Today Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) announces that LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island will open to the public on September 19 with inaugural season programming that includes commissioned site-specific exhibitions by internationally renowned artists Yto Barrada (with special guest artist Bettina) and Michael Wang, as well as the Take Care series, a fall public program that furthers ideas presented in the Arts Center’s inaugural art installations and reframes art curation as a mindful practice stemming from the concept of care. Artists and collectives featured in the season include Olafur Eliasson’s Little Sun Sunlight Graffiti, Tattfoo Tan, Anne Mourier, Jérôme Bel, Jesse Paris Smith and Pathway to Paris, House of Trees and The Floor, plus both Barrada and Wang. Signature Open Studios events will offer behind-the-scenes looks at the artistic process with the Center’s inaugural Artists-in-Residence. See this page for details, with full schedule available at LMCC.net. All programs and exhibitions are free and all are welcome.
Lili Chopra, LMCC’s Executive Director of Artistic Programs, commented, “We are thrilled to open LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island, sharing the work of artists whose local and global sensibilities speak to our present moment. Yto Barrada and Michael Wang examine the complex power dynamics of the natural world. Their divergent approaches share an intense sensitivity that embraces the root meaning of curation—to care, to look after, to support. Through these exhibitions and the Take Care series, along with the work being developed by the inaugural family of artists-in-residence, we invite the public into the Arts Center at Governors Island to reflect on the world we inhabit. How can we better care for ourselves, those around us and the planet as a whole?”
LMCC’s Executive Director of Finance & Administration, Diego S. Segalini, remarked, “For over 45 years, LMCC has championed artists and their visions in transforming urban spaces. LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island is a gift to all New Yorkers in a time of intense economic inequity and ecological crisis. The Arts Center will be a space of conversation and thought. It reflects the mission and values of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council to serve and connect artists and communities on a human and personal scale, completely aligned with Governors Island’s commitment to the City, water and environment.”
Conceived as an incubator for creative exploration and a gathering space to engage in dialogue, LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island is the first year-round, permanent home for artists and audiences on Governors Island. Located within the Governors Island Historic District, LMCC’s Arts Center features 40,000 square feet of space dedicated to public performances, exhibitions and artist residencies, visual and performing arts studios and a cafe. Work created and exhibited during the inaugural season investigates issues of ecology, sustainability, geography and history related to Governors Island and New York City at large. Artists will be in residence year-round with public programming to take place during Governors Island’s public season, which runs May 1 through October 31.
As a welcoming hub for working artists and community engagement, LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island will host a broad range of events—including Open Studios, performances, exhibitions, talks, discussions and workshops—to convene artists and the public in an ongoing exchange of ideas and creative practice. Beginning September 19, the exhibitions are open to the public Thursdays through Sundays, 12–5 p.m. The Take Care series takes place every Saturday, 2–5 p.m.
Since 1973, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) has served tens of thousands of artists and arts groups in New York City with critical financial support, training, networking and long-term studio residency programs. As a champion of independent artists and a vital cultural force in city arts, LMCC connects audiences with public presentations of artists’ work (including its flagship River To River Festival), creating innumerable cultural experiences and programs across Manhattan, free of charge and welcome to all.