Writing On It All was a participatory writing program designed to invite a broad and diverse public into a range of writing activities. Conceived by writer Alexandra Chasin in 2013, Writing On It All held sessions facilitated by writers, artists, and activists – each session designed to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in writing on the interior surfaces of out-of-use spaces. In a pushback against the exclusive dynamics of Writing and the hierarchical values of Literature produced in schools and universities, each session revealed that writing is an embodied practice, enacted with concrete materials, taking place in very particular places and times. And anyone can do it. Everyone was author-ized to write at Writing On It All.
Staff
Artistic Director Alexandra Chasin is Associate Professor of Literary Studies at Lang College, The New School. Chasin is the author of four books, most recently Assassin of Youth: A Kaleidoscopic History of Harry J. Anslinger’s War on Drugs, a cultural history of drug prohibition (U Chicago Press, 2016). Chasin holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a PhD in Modern Thought & Literature, from Stanford University, and has received fellowships from the Leon Levy Center for Biography at CUNY, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
Program Director Zina Goodall is a producer and writer who has worked as a community organizer, circus performer, and teaching artist. She loves developing work with all types of artists, and has produced performances, immersive events, zines, and short films. You can find her at zinarosegoodall.com
Media and Communications Manager Stephanie Orentas is a manager, curator and producer. She is a multifaceted forward thinker who centers her work in showcasing Latinx music, performing arts and beyond. She firmly puts artists first; managing Combo Chimbita, a tropical futurism band, and Bembona, a Panamanian-Boricua DJ and artist. Currently, she sits on the advisory board for New Latin Wave.
Facilitators
Antena
Chloë Bass
Leila Buck
Bellevue/NYU Program for
Survivors of Torture
Matthew Brookshire
Anne Carson
Israel Centeno
Ken Chen
Youmna Chlala
Claiming Our Voice
Collective Unconscious
Aisha Cousins
Robert Currie
Al Diaz
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Co-Conspirators
Latasha N. Diggs
Ébauche
Carla Gannis
Sophia Garcia
Jose Joaquin Garcia
Christine Giancatarino
Sonia Guiñansaca
K.J. Holmes
Shani Jamila
Luis Jaramillo
Mariame Kaba
Kristiania Collective
Ana Lara
Rachel Levitsky
Rachel Ellis Neyra
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Renata Ngaiza
Mark Nowak
Jovanina Pagano
Shelagh Patterson
Justin Petropoulos
Kundiman Poets
Erica Rivera
Rob Robinson
Anthony Rosado
Paul Ramirez Jonas
Laia Sole
Rachel Stewart
Edwin Torres
Wendy S. Walters
Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li
David Belt
Evan Bennett
Jen Bleier
Matthew Case
Peter Case
Richard & Laura Chasin
Press
Sylvia Fuster
Robin Harper
Deb Kennedy
Jane McNamara
Olga Rodriguez-Ulloa
April 28, 2018 – SAGE Journal: The meaning of doing: Reflective practice in public administration education
May 17, 2017 – NYFA Current: ‘Writing On It All’ Returns to Governors Island: An Interview with its Makers
May 25, 2017 – Metro: Writing On It All turns anyone into a (totally legal) graffiti artist
June 2, 2017 – Amsterdam News: Writing On It All offers free fun on Governors Island
June 14, 2017 – News Whistle: A Q&A with Writing On It All’s Zina Goodall
June 18, 2017 – World of Wonder: #TagMe: Legalized Graffiti Is a Form of Self-Expression This Summer On
Governors Island
June 21, 2017 – Quail Bell Magazine: Writing On It All ​in Governors Island
June 23, 2017 – Bowery Boogie: ‘Writing On It All’ Reclaims Space For Community Arts On Governor’s Island
October 17, 2017 – New School Free Press: Students Come Together To Rethink DACA, Sanctuary And Spaces
May 31, 2016 – Hyperallergic: Write On A House
June 10, 2016 – Observer: Johnny Depp Sells His Basquiats, Governors Island Makes Graffiti Legal for Summer
June 10, 2016 – Curbed New York: Write Graffiti—Legally—On a Historic Governors Island House This
Summer
June 2, 2015 – Governors Island Guide: Writing On It All Returns to Put Words on Walls
June 1, 2014 – NY Art Beat: “Writing On It All” Exhibition
June 20, 2014 – Culture Strike: Run of the House
June 7, 2013 – Big Other: Writing On It All: Governors Island, June 2013
June 14, 2013 – Untapped Cities: Governor’s Island: Writing On It All Participatory Art Project
June 15, 2013 – Kundiman: Writing Race & Belonging
June 18, 2013 – OORS: Against the Wall: Migration/Habitation/Erasing/Tracing