Van Alen Institute unveils public art project: With Your Voice

The Van Alen Institute presents “With Your Voice,” a new participatory public artwork by Juanli Carrión and Rodolfo Kusulas, on view through August 9, 2024. Located at 10 indoor and outdoor locations in Gowanus, this community engagement tool educates New Yorkers on the “56 Points of Agreement,” a series of key capital and program commitments made by the City of New York as part of the Gowanus neighborhood rezoning, which involved a $250 million investment from the city. The installation brings these agreements directly to Gowanus residents through 10 site-specific “Voicers”—colorful, megaphone-shaped viewfinders—and a VR headset at the Van Alen Institute.

Although the 56 Points of the Agreement affect tens of thousands of residents and workers in Gowanus, many are unaware of their existence. Through With Your Voice, people can listen to the Voicers and view slides that illustrate how the 56 Points of the Agreement shape Gowanus — including changes to the built environment and city-led programs to support residents and local businesses.

At each Voicer, participants can scan a QR code to record voice notes in response to what they learned. Those notes are shared with the Gowanus Oversight Task Force, community volunteers who are advancing the agreement’s 56 points by meeting regularly with city officials. Responses support the task force’s efforts by bringing community voices to light and humanizing the impact of the rezoning. To encourage participation, people can collect digital gem tokens – called “Gowameralds” – by leaving a voice note at each Voicer. Those who collect all 10 Gowameralds win gift cards from local businesses.

The Van Alen Institute VR headset includes an extensive library of additional resources, including 3D models, illustrations, interviews, and videos. The VR headset will be open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, July 16 through August 8.

“With Your Voice draws attention to the great promises New York City has made to Gowanus residents as part of the neighborhood’s ongoing redevelopment,” said Juanli Carrión and Rodolfo Kusulas. “Through the surveys posted at each Voicer, we encourage Gowanus residents to voice their opinions on what they are learning and to build a connection with the members of the Gowanus Oversight Task Force who are working to strengthen this community.”

“Juanli Carrión and Rodolfo Kusulas’ With Your Voice installation illustrates the potential of public art for accessible, effective community engagement,” said Deborah Marton, executive director of the Van Alen Institute. “Amid the rapid development of Gowanus’ built environment, the work’s colorful, whimsical installations – the Voicers – demystify neighborhood change and support the important advocacy efforts of the Gowanus Oversight Task Force.”

This is Van Alen’s 15th installation as part of his ongoing Common Build initiative, which showcases the work of emerging artists and tests new strategies to bring people together in public spaces. With Your Voice is supported by public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Council’s Brooklyn Boroughwide Needs Initiative, in-kind support from Bednark Studio and technical review services from Silman. The project is made possible through the collaboration of the Brooklyn Public Library, New York City Housing Authority, NYC Department of Environment Protection, NYC Department of City Planning, NYC Parks, Domain Companies, PMG, SCAPE, and Avery Hall.

With Your Voice Locations

Van Alen Institute, 303 Bond St
Wyckoff Bond Garden, 195 Wyckoff St
Powerhouse Arts, 322 3rd Ave
David Foulke Memorial Garden, 248-250 Bergen St
Wyckoff Gardens Community Center, 280 Wyckoff St
C-Town, 239 Bond St
Good Morning Deli, 303 Dean St
Brooklyn Public Library, 25 4th Ave
Siempre Restaurant, 255 3rd Ave
Councillor Hanif’s Office, 195 Bond St

Cards can be found on every Voicer and online at withyourvoice.org.

With your voting process

The artists were nominated by members of the Van Alen Institute network who have worked with artists creating socially engaged public art. “With Your Voice” was chosen by a selection committee from a shortlist of three proposals; the other shortlisted artists were Lynn Neuman and Immanuel Oni.

The selection committee consisted of eight Gowanus residents who serve on the Gowanus Oversight Task Force or other neighborhood groups: Bahij Chancey*, WXY Studio; Frank Dubinsky, Monadnock Development; Diana Gruberg, Gowanus Canal Conservancy; Candelaria Mas Pohmajevic*, Resilient Cities Catalyst; Nilda Lino*, Assure for Life; Tony Ruiz*, Gowanus Oversight Task Force; Elisa Smilovitz, Gowanus Mutual Aid; and Andreas Tyre, Gowanus Houses Resident Association. (*Denotes a member of the Gowanus Oversight Task Force)

About the 56 points of the agreement

In 2021, the New York City Council approved the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan, a comprehensive rezoning that will bring an estimated 8,200 new homes to an 82-block stretch of Gowanus and transform a historic industrial area into a mixed-use area. An estimated 18,000 new residents will live in the new housing developments by 2035. It is the largest rezoning of the de Blasio administration and has been in the works for over a decade. In response, a diverse and representative group of volunteer community stakeholders formed the Gowanus Oversight Task Force to ensure that Gowanus residents benefit from the rezoning. The 56 points of the agreement are a result of the work of the Gowanus Oversight Task Force, which calls for a comprehensive city investment in housing, infrastructure, public space, community amenities, and workforce and business support programs as part of the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan to improve the quality of life for current and future residents.

About the artists

Juanli Carrión’s work has unfolded over the past decade in research, development, and education in community-driven design and artistic practices that address social and environmental justice. For the past decade, Carrión has followed the changes and challenges of the Gowanus Canal closely. As an assistant professor of creative community development at Parsons School of Design, he has used the canal as a case study for his Sustainable Systems Practices course, in which students map waterway pollution using pH-reactive natural dyes. He is the co-founder of OSS Project Inc., and his work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, BRIC, ARTIUM, MUSAC, CentroCentro, MAC Lima, the National Gallery of Modern Art in India, and MOCA in Serbia. His research has been presented at Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, AIA New York, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Getty Institute, among others.

Rodolfo Kusulas is a transdisciplinary creator with a deep passion for social innovation and sustainability, using his work as a tool to help communities thrive. He has international professional experience, a background in industrial design, and extensive experience in branding, product, and retail. After winning a global competition for Heineken’s 140th anniversary, Kusulas joined VBAT’s Latin American office as a creative. Since 2018, he has been developing programmatic design and creative community development work with KOUS Studio, which he co-founded in 2016, and in collaboration with artists and nonprofit organizations.

As a duo, Carrión and Kusulas share an interest in transdisciplinary research on how art and design can be used to visualize the layers of identity that make up communities. They transform stories, data, materials, actions or information into art and design strategies that serve as tools for sustainable community development. This manifests itself in community-led initiatives, including public art that becomes urban agriculture, product design and artwork that becomes small businesses as an additional source of income, interactive murals and workshops that become tools for water pollution education, and jewelry that becomes therapeutic tools in the fight against environmental degradation.

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