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30 Arts and Edu­ca­tion Orga­ni­za­tions to Present Free Pro­gram­ming on Gov­er­nors Island for 2020 Pub­lic Season

Mar 9, 2020 10:36 am

March 9, 2020. The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island (The Trust) announced today its line­up of free sea­son­al pro­gram­ming and exhi­bi­tions, pre­sent­ed by 30 orga­ni­za­tions dur­ing Gov­er­nors Island’s 2020 pub­lic sea­son. The his­toric for­mer mil­i­tary hous­es in Nolan Park and Colonels Row will once again serve as venues for the pro­grams, which will engage vis­i­tors of all ages with offer­ings that span visu­al and per­form­ing arts, envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence, and cul­ture. Out­door pro­grams on urban agri­cul­ture and envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty will also return on week­ends at Gov­er­nors Island’s Urban Farm. Gov­er­nors Island will be open to the pub­lic in 2020 from May 1 through Novem­ber 1. More announce­ments on spe­cial events and oth­er details about Gov­er­nors Island’s 2020 sea­son will be made in the com­ing weeks.

“We’re excit­ed to announce anoth­er packed sum­mer line­up this year, with a range of new events and old favorites designed to engage New York­ers in all Gov­er­nors Island has to offer,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“We’re proud to cel­e­brate New York City’s diverse cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ty by host­ing free pro­grams from 30 orga­ni­za­tions rang­ing from visu­al art pre­sent­ed by inter­na­tion­al artists, hands-on activ­i­ties for kids and dis­cus­sions on press­ing envi­ron­men­tal issues. We invite every­one to vis­it and expe­ri­ence Gov­er­nors Island’s rich his­to­ry, diverse ecol­o­gy and stun­ning water­front views — it’s just a quick fer­ry ride away.” 

New pro­grams com­ing to Gov­er­nors Island this year include the inau­gur­al Asia Soci­ety Tri­en­ni­al, titled We Do Not Dream Alone, which will debut in loca­tions across New York City on June 5. On Gov­er­nors Island, We Do Not Dream Alone will show­case works by 12 inter­na­tion­al artists and col­lec­tives dis­played in three his­toric build­ings along Colonels Row, on view Wednes­days – Sun­days through August 9. Oth­er new pro­grams in the his­toric hous­es include an exhi­bi­tion and research hub of archi­tec­tur­al solu­tions to the chal­lenges of cli­mate change by the GAUD at Pratt Insti­tute School of Archi­tec­ture; explo­rations of New York’s lin­guis­tic diver­si­ty by the Endan­gered Lan­guage Alliance; tra­di­tion­al kimono exhi­bi­tions, work­shops and live per­for­mances by Japan Per­form­ing Arts; a STEM-focused instal­la­tion for all ages by Beam Cen­ter; works by stu­dents, fac­ul­ty and alum­ni of Penn­syl­va­nia Col­lege of Art & Design exam­in­ing human alter­ations to the envi­ron­ment; and visu­al arts exhi­bi­tions and res­i­den­cy pro­grams for New York artists by Art Crawl Harlem, BronxArt­Space, and New York Art Res­i­den­cy and Stu­dios (NARS) Foun­da­tion.

A diverse group of orga­ni­za­tions will return to host pro­grams on Gov­er­nors Island this sea­son, includ­ing the New Art Deal­ers Alliance (NADA), which will present works by dozens of artists across two Colonels Row hous­es; the Cli­mate Muse­um​’s pub­lic exhi­bi­tion on cli­mate sci­ence and solu­tions; art exhi­bi­tions and res­i­den­cies by the Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary African Dias­po­ran Arts (MoCA­DA); show­cas­es, talks and per­for­mances by Native artists with the Amer­i­can Indi­an Com­mu­ni­ty House; the return of 4heads’ Por­tal, the expan­sive annu­al art fair now in its 13^th year; and many more. 

