New Exhibit Asks Artists To Imagine The Ideal Brooklyn – Park Slope, NY Patch

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN A new art exhibit opening this week will ask artists to take this moment of "unprecedented turmoil" to imagine a better future for Brooklyn.

"Brooklyn Utopias: 2020" debuted Thursday at the Old Stone House and Washington Park in Park Slope, bringing back an exhibit 10 years ago by asking artists to explore how the borough has changed the last decade and where it can go from here.

"Together, these artworks investigate the possibilities (or limitations) of art in creating a better world by addressing complex topics such as gentrification and environmental justice," Old Stone House writes in a release. "The artists experiment with creative ways to engage with and care for local communities- fostering a greater collective spirit, even with current social distancing measures."

The exhibit includes a mix of indoor, outdoor and virtual art installations that Brooklynites can visit either in-person or online.

The outdoor installations shouldn't be hard to miss. They include a text-based piece on the front of the Old Stone House, posters promoting environmental activism and a garden collaboration that explores the connection between textile crops and enslaved labor.

Inside, exhibits will explore rooftop farming, threats of discrimination and displacement to immigrant communities and redevelopment of iconic spots like Admiral's Row, the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Domino Sugar Factory. The indoor gallery will be accessible by appointment-only to help with social distancing.

But even those who don't stop by in-person can participate in the exhibit.

The online programming will include a virtual indigo-dyeing tutorial from the garden exhibit and a webinar about health and justice this Friday. Brooklynites can also submit their own photos of "Brooklyn Utopias" by using the hashtag #BrooklynUtopias2020 and by tagging @oldstonehousebklyn.

WHAT: Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 invites artists to consider differing visions of an ideal Brooklyn. Participating artists explore how the borough has changed over the past decade, and if/how it can serve as a model for urban and American living on a national scale in a time of unprecedented social, political and environmental turmoil.

In 2020; a tense national election season, COVID-19, and the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd and others, have brought heightened attention and a sense of urgency to Brooklyn's persistent socioeconomic and racial inequities. Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 responds to our current moment with artworks that suggest a Brooklyn Utopia, especially in the COVID era, must include a safe, healthy and affordable physical environment that nurtures the borough's diverse communities and landmarks. It also demands a greater collective spirit and the rejection of "unhealthy levels of independence" in the words of artist Jody Wood, who has created a virtual Independence Treatment Center to mitigate this condition.

WHO: Participating Artists: Asah Boston, Elan Cadiz, Fontaine Capel, Nate Dorr and Nathan Kensinger, Diane Exavier, Tamara Gayer, Amir Hariri, Human Impacts Institute, Anna Lise Jensen, David Kutz, Robin Michals and Lynn Neuman, Jan Mun, Iviva Olenick, Rochelle Shicoff, Jody Wood, Ezra Wube, Betty Yu

WHEN:

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New Exhibit Asks Artists To Imagine The Ideal Brooklyn - Park Slope, NY Patch