Past Events
December 2023
Season of Delight
As part of the final night of Season of Delight, Crosstown Arts and Crosstown Concourse will collaborate to screen a holiday feature in Crosstown Theater. The feature-length Die Hard will be screened for free. Theater doors open at 6 pm, and the films begin at 6:30 pm.
Season of Delight
As part of the second night of Season of Delight, Crosstown Arts and Crosstown Concourse will collaborate to screen a holiday feature in Crosstown Theater. The feature-length Home Alone will be screened for free. Theater doors open at 6 pm, and the films begin at 6:30 pm. There will also be the Resident Artists Open Studio event, and more! Artists in residence will have their studios open on Friday, December 8, from 5 to 6:30 pm; and musical artists OutPastMidnight and danieljmorrow will perform in The Green Room from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.
Season of Delight
On the first Friday in December, from 5 to 7 pm, Crosstown Concourse will host a festive event in the Central Atrium! The holiday atrium lights in the Central Atrium will turn on at 6 pm.
August 2023
Crosstown Splashdown!
Mark your calendars for Crosstown Splashdown! This end-of-summer event returns on Saturday, August 12th! This free event is the perfect way to beat the heat and say goodbye to summer. Come cool down at Crosstown Concourse with a waterslide, sprinklers, bubbles, duck pond, a DJ, games, and so much more!
June 2023
Crafts & Drafts
Local artists and makers showcase their wares during a fun afternoon of outdoor holiday shopping. Guests will browse a curated selection of handmade goods, as well as a great selection of beers and food available for purchase to stoke shopping spirits.
May 2023
Brazil by Day
Crosstown Concourse
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Time: 12-4 pm
Tickets: Free and open to the public
Get immersed in the rich and diverse cultures found throughout the regions of Brazil — from the Amazon to Bahia, Rio and beyond, through fine art, live music, dance performances, Capoeira demonstrations, local cuisine, and so much more!
This celebration of Brazilian culture is free, family-friendly, and open to everyone! The performances will begin on the South Plaza, move to the Central Atrium, then ….
April 2023
Listening Session with Xiu Xiu
Crosstown Arts presents a Listening Session with Xiu Xiu in the Memphis Listening Lab.
Memphis Listening Lab
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Event begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
REGISTER HERE
Xiu Xiu will play songs from their records on the incredible speaker system in the Memphis Listening Lab and then discuss those songs. There will be a brief Q&A after the listening session.
February 2023
Literature is Liberating Fest
Literature is Liberating Fest is a free and open to the community literary festival celebrating Black authors and African American literature that includes vendors, author discussions, book signings, literary panels, writing workshops for kids and adults, a youth story hour, crafts, and more!
October 2017
Creep Sweep Trunk or Treat
Bring your little ghouls and goblins to Crosstown Concourse this Halloween for trick-or-treating on the plaza. Volunteers will park their cars on the plaza and fill their trunks with candy. And don’t miss a special performance by the IRIS Orchestra Artist Fellows.
Crosstown Getdown: Salsa!
Join us for Crosstown Getdown, a new monthly dance series at Crosstown Concourse. Each month will feature a new dance theme with free lessons followed by music and dancing.
This month: Salsa Dancing!
Meet up in the Central Atrium by the staircase. Corey Strong with Baila! Memphis Dance Company will provide a FREE salsa lesson from 6-7 pm. And then DJ Antonio Quin of Bohemian Africana will spin tunes for a salsa dance party from 7-8 pm.
September 2017
Bomb Shelter Radio
Bomb Shelter Radio travels throughout the United States creating temporary radio stations broadcasting through FM airwaves and the internet.
Artist Josh Short will be broadcasting live on the Crosstown Concourse plaza from his mobile radio unit, which goes by the name Lucille Valentine, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (8-10 pm) and Wednesdays at noon from Sept. 15-Oct. 16.
Crosstown Getdown
Join us for Crosstown Getdown, the first event in a new monthly dance series at Crosstown Concourse. Each month will feature a new dance theme with free lessons followed by music and dancing.
This month: Cha-cha Slide. The Hustle. Line Dancing!
August 2017
Crosstown Concourse Opening Day Celebration
Join us for the opening celebration of Crosstown Concourse, scheduled nearly 90 years to the day of the original Sears Crosstown grand opening in August 1927. This celebration of history and rebirth will showcase the organizations and businesses that courageously believed in and dedicated themselves to the creation of this one-of-a-kind vertical urban village. A full schedule of events will be released soon, but expect great food, live music, dance performances, art exhibitions, a Concourse documentary screening, tenant open houses, and more.