“Every year arts and cul­ture on Gov­er­nors Island con­tin­ues to grow, wel­com­ing new voic­es, new per­spec­tives and new pro­grams that deep­en our under­stand­ing of the world around us,” said Mered­ith John­son, VP of Art and Cul­ture at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“We are excit­ed to wel­come vis­i­tors in 2020, fur­ther­ing the Island’s com­mit­ment to audi­ences and cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions from across the five bor­oughs with a sea­son explor­ing the most press­ing issues of our time and pro­vid­ing plat­forms for pre­sen­ta­tion unlike any oth­er in New York.”

Every year, the Trust invites orga­ni­za­tions and non-prof­its oper­at­ing in the fields of art, cul­ture and edu­ca­tion to pro­pose sea­son­al pub­lic pro­grams includ­ing exhi­bi­tions, res­i­den­cies, work­shops, per­for­mances, talks, screen­ings and more to be held in the Island’s icon­ic hous­es. Gov­er­nors Island pro­vides a plat­form for orga­ni­za­tions from New York and beyond to reach a diverse and grow­ing audi­ence of engaged vis­i­tors, where col­lab­o­ra­tion is encour­aged between par­tic­i­pat­ing orga­ni­za­tions and space is pro­vid­ed to pre­sen­ters free of charge. 

The Island’s arts and cul­ture pro­gram con­tin­ues to grow in new ways each year. In Sep­tem­ber 2019, the Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil opened its expand­ed Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island, a 40,000 sq. ft. facil­i­ty that hous­es gal­leries with exhi­bi­tions and free pro­grams acces­si­ble to vis­i­tors in the pub­lic sea­son as well as year-round stu­dio space for 40 res­i­dent artists. The Arts Cen­ter will present its first full sea­son of pub­lic pro­gram­ming in 2020 with more details to be announced soon. 

Envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence and urban agri­cul­ture pro­grams return this year to the Urban Farm on Gov­er­nors Island. Earth Mat­ter NY, GrowNYC, The Hon­ey­bee Con­ser­van­cy and Island Bee Project will con­tin­ue their pub­lic pro­grams where vis­i­tors can roll up their sleeves and dig into a wealth of top­ics relat­ed to the envi­ron­ment and sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture in urban settings. 

Pro­grams in Nolan Park, Colonels Row and the Urban Farm will open to the pub­lic on week­ends begin­ning in May and con­tin­u­ing through Novem­ber 1, with addi­tion­al pub­lic hours for some pro­grams. Pro­grams on Colonels Row will be pre­sent­ed in two ses­sions and will rotate in August. All are free and open to the pub­lic. Addi­tion­al details on all indoor pro­grams are avail­able below. 

In 2020, Gov­er­nors Island will be open to the pub­lic dai­ly from May 1 to Novem­ber 1. The Island will be open 10AM-6PM on week­days and 10AM-7PM on week­ends. Addi­tion­al details about the Island’s 2020 sea­son and spe­cial events will be announced in the com­ing weeks. 

Free ongo­ing arts, cul­ture and edu­ca­tion pro­grams pre­sent­ed on Gov­er­nors Island in 2020 include:

PRO­GRAMS IN NOLAN PARK
(Week­ends, May 2‑November 1, 11AM-5PM, unless oth­er­wise noted) 

Amer­i­can Indi­an Com­mu­ni­ty House
The Amer­i­can Indi­an Com­mu­ni­ty House will present art exhi­bi­tions and artists talks with Native artists from New York City in the Admiral’s House in Nolan Park. In addi­tion, AICH will host live music and dance per­for­mances as well as projects about Native Amer­i­can his­to­ry in NYC.
Amer­i­can Indi­an Com­mu­ni­ty House will be open 2 – 5PM Wednes­days through Fri­days begin­ning May 1 in addi­tion to 11AM-5PM on weekends.

Art Crawl Harlem
Art Crawl Harlem’s house will fea­ture curat­ed exhi­bi­tions of emerg­ing and under­rec­og­nized local artists and a site-spe­cif­ic res­i­den­cy pro­gram that encour­ages artists to explore the links between Gov­er­nors Island, Harlem and the globe through paint­ing, pho­tog­ra­phy, per­for­mance and mul­ti­me­dia storytelling. 

