Swale

Swale began as a float­ing food for­est built atop a 5,000 square foot barge that trav­eled to pub­lic piers in New York City and wel­comed the pub­lic to har­vest herbs, fruits, and veg­eta­bles for free. Since 2016, Swale has pro­mot­ed Pub­lic Food and ecosys­tem ser­vices through edu­ca­tion­al work­shops and local cul­tur­al events. Swale con­tin­ues to pro­mote Pub­lic Food through advo­ca­cy, build­ing edi­ble land­scapes, and edu­ca­tion­al pro­gram­ming stress­ing how impor­tant it is for more peo­ple to be involved in address­ing food as a commons.

This sea­son, Swale will col­lab­o­rate with ecoart­space and the Urban Soils Insti­tute to host res­i­den­cies, exhi­bi­tions, and pro­grams cen­tered around soil and the envi­ron­ment. These orga­ni­za­tions rec­og­nize the pow­er of art to make abstract ideas vis­i­ble and acces­si­ble. They seek to pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ties for artists and soil sci­en­tists to explore com­mon inter­ests and pas­sions and engen­der stew­ard­ship of soil and ecology.

Cur­rent­ly on View

The Soil Shroud Room at Swale House, pre­sent­ed by ecoart­space, brings togeth­er tex­tiles sub­merged in soils from around the world as an artis­tic expres­sion of the min­er­als and microor­gan­isms that con­nect us all. The con­cept of bury­ing and trans­form­ing tex­tiles was simul­ta­ne­ous­ly ini­ti­at­ed in Eng­land, Ger­many, Italy, Por­tu­gal, Oman, Cana­da, Aus­tralia and the US via an online Soils Dia­logues. Vis­i­tors to Swale House are invit­ed to con­tribute to this col­lab­o­ra­tive work, to bury, clean, paint, print, embroi­der, and stitch togeth­er soil tex­tiles into an ever-grow­ing col­lec­tive shroud.

Play­ing Nut Island

Play­ing Nut Island imag­ines Pag­gank (Gov­er­nors Island) and a soil cal­cu­la­tor as a ping pong table. A ping pong ball bounces between deep time and urban time, rub­ble becomes land, water rewrites bound­aries, and obser­va­tions encounter change. Prompts chal­lenge play­ers to con­sid­er the for­mer shore­lines, mil­i­tary bound­aries, bird migra­tions, tidal move­ments, eco­log­i­cal restora­tion, fer­ry routes, and sub­way spoils that sit­u­ate the Island. 

This instal­la­tion is part of Kos­mol­o­gym, a project by Walk­er Tufts with col­lab­o­ra­tor Greg Stewart.

On view August 28 – Sep­tem­ber 20, 2026.

Mus­selQuest

Priscil­la Stadler’s new­ly-formed Insti­tute for Cre­ative Research presents Mus­selQuest, an evolv­ing exhi­bi­tion doc­u­ment­ing an intu­itive search for the Atlantic Ribbed Mus­sels of Gov­er­nors Island. Using div­ina­tion and psy­cho­geog­ra­phy as research method­olo­gies, Mus­selQuest inves­ti­gates assump­tions about learn­ing and knowl­edge while pri­or­i­tiz­ing con­nec­tion and joy. In this process-focused exhi­bi­tion, Priscil­la Stadler’s hand-stitched lab­coats and col­lab­o­ra­tor Emi­ly Garfield­’s map-themed tex­tile hang­ings will be joined by the ongo­ing results of their research on Gov­er­nors Island’s native mussels. 

On view Sep­tem­ber 5 – 27, 2026.

Upcom­ing Exhibitions

Wan­der­ing Water: Tears, Teas, and Tides

Wan­der­ing Water brings togeth­er Lau­ren Bön, Bet­sy Damon, and Mary Mat­ting­ly, artists whose prac­tices have long engaged water as mate­r­i­al, sys­tem, and liv­ing rela­tion. Bön inter­venes in land­scapes and infra­stru­cure, redi­rect­ing water toward eco­log­i­cal and civic pos­si­bil­i­ties. Damon reveals water as the foun­da­tion and cre­ative agent of life, work­ing to restore dam­aged water sys­tems. Mat­ting­ly exam­ines how human lives are enta­gled with water, mate­ri­als and extrac­tive economies. All three work clos­es­ly with com­mu­nieies, mod­el­ing water’s vast cre­ative powers. 

On view Octo­ber 3 – 25, 2026.

Getting to Nolan Park

3 Minutes from Soissons Landing 7 Minutes from Yankee Pier

1 Minutes from Soissons Landing 5 Minutes from Yankee Pier