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GOV­ER­NORS ISLAND ARTS ANNOUNCES 2026 SEASON

Apr 29, 2026 10:00 am

In works rang­ing from large-scale sculp­ture to site-respon­sive per­for­mance, the sea­son con­sid­ers the idea of move­ment while anchored by the his­to­ry, nature, and archi­tec­ture of its strik­ing setting

Pro­gram­ming includes work from Bahar Behba­hani, Chaka­ia Book­er, Alan Michel­son, Sweat Vari­ant (Okwui Okpok­wasili and Peter Born), Anna Valdez, and more

Gov­er­nors Island Arts, the pub­lic arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram pre­sent­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, announces its 2026 sea­son. A dynam­ic med­i­ta­tion on the theme of move­ment, the sea­son explores the Island as a site of arrival, depar­ture, and con­tin­u­al trans­for­ma­tion. Root­ed in response to this sin­gu­lar set­ting, the works acti­vate and bring new mean­ing to sites span­ning the island and beyond: from Colonels Row to the Island’s pub­lic orchard to New York’s first hybrid elec­tric fer­ry. The pro­gram­ming, fea­tur­ing works by Bahar Behba­hani, Chaka­ia Book­er, Alan Michel­son, Sweat Vari­ant (Okwui Okpok­wasili and Peter Born), Anna Valdez, and more, reflects both the sweep of the Island’s sto­ry and ever-chang­ing land­scape and seeks to gath­er vis­i­tors around the rare mar­vel it is today: a vast pub­lic resource between New York’s busy bor­oughs, brim­ming with art and oppor­tu­ni­ties for both invig­o­rat­ing gath­er­ing and tran­quil reflection. 

Move­ment is con­sid­ered through numer­ous art forms and the­mat­ic vari­a­tions in an eclec­tic mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary sea­son that looks toward every­thing from move­ment of peo­ple — whether migra­tion, move­ment of the body, or move­ment with­in our­selves — to move­ment of goods, of food, of birds. With works rang­ing from large-scale out­door sculp­tures to site-respon­sive and inti­mate dura­tional per­for­mances, the sea­son invites audi­ences to con­sid­er move­ment not just as phys­i­cal trav­el, but as growth, change, and the ongo­ing process of becoming. 

“Pub­lic art has been cen­tral to Gov­er­nors Island’s DNA, from the moment we first opened to the pub­lic more than 20 years ago,” said Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Pres­i­dent and CEO Clare New­man. ​“Whether you’re sim­ply rid­ing the fer­ry over or com­ing out for a per­for­mance, incred­i­ble encoun­ters with the arts can be found in every cor­ner of the Island. It’s a priv­i­lege to present this season’s cal­en­dar along­side our col­lec­tion of long-term and per­ma­nent art­works, and we look for­ward to wel­com­ing all New York­ers to the Island this season.” 

Gov­er­nors Island Arts Asso­ciate Cura­tor and Pro­duc­er Juan Pablo Siles said, ​“This sea­son hon­ors the Island’s mul­ti­fac­eted his­to­ry while cre­at­ing some­thing entire­ly new, some­thing that real­ly can only be done in this extra­or­di­nary space. We are grate­ful to each and every artist, prac­ti­tion­er, and part­ner help­ing make this sea­son come to life, and we can’t wait to wel­come New York­ers and vis­i­tors from around the world to inter­act with these incred­i­ble works, right here in New York Harbor.”