June 2017
ICEBERG New Music Workshop: Sound Scavenger Hunt
In two sessions, participants search for sounds that meet certain criteria (i.e. “high, short, loud” or “low, short, soft”) and record them with portable recorders. The sounds will then be used to create an online “sound” map that lists the sounds’ qualities, source, and location, allowing anyone to download the sounds to use in a creative project.
ICEBERG New Music: Mindful Listening Workshop
A workshop in which participants move through a series of Pauline Oliveros-inspired sound/meditation exercises designed to attune participants to the sounds around them and develop a richer vocabulary for describing them.
ICEBERG New Music Lectures
Free lectures led by members of Iceberg New Music Collective. ICEBERG is in residence at Crosstown Arts for two weeks and will be collaborating with Blueshift Ensemble on a series of free concerts, workshops, and lectures. Sponsored by Amro Music.
ICEBERG New Music Collective, Concert II
New York City-based composer collective ICEBERG New Music will be in residence at Crosstown Arts for two weeks of concerts, workshops, and lectures with Memphis-based contemporary chamber group Blueshift Ensemble.
Concert II will feature performances by Alex Burtzos, Drake Andersen, Yu-Chun Chien, Jonathan Russ, and Harry Stafylakis.
ICEBERG New Music Collective, Concert I
New York City-based composer collective ICEBERG New Music will be in residence at Crosstown Arts for two weeks of concerts, workshops, and lectures with Memphis-based contemporary chamber group Blueshift Ensemble.
Concert I will feature performances by Alyssa Weinberg, Max Grafe, Victor Baez, Will Healy, and Derek Cooper.
May 2017
“Barrier Free” Artist Talk
Artist Yancy Villa-Calvo will discuss “Barrier Free,” her socially engaged art installation on display in Crosstown Concourse’s Central Atrium. A Q&A will follow. The talk will take place in front of the installation.
Barrier Free
A portion of a socially engaged art installation designed for the Latino Memphis Festival by Yancy Villa-Calvo will be on view at in the Crosstown Concourse’s Central Atrium in this week-long pop-up exhibition. Building on the current and controversial idea of the proposed wall along the US-Mexico border, the installation aims to create awareness and encourages viewers to pause, reflect, and act.
April 2017
Crosstown Concourse Job Fair
Fifteen Crosstown Concourse businesses will be offering more than 60 jobs in fields ranging from healthcare, arts, operations, security, and retail. There will be a limited number of free bus passes available, and the first 100 people will get a free slice of pizza.
November 2013
Theaster Gates: A Way of Working
In partnership with VO2 Networx, the University of Memphis Department of Art, Memphis College of Art, and Rhodes College Art Department, Crosstown Arts is pleased to welcome internationally-recognized installation and social practice artist Theaster Gates for a public lecture and panel discussion at Sears Crosstown on the evening of Saturday, November 16.
October 2013
Sketches of Crosstown
In 2011, Sean Murphy began recording an album in the Sears Crosstown building using only its vast and abandoned spaces to capture and create a one-of-a-kind recording, Sketches of Crosstown. We’re pleased to commemorate the record release with a live performance at the building followed by a reception and talk with the artist and his collaborators.
Watch the promotional video for the album, documentary, and concert here.
Purchase performance tickets here.
“It has been a long road but I can honestly ….
September 2012
Urban Ballet Showcase
The latest installment of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s Opus One series is being billed as Memphis Jookin + the Memphis Symphony = Urban Ballet Showcase. The evening will feature performances by U-Dig Dance Company as well as the Beale Street Flippers.
Presented by U-Dig Dance Academy
Event press: The Memphis Flyer, “Crosstown Comeback”
April 2012
MemFeast 2: Crosstown Public Art Projects
At the second installment of MemFeast, seven artists proposed public art projects for Midtown’s Crosstown neighborhood.
MemFeast 3: Indie Memphis
Crosstown Arts presented the third MemFeast in collaboration with Indie Memphis, and sought proposals for short films based on the theme of neighborhood.At each MemFeast, anyone from the community can buy a $25 ticket for an amazing, locally sourced dinner, along with drinks and a ballot to vote on the night’s presentations. During the meal, a juried selection of local artists present proposals for their short film projects. At the end of the night, diners vote for their favorite idea ….
September 2011
Robin Salant: Crosstown Lights
Winning Project: Memfeast 2
From the Commercial Appeal:
Crosstown canvas comes alive with color
From Staff Reports
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
A large crowd on Friday night witnessed the artful lighting of the main body of the old Sears Crosstown building.
Scores of cars pulled into the parking lot on Cleveland near North Parkway for a different kind of tailgating event.
Nearly 300 windows form a large grid on the south side of the vacant building. About 40 windows ….
