Displacement: An exhibition of Visual Art | March 8 - 30, 2008 | 361 Manhattan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

About

Opening

The Displacement opening was held on March 8, 2008 in conjunction with a special performance for CPR – Center for Performance Research.

Performances were given by Ann Liv Young, Kayvon Pourazar, Amanda Loulaki, Matija Ferlin, and Jonah Bokaer in collaboration with Michael Cole.

Click here for images.

Gallery

The art exhibition will be open on Saturdays and Sundays, from noon to 6pm and by appointment from March 9–30, 2008.

Visit

Displacement will be held at greenbelt:
361 Manhattan Avenue (between Jackson and Withers)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

L Train to Lorimer or Graham
G Train to Metropolitan

Visitors are encouraged to visit www.hopstop.com to find the best route for walking, biking, or taking public transportation to greenbelt.

Contact

For more information please contact info@austerevents.com

greenbelt

The displacement of local artists from New York City continues to accelerate due to record growth in the real estate market. This phenomenon has been particularly acute recently in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg.

Such displacement is part of a repeated cycle of neighborhood development in which artists “discover” a neighborhood—usually industrial—where large space is abundant and rents are cheap. Often artists see beauty in places that others see as derelict or blighted. After the artists’ vision and presence has helped change public perception of a place, they are often displaced due to rapidly rising rents and spikes in development. The artists are displaced from the very same locations in which they helped spark interest, and, ironically, replaced mostly with new residents seeking culture and arts. By the time the new residents finish unpacking, the people and unique elements that enticed them have been largely displaced, going in search of the next urban frontier.

The developers of greenbelt sought a positive response to this cycle of change by seeking to create a sustainable home for the arts as well as those seeking to live in a place defined by its cultural relevance. The financial model is simple. By constructing market-rate residential condominiums located over a nonprofit arts facility, the project will harness the economic power of the current condo market to subsidize permanent space for the arts.

Every stage of the design has been undertaken in consultation with the artists who intend to purchase and occupy the space to ensure will meet their needs and those of the arts community at large. It is also extremely significant that 361 Manhattan Avenue will be the first high performance green building certified for L.E.E.D. in Brooklyn, binding together a commitment to the sustainability of the arts community with the environment of New York City.