This tour is designed to unite New York City’s environmental past, present, and future. Some of the stops or artworks included on this map may no longer be there. Maybe they were up for a short while, removed, fenced off, whitewashed, or demolished. Some may not exist yet. Some sites, especially the parks and institutions, undergo seasonal transitions, experience temporary closures, or rotate through exhibitions. To go on this tour is to embrace these cycles of urban growth and decay. While each label on this map will do its best to inform you of the stop's current status, we encourage you to reflect on these complex states of permanence and ephemerality as you embark on this journey.
Environmental Art Walk NYC seeks to expand the definition of what has historically constituted 'environmental art' and invites tour participants to think about New York City's ecological and cultural landscapes beyond the tradition of green spaces. This tour will explore the built environment as much as it does the natural one, and show how human and non-human interventions have influenced each other for generations. This walking tour is designed to spark discussions about the use of public lands for artwork, show how the city is designing climate resiliency, and uplift the legacies of activism that used art and culture to advocate for protections, clean-ups, and the preservation and revitalization of spaces that sustain New York City's multispecies populace.
Environmental Art Walk NYC embraces these entangled histories through decolonial, queer, feminist, Indigenous, and working class perspectives, and aims to highlight the creative contributions of those marginalized communities who continue to be at the forefront of environmental justice movements.