What is a TASK party? It’s a creative playground, a social event, a movement, and an art happening. It’s the brainchild of Dutch-born New York City artist Oliver Herring, and it’s coming to Newhall on Thursday evening. TASK is an improvisational event with a simple structure and very few rules.

All TASK parties rely on the same basic infrastructure: a designated area, a variety of props and materials and the participation of people who agree to follow two simple, procedural rules: to write down a task on a piece of paper and add it to a designated “TASK pool;” and, secondly, to pull a task from that pool and interpret it any which way he or she wants, using whatever is on (or potentially off) stage.

“Our mission at Forge Ahead Arts is to build community by furthering artistic expression, participation and appreciation for citizens of all ages, and a lot of our projects are participatory,” said Executive Director Stephanie O’Connor. “So TASK’s participatory nature, which creates opportunities for people to interact with one another while being creative, is right up our alley. I’ve wanted to host a TASK party since I first learned about them a couple of years ago, so when the opportunity came up to partner with the Office of Arts and Events for the Thursdays@Newhall programming, we jumped at it.”

“One of the truly wonderful aspects of TASK is that it can engage people of all ages,” said Moire Lendering, an artist and co-executive director of Forge Ahead Arts. “I’ve done them with the students I teach – children as young as 2nd grade – but they’re being done in universities, museums and art centers from New York to Utah, to Texas, to China and Dubai.”

Forge Ahead Arts’ TASK party is open to the public, and the fee for entry is only $1.

“It’s important to us that price is not a barrier to participation,” said O’Connor, “so we try not to charge much if anything to participate in any of our projects. Of course additional donations are always gratefully accepted.”

The event starts at 7 p.m. at 24247 Main Street and runs until 10 p.m. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.forgeaheadarts.org or at the door.

Questions should be addressed to contact@forgeaheadarts.org.

For more information on TASK, visit https://oliverherringtask.wordpress.com.