Karen Ponzio Photo
The three organizers (and this reporter) at our Zoom Meeting/interview
With all of the city’s venues, stages, and gathering places closed due to Covid-19, New Haven’s various communities have been longing for a way to get together and share talent, vibe and ideas. Anthony Allen has found a way to do that through his website At Home in New Haven, a virtual space set to provide participants with a variety of entertainment, instructional programs, and more.
Allen, an ecological communications specialist for Save the Sound, said the idea came up as “a direct response to Covid-19 and its effects on the social and economic fabric of the community.” He was participating in a global forum held by the Skoll Foundation that was supposed to happen at Oxford University but could not, due to the pandemic. “They quickly brought it online, and after watching and participating in that, I had an idea that we could build a virtual stage and gathering place in the city.”
Allen put together “a rough idea” and then talked to two friends he knew might be interested in helping: musician Paul Bryant Hudson and Slate Liu-Ballard, who co-owns the State House on State Street. “They were both excited and that got me excited and the energy built from there. We just started building it out,” Allen said.
“I talked to Anthony and immediately connected the dots,” said Hudson. “All the ways it filled in the voids we’re experiencing. That same day we began talking about the economic impact as well as the emotional and social impact. It fits perfectly into a specific and gaping void. That’s what excited me.”
“I talked to Anthony the same day as Paul,” said Ballard. “I had just been looking at Rockwood Music Hall,” a club in New York City, “and what they were doing and was inspired by that. Also with State House, I had been thinking about their response. This is exactly perfect. Ant thought broader. It was not just music, but all the aspects of life, and incorporated the broader community.”
Anthony Allen
The group’s logo.
The website, which Allen started building on April 5 — the day after he started talking about it — allows New Haven-based artists and organizations to submit to present on a virtual stage created via Zoom. Allen explained that the session format is “quite flexible” and is hopeful it will offer “artistic creative cultural and economic vitality” once again to the city.
“There’s spontaneous creation that happens naturally,” said Allen. “We want to bring that back and provide financial support to the gig and creative economy and nonprofits.”
The website is currently live and set up to be easily navigated. Its “participate” section has two options: “present/perform” and “volunteer.” For anyone who wants to present or perform, Allen says “let us know who you are and what you can do and we will reach out and refine it with you.”
Volunteers are also much needed. “The three of us, our time and energy is all volunteer,” said Allen. “We can use the help here.”
Sessions will primarily be conducted through Zoom “with the ability and flexibility to use other forums people are comfortable with and can be used in a better way,” added Allen, noting that they are willing to explore “different platforms and spaces as long as it’s entertaining and high quality.”
The program’s opening week is set for May 4 through May 10 with a 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. window of programming daily. The first sessions were posted this past weekend and include musical performances by Stout and Stephen Gritz King, as well as a film screening of Stephen Dest’s documentary I Am Shakespeare and a breadmaking class with Josh Kantor.
“We expect to have a lot of sessions” said Allen.
The categories of programming will be varied and include the arts — both visual and performing — as well as what Allen refers to as “change” which includes “conversations around adaptations and innovations” due to Covid-19.
“We want to provide something fairly regularly, ways to adapt, and create spaces to have conversations about challenges and collaborations,” Allen said. Registration is open to all unless otherwise noted; Allen added that there may be limited attendance or a cap with specific events. Once participants register, they get an email with instructions including a Zoom link or other instructions as needed.
Each session has a $5 fee and “we encourage people to pay that,” said Allen. “Every cent goes to the presenter” — though he also noted that “presenters get the option, if they don’t need the funds, to donate to one of three local mutual aid funds.”
“There is an option to pay less if needed,” added Hudson. “And also a universal coupon code.” The code is available on the website.
Accessibility to the website’s programming is paramount to the organizers. “The things we are bringing in are things we all need,” said Allen. “We don’t want anyone to not be able to access it.”
To that end they are raising a fund to be able to pay presenters a fair and equitable base compensation. “We’re raising sponsorship dollars to support the core fees,” said Ballard. “We are not dependent on registration, but that is a way for folks who can to support.”
“It’s an ongoing effort,” added Allen.
“The idea,” said Hudson, is “to explore how to sustain for long-term as necessary, and as it makes sense. We’re having conversations about how to make that possible.”
“Sustainability depends on people being willing to help out and our ability to support presenters,” said Allen. “We are looking for sponsors and have some committed…. Money goes into supporting multiple presenters for their work and craft, which is really important right now. When we can’t gather and go out, people who love what they do can’t do it.”
Allen talked about the values built into the process, including providing a place for those people — those who not only want to do what they love, but want to share that with others.
“It’s democratic and open to anyone in New Haven to submit, anyone who has skills to share, from DIY projects to well-established musicians in the local scene. It’s the same streaming for all. We want to make it something people want to support. Also, it’s a broad range of activities … so they can be inspired and comforted and learn from each other and think of what comes next.”
With this project, Allen said he’s asking a question: “How can this moment be navigated to bring us to another place?”
“This whole idea is designed to work symbiotically with other relief efforts, such as the Department of Arts and Culture and the Arts Council,” said Hudson. “We are partnering to benefit the creative community. It is a tool for change.”
“We don’t know what it looks like post-Covid,” added Hudson. “I love the idea of testing a new way…. Socializing can look so many different ways. We need public gatherings where people feel comfortable.”
Of participants to the website, Allen said, “someone can come on because they’re coming to support someone they already know and bump into 30 other things that are really cool,” said Allen, calling it “cross pollination” with “the breadth and depth of the creative and nonprofit business sector.”
“Our creative economy has needed something” said Hudson. “Artists historically don’t have resources. We’re at a pivotal moment in time. The gig economy is being rethought. People lean on artists to keep them going. It’s a beautiful rethinking of how this can work.”
“Life is just going to be different,” Hudson added, but he also noted that he feels the pandemic has created “a universal understanding in people … things are rough and need to be rethought and rebuilt.”
Allen responded to the idea of people’s eyes being opened by our collective dilemma. “Instead of holding someone’s eyes open, maybe we can give them something to see.”
Visit the At Home In New Haven website here to subscribe to an email list for further information about participating, performing and/or volunteering. Please also visit and follow their Facebook and Instagram pages for up to date information about programs and other opportunities.
