Free Photo Exhibit Announced At Brooklyn Navy Yard Showcases Site's History Of Innovation
Pop-up photo exhibition showcases Yard's innovators, artists, designers, and makers.
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 31, 2021
The Brooklyn Navy Yard has installed over 150 large-scale photos of Yard-made artworks and furniture along its fence line on Flushing Avenue.
The half-a-mile pop-up photo exhibition showcases the innovators, artists, designers, and makers that call the Yard home, featuring their original creations, from artisanal furniture to the most cutting-edge technology. Selected panels also include historical information that highlights the Yard's centuries-long legacy of invention.
The installation will be on view through December 2021 and complements earlier site-specific public artwork installed inside Buildings 92 and 77 earlier this year. The works can be seen on Flushing Avenue from Elliot Place near Wegmans grocery store down to Building 77 located at Vanderbilt Avenue.
The exhibition features 15 different variations of the theme "We Are," each panel highlighting eight to fifteen artists or creative businesses with photographs illustrating the artistry, craftsmanship and skilled production that unfolds every day across the Yard's 300-acre site. With more than 500 businesses ranging from manufacturing to technology to biomedical sciences to fine art, the focal point of the exhibition is the Yard's extensive range of innovation across multiple sectors.
"The Navy Yard has long been a center for innovation and this new show captures that creative spirit our tenants are known for," said Johanna Greenbaum, Chief Development Officer of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. "The Yard's centuries-long history of invention and industry lives on through many of the entrepreneurial and creative Brooklyners that work and create on our campus, many of whom bridge traditional techniques with digital methods. This show shines a light on their efforts and we are excited to showcase the diverse talent here at Yard with the world around us."
Many panels feature "NYC firsts," such as the first distillery since prohibition - Kings County Distillery, the first fully operational rooftop farm - Brooklyn Grange, and the first autonomous vehicles - Optimus Ride. Others hark back to tradition, showcasing how the history of woodworking from shipwrights continues to thrive in Wallabout Bay through furniture makers and other enterprises.
The Yard's efforts to produce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic also features prominently. Collectively, dozens of businesses on-site produced more than 10,000,000 items of PPE including 6.8 million face masks and 2.7 million face shields. The section draws comparisons between the Coronavirus response and the site's legacy of responding to national crises during wartime as a federal shipyard.
Other themes explored in the exhibition include:
· Sustainability work from the Yard's green design and architecture firms as well as the most cutting-edge, sustainable solutions developed by Yard businesses;
· Technology advancements that have taken shape at the Yard, including space suits, the Velox robot, state-of-the-art sports helmets and electric car charging hubs;
· Art made at the Yard, spotlighting a range of works from painting and sculpture to design and photography;
· Innovators who make up the Yard community and Yard businesses dedicated to developing the industrial workforce of tomorrow.
Building 77 is easily accessible by the NYC Ferry and features an array of food and beverage purveyors on the ground floor, including Brooklyn's only Russ & Daughters location along with several other eateries such as The Food Sermon, Sabor Restaurant & Bakery, Pizza Yard, Fraiche and Transmitter Brewing.
Visitors are invited to explore the "Art & Object Walk" on their own or join the Yard for upcoming programs:
Outdoor Public Reception | Thursday, September 16
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atmosphere-for-invention-art-object-walk-reception-tickets-165577222931
Public Art Tour | Sunday, September 26
Tickets: https://turnstiletours.com/brooklyn-navy-yard-public-art-tour/
Curator-Led Tour | Saturday, October 9
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