Bil­lion Oys­ter Project
In the BOP exhib­it in Nolan Park, vis­i­tors will get up close and per­son­al with everyone’s favorite bi-valve. Vis­i­tors can dive into the work of the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project to restore oys­ter pop­u­la­tions in New York’s water­ways, learn about their col­lab­o­ra­tion with the New York Har­bor School and dis­cov­er NYC oys­ter his­to­ry and the many marine crit­ters that call the Big Apple home.

The Cli­mate Muse­um
The Cli­mate Muse­um will present an exhi­bi­tion that focus­es on steps we can take toward a cli­mate-safe future.
The Cli­mate Museum’s pro­gram in Nolan Park will open in June 2020.

Endan­gered Lan­guage Alliance
In cel­e­bra­tion of ELA’s 10^th anniver­sary, Hear­ing New York will show­case the city’s less­er-known lan­guages and cul­tures with a focus on forg­ing a new kind of pub­lic lin­guis­tics. The house will fea­ture Moth­er Tongues, a pho­to series fea­tur­ing speak­er por­traits, as well as video and audio record­ings. ELA will also host an event series pre­sent­ing poet­ry, music and sto­ries from a wide range of lan­guages and regions, edu­ca­tion and lit­er­a­cy pro­grams, a film series and more.
The Endan­gered Lan­guage Alliance’s pro­gram in Nolan Park will be open May 2‑September 7.

Har­vest­works
Har­vest­works will present a dynam­ic pro­gram of res­i­den­cies, exhi­bi­tions and work­shops cen­tered on the inter­sec­tion of art and tech­nol­o­gy, includ­ing the annu­al New York Elec­tron­ic Art Fes­ti­val, a cel­e­bra­tion of 21^st-cen­tu­ry art and expe­ri­ences, as well as a par­tic­i­pa­to­ry envi­ron­ment for artists, sci­en­tists and the public. 

Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary African Dias­po­ran Arts (MoCA­DA)
The Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary African Dias­po­ran Arts returns to Gov­er­nors Island with MoCA­DA House. Fea­tur­ing art exhi­bi­tions, per­for­mances, work­shops, film screen­ings and more every week­end, expect to dis­cov­er the work of ris­ing artists as part of the museum’s Cre­ators in Res­i­dence pro­gram and its new mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary res­i­den­cy pro­gram, Mas­ters At Work. Explore themes of iden­ti­ty and expres­sion, roots and cul­ture, love and imag­i­na­tion, health, com­mu­ni­ty and arts edu­ca­tion through the lens of the African Diaspora. 

The New York Vir­tu­al Vol­cano Obser­va­to­ry
The New York Vir­tu­al Vol­cano Obser­va­to­ry brings the expe­ri­ence of explor­ing a vol­cano to Gov­er­nors Island. Join vol­ca­nol­o­gists from CUNY, NYU and oth­er NYC insti­tu­tions to dis­cov­er the com­plex life of mag­mas and vol­canos – and the rich vol­canic his­to­ry of the New York region – through vir­tu­al real­i­ty expe­ri­ences, a vol­cano sound gallery, guest speak­ers and kid-friend­ly activities.

NYC Audubon
Vis­it NYC Audubon’s urban nature cen­ter for fam­i­ly-friend­ly activ­i­ties, infor­ma­tion on the city’s birds and habi­tats, binoc­u­lars to bor­row and oppor­tu­ni­ties to meet avian-inspired artists at work. Vis­i­tors can join nature-themed work­shops and guid­ed bird walks across Gov­er­nors Island, where over 200 unique species have been documented. 

Penn­syl­va­nia Col­lege of Art & Design
The Penn­syl­va­nia Col­lege of Art & Design will present Def­i­nite­ly, Prob­a­bly, an exhi­bi­tion focus­ing on cli­mate change and human inter­ven­tions in the nat­ur­al world. Fea­tur­ing art­works by PCA&D stu­dents, fac­ul­ty, staff and alum­ni, as well as spe­cial pro­grams for young artists, Def­i­nite­ly, Prob­a­bly cen­ters on three main cura­to­r­i­al pil­lars: inter­gen­er­a­tional dia­logue, artists as cre­ative inno­va­tors and the college’s home city of Lan­cast­er, Pennsylvania. 

