In 1966, the Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association (BACA) began with a modest film festival
established by Charlene Victor in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. After living in Manhattan
and moving to what she considered “Siberia,” Victor instead fell in love with her new borough.
Inspired after her work on the festival, she was determined to see the arts take a more prominent
place in the lives of her neighbors. She gathered together local artists and community leaders to
plan a series of events featuring Brooklyn artists. The series was so successful that she decided to
continue organizing arts programming for the community at large. BACA also ran the Downtown
Cultural Center, known as BACA Downtown, which opened about ten years later in a former
Catholic school building. Spike Lee, Danny DeVito, playwright Suzan-Lori Parks among others got
their start in the performing arts at BACA Downtown. Kim X Knowlton and Maggie Siena made
Watchface’s first contact with BACA to host their two person show, Making It Last, in 1985.
In addition to performance and visual arts programming, BACA has grown to include support services
in education, grant-making, fiscal sponsorship, film, media, traditional and folk arts. The name was
changed to Brooklyn Arts Council in the late 1980’s.
Watchface performances at BACA Downtown:
Bloody Mary
Making It Last
Ralph and Louie’s Bad Habits