UNY is so pleased to be organizing a reading in conjunction with contributing artist Elizabeth Albert's exhibition Silent Beaches, Untold Stories: NYC's Forgotten Waterfront.  She has spent years meticulously researching some of our city's strangest shorelines to curate this show. Among other featured artists are UNY's own Mary Mattingly, Marie Lorenz and George Boorujy.

The reading will feature St. John's faculty members Gabriel Brownstein, Bob Fanuzzi and Steven Mentz, as well as special guest Nelly Reifler. In addition, Nicole Cirino will honor the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy with a poem. It will take place on Tuesday October 29th, at 6pm, in the gallery.  

We can't wait to see you there!  

On Febuary 22nd, 2013, UNY invited three writers with connections for the Bronx to read original work in conjunction with the exhibition Process and Progress: Drew Manahan, Meta Local Collaborative and the Bronx River Alliance at the Bronx River Art Center. Carolyn Ferrell, Rich Villar, and Allison Amend chose from a fresh list of objects found in the Bronx River--most by local volunteers as they undertook the task to clean it up--to inspire their work. 

In partnership with the Bronx River Alliance, Meta Local Collaborative curated a selection of photos, plans, maps and documents from the Alliance’s archives. These images traced how spaces along the river have changed through the years, revisit past restoration and recreation plans, and consider the river’s present state and plans for its future. In addition, Meta Local showcased work they are developing which focuses on public access to the Bronx River Greenway.

We are thankful that Meta Local Collaborative, aka Elizabeth Hamby and Hatuey Ramos Fermin, invited us to take part!

UNY was invited to curate a reading in conjunction with the American Folk Art Museum's exhibition COMPASS: Folk Art in Four Directions, that took place at the South Street Seaport Museum from June 2012-March 2013.  

UNY founding editor Nicki Pombier Berger and writers Jenny Offill and Myla Goldberg wrote original stories inspired by the exhibition's folk art objects, the historic seaport district, and UNY's list of underwater objects.  

Not only was the event sold out, but it inspired a feature article on UNY in the New York Times! 

PHOTO CREDITS:

-Noah’s Ark Artist unidentified Probably England 1790–1814 Bone and wood with iron, pigment, paper, and nails 8 1/2 x 14 x 9 1/4″ Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Gift of Jane, Steven and Eric Lang and Jacqueline Loewe Fowler in memory of Robert Lang, 1999.14.1 Photo by John Parnell, New York

-Mourning Piece for Captain Matthew Prior and His Son Barker Prior Attributed to Jane Otis Prior (1803–?) Bath or Portland, Maine c. 1815–1822
Watercolor on silk 17 1/2 x 21 1/4 x 1 1/2″ Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Museum purchase, 1992.25.1 Photo by John Parnell, New York

-Cane with Female Leg Handle and Cane with Female Leg and Dark Boot Handle, Artists unidentified, Probably eastern United States c. 1860. Whale ivory and whale skeletal bone with horn, ink and nail (left); whale skeletal bone, mahogany, and ivory with paint (right). 29 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. (left); 34 x 3 3/4 in. (right) American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.320, 321.

-Anniversary Tin: Man’s Top Hat and Eyeglasses, Lady’s Bonnet with Curls, Slippers, and Hoop Skirt Artist unidentified Gobles, Michigan
1880–1900 Tin Hat: 9 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 5 1/4″ Eyeglasses: 1 1/8 x 5 1/8 x 5 1/8″ Bonnet: 14 x 9 x 16″ Slippers: 6 1/2 x 9 x 8″ Hoop Skirt: 28 x 24″ diam. Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Gift of Martin and Enid Packard, 1988.25.1, 2, 6, 9, 12, 19 Photo by John Parnell, New York

-Tattoo Pattern Book Artist unidentified New York City 1873–1910
Ink on oiled cloth, with buckram binding 4 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 3/4″ (closed) Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Anonymous gift, 1995.29.1
Photo by Gavin Ashworth, New York

 Bridget Talone, Joe Fritsch, and Leah Umanksy read for Underwater New York at the 2nd Annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. To gear up for the reading, they each wrote us some new haikus. 

HAIKU BY JOE FRITSCH

1.
Round the river wound
’round round of land                    the earth there
soaked stones                   held summer

2.
Docking all and more
hull to shore comes close…….. Oh, BOAT!
I too hate water.

HAIKU BY LEAH UMANSKY

1.
Past the water’s lull
a seeming step to the past
where all things prosper

2.
All islands have charm
but is there a Caliban
off the shore of the City?
 

HAIKU BY BRIDGET TALONE

1.
When Doves Cry, Alt Version
[Prince Rogers Nelson]

This is what it sounds
like when Govs cry: Doo Doo
Doo. Doo Doo Doo Doo.

2.
6 Haiku from “Castle Williams Gets A Facelift”

Brainchild was a
three-story sleepover;
a prison donut

7-to-9 feet
thick. Brainchild was a ghost
[powdered sugar robe].

Like lawnmowers, we
likened him with our fans
into something shy

and walkable. Pig
and teen centers. Brainchild
waves to the public

with whiteout hands. He
is 200 years old and
still he licks his fin

-gers. I have offered
to paint his nails No One Was
Hurt. Red. A nice thought.

More than sixty people joined us on an exploration of New Dorp and Cedar Grove Beaches on Staten Island’s eastern shore, led by poet and longtime Cedar Grove resident and UNY contributing poet Jen Fitzgerald and historian Josh Jakob. Here are some of the photographs from that day! Read more about the beaches here and be sure to click over to the blog  We Heart NY and to BK Rabblerouser  to see more great documentation of the event.

Photographs by Dan Selzer and Nicole Haroutunian

Photos by Aimee Monko