Please join us for a series of artist-led workshops that will visualize the possibility of daylighting Flushing Creek. Flushing Creek was artificially forced underground at sections into pipes for the construction of the 1939 World’s Fair grounds and now runs beneath and through the center of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Daylighting, or restoring underground portions of a waterway into above ground habitats, has immense benefits for social-ecological health and climate resilience.

Led by artist and organizer gil lopez, participants of the second workshop in this series will explore the Flushing Creek’s free flowing memory through attunement and group divination. Tapping into our own memories, through storytelling and meditative moments, we will unearth novel ways of being in kinship with this historic waterbody.

Organized by Guardians of Flushing Bay together with artist and educator Julia Norton, each of the four workshops in this series will be led by a different Queens-based artist selected through an open call. Some workshops will move through the park to examine Flushing Creek first hand, while others will remain in the museum to consider the waterway more broadly. The workshops will allow for exploration within a variety of artistic mediums, such as conceptual practice and hands-on art making. The goal of the workshops is to reveal Flushing Creek through visual materials and content that can be utilized in engaging local park users in the future possibility of daylighting Flushing Creek.

These workshops will be designed for adults ages 18 and older. Any minors older than 12 are welcome to participate, but must be accompanied by an adult. All participants should be prepared for uneven terrain, long outdoor walks and muddy conditions. No prior experience is necessary.

Join for one workshop or for the whole series. Registration is required in order to attend each workshop. Please click here to RSVP.

Other upcoming workshop dates are:
May 21, 2023, 1-4pm
June 25, 2023, 1-4pm

More about the artist:

gil lopez is an interspecies social practitioner who situates us within an ecosystem of Anthropogenic hysterics including organized confusion, waste as metaphor and both the necessity and absurdity of land/labor/water acknowledgments. Designing outdoor user experiences that alternately soothe and unsettle participants, gil’s practice is rooted in land based movements. His connection to plants, seasonality, soil and the other elementals inform and inspire his work. From raucous compost carnivals to contemplative lunar celebrations, gil crafts impactful direct actions, engaging social experiments and other happenings for us to (re)connect with the net of light that holds all in loving awareness.