Come one! Come all! March with Arts Gowanus and creatively show everybody your Gowanus love!
All are invited to join us on Saturday, June 1 for the inaugural Gowanus Art Parade! Let’s come together to uplift and reinforce the community spirit in our beloved and rapidly changing neighborhood!
The theme is Creatures of the Canal – Real or Imaginary. Come rain or shine, join us and show us your creature creations!
NOTE: WE ARE MARCHING ON THE SIDEWALKS. ALL ARTWORK MUST BE WEARABLE OR EASILY PORTABLE.
WEAR YOUR ART - Don your wackiest, most inventive, most Gowanus-y outfit! Transform yourself into an edgy egret, a harried heron, a crabby crab, a jaunty jellyfish, a yummy mummichog, a poised porpoise, a radioactive rat, a rabid raccoon, the legendary Sludgie the Whale, or any fantastical canal creature you fancy! Be fun and festive! Deck yourself out in faux fur, feathers, fangs, flippers, tentacles, scales, sequins.... The weirder the better!
CARRY YOUR ARTWORK - Posters, sculptures, puppets, banners, flags, effigies... bring them all! We want to see your most wondrous and bizarre creations come to life! Just make sure they are mobile and easy to carry throughout a procession.
We'll meet at the alleyway between 543 Union and 280 Nevins at 2:30pm and kick off the procession at 3pm. Leading the procession will be the HONK Family Band! Joining the festivities will be the Gowanus Wildcats Drill Team and Miss Gowanus Canal / Miss New York USA 2022 Finalist, Addie @adelinexvictoria! We’ll tread the sidewalks, traverse an iconic Gowanus bridge, traipse along the waterfront, and end at a community street festival at 2nd Street, outside the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse.
The outdoor fest will feature Mookntaka's spectacular interactive sculpture Hedgehog, crocheted critters courtesy of the 4th Ave Yarn Collective, live music, and fun activities led by local organizations including the Gowanus Dredgers, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Forth on Fourth Avenue, Street Lab, Textile Arts Center, and Why Not Art?.
Inside the Boathouse you can check out an art exhibition by Manju Shandler, an interactive installation by Hannah Robinett, video portraits by Tamara Staples, and get a drawing of yourself being eaten by a sea creature by cartoonist Mindy Indy! After the sun sets – in usual Arts Gowanus fashion – we’ll host an afterparty!
More details to come, but start preparing now for what's sure to be an unforgettable event – a Gowanus Carnival in the "Venice of Brooklyn!"
Thanks to Hally Thornton for creating the Arts Gowanus creatures!