River To River Festival Offers Free Film, Music, and Arts Workshops
Now in progress and continuing through late October, the 24th annual River to River Festival is staging free, public events around Lower Manhattan.
Produced by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), the festival was created in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as a way to celebrate the resiliency of New Yorkers, and has been held every year since. Today, River to River aims to continue the role it played for Lower Manhattan after 2001 – bringing art Downtown to inspire.
On Saturday, July 12, starting at 7pm, an Emmy Award-winning concert film from acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Taylor Mac, “24-Decade History of Popular Music,” will be screened on the Oculus plaza of the World Trade Center complex. A decade in the making, this musical uses songs from various periods in U.S. history to reframe the American narrative through the experiences of marginalized communities. They will also headline a live “Taylor Mac: In Concert” performance in Wagner Park on July 29.
Also on Saturday, from 1pm to 3pm in the Arts Center at Governors Island, as part of the Works on Water series, Shinnecock artist Jeremy Dennis will lead a participatory workshop to create protest signs in solidarity with the Shinnecock Nation’s fight for beach access and environmental protection. Drawing on visual storytelling, Indigenous sovereignty, and the power of collective action, this program will fashion signs for use in upcoming summer protests scheduled for Coopers Beach, in Southampton, where members of the Shinnecock tribe (original owners of the shore) struggle with poverty, but are required to pay exorbitant fees to use the beach. Later workshops in the Works on Water series, in July and September, feature interactive and interdisciplinary sessions involving playing cards, role-play, art, and map-making.
All River to River events, including pop-up art installations and exhibitions, are free.