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What does it take for a legal relationship to become a true one?

Write your own breakup letter at breakup250.com, or call our hotline at 617-520-4920 and leave a recorded one instead.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #ImmigrationAndBelonging
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This is a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project and is a real photograph. No AI was used to write the letter or generate the image.
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Image description: A handwritten letter on white paper in blue ink, reading in full:

“Dear USA, We recently got engaged 💍 & you have given me the legal pass to live a life of flourishing. While our relationship is still in the works, I hope by the time we’re married we’ll have re-assessed our values and come to love each other for who we are. Your fiancé" A handwritten letter on white paper in blue ink, reading in full: “Dear USA, We recently got engaged 💍 & you have given me the legal pass to live a life of flourishing. While our relationship is still in the works, I hope by the time we’re married we’ll have re-assessed our values and come to love each other for who we are. Your fiancé"

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Some patterns skip a generation. Others don’t. And so we continue to be lured by the bright colors of the sirens.

An artist friend of the studio reads a letter about inheriting a mother’s hope for a better life, and then inheriting the same need to escape.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #ImmigrationAndBelonging
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This is a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project and is read aloud by a real person. No AI was used to write or narrate it.
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Video description: A black background with dripping red graffiti lettering spelling “#BREAKUP250” across the top. Below it, white and gray captions appear in sync with a red dotted waveform line as an artist reads the letter aloud: “Dear USA, you gave my mother a sense of hope. Lured her with your bright colors, job opportunities, and eloquent vocabulary. Who doesn’t want to know what freedom, liberty, and justice means? What I never imagined is that like my mother, I’d want to flee. I thought she escaped violence and a repressive state, but like all abusive relationships, the cycles continue.”

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Some letters read like anthems that refuse to go quiet. And then we need a poet to proclaim it.

Yahna Light (@earthgirlsuniverse) brings this piece to life, one that moves between childhood patriotism, parched hope, and a defiant truth that won’t stay buried.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #Hope
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This is a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project. No AI was used to write it.
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Video description: Black and white footage. The poet Yahna Light sits on a chair against a bare brick and plaster wall, holding a folded letter in both hands and reading from it. “#BreakUp 250” is handwritten in the bottom left corner of the frame. They read the following letter aloud, in an interpretative, emotionally expressive style: “Hey there, land of my birth. Anthems I belted at patriotic picnics in childhood ring hollow now. I sing freedom still, parched lips, post-it poems, peace in my heart and fire in my gut. Let truth break US open like milkweed pods, and hope spring up from blood-drenched soil, till liberty lifts our eyes and our voices, despite death dealing dictators. We are more than you know.”

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It’s artist feature day 🤩 Our artist of the week is the
Boston-based artist, Zakiyyah. She is celebrating the release of her debut album, African Import, blending her classical training in singing and acting with influences from opera, hip-hop, jazz, and R&B. How amazing is that?

She’ll bring that hip-hopera sound to the stage live & November 14 at the African Import Concert. Save the date. In the meantime, you can stream her music on all major platforms.

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#artistoftheweek
#ds4simeetingthemoment
#ds4si
#zakiyyah
#publiclife

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Some words carry the weight of the writer’s embodied experience, like carved in the flesh. Skin as the canvas for our emotions. Walking away starts with naming the spells that have been holding you back.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #SelfLove
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This is a quote from a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project and is a real photograph. No AI was used to write the letter or generate the image.
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Image description: A close-up photo of an open palm held up against a gravel pavement background in bright sunlight. Handwritten in dark ink across the lines of the palm: “Dear USA, you’ve pillaged. You’ve cast spells, illusions and glamours that have entrapped many. Beneath your foot and in your grip lies the precious dreams of my mama.” A close-up photo of an open palm held up against a gravel pavement background in bright sunlight. Handwritten in dark ink across the lines of the palm: “Dear USA, you’ve pillaged. You’ve cast spells, illusions and glamours that have entrapped many. Beneath your foot and in your grip lies the precious dreams of my mama.”

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Have you ever thought about your relationship with the country you live in? The breakup letter is our way in, funny enough to lower the guard, honest enough to mean it. Half joke, half serious.

Sitting with the question is when the story begins. Here’s how some people from our NYC pop-up felt about the act of writing and reflecting.
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#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts

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Not every home is safe, even the one you were born into.

