ATNSC BELIEVESwe need to be together in a different way.
ATNSC (pronounced Ata-en-sic) is an artist-run urban gathering space that facilitates healing and creative leadership. Located in the historic Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood of Cleveland, ATNSC seeks to reclaim this place for people to heal, create, read, collaborate and forge relationships.
Images by Shari Wilkins
OUR PURPOSEThis is how we heal.
ATNSC exists as a container to catalyze and deepen the practice of artists and leaders. We are a leader in arts and culture equity, place-based experimentation, radical hospitality and change.
OUR HISTORYA vision brought to life.
Over a decade ago, ATNSC founder M. Carmen Lane received a vision of this space and a community gathered around it. Their vision made it clear this space was to center on Indigenous practices and creative leadership. Originally intended to reside in the pueblos of the American Southwest, ATNSC came to reside in Carmen's childhood home of Cleveland and the Great Lakes.
Image by Shari Wilkins
Image by Shari Wilkins
OUR COMMITMENT Reclaiming this space for healing, learning and discovery.
We create and facilitate interdisciplinary, socially-engaged programs rooted in fostering relationships, lifelong learning and the significance of the environment.
Our Projects
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
We marry indigenous teachings, theories of social change, personal development and creative leadership to catalyze transformative learning and growth. Our leadership development programming is designed for life-long learners who are interested in self-mastery and fostering curiosity.
ARTS + CULTURE
At ATNSC, we offer workshops, lectures, performances and residencies that center and celebrate indigenous arts and culture. Our understanding of the word "Indigenous" is expansive; we include North and South American, Caribbean, West African, Pacific Islander and the Black Southern tradition in our definition.
JAZZ TEMPLE PROJECT
The Jazz Temple, where the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art now stands, was internationally renown as "The Jazz Mecca" until its bombing in 1963. Through a 2020 Joyce Award, M. Carmen Lane contracted artist Shaun Leonardo to tell the stories of The Temple and the Black creative imagination while in residence at ATNSC.
TRADITIONAL HEALING
ATNSC's mission rests in individual and community healing. We curate holistic health experiences that incorporate the traditional healing practices of massage, Reiki, herbal consultations, Ayurveda, body work, birthwork and End of Life Doulas.
IN THEORY IN PRACTICE
In Theory, In Practice is a reading group that aims to foster critical conversation and collective interventionalist practices amongst artists, community leaders and educators. Our meetings focus on exploring the histories and futures of socially engaged art.
Our Residencies
WILLIS RESIDENCY
Named after Winston Willis, who founded Cleveland's seminal Jazz Temple, this residency is for artists and writers who are investigating the intersections of Black and Indigenous masculinities in their practice.
MIGRATION ARTS RESIDENCY
This residency provides artists with the opportunity to explore and produce work focusing on the movement of communities of color.
CARLSON/BRANTLEY READING RESIDENCY
This project intents to provide space for socially engaged artists, writers and change catalysts to spend a weekend with themselves, reading to intervene on—and develop—self.
ARTS ORGANIZATION EQUITY + LEADERSHIP RESIDENCY
The Arts Organization Equity & Leadership Residency is for organizations interested in deepening their equity leadership competencies within their arts and culture ecosystems.
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