JJJJJerome Ellis Performs Poetic Soundscapes Honoring People Who Stutter on The High Line June 25 – 27

JJJJJerome Ellis, in the spirit and celebration of Aster of Ceremonies, 2023. Part of I Wanna Be With You Everywhere, Performance Space New York, 2023. Photo by Annie Forrest.

The High Line announced that artist JJJJJerome Ellis will craft two soundscape performances incorporating music and poetry for and on the High Line one in celebration of the park’s flora and the other honoring the voices of people who stutter. Music for the Garden will be performed on the High Line Lawn at 22nd Street on June 25 and 26 at 6:30pm. On June 27 at 6:30pm, Ellis will be accompanied by their collaborators, the collective People Who Stutter Create (PWSC), for the performance Celebrating Stuttering Voices. This performance will take place on the Tiffany & Co Foundation Overlook at the High Line’s Gansevoort Street entrance, directly within view of the billboard created by PWSC for the Whitney Biennial. The performances for the High Line, curated by High Line Art’s associate curator, Taylor Zakarin, coincide with Ellis’s participation in the 2024 Whitney Biennial.

“JJJJJerome Ellis’s practice is incredibly generous, creating space for gathering, space for connection, and space for ceremony,” said Taylor Zakarin, associate curator of High Line Art. “They challenge us to stop and listen, using music as a tool to disrupt our traditional understanding of time, speech, sound, and environment. We are thrilled to create a space for work that will bring joy and ‘sweetness,’ as Ellis calls it, to High Line audiences.”

JJJJJerome Ellis describes themself as a “Jamaican-Grenadian-American, disabled animal, stutterer, and artist,” who speaks with a glottal block stutter, an involuntary speech dysfluency that manifests in pauses while talking. The artist explores relationships among Blackness, disabled speech, divinity, plant life, sound, and time. Their practice spans various formats, including soundscapes composed of saxophone, dulcimer, electronics, and vocals; spoken and written word; and theatrical performances.

For the High Line, Ellis presents two performances that employ music, poetry, ceremonial space, and nature to highlight and honor those who stutter. Music for the Garden, the first of the performances, will take place on June 25 and 26 on the High Line Lawn, located between 22nd and 23rd Streets. Taking inspiration from the plantings in that section of the park, Music for the Garden includes a combination of live saxophone and electronic sound, intended to serve as a musical offering for both the people and the plants on the High Line. Visitors are invited to sit on the Lawn (a space normally closed to the public for its preservation) while Ellis performs music for the surrounding plants.

On June 27, Celebrating Stuttering Voices will feature readings and conversation by both the artist and their four collaborators from the People Who Stutter Create (PWSC) collective Jia Bin, Delicia Daniels, Conor Foran, and Kristel Kubart interspersed with occasional musical interludes by Ellis. Through repeated sounds, prolonged sounds, and blocks with no sound, PWSC aims to describe and transform social reality. Celebrating Stuttering Voices will offer an intimate opportunity to create room for deep listening, understanding, and collaboration.

Celebrating Stuttering Voices will take place at the Tiffany & Co Foundation Overlook at the southernmost section of the park. This location at Gansevoort Street is in direct view of Stuttering Can Create Time, the billboard created by PWSC, presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art in conjunction with the 2024 Whitney Biennial. Ellis, a member of PWSC, is also featured in the Biennial and will present a series of performances at the Museum in August.

Free and open to the public, visitors are encouraged to RSVP online in advance. The rain date for the performances of Music for the Garden will be June 28. In the event of rain, Celebrating Stuttering Voices will take place under the stairs to the High Line at Gansevoort Street.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
JJJJJerome Ellis (b. 1989, Groton, Connecticut) lives and works in Tidewater, Virginia. Ellis’ recent work has been featured at institutions including Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom (2024); The Getty Center, Los Angeles, California (2023); Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (2023); Poetry Foundation, Chicago, Illinois (2023); ICA Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2023); Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2022); and SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia (2022). Ellis has participated in major international exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (2024); and The 67th International Festival of Contemporary Music, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2023).

ABOUT HIGH LINE ART
Founded in 2009, High Line Art commissions and produces a wide array of artworks on the High Line, including site-specific commissions, exhibitions, performances, video programs, and a series of billboard interventions. Led by Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, and presented by the High Line, the art program invites artists to think of creative ways to engage with the unique architecture, history, and design of the park, and to foster a productive dialogue with the surrounding neighborhood and urban landscape.

For more information on High Line Art, please visit thehighline.org/art.

ABOUT THE HIGH LINE
The High Line is both a nonprofit organization and a public park on the West Side of Manhattan. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, we’re devoted to reimagining public spaces to create connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities.

Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through the gardens, view art, experience a performance, enjoy food or beverage, or connect with friends and neighbors all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City.

Nearly 100% of our annual budget comes through donations. The High Line is owned by the City of New York and we operate under a license agreement with NYC Parks.

For more information, visit thehighline.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

SUPPORT
Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support is provided by Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, and Charina Endowment Fund.

High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.

@HighLineArtNYC @jjjjjeromeellis