Pio­neer Works
Pio­neer Works is a cul­tur­al cen­ter and artist res­i­den­cy based in Red Hook, Brook­lyn, devot­ed to build­ing com­mu­ni­ty through the arts and sci­ences. Pio­neer Works will use their house on Gov­er­nors Island as a plat­form to sup­port artist res­i­den­cies and col­lab­o­ra­tion with oth­er pro­gram part­ners from around New York City, as well as a venue for pre­sent­ing spe­cial class­es, par­tic­i­pa­to­ry pro­grams, and per­for­mances across our cre­ative disciplines. 

play:groundNYC (out­door)
play:groundNYC is back for a 5^th sea­son on Gov­er­nors Island. Come and play, build and cre­ate at New York City’s only adven­ture play­ground. Locat­ed just south of Nolan Park, the Yard is a 50,000 square-foot adven­ture play­ground stocked with loose parts, tools and space for kids to play, imag­ine and dream big. In addi­tion to free week­end play, play:groundNYC offers an 11-week sum­mer camp pro­gram, school field trips and more.
play:groundNYC’s The Yard will be open week­ends 12 – 4pm.

Pratt Insti­tute School of Archi­tec­ture
The Pratt Insti­tute School of Archi­tec­ture will show­case research and design projects by stu­dents and fac­ul­ty inspired by Gov­er­nors Island and address­ing the chal­lenges of cli­mate change in the urban envi­ron­ment. Projects include explo­rations of how his­toric build­ings can be mod­i­fied to be more ener­gy effi­cient, as well as flood mit­i­ga­tion and adap­ta­tion strate­gies for cre­at­ing more resilient coastlines. 

Swale
Swale will present a vari­ety of envi­ron­men­tal arts pro­gram­ming explor­ing the inter­sec­tions of soil, water and food. Vis­i­tors will be invit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in walk-in work­shops and join free class­es on a diverse array of envi­ron­men­tal and arts top­ics. In addi­tion, exhi­bi­tions and mul­ti­me­dia instal­la­tions will explore our shared rela­tion­ship with the nat­ur­al world. Swale will also host pub­lic pro­grams in the Urban Farm with more details to be announced soon. 

Tri­an­gle Arts Asso­ci­a­tion
Tri­an­gle Arts Asso­ci­a­tion is an artist-found­ed, non-prof­it art insti­tu­tion work­ing local­ly and glob­al­ly since 1982, with pro­grams that empha­size research, dia­logue and exper­i­men­ta­tion through res­i­den­cies and pub­lic pro­grams. On Gov­er­nors Island, Tri­an­gle will host ongo­ing res­i­den­cies for artists across dis­ci­plines, includ­ing sculp­ture, paint­ing, per­for­mance and video. An evolv­ing exhi­bi­tion will pro­vide vis­i­tors with a first-hand view of works-in-process. 

West Harlem Art Fund
With over two decades of expe­ri­ence show­cas­ing art in pub­lic spaces, West Harlem Art Fund cre­ates exhi­bi­tions empha­siz­ing con­tem­po­rary art’s rela­tion­ship to his­to­ry and cul­tur­al her­itage. In Nolan Park, West Harlem Art Fund will part­ner with local gal­leries to present exhi­bi­tions of inter­na­tion­al artists explor­ing migra­tion, cul­tur­al exchange and con­nec­tions between Gov­er­nors Island, NYC and points around the globe. 

Works on Water
Works on Water will host a res­i­den­cy for artists, writ­ers, design­ers and researchers work­ing on, in and with water. Stu­dios will be open to the pub­lic on the week­ends with rotat­ing inter­ac­tive projects and exhi­bi­tions in the main space. The works exhib­it­ed aim to deep­en the expe­ri­ence of vis­it­ing the Island by con­nect­ing vis­i­tors to the water­ways that sur­round and sus­tain us. 

