KWBS RESIDENCY AWARD
Broadway Stages’ Arts Residency Award @ Kingsland Wildflowers
Broadway Stages’ Arts Residency Award @ Kingsland Wildflowers is an annual open-call contest for unique, site-specific installations created by local artists for our green rooftops. Typically, the winning proposal is displayed on the Upper Meadow of the Kingsland Wildflowers rooftop community center throughout the outdoor season. The program aims to showcase non-intrusive, sustainable artwork that highlights our one-of-a-kind surroundings and encourages reflection on the environment and the mission and vision of the WE ARE NATURE series.
The award is sponsored by Broadway Stages and presented by NOoSPHERE Arts as part of the annual WE ARE NATURE Rooftop Series. The winner is selected by a jury consisting of representatives of all partners in the coalition behind the Kingsland Wildflowers community center and curated by NOoSPHERE Arts’ Deputy Director, Daniela Holban.
The theme for the 2024 A Vibrant Tapestry:
NOoSPHERE Arts’ guiding philosophy is the holistic view that sees the world not as a collection of separate objects, but rather as a web of relations between the various parts of a unified whole. Modern physics proves what mystical traditions have always known: all parts of the cosmos are interconnected and everything is in a state of dynamic flow.
The constant flux of nature gives rise to novel and diverse forms. A healthy organism integrates emerging variations without losing balance. In these times of opposing factions at seemingly every turn, it is helpful to remember that a multitude of colors and shapes are needed to make up the rich, resplendent, and resilient tapestry that is life. We are all part of a web in which no part is more fundamental than any other.
NOoSPHERE Arts’ long-time mentor and collaborator, leading systems thinker Fritjof Capra, says that ecological awareness, at the deepest level, is the intuitive awareness of the oneness of all life, the interdependence of its multiple manifestations and its cycles of change and transformation. He suggests that spirituality could be defined as the mode of consciousness in which we feel connected to the cosmos as a whole. We now know that whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
2024 OPEN CALL - Application due date, - April 10th, 2024
2023 RESIDENCY AWARD WINNER(S):
Collaboratively, Ezra Campelli and Jeremy Clemente bridge ecology, sculpture, and biology to create prototypes that seek to reconcile the quality of life between human and non-human agents. In breaking down the distinction between humanity and nature, their artworks intend to display natural phenomena in ways that upend our most deeply held assumptions about life. Their creative process takes place in the studio, the field, and the lab, where the sensibilities of experimentation, craft, and landscape all overlap.
Westerlies, 2023
Site-Specific Sonic & Sculptural Installation
Westerlies is an immersive installation that combines sound and sculpture, specifically designed for the unique environment of the Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roof. This captivating project revolves around a cluster of towering bamboo aeolian flutes, harmoniously played by the ever-present winds that sweep across the rooftop gardens. As visitors wander through the vibrant wildflower landscape, they become attuned to the captivating rhythms of the wind, a powerful yet unseen force that influences the intricate balance of our surroundings.
Throughout the installation period, Westerlies evolves in tandem with the changing seasons and the shifting patterns of the wind. The resulting music emanating from this ethereal bamboo forest transforms, offering visitors a diverse range of sonic experiences. It provides a contemplative space where one can reflect on the presence of these winds and their profound significance to the interconnected web of life we all inhabit.
The bamboo tubes themselves are etched with the artists’ poetry, imagery, and field notes as ecologists. These intricate markings reflect their deep connection to the creatures they study, the Earth itself, the notion of identity, and the complex systems that unite life forms both vast and minuscule.
Westerlies invites you to embark on a multisensory journey, exploring the intersection of nature, art, and the intangible forces that shape our world. By engaging with this immersive installation, visitors gain a heightened awareness of the intricate ecological processes at play and the beauty that emerges when art and science intertwine.
The unveiling of the installation will take place during the Season Opening Event on June 24th
2022 RESIDENCY AWARD WINNER:
Rise of the Missing Planet, 2022
Artist: Sabrina Barrios (Brazil, 1981) / @sabrina_barrios
Rise of the Missing Planet is a site-specific art installation inspired by the story of Tiamat, the Goddess of Creation for the Matriarchy or the Goddess of Chaos for the Patriarchy. Its interpretation varies depending on the storyteller.
In this version, Tiamat and Apsu (The Sun) were the primordial celestial bodies that gave birth to the planets in our solar system. Their children fought against them to rule the Cosmos. Tiamat had to fight alone against several male Gods, who ended up breaking her into two parts: one resulted in what we now know as the Asteroid Belt, while the other became our Earth. As an aftermath to this battle, no other female planet was ever allowed in the Pantheon of the Gods.
When looking at ancient cosmology (such as Sumerian), there is still a mystery around a recorded planet that went missing; and we still wonder about its fate to this day.
This art installation is part of a trilogy series, and is inspired by the Brazilian new-concrete movement of the 60’s, its ideals and explorations.
The Trilogy:
Part 1: Tiamat built in a tent (Focus: Symbol of the womb); 2017; Finland
Part 2: Tiamat built over a river (Focus: Symbol of birth/rebirth); 2019; Brazil
Part 3: Tiamat built on a garden rooftop (Focus: Connection and ascension): 2022, Brooklyn, New York
Sabrina Barrios is the winner of the inaugural 2022 Broadway Stages’ Arts Residency Award @ Kingsland Wildflowers. Her site-specific installation will remain on view on Upper Meadow throughout the evening and the entire outdoor season.
Curated by Daniela Holban / @daniela_holban
2021 RESIDENCY PROGRAM W/ ANKHLAVE ARTS
In 2021, NOoSPHERE Arts collaborated with Ankhlave Arts to host their inaugural artist-in-residency program on the Kingsland Wildflower rooftops. Ankhlave Arts Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equality in the arts, with a particular emphasis on supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists. The inaugural artist-in-residence, Yvonne Shortt, was selected by Ankhlave Arts Alliance, and was given the opportunity to utilize the Kingsland Wildflower Gardens, as her studio space. During her residency, Yvonne Shortt crafted a new sculpture, which was unveiled that summer.
The sculpture has since been relocated to Queens College, serving as an educational tool about ecology, human interactions, and the efforts to establish a sustainable ecosystems. Yvonne Shortt, a social practice installation artist with a Master of Science in Mathematics from New York University, uses diverse mediums in her work, including illustration, installation, sculpture, and photography. Her artistic contributions, centered around themes such as equality, disability, community, and race, were showcased in museums and public parks across New York City, demonstrating her commitment to engaging with and challenging societal narratives.
