In 2009, No Longer Empty was emerged as a response to the fiscal crisis and the proliferation of empty storefronts. In its first seven years under Naomi's leadership, No Longer Empty staged 25 exhibitions, hosted 300+ programs, worked with 250+ artists, and welcomed 500,000 visitors to its venues. NLE's mission was to activate public engagement through curated, community-responsive exhibitions, cultural collaborations, and education programs in vacant buildings.
Through art, No Longer Empty explores the history of buildings and community narratives. No Longer Empty collaborates and co-programs with local organizations, residents, civic leaders and businesses to ensure relevance, to promote access, involvement and cultural vibrancy at the neighborhood level. The synthesis of community interviews and site research drives the curatorial theme and revives the history of buildings. The collaborative programming strengthens community links and bolsters a vibrant cultural landscape. Harnessing the opportunity of interim use, the exhibition and programs act as a catalyst and a model for building resilience and opportunity for all members of the community.
At the heart of the experience is community engagement. NLE's presence in each neighborhood focuses on encouraging local participation and attracting new visitors to the neighborhood.
#nolongerempty
The Chelsea Hotel
Reflecting Transformation
Something Out of Nothing
Re:Purpose
Cartoons in Conflict
Never Can Say Goodbye
NLE Presents: Skylar Fein
Weaving In & Out
The Sixth Borough
Watch This Space
About Face
XYZ:NYC 10 Downing
This Side of Paradise
How Much Do I Owe You?
NLE Presents: Jan Tichy
If You Build It
When You Cut into the Present the Future Leaks Out
Bring in the Reality
NLE Presents: Teresa Diehl
Jameco Exchange
NLE Curatorial Lab: Gathering Place
NLE Curatorial Lab: Through the Parlor
NLE Curatorial Lab: The Way Out is Through
NLE Curatorial Lab: Intersecting Imaginaries
Be My Guest: The art of interiors
In identifying a missing committee in the American Planning Association NY Metro Chapter's structure, Caroline Bauer, Naomi Hersson-Ringskog and Vanessa Smith founded the Arts & Culture Committee to promote the value of arts and culture in the planning field to achieve economic, social, environmental, and quality of life goals.
The committee's main work has been to organize events and network opportunities but also provide education, strategy, and guidance for incorporating arts and culture into policy and development initiatives in the New York area.
Events organized include: Annual conferences such as CreateNYC featuring Dept of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Finkelpearl and Chicago's Cultural Chief Julie Burros and Implementing Digital Technologies in the Public Realm featuring Civic Hall Labs, Civic Design Data Lab at MIT, Participatory Budgeting Project and NAVA PBC
Tete-a-Tete series focused on planner and artists working together. Examples are Building Cultural Equity in Brownsville, Freshkills Park, Project for Public Spaces, LES BID's 100 Gates; NYC DOT Mural projects, Building Equity and Emerging Firms in Planning.
Field Trips and Walking tours like Los Sures Walking Tour & Film Screening and Constellation at Bannerman Island.
#apaartsculture
In 1895, Newburgh hosted the Suffragette Convention which marked a transition in leadership and continued the momentum for women obtaining the right to vote until 1917. What is the legacy of this struggle and what does it mean today in Newburgh?
In remembering this seminal convention and the hard work of the women rights movement, five core organizers came together to host a three-part project that celebrated and raised awareness of Newburgh and women leadership. This event also marked the centennial of women's right to vote across the nation.
▪ The Bike Parade. Bicycling was a controversial thing to do for women. Whether you're a biker, dog walker, or skater, wear all white and ride down Broadway from the Court House to City Hall.
▪ The Bike Raffle. Thirty percent of our city has access to a car. For this reason, we are interested in exploring alternative modes of transportation and complete streets for everyone. Through the generation donation of Recycle a Bicycle, ten bikes were raffled to local residents.
▪ The Community Convening. Kicking off with an expert discussion about the history of the suffragette movement, the role of black suffragettes, and what it means for civic engagement today. Later we will break out into circles to explore themes of solidarity, trust, and action! Over food, share your thoughts and ideas at 2pm at the Newburgh Free Library.
This year is an important local election year. For that reason and in the spirit of our ancestors, we are doing voter registration!
A Suffragette Window-Exhibition will be on display the storefront on Liberty Street and Ann Street. Read about the women who shaped history starting from 1800's to present day!
In the Facebook event as we will be posting facts, articles, podcasts, and events related to women’s rights and civic engagement.
Project partners include Chuck Thomas, The Newburgh Free Library, Ophra Wolf, artist and originator of the Bike Parade in 2015, Gabrielle Burton-Hill of The Restorative Center, Naomi Hersson-Ringskog of Dept of Small Interventions, Willa Freiband of Orange County Democratic Women, and Laura Garcia from YWCA of Newburgh and Latinos Unidos of the Hudson Valley. We thank the additional volunteers and speakers.
This event is sponsored by Humanities New York and the New York State Museum. Thank you to all our sponsors Recycle a Bicycle, Target, People's Bicycle and individuals.
Located in the green East End District, The Fullerton Mansion Center for Culture & History revives the William S Fullerton mansion’s grandeur by hosting cultural programs, promoting historical discourse, and offering its facilities for public events in Newburgh.
As the Board of Directors, we seek to open the historic venue to more outside organizations and individuals interested in hosting a public or private event in the impeccably restored Victorian mansion. From author reading to music recitals to not for profit annual meetings, The Fullerton Center offers four distinct indoor spaces: the library, the music room, the dining room, and the sun room, and the large lawn for outdoor events for your event. We seek to add to the cultural momentum of Newburgh by providing an affordable space and platform for creatives.
