Ayesha Williams: The Laundromat Project Creatively Creates Change

Fern Gillespie
When the arts nonprofit, the Laundromat Project, was launched 20 years ago, it was at an intimate performance space in Harlem where people of all walks of life gathered—the neighborhood laundromat.

“In the early days, we did projects in laundromats or adjacent to laundromats as a way of being in a space where folks naturally came and connected with their neighbors and community members,” Ayesha Williams, Executive Director of the Laundromat Project, told Our Time Press. “Everybody has to do their laundry.

There are laundromats on almost every corner. So, it was it was an active space for engagement and connection. Folks come together in dialogue with one another. That’s what started us doing things in laundromats.”

In 2020, the Laundromat Project moved to a permanent storefront in Bed Stuy. It became the primary space for gathering and convening. However, new creative spaces still became unique performance sites like pop-up projects in Bed Stuy, Harlem and the South Bronx. “We’ve moved away from doing programs and laundromats a couple of years ago,” she said.

“We expanded to public spaces where folks are with one another like gardens and community spaces, even sidewalks on blocks. Anywhere where folks might naturally cross paths with one another, is a space where our artists are active.”

Through grants and special projects, the Laundromat Project’s mission is to advance artists and neighbors as change agents in their own communities. “We see arts and culture at a catalyzing force to bring folks together to drive action in the community. The Create Change Fellowship is essentially an artist development training program.

It is creative artists and producers of all disciplines–visual arts, theater, photographers, actors, writers. It’s any kind of artistic medium that folks are engaged in,” Williams said. “If they want to get a better understanding of how to take their creative practice and use it as a force, folks can learn various strategies and tools to better understand how they can leverage their creative practices to engage within their communities.”

Since 2011, over 300 creatives have been involved with the Create Change Fellowship and the Create Change Artist-in-Residence. The Laundromat Project Create Change program awards multicultural artists, critical thinkers, and cultural leaders a $1,000 to $25,000 fund. This includes professional development, critical mentorship, and peer-based support to develop and realize artistic projects in neighborhoods across New York City.

This year, Create Change Fellows presented special arts and advocacy projects for community partners: BLIS Collective (Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty, One Brooklyn Health, Magnolia Tree Earth Center and GrowHouse Design + Development. For the Create Change Artists-in-Residence, the artists and projects included: Briana Calderón Navarro, a Community Fridge Restoration Tour; Keshad Adeniyi, healing artwork inspired by youth demographics; Leslie Mejia, a Bronx wellness and healing playground; photographers Russell Frederick & Dahkil Hausif focused on Bed Stuy with “Dark Room Diaspora: Giving Old Images A New (A.I.) Life and Zakiya Collier created the exhibition “Collective Remembrance: For the Art of Preserving Bed-Stuy Restoration History.”

Each summer, the Laundromat Project distributes small grants to Bed Stuy block associations for financial assistance. This summer, the Laundromat Project had resource tables and a partnership with One Brooklyn Health for healthcare outreach and screenings. “It’s a way to celebrate block party culture within Bed Stuy,” said Williams. “It’s the opportunity for neighbors to get to know one another more deeply or to just be in celebration over the summer months. It’s one of my favorite programs.”

The Laundromat Project is a Black, multiracial and multi-generational cultural organization that is citywide. “The age of folks who come through our program are little babies all the way to our highly regarded elders. It’s a beautiful to just watch dialogue and exchange multi-generationally across ages and across experiences,” she said.

“It’s important transferring and translating knowledge and information across generations. It’s critical to have spaces where conversation and dialogue can happen for a greater understanding about our roots and our history.”

For the 20th anniversary, the Laundromat Project is holding a year-long celebration through August 2026. “The Laundromat Project is centered in the experiences of people of color. It informs us of our work. We’re founded by a Black woman. Even the citywide work that we do is predominantly focused in communities of color,” said Williams.

In September, the Schomburg hosted a special presentation on the impact of the Laundromat Project that featured Williams and founder Risë Wilson, the visionary who took community performance arts directly into laundromats in the city’s Black neighborhoods.

“I think through a lot of our programming and projects that our artists develop and activate, conversations that are sparked in those moments and then go on to impact even greater change in the neighborhoods in their communities,” she said.

Williams’ career has focused on the arts. She holds a master’s degree in visual arts administration from NYU and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining the Laundromat Project nine years ago, she was Visual Arts Manager at Lincoln Center and an art gallery director.

“I’m from New Orleans originally, which is a mecca of arts and culture. So, arts and culture have always been a part of my life. My father is a painter, sculptor, and photographer,” she said. “Growing up, I went to museums on a regular basis. I would go to concerts. Jazz music was playing every moment of every single day. In my house, I was constantly surrounded and inundated by all things arts and creativity.”

For Williams, being a part of the Bed Stuy creative community is pivotal to the Laundromat Project. “It’s just incredible being a part of the Bed Stuy cultural community. To uplift and highlight about how incredible the culture community in Bed Stuy is,” she said. “I think of Bed Stuy as the cultural capital. I think arts and culture is Bed Stuy.”