PRO­GRAMS IN COLONELS ROW, SES­SION 1
(Week­ends, May 2‑August 2, 11AM-5PM, unless oth­er­wise noted) 

4heads Artists-in-Res­i­den­cy Pro­gram
The 4heads Artists-in-Res­i­den­cy Pro­gram wel­comes the pub­lic inside their his­toric house on Colonels Row for Open Stu­dio Week­ends, select week­ends when vis­i­tors are invit­ed to step into work­ing art stu­dios where the artists-in-res­i­dence are cre­at­ing new work and dis­cussing their process. 

Asia Soci­ety Tri­en­ni­al: We Do Not Dream AloneWe Do Not Dream Alone
In sum­mer 2020, Asia Soci­ety will launch We Do Not Dream Alone, its inau­gur­al Tri­en­ni­al of art, ideas and inno­va­tion on Gov­er­nors Island and sites across NYC. On Colonels Row, 12 inter­na­tion­al artists and col­lec­tives will cre­ate immer­sive, site-spe­cif­ic instal­la­tions in sev­er­al hous­es and the sur­round­ing lawns as part of the city-wide exhi­bi­tion.
The Asia Soci­ety Tri­en­ni­al will be open 1 – 5PM Wednes­days through Fri­days and 11AM-6PM on week­ends, June 5 through August 9.

Beam Cen­ter
Beam Cen­ter is a com­mu­ni­ty of artists, kids, teens, adults and design­ers col­lab­o­rat­ing to cre­ate spec­tac­u­lar projects root­ed in a pas­sion­ate curios­i­ty for learn­ing, mak­ing and shar­ing. Beam Cen­ter will turn a house on Colonels Row into an enchant­i­ng light-art instal­la­tion where every room is filled with immer­sive illu­mi­na­tions on the mul­ti-dimen­sion­al prop­er­ties of light, includ­ing infin­i­ty mir­rors, touch-respon­sive LEDs and more, plus hands-on work­shops such as solar print­ing and cir­cuit­ry building. 

New Art Deal­ers Alliance (NADA)
NADA will host the third edi­tion of its col­lab­o­ra­tive, pub­lic exhi­bi­tion on Gov­er­nors Island this sea­son. Span­ning two his­toric build­ings on Colonels Row, the exhi­bi­tion is inspired by the Island as a site for artis­tic exper­i­men­ta­tion and will fea­ture works by dozens of artists from the organization’s inter­na­tion­al com­mu­ni­ty of gal­leries and alter­na­tive spaces.
NADA’s pro­gram on Colonels Row will be open Thurs­days-Sun­days, May 7 through August 2.

Syra­cuse Uni­ver­si­ty
Through an artist res­i­den­cy pro­gram and rotat­ing exhi­bi­tions, MFA grad­u­ate stu­dents from the Syra­cuse Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege of Visu­al and Per­form­ing Arts will present works respond­ing to the his­to­ry, envi­ron­ment and archi­tec­ture of Gov­er­nors Island. The house will serve as a hub for an insti­tu­tion with glob­al reach as well as a vehi­cle for NYC audi­ences to con­nect with the next gen­er­a­tion of artists. 

PRO­GRAMS IN COLONELS ROW, SES­SION 2
(Week­ends, August 29-Novem­ber 1, 11AM-5PM, unless oth­er­wise noted) 

4heads presents Por­tal: Gov­er­nors IslandPor­tal: Gov­er­nors Island
Por­tal: Gov­er­nors Island is a free, large-scale, inde­pen­dent art fair cel­e­brat­ing its 12^th year on the Island. This expan­sive exhi­bi­tion will include over 80 artist projects and immer­sive instal­la­tions dur­ing the month of Sep­tem­ber. Vis­i­tors will be intro­duced to the best, new­ly dis­cov­ered emerg­ing artists in what the New York Times has dubbed ​“The Art Fair for the 99%.”
Por­tal: Gov­er­nors Island will be open week­ends, Sep­tem­ber 4 – 27.