To be considered, submit this questionnaire at https://goo.gl/forms/P3SNhdws5bTOXIVf1
#thefullertoncenter
Photo Credit: Michael Green
For an entire afternoon, local residents and planners experienced a guided walking tour, documentary screening and moderated discussion of the gentrification of the Southside of Williamsburg, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, named Los Sures by the neighborhood’s Spanish-speaking population.
According to a 2016 study by the New York University Furman Center, Williamsburg gentrified the most of all New York neighborhoods in the last 10 years. On the surface, the story of Southside of Williamsburg is that of a typical gentrifying New York neighborhood. In the 1970s and 80s poor people were being displaced because landlords were abandoning buildings. Artists, looking for cheap space, started to move into the neighborhood. For decades, the neighborhood struggled with poverty and crime, taken over by drugs and gangs. Los Sures, a community-organizing group, has been fighting since 1972 to make the neighborhood safer and provide affordable housing.
About 10 years ago the neighborhood bounced back and it has become a desirable place to live. Now, landlords are looking for ways to force poor people out and raise the rent. Los Sures is still fighting to preserve affordable housing and amenities for low-income families. The recent transformation of Williamsburg is no accident. Market forces and deliberate urban planning and rezoning have spurred new development. Eleven years ago, the City Council approved the rezoning of nearly 200 blocks in the Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods of Brooklyn, allowing the formerly industrial waterfront to be redeveloped. As the population is booming, Williamsburg is becoming whiter, younger and richer, and a lot more expensive. Today, new residential developments provide public waterfront access with new parks. A greenway will ultimately connect Greenpoint and Williamsburg to the rest of the Brooklyn waterfront. The Southside is safer, cleaner and schools are getting better. Empty lots are being filled in. New businesses are opening and the local economy is growing. But there is more to the story.
Living Los Sures is a project of UnionDocs, a center for documentary art based on the Southside since 2003. The project documents the story of the Southside. It defines place as many different stories told together. What can planners learn from these stories told by the people who have lived in the neighborhood for decades?
Stories paint a rich, multi-layered picture of a changing neighborhood and, in doing so it shows that gentrification isn’t such a one-dimensional, linear process of change as it is often made out to be. Los Sures is a distinct place with its own, distinct history and cultural heritage.
We will conclude a walk of the neighborhood with a screening of the documentary Living Los Sures followed by a discussion of issues of place, cultural heritage and gentrification. This event will help planners better understand communities faced with gentrification and engage in meaningful conversations about the social impact of planning efforts.
This program was originally launched in June 2016 and then repeated May 2017 for the APA National Conference in NY.
#apaartsculture #lossures
Inspired by the founder's tenacity, Dept of Small Interventions co-organized Upper Harlem's first preservation conference at the City College of New York on Saturday April 29, 2017. Titled "Harlem and the Future", the conference explored Harlem’s unique cultural heritage, its built environment, and its social fabric with an eye toward what are the current challenges and what’s to come. This collaboration was also an opportunity to build and modernize the 40 year old organization's communication and outreach systems, creating a model to be replicated on an add needed basis.
Speakers included: Manhattan Borough President Gale A Brewer, Chris Fair of Resonance Consultancy, Michael Henry Adams. For Culture Panel: Terrance McKnight, host on WQXR Radio., Kenneth J. Knuckles, President & CEO, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, Karl Franz Williams, CEO & Founder, Good Ice Marketing, Sarah Saltzberg, Co-Founder, Bohemia Realty Group, Eric Pryor, Executive Director, Harlem School of the Arts. For Built Environment panel: Carlton Brown., Architect & Principal, Direct Investment Development, LLC, Chris Cirillo, Lott Community Development, Daniel Marks Cohen, Housing Partnership Development Corporation, Joseph Coppola, AIA Principal, Dattner Architects, Malcolm A. Punter, President & CEO, Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement. For Social Fabric panel: John T. Reddick, Architectural & Cultural Historian, Rev. Michael A. Walrond, Jr., Senior Pastor, First Corinthian Baptist Church, Rev. Reginald Bachus, Associate Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, Ann-Isabel Friedman, Sacred Sites Program, NYC Landmarks Conservancy; Rev. Donna Schaper, Senior Minister, Judson Memorial Church.
#westharlemcpo #harlemsfuture
The Newburgh Free Library, serving about 60,000 people is sited in one of the lowest income census districts New York State. The City of Newburgh was until recently the “Detroit of the Hudson Valley” an appellation perhaps unwarranted but was out there. However, over the past three years the City of Newburgh has undergone a renaissance as New Yorkers have discovered the abundant historic architecture, lots of un- or underutilized industrial buildings, access to the Hudson Valley recreational areas and more.
This has positioned the Library in a unique role to respond to this neighborhood change and bring the community closer together while also addressing other longstanding issues. The library seeks:
o To reconnect with the people in our service area that have left the city and are reluctant to return.
o To serve a population that needs access to education and reading opportunities.
o To convey to the (new and existing) residents the new resources that a library has and can provide.
In collaboration with Pratt Institute's Design Corps, we seek to address the service challenges of the library through communication design and audience development and engagement workshop(s).
The public outreach and feedback will ultimately inform a larger goal for launching a spatial redesign project for the Library's interiors. (Residents, do share your thoughts in this survey bit.ly/NFL-eng (or in Spanish use this link bit.ly/NFL-span.)
#NewburghFreeLibrary #ThinkTogether
Photo Credit: Barak Pliskin