…According to WPA program director Blair Murphy, “Lisa Gold knows Esa from New York and Performa is such an important platform for contemporary performance….. There has been a lot of activity in DC’s performance art scene in the last couple of years….. So we think that having Esa speak and meet with artists is a great way to add to that conversation. For WPA, we also saw it as an opportunity to forge connections between artists here and the larger performance art world.”

 “Take it to the Bridge” has the potential to leaving a lasting impact on the D.C. artists and art audiences well beyond the brief duration of the works. Bass applauds the Corcoran for make performance art so visible and arranging the series during Free Summer Saturdays. The new venue “bridges inside and outside…public and private… in this very cool way.” It transforms the Corcoran from an “amazing institution” that is often still seen as “imposing” and “stately” into a  “more welcoming and intriguing” place. In a similar vein, Mayorga thinks the series will“ bring the museum closer to people [and] make the Corcoran a more dynamic place.”

Cornelius is “hoping it sends a message to the [Cororcan] board for the potential for the architecture and the space as key to them formulating their identity.” She underscored the series’ potential to influence the future of performance art as a medium, adding that it is “probably one of the most interesting and significant [initiatives] the Corcoran has put together.…It’s great to have an actual museum giving its mark on [the] medium itself by arranging the series and allowing public to attend the series for free.”

Withers said she is “grateful” to be participating in the series during  “such an important time for the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  The thought of D.C. losing that building, that location, and that energy is quite shocking and hurtful…..D..C has the money and the audience for a private … [institution] the magnitude of the Corcoran.  My hope is that the [series] can be a part of the renewed support of the Corcoran and Washington, D.C. artists”…