BronxArt­Space
BronxArt­Space is a non­prof­it gallery pro­mot­ing the inno­v­a­tive ideas of under­rep­re­sent­ed and emerg­ing artists. Their Colonels Row house will be a plat­form to show­case the work of con­tem­po­rary artists from the Bronx and beyond through a res­i­den­cy and exhi­bi­tion pro­gram inspired by the Island as a site for address­ing envi­ron­men­tal and oth­er issues of glob­al concern. 

Escap­ing Time
The exhi­bi­tion Escap­ing Time: Art from U.S. Pris­ons offers vis­i­tors a view of the cre­ativ­i­ty that exists with­in prison walls. The paint­ings and sculp­tures on dis­play reflect the ways in which peo­ple who are incar­cer­at­ed cope with their respec­tive sit­u­a­tions, while the staff and oth­er aspects of the exhi­bi­tion also offer insight into issues relat­ed to the crim­i­nal jus­tice system. 

Japan Per­form­ing Arts
The Japan Per­form­ing Arts house on Colonels Row will fea­ture an exhi­bi­tion of tra­di­tion­al kimono cos­tumes and eco-friend­ly tex­tile work­shops, as well as live per­for­mances of Bön Odori dances and oth­er art forms that expand into the Island’s out­door spaces. 

New York Art Res­i­den­cy and Stu­dios (NARS) Foun­da­tion
NARS is a Brook­lyn-based orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to sup­port­ing artists at the local and inter­na­tion­al lev­el. Their res­i­den­cy pro­gram on Colonels Row will allow artists to research and pro­duce new work in dia­logue with the pub­lic, while curat­ed exhi­bi­tions will show­case work by NARS’ net­work of over 200 artists from 36 countries. 

PRO­GRAMS IN THE URBAN FARM
(Week­ends, May 2‑November 1, 12 – 4PM, unless oth­er­wise noted) 

Earth Mat­ter NY’s Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter & Soil Start Farm
Vis­i­tors can get their hands dirty at the Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter! This facil­i­ty process­es over 60,000 lbs. of food scraps into com­post each month, much of which is used on Gov­er­nors Island. Vis­i­tors can learn about all things com­post­ing and might even meet some goats and chick­ens. The Soil Start Farm demon­strates how gar­den­ers can use read­i­ly avail­able mate­ri­als to cre­ate com­post to grow plants in urban soil conditions. 

GrowNYC’s Teach­ing Gar­den
GrowNYC’s Teach­ing Gar­den is a one-acre urban farm that engages vis­i­tors in all aspects of urban agri­cul­ture. The Teach­ing Gar­den fea­tures over 70 veg­etable beds made from recy­cled plas­tic lum­ber, farm-style rows, an aquapon­ics sys­tem, an out­door kitchen, a high tun­nel green­house, fruit trees, rain­wa­ter har­vest­ing sys­tems, a rain gar­den and more. Dur­ing the week, GrowNYC offers Teach­ing Gar­den field trips to stu­dents and sum­mer camps. Week­end pub­lic pro­gram­ming includes a farm stand, tours, gar­den­ing work­shops and more. 

The Hon­ey­bee Con­ser­van­cy & Island Bee Project​’s Bee Sanc­tu­ary
The Bee Sanc­tu­ary on Gov­er­nors Island is home to dozens of bee species. Join Island Bee Project and The Hon­ey­bee Con­ser­van­cy for an extra­or­di­nary look into the fas­ci­nat­ing world of bees, the super pol­li­na­tors respon­si­ble for near­ly one in every three bites of food you eat. 

About The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island
The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is the non­prof­it cor­po­ra­tion cre­at­ed by the City of New York that is respon­si­ble for the rede­vel­op­ment and oper­a­tion of 150 acres of Gov­er­nors Island. The Trust’s mis­sion is to trans­form Gov­er­nors Island into a vibrant resource for New York City, mak­ing this island at the cen­ter of New York Har­bor a des­ti­na­tion with extra­or­di­nary pub­lic open space, as well as edu­ca­tion­al, not-for-prof­it and com­mer­cial facilities. 

For more infor­ma­tion con­tact Claire Holmes, Risa Heller Com­mu­ni­ca­tions at holmes@​risaheller.​com.