Mellon Archive Innovation Program #1: The Frankie Knuckles Vinyl Collection

Join us for our inaugural Mellon Archives Innovation Program on Sunday, September 25th, to explore how Sylvester’s 1979 album Stars, featured in Frankie’s personal vinyl collection, embodies Knuckles' unique attention to the social life of the dance floor and the liberatory power of sound.

A four-track album that lands in the heart of Sylvester’s commitment to sonic diversity, Stars makes for a disco album that defies and defines the genre. Join us for this unique 'object lesson,' the first in our series of Mellon Archives Innovation Program public programs.

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In August 2020, Rebuild Foundation launched the Mellon Archives Innovation Program—a multifaceted initiative supporting the creation of new research, scholarship, and artistic production through engagement with Rebuild Foundation’s archival collections at the Stony Island Arts Bank.

Over the course of the next two years, Rebuild Foundation will fund and support the creation of new work inspired by our four permanent archives. The four inaugural fellows are singer, songwriter, and musician Corrine Bailey Rae, interdisciplinary performing artist Yaw Agyeman; professor and performance studies scholar Dr. Honey Crawford; and composer and cornetist Ben LaMar Gay.

The Mellon Archives Innovation Program also makes space for the public to engage with the ongoing research and exploration taking place in the archives. Collection tours and a speaker series will invite fellows and researchers to showcase and discuss select objects from the collections at the Arts Bank. Learn more about the initiative, programs, and fellows at www.rebuild-foundation.org.