx.

Locations:

● BronxArtSpace, 700 Manida Street / bronxartspace.com

● Casita Maria, 928 Simpson Street / casitamaria.org

● Inspiration Point, 710 Tiffany Street / inspirationpoint.org

Admission is free and open to the public

Join us in celebrating the inaugural Biennial and the collective spirit that makes it possible!

Contact Information

For press inquiries and additional information about the exhibition contact marketing@casitamaria.org

About The Presenters:

BronxArtSpace was founded and opened to the public in 2010 as a space for art exhibits and performances, BronxArtSpace (BAS), a 501(c)(3) organization, is a community-based organization committed to supporting local and often under-resourced artists, fostering projects that engage vital social, educational, and political concerns. bronxartspace.com / @bronxartspace

Casita Maria is the first 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States established in 1934 to serve vibrant Latino youth ages 5 to 19, their families, and community residents, originally in East Harlem and since 1961 in the South Bronx. Casita Maria delivers free after school, summer day and holiday camps, and public arts programs in the South Bronx and East Harlem with a focus on expressive arts, social-emotional learning, and structured play. We follow a creative youth development model and hire youth- and adult-serving professionals, teaching artists, and administrators to help create a dynamic space for learning, creative expression, and joyful play. casitamaria.org / @casitamariabx

Inspiration Point is a nonprofit cultural arts center in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx. We are dedicated to supporting artists, presenting dynamic arts programming, and fostering inclusive community engagement through the arts. We provide space, resources, and opportunities for creative expression across disciplines, with a commitment to accessibility, equity, and cultural vitality. The multidisciplinary art space was established in 2023 and includes artist, residency, and specialty studios, galleries, Fashion Moda Modern, and the Tiffany Street Theater. inspirationpoint.org / @inspirationpoint.arts

About The Partners:

Boone Avenue Walls, founded by legendary Bronx graffiti artist WEN COD, is a community-rooted initiative based in the birthplace of hip-hop and graffiti—The Bronx, New York City. Now celebrating our 11th anniversary, we proudly host the annual Boone Avenue Walls Festival, a large-scale mural event that transforms city walls into vivid expressions of culture, resilience, and creativity. Located in what is globally recognized as the mecca of graffiti, our work elevates street art from subculture to civic empowerment. We are dedicated to uplifting our neighborhoods through art, environmental education, and cultural engagement. By using graffiti as a tool for dialogue and transformation, we promote amore inclusive vision of urban beautification—one rooted in community empowerment, education, and long-term sustainability. booneavenuewalls.com / @booneavenuewalls

En Foco is a Bronx-based nonprofit supporting lens-based artists of color since 1974. Founded by a collective of Puerto Rican photographers, the organization creates pathways for artists of African, Asian, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander, and diasporic communities to gain visibility and recognition. Through exhibitions, public programs, and its Artist Fellowship, artists receive direct financial support and opportunities to share their work with wider audiences. En Foco also publishes Nueva Luz, a nationally recognized photography magazine dedicated to contemporary image-makers of color. Anchored in the Bronx and grounded in community, En Foco fosters creative growth, preserves cultural histories through its archives, and champions artists whose work shapes the future of photography and visual storytelling. enfoco.org / @enfocoinc

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WALLWORKS is a contemporary art gallery rooted in the South Bronx, dedicated to bringing art back uptown and showcasing the legacy, evolution, and global impact of graffiti and street art. In the vein of Fashion MODA, WALLWORKS is dedicated to showcasing new and exciting art from both emerging and established artists, from both the neighborhood and around the world. Founded in collaboration with legendary graffiti artist CRASH, entrepreneur Robert Kantor, and curator/director Anna Matos, the gallery serves as a platform for both pioneering figures and emerging voices whose work pushes the boundaries of urban and contemporary art.

WALLWORKS’ mission is to honor and amplify the voices of artists shaped by graffiti, street culture, and The Bronx’s creative spirit. We are committed to preserving the movement’s history, supporting its evolution, and providing accessible opportunities for artists to exhibit, experiment, and grow. wallworksny.com / @wallworksny

WORTHLESSSTUDIOS provides essential resources to emerging epoch-making artists who are producing ambitious artwork. We dream up and execute projects in collaboration with our community partners and resident artists. In producing art rooted in artistic activation, community engagement and education, we believe that we must go beyond simply making artwork. The Photographer in Residence program is a unique one month long photography residency taking place inside a mobile darkroom Airstream trailer. This program provides support for artists working in a photography based artistic practice that relies heavily on access to a darkroom facility. worthlessstudios.org / @worthlessstudios