LMCC presents the 22nd annual River To River Festival, Downtown New York City’s leading free summer arts festival from June 9th - 18th, 2023!
This year’s River To River Festival marks the organization’s 50th anniversary. In honor of the milestone, the 2023 event series features many LMCC alumni working across disciplines, with a captivating array of dance, performance, public art installations, historic tours, and live music that reflects the interdisciplinary ethos of LMCC.
Featuring 12 presentations of live art, performances, and participatory events in public spaces throughout Downtown New York, the 2023 River To River Festival explores themes of reclamation, resistance, and interconnectivity.
River To River 2023 Artists include: AUNTS, Marta Blair, Lotto Royale, Natu Camara, Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, New York Arabic Orchestra, Nuevayorkinos, Antonio Ramos, Washington Street Historical Society, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, and Andros Zins-Browne.
All events are free and open to all.
Join our mailing list to stay updated on LMCC's upcoming public programs!
RSVPs for events with limited space open on June 1
Exhibition
El Camino: Stories of Migration
Nuevayorkinos
On view June 9 - 30
Opening Event: June 9, 6 - 8pm drop-in
The Seaport (Fulton Market building windows)
Nuevayorkinos’ collaboration with the 2023 River To River Festival amplifies stories of Caribbean and Latin American (im)migration to New York City.
Participatory Art Installation
Mahicantuck, “River that flows two ways”
Marta Blair
June 10, 11am - 5pm, drop-in
June 11, 11am - 5pm, drop-in
Belvedere Plaza, Battery Park City
Mahicantuck is a Participatory Tape Installation that will be created with the public around Battery Park City.
Performance Lottery
Lotto Royale
June 10, 1pm - 6pm
June 11, 1pm - 6pm
Meeting location: The South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton St, New York, NY
Performance Times: 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm
On June 10 and 11, a rare constellation of seventeen artists share performances, practices, and journeys through the cityscape for one audience member at a time in Lotto Royale, a performance lottery of one-on-one encounters.
Studio Residency and Public Program
Archive Barchive
AUNTS
June 10 - 18, program of events at various times
Studio A4, The Arts Center at Governors Island
River to River Events hosted at the AUNTS BARCHIVE include special guest artist bartenders, mini performances, talks, and gatherings.
Walking Tours and Poetry in the Park
Little Syria, New York: Walking Tours of Washington Street
WASHINGTON STREET HISTORICAL SOCIETY
June 11, 13, 15 Tours: 11am - 12pm
June 17 Tour: 3pm - 4pm
June 17 Event: 4pm - 5pm (see al Qalam: Poetry in the Park)
Washington Street and Battery Place (Park-side)
Linda Jacobs, a scholar, historian and Washington Street Historical Society chair will lead in-person tours of the early Manhattan Syrian/Lebanese colony illustrated with stories, historical photos, and places of significance.
Music Performance & Poetry Reading
al Qalam: Poetry in the Park
featuring New York Arabic Orchestra
WASHINGTON STREET HISTORICAL SOCIETY
June 17, 4pm - 5pm
The Battery Labyrinth
FDR, Battery Pl
al Qalam: Poetry in the Park will be performed by three musicians from the New York Arabic Orchestra who will collaborate with two reciters, Hani Bawardi and Rita Zihenni, to celebrate the literary contributions of the early Arab American settlers in Lower Manhattan.
Performance
Zero Station
Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith
June 12, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Flamboyan Theater, The Clemente
Zero Station works out shame, citing a felt understanding as part of the experience of abjection. Confronting hypersexualization as the limp white feminine byproduct of capitalism, we present movements derived from pregnancy, lactation, mental illness, physical illness, surgery, and aging, and then segment, otherize, and disappear these forms in trash.
Performance
CEREMONIA
Antonio Ramos and The Gangbangers
June 15, 8pm - 9pm
La Plaza, The Clemente
The Gangbangers blossom and wilt in a dance-theatre performance conceived by Antonio Ramos. In a mixed-tape Latino extravaganza of cultural misappropriation and reappropriation, Ramos calls on his ancestors and carries the audience on a journey to the bottom of the ocean and back again. This piece is a ceremony.
Performance
duel c
Andros Zins-Browne
June 16, 7pm - 8pm
Outlook Hill, Governors Island
duel c is a performance where care and violence commingle, stirring toward undoing. A dance of entanglement, duel c aims to inhabit an illogic, a sentience and perpetual movement that isn’t funded by empathy, guilt, nor the labor of the captive.
Performance
Talk to Me About Water
Amelia Winger-Bearskin
June 16, 4pm - 5pm
Lower Gallery, The Arts Center at Governors Island, 110 Andes Road
Talk to Me About Water is an immersive music experience that expands conversations about global water issues. Participants include a group of artists, science storytellers, water scientists, artificial intelligence researchers, data scientists, and musicians who create immersive experiences.
Open Residency
LMCC’s Workspace Open Studios
June 17, 12pm - 6pm
101 Greenwich St.
Open Studios offers a glimpse into the creative process and artistic development of LMCC’s Workspace artists-in-residence. An unique opportunity to visit these previously vacant office spaces, now transformed into artist studios, for a wide range of works in progress presentations and conversations with the artists.
Performance
River To River 2023 Closing Concert
Natu Camara
June 17, 6:30pm - 8pm
Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City
For the closing concert of LMCC's River To River Festival, and in celebration of Juneteenth with Battery Park City Authority, Guinean musician and activist Natu Camara will bring her vibrant band to Rockefeller Park and share songs from her new album.
Health & Safety
The health of our artists, audiences, and staff is important to LMCC. Masks are recommended for indoor events and may be required at certain venues. We ask that if you are feeling unwell on the day of the event, to please stay home.
Inclement Weather
In case of inclement weather, LMCC will inform audience members 4 hours in advance via email, social media and LMCC.net.
Accessibility
For information about accessibility needs, or to let us know how we can provide a welcoming experience, please email us at info@lmcc.net.