Open Friday 2-5:30pm, Saturdays & Sundays, 12-5:30pm | Additional hours by appointment
at The Arts Center at Governors Island, Upper & Lower Galleries
August 28 – October 26

၊၊||၊  Listen to the Works on Water Triennial Exhibition Audio Guide below, or click here to listen on Soundcloud.

LMCC’s The Arts Center at Governors Island will serve as the hub and central exhibition space for The Works on Water 2025 Triennial is a multi-sited exhibition and series of public art interventions made on, in, and with bodies of water, created in response to the global climate crisis. The exhibition, curated by Emily Blumenfeld and Kendal Henry with the Works on Water team, frames the growing genre of Water Art as a defining environmental art form of the 21st century, exploring themes of access, exploitation, conservation, remediation, and care. Now in its third edition, this dynamic triennial invites New Yorkers to experience and reimagine the edges of the city through site-specific, participatory, and time-based works, in partnership with Wildlife Conservation Society/NY Aquarium, South Street Seaport, and North Brooklyn Boat Club.

Works on Water 2025 Triennial artists: Nora Almeida / iki nakagawa, Frank Bloem, Monica Jahan Bose, Donald Hài Phú Daedalus, Jeremy Dennis, Sherese Francis, Jana Harper, Perrin Ireland, Art Jones, Marie Lorenz, sTo Len, Stacy Levy, Mare Liberum, Mary Mattingly, Wes Modes, Lize Mogel, Eve Mosher, Nancy Nowacek, Jean Shin, Sarah Cameron Sunde, Sunk Shore (Carolyn Hall and Clarinda Mac Low), Elizabeth Velazquez, and Marina Zurkow.

The Works on Water 2025 Triennial exhibition will be on view in the Upper and Lower Galleries of The Arts Center, August 28 through October 26, open to the public on Fridays, 2-5:30pm, and Saturdays & Sundays, 12-5:30pm. For appointments, please email info@worksonwater.org. 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of workshops inspired by bodies of water, led by Works on Water 2025 Triennial Artists. Upcoming workshops: Performing Infrastructure with Lize Mogel on Saturday, September 6 and Sunk Shore: Understanding Climate Change, Embodying Shorelines with Carolyn Hall and Clarinda Mac Low on Saturday, September 27. Click here to RSVP. A series of 2025 Triennial events will also take place in the galleries over the course of the exhibition. Scroll down for the schedule of events.

The full Triennial runs May 20 to October 26 and includes Walking the Edge, a collective walk of all 520 miles of New York City’s Coastline. Visit worksonwater.org for details.

Works on Water Triennial Events

WATER ART IS THE NEW LAND ART
A conversation with Angela Adams, Stacy Levy, sTo Len, and Sarah Cameron Sunde
Friday, September 5 | 6:30-7:30pm

PERFORMING INFRASTRUCTURE
A workshop with artist Lize Mogel
Saturday, September 6 | 1-3pm

36.5 / NEW YORK ESTUARY — 3RD YEAR ANNIVERSARY ‘KINDIG
An full-tidal cycle long gathering on/in/with the NYC body of water where 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea was completed in 2022
Email info@worksonwater.org to RSVP
Off-site at THE COVE (31-10 Vernon Blvd, Astoria, Queens)
Sunday, September 14 | 10:04am-11:02pm

LIVE ART FROM THE DEEP // AQUARIUM LIVESTREAM
Gallery will be live-streaming the deep dives into the Hudson Canyon, when they are happening
September 14 – 26, during opening hours

LIVE ART FROM THE DEEP AT AQUARIUM LIVESTREAM
Through a partnership between Works on Water and the Wildlife Conservation Society, Sherese Francis and Perrin Ireland are artists in residence at the New York Aquarium working in relation to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s deep research dives into the Hudson Canyon. Both artists will be on site creating art with the public on September 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25.
Off-site at New York Aquarium (602 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY)

EXTENDED GALLERY HOURS FOR CLIMATE WEEK
Wednesday, September 24: 12-5:30 PM
Friday, September 26: 12-5:30 PM

CLIMATE WEEK / EARTH LAW + WORKS ON WATER EVENT
Society of Earth Lawyers Launch (1-3pm) + Artist / Earth Lawyer workshop event (3:30-5pm)
Email info@worksonwater.org to RSVP
Wednesday, September 24 | 1-5pm

SUNK SHOR: UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE CHANGE, EMBODYING SHORELINES
A workshop with artist duo Sunk Shore (Carolyn Hall and Clarinda Mac Low)
Saturday, September 27, 1-3pm

ARTIST ROUNDTABLE
A conversation with Triennial artists Monica Jahan Bose, Jana Harper, and more
Saturday, September 27 | 4-5pm

WORKS ON WATER + THE SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM
A conversation with the Museum, Works on Water and artists involved in this collaboration
Off-site at South Street Museum (213 Water Street, New York, NY 11201)
Thursday, October 9 | 6:30-7:30pm

WATERSHED ACTIVATION
A performance activation of the installation made by Nora Almeida and iki nakagawa
Saturday, October 4 | 3-4pm

CALLING FORTH THE WATERS THAT SURROUND US
A participatory performance activation of the evolving work by Elizabeth Velazquez
Sunday, October 19 | 2:40-3:40pm

WORKS ON WATER GALLERY ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
Elizabeth Velazquez will be evolving her installation throughout the course of the exhibition.
Durational, through October 26

CLOSING PARTY WITH ARTIST TALKS + WALKING THE EDGE CONVERSATION
Hear from some artists, celebrate the completion of Walking of the Edge (Works on Water’s 520-mile coastline walk), and toast the end of the Triennial exhibition
Sunday, October 26 | Conversations 2-4pm, Party 4-6pm

Works on Water is an experimental organization and triennial exhibition dedicated to artworks, performances, conversations, workshops and site-specific experiences that explore diverse artistic investigation of water in the urban environment. We seek to strengthen and nourish the community of artists working on and with bodies of water and to provide a platform to increase awareness of artists and organizations working on and with the waterways

Made possible with support from the Cultural Development Fund, Invoking the Pause, exhibiting artists, and Works on Water’s partner organizations.