The Take Care Series at The Arts Center at Governors Island
The Take Care Series offers audiences of all ages an opportunity to actively engage in performances, workshops, talks, and other interactive events that embrace ideas of caretaking. This series of free public programs aims to find artfulness in the everyday by exploring creative practices and community projects that emphasize care for ourselves, our communities, and our planet.
Through performance, workshops, talks, and Open Studios with our artists-in-residence and partnerships with local arts and cultural organizations, we explore creative practices and different ways to care for ourselves, our communities, and our planet and world around us. Past partners have included Little Sun, The Climate Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Earth Celebrations, the poet Asiya Wadud, and many others.
All exhibitions and events in The Take Care Series are free and open to all. We welcome anyone who is interested in engaging with the creative process and connecting directly with artists.
Stay tuned and sign up for our mailing list for more information.
The Arts Center is also home to working artists all year long. For more information about our Arts Center Residency on Governors Island, click here.
2023 Public Season
Saturday, September 30
Dionne Kamara
Dance, Play, Create Movement Workshop
First session: 1pm-2:15pm
Second session: 2:30pm-3:45pm
A3, Dance Studio The Arts Center at Governors Island
Join a fun and interactive dance workshop for everyone. Learn the BrainDance, a unique exercise that supports the reorganization of the neurological system and increases blood and oxygen flow to the respiratory system and brain. Dance with props while exploring dance concepts and building movement skills. Through dance and music, connecting and collaborating, this fun-filled workshop strengthens the mind and body while celebrating personal creativity and individual artistry. All ages welcome!
Open Studios with Arts Center
Artists-in-Residence
12pm-5pm
Artist Studios, Upper Level
Connect with LMCC's session two Arts Center artists-in-residence at Open Studios! Visit artists in their studios, where they will share works-in-progress as well as offer hands-on and engaging activities for attendees.
2023 Session Two Artists-in-Residence:
Dario Mohr
DW Zinsser
Faustine Badrichani
Jess Levey
Mitsuko Brooks
Andrés Senra
Farah Mohammad
Bobby Abate
Greg Mills
Michele Brody
Monica Duncan & Senem Pirler
Camila Galaz
BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance
Sarah Zarina Hakani
Nattie Trogdon + Hollis Bartlett
Javier E. Piñero
Stephanie Powell
Ronit Levin Delgado
Sika Foyer
Past Events
In 2019, we presented the first edition of The Take Care Series, a fall public program that reframes art curation as a mindful practice stemming from the concept of care. Workshops included Jérôme Bel on Isadora Duncan, Olafur Eliasson's Little Sun Sunlight Graffiti, a talk with Soul Fire Farm on Farming While Black, a performance of Anne Mourier's Taking Care Laundry and more.
In 2021, we presented the second edition of The Take Care Series every Third Saturday from July - October. Events included Little Sun: Fast Forward Screening, The Climate Museum: Envisioning a Climate-Safe Future, Jazz at The Arts Center: Curated by Jazz at Lincoln Center, Amy Khoshbin and Jennifer Khoshbin: Sun Seekers, Earth Celebrations: Natural Dye & Eco-Printing Workshop, Asiya Wadud: we touched the boat to bless it as well as monthly open studios with our Arts Center Residency artists.
In 2022, we presented the third edition of The Take Care Series focused on themes of healing.
2023 Public Season
Saturday, August 12
Earth Matter
Make an Herbarium: Plants Can Live Forever
1pm-4pm
Studio A4, Upper Gallery, The Arts Center at Governors Island
Meet 12 farmers who have captured the ephemeral nature, from seed to flower (or vegetable), of common, everyday plants. Experience 12 collages of preserved specimens, from roots to shoots, and then learn to make your own flower press to take home. You can create a library of plants and flowers (herbarium) that will delight you forever.
Saturday, July 15
Paul Deo
Self Actualization Portraits Workshop
1pm-4pm
Studio A4, Upper Gallery, The Arts Center at Governors Island
Paul Deo’s self-actualization portrait painting classes offer a fun, calm, and safe environment to find your inner essence and unwind while learning to create beautiful works of portraiture. This workshop invites you to open your mind to the wisdom all around us by letting go of past trauma and exploring your purpose and destiny in this interconnected universe. Paint yourself surrounded by your visions, reinforcing your positive affirmations and manifesting your goals.
Open Studios with Arts Center
Artists-in-Residence
12pm-5pm
Artist Studios, Upper Level
Connect with LMCC's Arts Center artists-in-residence at Open Studios! Visit artists in their studios, where they will share works-in-progress as well as offer hands-on and engaging activities for attendees.