In addi­tion to a col­lec­tion of long-term and per­ma­nent pub­lic art­works locat­ed through­out the Island’s open space, Gov­er­nors Island Arts will present sev­er­al new pub­lic art com­mis­sions and short-term instal­la­tions this sea­son. Two of these works remind us of the Island’s com­plex his­to­ry and trace its trans­for­ma­tions, ask­ing what of the past we want to car­ry for­ward with us — while anoth­er per­ti­nent­ly asks how we can make beau­ty from that which is dis­card­ed. In mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary artist Anna Valdez​’s mur­al Spring Migra­tion (debut­ing May 2026), the past and future merge with­in New York State’s first hybrid elec­tric fer­ry, The Har­bor Charg­er. Inspired by the Island’s ver­dant nat­ur­al spaces, the mur­al depicts the migra­tion of birds along­side the tran­si­tions between the Island’s inhab­i­tants — from the Indige­nous Lenape peo­ple to ear­ly set­tlers to mil­i­tary per­son­nel — as the fer­ry in turn moves pas­sen­gers to and from the Island. Acclaimed Mohawk artist Alan Michel­son (Six Nations of the Grand River)’s mon­u­men­tal out­door sculp­tur­al instal­la­tion The Oys­ter, com­mis­sioned by More Art and co-pre­sent­ed by Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Bil­lion Oys­ter Project (run­ning from July to Novem­ber, 2026), will cre­ate an amphithe­ater-like art­work on the West­ern Prom­e­nade that reflects on the par­al­lel era­sures of Indige­nous life­ways and oys­ter ecolo­gies in the har­bor. Already on view is abstract sculp­tor Chaka­ia Book­er​’s work wrought from sal­vaged tires, Brick House, in Colonels Row through 2027 after hav­ing first been installed in ​“The 606” in Chicago.

Curat­ed by Juan Pablo Siles, Asso­ciate Cura­tor and Pro­duc­er, Gov­er­nors Island Arts’ mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary per­for­mance series Inter­ven­tions presents local, nation­al, and inter­na­tion­al artists and invites audi­ences to expe­ri­ence work made and adapt­ed for the imme­di­ate envi­ron­ment. With Damask Rose: A Gath­er­ing (May 16), Bahar Behba­hani, whose research-based prac­tice approach­es land­scape as a metaphor for pol­i­tics and poet­ics, brings a par­tic­i­pa­to­ry per­for­mance-gath­er­ing fea­tur­ing sto­ry­tellers, poets, musi­cians, dis­cus­sions, and more, inspired by tra­di­tions sur­round­ing Per­sian Gar­dens to Gov­er­nors Island. Okwui Okpok­wasili and Peter Born​’s col­lab­o­ra­tive per­form­ing arts prac­tice Sweat Vari­ant brings to Gov­er­nors Island its first-ever out­door iter­a­tion of my tongue is a blade (June 19 & 20), a three-hour-long dura­tional move­ment work in and around a spin­ning mir­rored struc­ture that asks: What are the lim­its of our atten­tion and how does that test the strength of our bonds? my tongue is a blade is co-pre­sent­ed with Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC) as part of their 2026 Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val.

Every third Sat­ur­day from May through Octo­ber, Gov­er­nors Island Arts presents spe­cial free pro­gram­ming designed to build com­mu­ni­ty and high­light the unique artis­tic ecosys­tem of the Island. This sea­son will include: 

• Red Hook Art Project and Cab­in​’s Imprints of Space, sur­round­ing Rachel Whiteread​’s con­crete cast of a cab­in fac­ing the Down­town sky­line, and invit­ing vis­i­tors to make their own small-scale casts of remem­bered spaces (June 20).
• Sal­ly Beau­ti Twin​’s House Crawl & Parade, the eco-lumi­nary art parade con­clud­ing a day of art-mak­ing with par­tic­i­pants show­cas­ing cos­tumes, pup­pets, lanterns, and more cre­at­ed through­out the day (August 15).
• Sam Van Aken​’s Orchard Recipes, shar­ing his­tor­i­cal dish­es using fruits har­vest­ed from the artist’s instal­la­tion of 102 hybrid fruit trees of antique and heir­loom vari­eties once grown wild­ly in New York (Sep­tem­ber 19).
• The clos­ing of the sea­son with Pub­lic Ser­vice: Sea­son Clos­ing Dance Par­ty, with music by Brook­lyn-based DJ, pro­duc­er and instru­men­tal­ist Toribio and Mick­ey Perez—a DJ whose work com­bines African, Caribbean, South Amer­i­can & Black Amer­i­can rhythms — with sound pow­ered by the mighty pink speak­ers of the Kar­lala Soundsys­tem (Octo­ber 17). 

