Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica
****CoLab: Performing for a Better World **** **Saturday, March 21st | 1PM – 4PM** **1639 18th Street. Santa Monica, CA 90404** **Free + Open to the Public, Registration Required** Please join Dorit Cypis for an interactive performance and dialogue, followed by a conversation with art historian/curator Karen Moss on aesthetics & social justice. CoLab: Performing for a Better World is a living laboratory weaving together aesthetic strategies of immersive installation and interactive performance, as well as psycho-physical- social tools developed through the artist’s training and dialogue platform, PeoplesLab bridging our differences to build coalition. CoLab: Performing for a Better World continues Dorit Cypis’ inquiry “who can we be to one another?”, adding the question “what is the color of whiteness?” This project extends from The Artist in Her Archive, initiated in 2021 as immersive performances mining a complex fabric of memory, identity and geopolitical histories triggered by her 50+ year artist archive of artworks, production materials, props and publications. Rooting these 2 projects is The Artist & Her Archive (looking for patterns), an artwork developed by the artist in 2010 while in residence at 18th Street Art Center. The schedule for the afternoon is: 1 pm – Performance 2 pm – Dialogue 3 pm - Presentation with Karen Moss and Dorit Cypis There will be a short break between each part. Please feel free to come for one, two or stay for all three. Light refreshments will be served. **About the artist** [Dorit Cypis](https://doritcypis.com/) is an artist with extended skills in education and conflict mediation. Dorit’s familial cultural experiences deeply inform her multidisciplinary practice exploring intersections of history, cultural identity, the construction of meaning, somatic experience, and social justice. Dorit is recognized for artworks that weave together performance, photography, and immersive media installations, as well as for an innovative approach to community engagement. Dorit’s work, which has been exhibited internationally at museums, galleries, and civic spaces, has received awards and fellowships including from National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Foundation. Her art projects often invite audiences to wrestle with questions of memory, belonging, and collective responsibility. Dorit is committed to integrating creative expression with social change initiatives to inspire people within and beyond the art world. In 2016 Dorit founded[ PeoplesLab](https://www.peopleslab.us/)*, bridging our differences to build possibility,* as a platform for training, mediation, and dialogue facilitation. Drawing from diverse cultural influences, her psycho-social approach integrates perceptual, sensorial and communication tools to meet and bridge cultural and personal differences. *PeoplesLab *has developed engagement between diverse populations across entrenched cultural divides including race, policing, homelessness, at risk youth, and the geopolitics of Israel/Palestine. Dorit earned a BFA, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, MFA, California Institute of the Arts, and Masters of Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University. Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Dorit immigrated to Montreal, Canada as a youth and to the USA as a young adult. Currently, she lives in Los Angeles, CA. [doritcypis.com](http://doritcypis.com/) [peopleslab.us](http://peopleslab.us/) CoLab: Performing for a Better World invites artists and cultural workers who would like to develop their skills to bridge differences towards allyship and coalition building. To schedule an initial meeting, contact [doritcypis@me.com](mailto:doritcypis@me.com) ## **Registration Required**