Upcoming Freshkills Park events
The upcoming week is a busy one for us. Three terrific public events focused on different aspects of the Freshkills Park site: waste, art and ecology. They’re all free, and we hope to see you at one or more of them. An RSVP is needed for the first, but not the others.
WASTE
Saturday, June 20th, 12-2:30pm @ the Freshkills Park site
Sacred Geography: How to Love a Landfill
Robin Nagle, Anthropologist-in-Residence with the New York City Department of Sanitation, suggests that Fresh Kills, both as a landfill of yesteryear and as a park of tomorrow, merits our affection despite its troubled heritage. She goes so far as to claim that Fresh Kills is sacred space, a status she believes it held even before it became the location for material from the World Trade Center. Join us as she explores these provocative ideas on the North Mound of Freshkills Park. Space is limited. Please RSVP to Martha at martha.powers@parks.nyc.gov to participate.
ART
The Challenges and Channels of Public Art Production: A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 7-9pm @ Cargo Café
120 Bay Street, Staten Island, a short walk from the St. George Ferry Terminal
The Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) and Freshkills Park present a panel discussion and dialogue about how commissioning entities, time scales, transient or permanent siting, and approvals processes moderate what public work can and should be. Panelists are: Ingrid Chu, Director of RED-I Projects and Forever & Today, Inc.; Christina Ray, Director and Founder of Glowlab and Conflux; and New York City-based artists Michael Falco, Kathryne Hall and Mierle Laderman Ukeles, the Department of Sanitation’s Artist-in-Residence who contributed to the master plan for Freshkills Park. Moderator: Sara Reisman, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art Program.
ECOLOGY
Freshkills Park Talks: Urban Ecology at Fresh Kills
Thursday, June 25, 2009, 7:30-9pm @ The Staten Island Museum
75 Stuyvesant Place, a short walk from the St. George Ferry Terminal
Dr. Steven Handel, professor of ecology at Rutgers University and the Director of the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), has been conducting research at Fresh Kills for nearly two decades. Dr. Handel will discuss his findings, what they mean for the restoration of compromised landscapes and the lessons we can learn from Fresh Kills in developing strategies for managing the ecology of our cities.
