Art at the Edge
In the summer of 2023 I had the honor of being included in Waterfront Alliance’s “Art at the Edge” display, in partnership with Photoville and the South Street Seaport Museum. I’m still not totally sure how they came across my work - I had assumed it was related to some of my photographs of the Dredgers for City of Water Day, but later discovered the curators came across me online somewhere.
It was really fun to have my work up in a super public place, and even better that it was down the street from the office where I often spend time for my day-job. It was also great to interact with the various folks involved. I got to meet up with archivists at the Seaport Museum and see some of the Gowanus and Red Hook material that they have. Our waterfront has changed so much in the past few years, its mind boggling to look back and see how much it’s REALLY changed in the past century.
As part of the exhibit, the artists participated in a panel discussion aboard the Wavertree. I was an anxious wreck. I can talk for ages about the Gowanus and the work that we do as the Dredgers, but talking about my own work? Tongue tied and stressed. Luckily, I knew the perfect person to help! My friend Amanda has a side-gig as a public speaking coach (among many other things). She was gracious enough to meet up with me for coffee and help me outline what I hoped the presentation would be like. I didn’t end up saying half the things we’d workshopped, but I went into the presentation much calmer and prepared. Who knew - practice actually helps!