In addi­tion to pro­gram­ming announced today, two-dozen NYC-based arts and cul­tur­al non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions will present free exhibits, work­shops, pub­lic pro­grams, and artist res­i­den­cies in the Island’s his­toric for­mer mil­i­tary hous­es as part of Gov­er­nors Island Arts’ annu­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence pro­gram (week­ends, May 16-Novem­ber 1).

Gov­er­nors Island Arts 2026 Sea­son Pro­gram­ming Schedule

[Pub­lic Art]

Chaka­ia Booker 

Brick House, 2015 (short-term loan) 

Cur­rent­ly on view 

First installed on ​“The 606,” an ele­vat­ed park and trail in Chica­go, Booker’s strik­ing sculp­ture is on view in Colonels Row through 2027. Installed out­doors, the sculpture’s scale and dura­bil­i­ty reflect Booker’s com­mit­ment to pub­lic art and envi­ron­men­tal con­scious­ness. By reusing old tires, she encour­ages view­ers to recon­sid­er what peo­ple throw away — and how some­thing dis­card­ed can be turned into art full of beau­ty, his­to­ry, and meaning.

[Pub­lic Art]

Anna Valdez

Spring Migra­tion, 2026 (com­mis­sion)

Debut­ing May 2026 

The Har­bor Charg­er, New York’s first hybrid elec­tric fer­ry, marks anoth­er mile­stone this spring: the first mur­al com­mis­sioned specif­i­cal­ly for a Gov­er­nors Island fer­ry. Spring Migra­tion explores the sea­son­al rhythms and tran­sient his­to­ries of Gov­er­nors Island, high­light­ing the endur­ing themes of arrival, depar­ture, and sanc­tu­ary. From the Indige­nous Lenape peo­ple who uti­lized the land sea­son­al­ly to the ear­ly set­tlers and gen­er­a­tions of mil­i­tary per­son­nel sta­tioned here, the Island has been an ongo­ing site of tran­si­tion. Like the birds that vis­it each spring, these inhab­i­tants have played vital roles in the Island’s his­to­ry and lega­cy before mov­ing on. Valdez employs illus­tra­tions of migra­to­ry and non-migra­to­ry birds, dig­i­tal­ly manip­u­lat­ed pho­tographs of Gov­er­nors Island, and botan­i­cal details to invite view­ers across New York Har­bor to prac­tice the act of look­ing close­ly, beck­on­ing them to find the extra­or­di­nary with­in the temporary. 

[Inter­ven­tions]

Bahar Behba­hani

Damask Rose: A Gathering

May 16, 1 – 5pm

Damask Rose: A Gath­er­ing is a spring cel­e­bra­tion inspired by the tra­di­tions of Per­sian Gar­dens. The work cen­ters Damask Rose, an immi­grant flo­ra from the East, and hon­ors migra­tion and hos­pi­tal­i­ty. Guid­ed by con­cep­tu­al ideas of shade, wind, immi­grant flo­ra, and dias­poric eco­log­i­cal and ances­tral knowl­edge, this gath­er­ing brings togeth­er non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions, food and drink sto­ry­tellers, herbal­ists, tea prac­ti­tion­ers, musi­cians, and many oth­er like-mind­ed com­mu­ni­ties and part­ners to share a moment of joy and resilience.

[Inter­ven­tions]

Sweat Vari­ant

my tongue is a blade 

June 19 & 20

Co-Pre­sent­ed with Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC) as part of their 2026 Riv­er to Riv­er Festival

