Nike celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, a milestone it’s honoring by looking to the future of sport. With this ethos, the brand announced a long-term partnership with New York-based cultural institution The Shed, a collaboration Nike says will “expand human performance” and explore artistic creativity, empowerment, diversity, and risk-taking.
Creativity is at the center of many of Nike’s projects, including its newest design hub located at its world headquarters. The brand’s multi-year partnership with The Shed, however, will provide everyone with an accessible space to invent, produce, and present new forms of art. Already, the cultural institution offers free seasonal programs including art exhibitions and DJ sets, and its team-up with Nike will only expand such experiences.
Get moving (and grooving) —
This summer, Nike and The Shed plan to produce and present two programs focused on dance. The first, open throughout July and August, explores various styles of dance and invites the public to participate in dance and DJ sets held in The Shed’s outdoor plaza.
The second program, set to open on August 3, introduces Tiona Nekkia McClodden’s The Trace of an Implied Presence, a multi-channel installation that highlights contemporary Black dance across a range of dance forms practiced today. The exhibition will explore archival dance styles too — looking both to the past and present — and is set to run through August 28. Each of Nike and The Shed’s offerings is free to the public to allow anyone to take part.
Come together —
Both projects align with Nike’s own 50th-anniversary celebrations, which have sought to invite everyone to sport. “Over the past 50 years, Nike has been a champion for athletes and sport and will remain true to that,” the brand wrote in a previous statement. “The best is in front of us. We're never done creating; we’re never done exploring.”
Through its partnership with The Shed, Nike continues to get people moving — and more notably, showcases why sport and community go hand-in-hand. The duo’s two dance programs are especially rooted in culture and company, offering a fun learning environment for all.
