Felicia Young, is the Founder and Executive Director of Earth Celebrations. As a community cultural development artist and theatrical pageant director, Felicia founded Earth Celebrations in 1991, as a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering ecological awareness through the arts.
Since founding Earth Celebrations, Felicia has been pioneering ecological arts programs, creative advocacy projects, and spectacular theatrical pageants, that have led to the preservation of the community gardens on the Lower East Side and throughout New York City. Due to her leadership, Earth Celebrations has received many awards for its efforts such as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs: Public Service Award (1995-2005), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council: Fund For Creative Communities Award (1996-Present), and Friends of the United Nations International Award for Creating Common Unity (1996).
In 2009, Felicia Young, building upon the success of Earth Celebrations innovative approach to creative community organizing to preserve the gardens, launched Earth Celebrations new programs to restore the species and habitats of the Hudson River and address climate change in New York City.
For more than 20 years, Felicia Young has produced large-scale environmental and cultural events for numerous organizations including: The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, >arts World Financial Center, Alternative Museum, Independent Friends of McCarren Park, New Wilderness Foundation, and Earth Day New York, among many others.
Felicia Young is also the Founder of the first Ecofest event for the New York City Parks Department, Trash Monster (1990-1995), Earth Day New York, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The World Trade Center, and Port Authority of New York/NJ.
As a native 3rd generation New Yorker, she has deep roots in the City of New York, as well as much inspiration from the festivals, ceremonies, and mythic dramas from her mother’s native land of India.
Felicia Young has a BA in Art History from Skidmore College and a MA degree in Performance Studies from New York University.
Felicia’s inspiration for Earth Celebrations was drawn from the civic pageants in New York City in the early 1900’s and the large scale mythic dramas and ritual theater staged in her mother’s native land of India. She has developed the theatrical pageant art-form as an innovative strategy, utilizing all the arts; music, painting, sculpture, puppetry, dance, poetry, performance, and ceremony, to engage people from a diverse community to work together creatively for a common goal, addressing issues, and to effect positive change.
Felicia’s Statement:
“Right here in New York City where we may often feel disconnected from the natural world, we are also part of a unique ecosystem, one where we must curb our production of waste, pollution, environmental destruction, as well as restore the ecological balance in our city. Art does not only have to reflect life, but can effect it too, by inspiring people’s imagination and bringing them together to address crucial issues. Earth Celebrations programs engage the community to celebrate the natural world, cultivate culturally diverse arts and traditions, document and perform local history, and revive the arts at the center of community life!”