What are the lim­its of our atten­tion, and how do those lim­its test the strength of our bonds? my tongue is a blade is a three-hour move­ment per­for­mance-prac­tice root­ed in rela­tion, mem­o­ry, and reflec­tion. Four per­form­ers com­mit to remem­ber­ing one anoth­er, hold­ing one anoth­er, bear­ing one anoth­er, and sus­tain­ing the world that con­tains them. A rich visu­al and son­ic land­scape invites the audi­ence to wit­ness this shared prac­tice and to res­onate with­in it. Cre­at­ed by Okwui Okpok­wasili and Peter Born; per­formed by Okwui Okpok­wasili, Bria Bacon, Kris Lee and AJ Wilmore. Orig­i­nal­ly com­mis­sioned by the Irish Muse­um of Mod­ern Art as part of Take a Breath, with sup­port from the Sam Gilliam Foun­da­tion. Sup­port for Sweat Vari­ant is pro­vid­ed in part by the Mel­lon and Howard Gilman Foun­da­tions, as well as by the New Eng­land Foun­da­tion for the Arts’ Nation­al Dance Project with fund­ing from the Doris Duke Foundation.

[Third Sat­ur­days]

Red Hook Art Project x Cab­in

Imprints of Space 

June 20

Rachel Whiteread’s Cab­in, a per­ma­nent pub­lic art­work tucked into the foliage of Dis­cov­ery Hill, uses a con­crete cast of a cab­in to prompt retreat and intro­spec­tion in the view­er. On June’s THIRD Sat­ur­day, Island vis­i­tors will be able to cre­ate small-scale casts or impres­sions of imag­ined or remem­bered spaces that hold mean­ing to them, ulti­mate­ly form­ing a col­lec­tive instal­la­tion that serves as a shared map of com­mu­ni­ty spaces. 

[Third Sat­ur­days]

Sal­ly Beau­ti Twin 

House Crawl & Parade 

August 15

Sal­ly Beau­ti Twin’s sig­na­ture eco-lumi­nary art parade will take over Nolan Park and Colonels Row, with par­tic­i­pants DIY-ing their own cos­tumes, lumi­nar­ies, and pup­pets before engag­ing in a house-to-house parade that hon­ors the flo­ra, fau­na, and celes­tial bod­ies of Gov­er­nors Island. 

[Third Sat­ur­days]

Sam Van Aken

Orchard Recipes

Sep­tem­ber 19

Sam Van Aken hosts a gas­tro­nom­i­cal after­noon gath­er­ing at his expan­sive Open Orchard per­ma­nent pub­lic art­work on Gov­er­nors Island. The artist will share his­tor­i­cal dish­es using fruits har­vest­ed from the orchard itself, which con­tains hun­dreds of heir­loom fruit vari­eties that were once grown wide­ly through­out New York but have large­ly dis­ap­peared due to cli­mate change and indus­tri­al­ized agriculture.

[Third Sat­ur­days]

Pub­lic Ser­vice: Sea­son Clos­ing Dance Party

Octo­ber 17

Close out the 2026 Gov­er­nors Island Arts sea­son with Pub­lic Ser­vice, a (pri­mar­i­ly) out­door dance par­ty that’s for the peo­ple, by the peo­ple. Fea­tur­ing music by Toribio and Mick­ey Perez, with sound pow­ered by Kar­lala Soundsystem. 

Fund­ing Cred­its

Gov­er­nors Island Arts presents its pro­gram with sup­port from Cha­ri­na Endow­ment Fund, Anony­mous, Don­ald A. Pels Char­i­ta­ble Trust, Sur­go Foun­da­tion US, the New York State Coun­cil on the Arts (NYSCA) with the sup­port of the Office of the Gov­er­nor and the New York State Leg­is­la­ture, Rip­ple Foun­da­tion, Great Hill, and the Howard Gilman Foundation.

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About Gov­er­nors Island Arts

Gov­er­nors Island Arts, the pub­lic arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram pre­sent­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, cre­ates trans­for­ma­tive encoun­ters with art for all New York­ers, invit­ing artists and researchers to engage with the issues of our time in the con­text of the Island’s lay­ered his­to­ries, envi­ron­ments, and archi­tec­ture. Gov­er­nors Island Arts achieves this mis­sion through tem­po­rary and long-term pub­lic art instal­la­tions and exhi­bi­tions, an annu­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence pro­gram in the Island’s his­toric hous­es, and the curat­ed mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary INTER­VEN­TIONS per­for­mance series. Learn more at www​.gov​is​land​.org/arts.