SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCES AND SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED!
Alice Smith • Andra Day • Angélique Kidjo • BJ The Chicago Kid • Dolores Huerta • Eve Ewing • Jon Batiste • Leon Bridges • Martin Luther King III • Mumu Fresh • Rapsody • Talib Kweli • Tamron Hall • Terri Lyne Carrington • Urban Bush Women • and more…
The Town Hall presents the LENA HORNE PRIZE For Artists Creating Social Impact, celebrating Solange Knowles. Featuring music, visual art, short films and spoken word from renowned artists, entertainers and activists with a special performance and award presentation to Solange.
Music sheds light on injustice and invigorates social movements. Throughout history, artists have utilized their platforms to speak truth to power and to promote philanthropy and create social change. The Lena Horne Prize honors artists creating social impact with their platform and who inspire the next generation of change-makers.
ABOUT SOLANGE KNOWLES
GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter and visual artist Solange Knowles has used her platform to advocate for representation and justice while providing constructive and empowering messages. With the release of her critically acclaimed albums, A Seat at the Table (2016) and When I Get Home (2019), Solange has navigated through themes of self-reflection and origin, empowerment, grief and healing that have resonated with millions of voices. This coupled with her performance art work has led to a defining career of music, visual art, and activism. Solange performed for President Obama at the White House as well as at the Kennedy Center and the legendary Sydney Opera House in Australia. Solange has conducted performance art shows across the globe including The Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2019), the Guggenheim Museum in NYC (2017), the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2017), and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, in Germany (2019). She has exhibited video art installations at London’s Tate Modern and premiered the interdisciplinary video and dance performance piece, Metatronia, which featured Metatron’s Cube, 2018; a sculpture conceptualized and created by Solange, at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, Solange released her album and interdisciplinary art film entitled When I Get Home. The album asked the question how much of ourselves do we bring with us versus leave behind in our evolution. Solange returned to Third Ward Houston to answer this. Written, performed, and executive produced by Solange, the release resulted in her third top 10 debut on the Billboard 200, hit #1 on iTunes, and kicked off a global tour. Solange premiered an extended director's cut of her film at museums and contemporary institutions including The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Los Angeles, The Brooklyn Museum, New York and V&A London.
Solange’s work in music and the arts has led to her being named Harvard University’s Artist of the Year in 2018. She was honored by The New School as a pioneering figure in fashion and the arts at the 70th Annual Parsons Benefit. She has also been the recipient of Glamour’s Woman of the Year Award and Billboard’s Impact Award.
Solange's $100,000 prize will be directed to Project Row Houses, a Houston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people and enriching communities through engagement, art and direct action. The organization, founded in 1993, is a catalyst for transforming community through the celebration of art and African-American history and culture.
Presenting Sponsor Salesforce
This year’s event is made possible by Salesforce, the global leader in CRM and a company which believes in the power of business as the greatest platform for change. Salesforce’s ‘Make Change’ series elevates action leaders who reflect the company’s core values and use their platform to spark change, from equality to digital transformation. Salesforce is proud to support the Lena Horne Prize and celebrate artists dedicated to creating social impact. For more information please visit https://www.salesforce.com/campaign/makechange/work/.