TECHNOLOGIES OF IMAGINATION
If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that systems and structures we once thought were immovable… can actually change.
We find ourselves at a crossroads: a creative emergency shaped by colonial structures and failing capitalistic frameworks. Our national stages have been renamed to serve power, our federal endowments are being dismantled, and the freedom of creative expression is under direct legislative assault. These systems were never designed to serve the vital, urgent work we must create as authoritarianism rises.
But the good news is, as performing arts practitioners we already possess Technologies of Imagination (communal ritual, ancestral storytelling, emancipatory dreams, speculative world building) that allow us to rehearse liberatory futures and build worlds beyond empire’s grasp.
Beginning in January 2026 through May 2026, Groundwater Arts is launching a new offering: Technologies of Imagination, monthly meetups designed to foster deep, creative innovation to collectively imagine what will be. Supported by a curated curriculum that builds from learnings of Groundwater Arts’ journal Start with the Ground, sociological foundations from Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities (1983), anthropological research, adrienne maree brown’s transformative frameworks in Emergent Strategy, and more, participants will be able to recognize and name the crisis before us and collectively imagine alternatives. During each meetup, Groundwater will compile learnings into what will become a public share out that will include tangible strategies to immediately implement.
This is not theory for theory's sake. We are building practical technologies that expand what's possible in how we make theatre.
These monthly gatherings create space for curated conversation among artists, makers, and thinkers committed to reimagining how theatre can be created, sustained, and experienced. The goal is to gather, listen, share, learn, dream, and interrogate. Any artist who feels frustration, curiosity, urgency, or hope is welcome to attend.
Folks have two options to participate: in-person in New York City or online via Zoom. Both tracks will have the same facilitated discussion and curriculum. It is free to attend. Please note, the NYC meetups will most likely be at restaurants, so bring money for dinner!
New York City Meet-Up Dates:
Sunday, January 18th at 6pm
Sunday, February 15th at 6pm
Sunday, March 15th at 6pm
Sunday, April 19th at 6pm
Sunday, May 3rd at 6pm
Virtual Meet-Up Dates:
Sunday, February 1st at 4pm ET
Sunday, March 1st at 4pm ET
Sunday, March 29th at 4pm ET
Sunday, April 26th at 4pm ET
Sunday, May 17th at 4pm ET
We find ourselves at a crossroads: a creative emergency shaped by colonial structures and failing capitalistic frameworks. Our national stages have been renamed to serve power, our federal endowments are being dismantled, and the freedom of creative expression is under direct legislative assault. These systems were never designed to serve the vital, urgent work we must create as authoritarianism rises.
But the good news is, as performing arts practitioners we already possess Technologies of Imagination (communal ritual, ancestral storytelling, emancipatory dreams, speculative world building) that allow us to rehearse liberatory futures and build worlds beyond empire’s grasp.
Beginning in January 2026 through May 2026, Groundwater Arts is launching a new offering: Technologies of Imagination, monthly meetups designed to foster deep, creative innovation to collectively imagine what will be. Supported by a curated curriculum that builds from learnings of Groundwater Arts’ journal Start with the Ground, sociological foundations from Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities (1983), anthropological research, adrienne maree brown’s transformative frameworks in Emergent Strategy, and more, participants will be able to recognize and name the crisis before us and collectively imagine alternatives. During each meetup, Groundwater will compile learnings into what will become a public share out that will include tangible strategies to immediately implement.
This is not theory for theory's sake. We are building practical technologies that expand what's possible in how we make theatre.
These monthly gatherings create space for curated conversation among artists, makers, and thinkers committed to reimagining how theatre can be created, sustained, and experienced. The goal is to gather, listen, share, learn, dream, and interrogate. Any artist who feels frustration, curiosity, urgency, or hope is welcome to attend.
Folks have two options to participate: in-person in New York City or online via Zoom. Both tracks will have the same facilitated discussion and curriculum. It is free to attend. Please note, the NYC meetups will most likely be at restaurants, so bring money for dinner!
New York City Meet-Up Dates:
Sunday, January 18th at 6pm
Sunday, February 15th at 6pm
Sunday, March 15th at 6pm
Sunday, April 19th at 6pm
Sunday, May 3rd at 6pm
Virtual Meet-Up Dates:
Sunday, February 1st at 4pm ET
Sunday, March 1st at 4pm ET
Sunday, March 29th at 4pm ET
Sunday, April 26th at 4pm ET
Sunday, May 17th at 4pm ET
