The Segal Center Award for Civic Engagement in the Arts was originally established to recognise individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to civic discourse and have had a real impact on contemporary theatre and performance in New York City. In The Time of Corona, the Segal Center decided to honour global theatre and performance artists who have become agents of change in 2020 and 2021.
Since the outbreak of the Corona Pandemic, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY has presented a series of public talks during The Time of Corona with over 300 artists and institutions from over 50 countries. The aim of the initiatives presented were to introduce artistic projects and concepts that develop a new perspective on social and institutional developments in the field of art, especially performance art.