Multimedia illustrator and storyteller Barrington S. Edwards lends his interpretative reading to this letter about growing up under the roof of a country that never fully accepted you, and the long, complicated process of finally walking out the door.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #RacialJustice
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This is a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project. No AI was used to write it.
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Video description: Black and white footage. Barrington S. Edwards sits on a chair against a bare brick and plaster wall, holding a folded letter in both hands and reading from it. “#BreakUp 250” is handwritten in the bottom left corner of the frame. He reads the following letter aloud, in an interpretative, emotionally expressive style: “Dear America, from my mother’s womb you’ve served as my home and keeper. However, you’ve shown me that not every home is safe. Under your roof I’ve had to abide by your rules. My skin was never light enough for you, my speech was never tight enough for you. You are the toxic and abusive parent I have never seen eye to eye with. ‘But you’re still my parent,’ outsiders say. I will never truly hate you, because if I did I would never fight for our relationship the way I have. I love you, but I’m ready to let you go. Will you ever let me go? I know deep down you’re nothing without me, but I won’t ask your forgiveness. Peace be with you, we’re over.”

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We’re feeling a bit nostalgic today, so we had to do a flashback moment to Dance Court as we get into weekend mode. If you’ve attended any of our dance courts, you know the good vibes and energy that it brings.

We love a good moment to interact with the community, let loose, and shake off all the tension, stress and negative vibes!

Have you attended dance court? What is your favorite Dance court moment?

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#ds4si
#ds4sidesigngym
#ds4simeetingthemoment
#dancecourt

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Maybe it’s not you nor me? Could it be?

Michél, co-creator of Upon Request Podcast, joined us at our NYC pop-up in Washington Square Park and read his breakup letter with the USA straight to camera. No rehearsal.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #RacialJustice

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Some breakups don’t come with a long explanation. Some come with attitude, a little temper, and the perfect last line.

This one doesn’t ask for closure, it takes it.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #HumorAndPopCulture
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This is a quote from a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project and is a real photograph. No AI was used to write the letter or generate the image.
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Image description: A handwritten note in red ink, held to a light wood surface by a strip of red tape, reads: “You said I could have it all if I follow the law... A slick talker and a night walker, never to be trusted again. Took all my goods and told me I’m a sin... you’s a lie. America, girl, good fucking bye.” A handwritten note in red ink, held to a light wood surface by a strip of red tape, reads: “You said I could have it all if I follow the law... A slick talker and a night walker, never to be trusted again. Took all my goods and told me I’m a sin... you’s a lie. America, girl, good fucking bye.”

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There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from loving something that keeps asking you to prove you deserve care.

Our very own Lori Lobenstine, Co-Founder & Program Design Director, brings that exhaustion, and the boundary that follows it, to life in this interpretative reading.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #CreativeWriting #SelfLove
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This is a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project. No AI was used to write it.
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Video description: Black and white footage. Lori Lobenstine, DS4SI’s Co-Founder and Program Design Director, sits on a chair against a bare brick and plaster wall, holding a folded letter in both hands and reading from it. “#BreakUp 250” is handwritten in the bottom left corner of the frame. She reads the following letter aloud, in an interpretative, emotionally expressive style: “Dear USA, every day I am reminded of your hate for me. From your lack of care and consideration of my health to your disgust of me. Every day, a new barrier, a new challenge, and another unavailable resource. You don’t care for my creativity or growth, unless it makes you profit. Every night you leave me exhausted, too tired to invest in myself, too tired to connect with my community, and too tired for inconvenience. I must choose love, myself, and my people.”

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Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States has never been simple. It’s colonial, it’s complicated, and for a lot of people, it’s deeply personal.

In this audiogram, a friend of the studio reads a letter about growing up Puerto Rican between the safety of family and culture, and a wider history of displacement, exploited resources, and a need for this country that doesn’t go away even when you know better.

Have your own letter to write? Share it with us and tag #BreakUp250, submit anonymously at breakup250.com, or call our hotline and leave a voicemail at 617-520-4920.

#DS4SI #BreakUp250 #ParticipatoryArt #VisualArts #PerformingArts #UrbanArts #HistoricalReckoning #Audiogram
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This is a real letter submitted to BreakUp 250 participatory arts project and is read aloud by a real person. No AI was used to write or narrate it.
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Audio description: A friend of the studio reads the following letter aloud: “Dear USA, I’m Puerto Rican, I was born in Puerto Rico. When I grew up my family was so focused on making sure we were safe and out of trouble. Luckily my parents managed to show me culture through participating at Puerto Rican festivals and having family parties. Life was normal, great for me. I later realized that many other Puerto Ricans didn’t have the same access and felt pushed away from their culture. This is because you pushed Puerto Ricans off their homeland and exploited their resources. You left Puerto Ricans confused and at war with themselves. They feel like they need you, but they don’t, they don’t, they don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t...”

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