2023 Session One Artists-in-Residence:
Aaron Cobbett
Aika Akhmetova
Ana Cordeiro
Ayling Dominguez
Daniel Clurman
Da'Niro Elle Brown
Edgar Moza
ELENA BAJO
Erica Shires
Hannah Lutz Winkler
Jenny Eunjung Cho
Katerina Vo
Marina Gutierrez
Maria Rodriguez Jimenez
Matt Whitman
Néstor Pérez-Molière
Phyllis Sanfiorenzo
Priscilla Stadler
Sally Twin
2022 Public Season
Saturday, October 15
Amy Khoshbin and Jennifer Khoshbin:
The Sun Seekers Induction
3pm-4pm
Westfield World Trade Center, 185 Greenwich St, New York, NY
On Saturday, October 15 at 3 pm, the Oculus transforms into an immersive world for healing and connecting with the sun, our environment, and our bodies.
The story of the Sun Seekers, originally conceived by Iranian-American sisters Amy Khoshbin and Jennifer Khoshbin, is told by an ensemble cast of performers, dancers, and musicians. The Sun Seekers Induction is an hour-long participatory performance based on a fictional sci-fi narrative tied to our indoor, on-screen life co-written by Yuliya Tsukerman and choreographed by Danielle Russo, featuring performers Mercedes Searer, Ching-I Chang, Malcolm McMichael, and musicians Alex Koi and Jon Panikkar.
Sunday, October 16
Amy Khoshbin and Jennifer Khoshbin
Sun Seekers
3pm
Upper Gallery, The Arts Center at Governors Island
This Sun Seekers Induction is also an hour-long participatory performance co-written by Yuliya Tsukerman and choreographed by Danielle Russo, featuring Sun Seekers Mercedes Searer, Ching-I Chang, Malcolm McMichael, Alex Koi and Jon Panikkar.
Open Studios with Arts Center
Artists-in-Residence
From 1-5pm
Artist Studios, Upper Level
Connect with LMCC's Arts Center artists-in-residence at Open Studios! Visit artists in their studios, where they will share works-in-progress as well as offer hands-on and engaging activities for attendees.
2022 Session Three Artists-in-Residence :
Sue Huang & Jonah King
Anna Rinzo
ManSee Kong
Priscilla Aleman
Alexis Almeida
Maria Ylvisaker
Ohan Breiding
Julia Taszycka
Lu Lyu
Lisa Crafts
Sarah Nicholls
Wei
Becca Albee
Ralph Farris
Carolyn Monastra
Saturday, September 17
Mapping you: exploring the neighborhood of self
with the Hand Drawn Map Association
Where do you feel most you? Kris Harzinski, founder of the Hand Drawn Map Association, led participants in a map-making project aimed to identify and explore places of individual comfort and self-care. Participants mapped their personal neighborhood by identifying spaces where they feel closest to their true self. This included an expanded understanding of neighborhood to explore spaces not only around the corner but also beyond conventional boundaries including those existing in memories, the imagination, and the world at large.
Saturday, August 20
Open Studios with Arts Center
Artists-in-Residence
From 1-5pm
Artist Studios, Upper Level
The Open Studios events are great opportunities to connect with LMCC's Arts Center artists-in-residencies! Visit artists in their studios, where they share works-in-progress as well as offer hands-on and engaging activities for attendees.
Damien Davis & Marisol Martinez
Fastening Narratives
Studio A4, Upper Level
Artists Damien Davis and Marisol Martinez led an art making workshop centered around meditation, oral histories and narrative building. Visitors built soft sculptures where personal history, storytelling and collaborative play produce open-ended results.
Simon Benjamin
Artist Talk
5:30pm
The Café at The Arts Center at Governors Island
Artist and LMCC alumni Simon Benjamin discussed his multimedia installation Pillars at The Arts Center at Governors Island. Simon discussed his artistic inquiry into the relationship between the people of the African Diaspora and the sea and his research while in residence at Governors Island and Fishers Island. After the talk, audience members were be invited to write a postcard to a loved one featuring a special edition photograph that Simon has created for The Take Care Series. Moderated by Lindsay LeBoyer, LMCC Exhibitions Associate
Saturday, July 16
City of Water Day: Oyster Carnival at LMCC
with Billion Oyster Project
July 16 from 1-4pm
Studio A4, Upper Level
On July 16 from 1-4pm, we celebrated City of Water Day with LMCC and Billion Oyster Project! We followed the flow of an oyster’s life with a variety of carnival games to learn about the importance of oysters in the city’s ecosystem, the life cycle of an oyster, and other marine organisms we find in our neighborhood.
Health & Safety
At this time, we continue to require face coverings for visitors age 4 and older, regardless of vaccination status. To request an accommodation based on a medical condition or disability, please email Rosemary DeMarco at rdemarco@lmcc.net prior to your visit. LMCC will continue to closely monitor guidelines from Governor Hochul and the CDC as they are released. According to the CDC's Community Level Guidelines, New York is at a Community Level Low.