Exclusive: Javier Muñoz Shines a Spotlight on the Helpers of the Broadway Relief Project

Hi, I'm Javier Munoz, and these are a group of interviews that we're doing from all of the aspects and volunteers of the Broadway Relief Project, which I am a co-founder of, along with Molly Braverman of Broadway Green Alliance and Jeff Whitting of Open Jar Studios

And Broadway Relief Project is an effort to help New York City hospitals by providing them with much needed PPE, specifically with gowns, which is what we're manufacturing in multitudes right now

And we wanted to bring you some interviews with the folks who are helping to make this happen, not just in a way to provide a little backdrop to what we're doing, but hopefully to also provide some hope and some comfort to get to meet the people who are helping all of us get through this together

Today I am greeted, today I'm happy to greet Lauren Gaston, who is one of our incredible volunteers at the Broadway Relief Project

Hi, how are you? Hi, Lauren. How are you doing today? Well, how are you

Very good, as well as can be. Good. Thank you for taking time to speak with me today

Of course. Let's just jump right in. How did you first hear about the Broadway Relief Project

How did it first cross your radar? I heard about the Broadway Relief Project after I had reached out to Molly Braverman at the Broadway Green Alliance

I had started sourcing fabric independently with the aim of making masks

But then I reached out to her to see if there was anything else already in the works

And so I was excited when I heard about the Broadway Relief Project

and it felt like sort of fortuitous timing Molly was at a point in her planning process when fabric was the next piece of the puzzle And by that point in my sourcing materials for the arts had generously offered to donate fabric which put us 1 yards closer to our goal

And since then, I've been sewing surgical gowns with the Astoria team

I think the Astoria team thread. Yes. That is incredible. Can you walk us through sort of what's an average day look like for this kind of work with the Broadway Relief Project

Sure. Well, we have a weekly pickup on Mondays where we drop off our gowns and pick up the next set of 30

We've all, as best we can, have adapted our home spaces to be makeshift shops

to sew. We've, at least I've had, I have another friend in the neighborhood who I've sort of

pulled resources with because I, you know, he has a serger, I have a straight pitch machine

and it just goes much faster when, when working together in that way. So a lot of sewing in the

day-to-day. That's amazing. That's so, I mean, it's, it's incredible just to sort of give a

backdrop folks that that our home base is open jar studios in midtown manhattan and from open

jar studios fabrics get shipped out to the boroughs we've got contact people sort of you want to

think of it as like the the brain centers of each borough that our volunteers can get their fabrics

from as lauren just described and then manufacture then bring back to that home base in your borough

and then from there goes back to open jar and then out to the new york city hospitals so it's quite

I like to think of this as the biggest musical ever staged and produced Yeah it a whole new production So I know a lot about your background

and your work overseas and in other countries. How do you feel your experience specifically in the arts

has shaped your experience here with Broadway Relief Project? Well, I think artists are very adept at adapting

And I think as a freelancer, you know I think it's a lesson in learning to stand on shifting ground and that's certainly

something I'm doing right now and have done working in different countries and in different

environments and I think you know every time I have the opportunity to travel I find it really

fascinating what frameworks are placed around costume design and how that varies country to

country in terms of aesthetic vocabulary and historical and cultural context and traditions

So that's something costume designers have to navigate and we have to deepen our knowledge through research

And I think that initial ambiguity and ability to adapt lends itself to this process where we see the entire creative community pivoting on a dime to make PPE for our incredible medical professionals

That's awesome. What challenges have you or like what are the sort of biggest hurdles that you've sort of had to cross in this process

Both before you've met the Broadway Green Line. I'm sorry, before you've met Broadway Relief Project and through your work with the Relief Project

I think the biggest challenge for me has been setting up a new routine

I think you know like many entertainment workers I with a lot of time on my hands now Unexpected time which you know some days feels amazing and some days feels overwhelming

and lonely. So yeah, I think the challenge has been navigating what I want my new normal to be

in my day to day and how I want to spend my time and what I want to learn and how I want to just

just relax and cope some days. Yeah. Well, thank you for choosing to work with the Relief Project

and take some of that energy and put it towards what we're trying to do here. It really is

extraordinary. I can never say it enough that each and every person who's involved in this

is pretty miraculous. It is amazing what we've been able to accomplish thus far. And thank you

for your help. Just to wrap this up, why do you think this kind of effort and this kind of energy

and action is important, both specifically to you and just in general right now with what we're all

going through? I think it's more important now than ever to share talents and time and knowledge

to help others. I've heard a lot of artists ask in the past and now, you know, where does my voice

fit in? And I think it's possible to find your place by putting energy into the people

and causes that you care about. And that's what we're seeing with the creative community right now

Reimagining systems, working against the clock, adapting to this new normal. And all of this while everyone is facing setbacks

and grieving collective losses, but we're still using our creativity for good

So it's exciting to see. That's awesome. Thank you so much. This is wonderful

Nice to meet you virtually. Yes, yes, very nice to see you and meet you. And thank you again for all you're doing for

the Broadway Relief Project. Thank you