The Art Movement
The Art Movement was the first event by Combat Créatif, a one-night art exhibition and rooftop party at Verci in Flatiron on May 9th, 2026. I came up with the concept, chose the four artists, and planned and designed the night, from the deck to the invitations to the Instagram rollout, and I hosted it with my friend Jaden Clemons. 350 people RSVP'd and 250 came. Downstairs, a photographer, a poet, a sculptor, and I each showed our work and told the story behind it, and then the night moved to the roof, where a DJ set and open microphones ran until late.
Date
May 2026
Medium
Event
Disciplines
Concept · Production · Design
Every lame party
Growing up in Chicago, some of my biggest inspirations were music videos, Pharrell's Frontin' with Jay-Z, and the movies of the mid nineties. That whole creative canon: parties full of beautiful girls and cool artists, great music playing, dancing, freestyling, so much swag and artistry in one room. I looked around and I didn't see that anywhere. In high school I didn't go to many parties. I was known as an old soul, reading, writing, working out, asleep early, awake early, and that became part of my identity to other people. But I never felt boring. It's that the parties I did go to were so lame. The music would be bad, nobody would be dancing, the people weren't interesting. It felt alienating: there's nothing here that sees my soul, and it isn't even fun. It was more fun to hang out with friends and work on something and dance in a living room. So at every one of those parties I would sit there and note what I would do differently. What songs I would play. What would have made this so much fun. I had all these ideas.
My first trip to NYC at 16
Frontin' Music Video
Selfish and generous
The Art Movement was born out of a desire I'd call selfish and generous at the same time. Selfish because I was making the event I wanted to go to: the experiences I wanted to have, the music I wanted to hear, the people I wanted to spend time with. Generous because I wanted everyone there to leave feeling enriched, with their soul fuller than when they arrived, and to have had so much fun. I think those two things are related. A lot of what passes for fun is destructive, to the body, to the self, chemically. I wanted a night that was creative instead: fulfilling and epic and happy, and one that brings you closer to yourself rather than away from yourself. Not an escape. An invitation to who you are.
The name
It's named for the movements I grew up reading about, which are a big part of why I moved to New York: the Bauhaus, Basquiat and his circle, A Tribe Called Quest, A$AP Mob, Pharrell and the Neptunes, Jay-Z. Groups of creative kids in one city, congregating, hanging out, making things together. It's also a play on words, because the night itself moves. It runs in two halves. First, downstairs, quiet: four young artists demo their work and tell the story behind it, to set the culture of the room as creativity, connection, sharing ideas, and self-expression. People arrive to an open bar of wine and tea, find the friends who invited them, get introduced to strangers by mutual friends, and loosen up in a calm setting where you can actually talk. Then, once everyone has listened and connected, the night moves upstairs to the roof, and the music takes over. The order matters. You form the connections in an open and inviting setting before you're invited to dance and express that energy.
Paper before party
My part was the planning and the paper: recruiting friends, choosing the artists, and designing the documents for the night. Before it was a night, it was a deck, a program, and an hour-by-hour rundown of the room. The deck framed the two halves. Each featured artist received a three-page invitation laying out the format, the audience, and what we would provide. The announcement ran as two carousels on Instagram.
Deck
Program
First Carousel
Second Carousel
I asked Jaden Clemons to co-host the night with me. We had a conversation about the interconnectedness of a tree and a forest, and he made this beautiful video out of it for the rollout. I believe his energy and love are a fundamental reason the night was such a success.
Impact
It was my first time doing anything like this, and the night went about ninety-five percent aligned with the best case I was aiming for. Many people told me it was the best event they had been to in New York. Many friends were made, and what people kept saying was that they felt happy. It was beautiful. What I took from it: along with creating cool objects, I can create cool experiences, and I learned viscerally that those are related. The process behind different mediums is related, and it translates. At least in my experience. I would love to continue.
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