The Oyster

The Oys­ter, a mon­u­men­tal out­door sculp­tur­al instal­la­tion by acclaimed Mohawk artist Alan Michel­son (Six Nations of the Grand Riv­er), on view on Gov­er­nors Island from July 30 through Novem­ber 30, 2026.

The Oys­ter is com­mis­sioned by More Art and pre­sent­ed as part of their 2026 pro­gram­ming ini­tia­tive Refram­ing 1776: Land, Water, and the Work of Repair. The ini­tia­tive brings togeth­er three com­mis­sions that respond to the nation’s 250^th anniver­sary through projects ground­ed in Indige­nous per­spec­tives and envi­ron­men­tal his­to­ries. Devel­oped in part­ner­ship with the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project, Michelson’s instal­la­tion draws on pre-colo­nial Lenape oys­ter mid­dens and shell rings — vast accu­mu­la­tions that reflect long his­to­ries of habi­ta­tion and stew­ard­ship in the region.

Using sal­vaged shells and steel mesh gabions, the artist builds a struc­ture that oper­ates simul­ta­ne­ous­ly as habi­tat, mon­u­ment, and gath­er­ing place.

Tak­ing place on the west­ern shore of Gov­er­nors Island, fac­ing New York Har­bor and the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty, The Oys­ter is designed as an amphithe­ater — invit­ing pub­lic assem­bly at the water’s edge as both sculp­tur­al envi­ron­ment and gath­er­ing space. The instal­la­tion reflects on the par­al­lel era­sures of Indige­nous life­ways and oys­ter ecolo­gies in the har­bor, while point­ing toward the pos­si­bil­i­ty of their restora­tion and return.

Its form draws from the log­ic of reef restora­tion — reimag­ined here as both mon­u­ment and memo­r­i­al. Vis­i­tors encounter a land­scape shaped by long his­to­ries of Indige­nous knowl­edge and eco­log­i­cal inter­de­pen­dence and are invit­ed to con­sid­er what restora­tion — of land, water, and rela­tion­ships — might look like in the years ahead.

Encir­cling the sculp­ture, a large-scale text instal­la­tion fea­tur­ing reflec­tions on oys­ter ecol­o­gy gath­ered from the Gov­er­nors Island com­mu­ni­ty is paint­ed direct­ly onto the ground in pur­ple and white, ref­er­enc­ing wampum — the shell beads his­tor­i­cal­ly used by the Lenape for exchange, diplo­ma­cy, and record-keeping.

Through­out its pre­sen­ta­tion, The Oys­ter serves as a plat­form for pub­lic pro­gram­ming, includ­ing boat tours, walk­ing per­for­mances, con­ver­sa­tions, and com­mis­sioned works that acti­vate the instal­la­tion as a site for col­lec­tive engagement.

The instal­la­tion is co-pre­sent­ed with More Art and the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project.