Secret Mall Apartment screenings, talks set at Real Art Ways
Real Art Ways presents special screenings of Secret Mall Apartment, a new documentary directed by Jeremy Workman and executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg, followed by conversations onSaturday, May 3, and Tuesday, May 6. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street in Hartford, CT 06106.
Secret Mall Apartment is a fascinating and offbeat documentary that follows a group of artists who secretly built and lived in a hidden apartment inside the Providence Place Mall (Rhode Island) for four years—completely under the radar. Blending themes of urban exploration, creative resistance, and community, the film is both a quirky caper and a profound meditation on space, ownership, and the role of art in reclaiming the everyday.
On Saturday, May 3, after the 7 p.m. screening, we will host tape artist Michael Townsend (the main subject of the documentary) and AS220 co-founder and artist Umberto Crenca for a special conversation about their shared love of the arts, artist live/work spaces, and the power of art in cities. This discussion will be moderated by Real Art Ways’ Executive Director, Will K. Wilkins. $15 General Admission / $12 Real Art Ways Members / $8 Full-time Students. Advance tickets can be purchased here.
On Tuesday, May 6, after the 7 p.m. screening, we will host “How We Living: A Q&A on Livability in Hartford w/Taneisha Duggan Director of Arts, Culture and Entertainment and Jeff Auker Director of Development Services.” Artists, creatives, and community members in the Hartford region are invited to join this conversation. This event is sponsored by the City of Hartford and is free to attend with advance registration. Community members can register here for free tickets.
Michael Townsend is known as “that guy who lived in a mall” and “that guy who invented Tape Art.” He has made over 500 temporary tape art murals on buildings all over the world, taught collaborative drawing to over 60,000 students, and still sneaks in the time to make large, secret artworks no one will ever see.
Umberto Crenca is an accomplished painter of fine art, performance artist, sculptor, and musician, with a long exhibition and performance history. His work appears in the permanent collections of the Rhode Island School of Design and Newport Art Museums, and in numerous private collections in the US and abroad. He is also one of the founders of AS220, a non-profit community arts organization located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island.
Taneisha Duggan is a producer, director and cultural architect working at the nexus of creative leadership and lifestyle. With over 20 years as a theater maker, her work lends itself to innovative frameworks for community gathering and storytelling–best expressed in the site specific and immersive production of WALDEN on the banks of the Connecticut River produced with TheaterWorks Hartford and Riverfront Recapture, where she combined nonprofit art-making and the public sector to bring together an unbelievable night of art, in community.
As a producer and arts administrator, she is propelled by the belief that the culture we advance is the society we become. Her work has varied from corporate marketing at Mattel, Lead Producer of First Night Hartford, directing at Juilliard, to her former position as an Associate Producer at Octopus Theatricals (Hadestown, Gypsy; Broadway). She trained as an actor at SUNY – Purchase College in The School of Theater Arts and Film, and is a 2016 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow. Her proudest job is as a mama of two boys.
Jeff Auker leads the City of Hartford’s Department of Development Services, overseeing housing, permitting, economic development, and zoning initiatives that advance sustainable urban growth. A Ph.D. graduate of Brown University and former tech strategist with PwC and Infosys, with a background deep in Hartford’s insurance ecosystem. Jeff blends systems thinking, civic innovation, and creative collaboration in his public service.
He has chaired ReadyCT and served on the Governor’s Workforce Council, building inclusive workforce pipelines across Connecticut.
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