Governors Island Arts Announces 2025 Season

Governors Island © Julienne Schaer

Group exhibition featuring Nina Chanel Abney, Lenka Clayton & Phillip Andrew Lewis, Arlene Shechet, and Hank Willis Thomas, curated by Lauren Haynes, anchors arts season on Governors Island

Annual INTERVENTIONS performance series continues with US premiere of “How the Land Lies” from Laura Cemin and Bianca Hisse and NYC premiere of Touki Delphine’s “Firebird”

Governors Island Arts today announced a dynamic season of public artworks and performances as part of the 2025 season starting May 17. The season is anchored by Rest/Play, a new group exhibition that explores the intersection of art, design, and public space, alongside the continuation of the INTERVENTIONS performance series, which will feature the US premiere of Laura Cemin and Bianca Hisse’s How the Land Lies and the New York City premiere of Touki Delphine’s Firebird. This spring also marks the return of the seasonal Organizations in Residence program, with 24 NYC-based arts nonprofit organizations invigorating the Island’s historic houses with seasonal installations, artist residencies, workshops, and other public programs. The season will kick off with a special celebration, free and open to the public, on Saturday, May 17, 2025.

“As we usher in Governors Island’s twentieth year open to the public, we are proud to present a program that will continue to bring artists, New Yorkers, and visitors from around the world together to engage with bold public art and immersive open space in a setting unlike any other,” said Lauren Haynes, Head Curator, Governors Island Arts, and Vice President at the Trust for Governors Island. “The exhibitions, performances, and programs announced today highlight diverse artistic expressions, invite moments of deep reflection, and—perhaps most importantly—celebrate the myriad ways we spend our time in this unique place.”

Group Exhibition: Rest/Play

May 17-November 2, 2025

Featured artists: Nina Chanel Abney; Lenka Clayton & Phillip Andrew Lewis; Arlene Shechet; Hank Willis Thomas; more to be announced.

Rest/Play invites visitors to experience Governors Island like never before—balancing moments of relaxation with bursts of creativity and joy. The exhibition is a celebration of how we spend our time in this unique space, whether it’s unwinding or immersing ourselves in dynamic art. Rest transforms the Island with artist-designed seating that merges creativity with function. These innovative works not only provide a place to sit and refresh, but also offer a chance to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the surrounding nature. Play brings energy and color to the island, with bold, interactive artworks that spark joy and inspire deep reflection. The vibrant use of form and hue creates a sensory experience that refreshes both body and mind.

Rest/Play is curated by Lauren Haynes, Head Curator of Governors Island Arts and Vice President at the Trust for Governors Island.

INTERVENTIONS Performance Series

Through this site-responsive, multidisciplinary annual performance series, Governors Island Arts presents local, national, and international artists and invites audiences to experience work made and adapted for outdoor spaces.

How the Land Lies (US Premiere)

Laura Cemin and Bianca Hisse

May 17, 2:15 & 7:30PM

May 18, 3PM

Music by Vera Vice

Lighting design by Sofia Ivarsson

Costume design by Kairi Mahdla

Co-produced by Kiasma Theater, and Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava

Featuring five local dancers, How the Land Lies, directed and choreographed by Laura Cemin and Bianca Hisse, is a performance piece incorporating movement and scrolling LED signs. Usually encountered in public spaces as low-key advertisements, the LEDs become vessels to convey how language influences mobility. While the scrolling text flashes tourism slogans and visa questionnaires, the dancers—all of whom carry experiences of migration—interact with the signs through movement. Meanings unfold and borders slowly blur: who can stay and who must leave? Who is seen and who remains hidden? What is allowed and what is forbidden?

Firebird (NYC Premiere)

Touki Delphine

October 3, 7PM

October 4, 7PM

Concept, music and visuals by Bo Koek, John van Oostrum, Rik Elstgeest, and Chris Doyle

Concept and design by John van Oostrum, Theun Mosk

Sound design by Toon Boland

Amsterdam-based artist collective Touki Delphine’s Firebird, previously presented at Mass MoCA, features an orchestra of light made from more than 600 recycled car taillights that illuminate the dance of the firebird. A thoroughly hypnotic experience, this rule-breaking concert program and extra-terrestrial installation connects sound and light to create a symphony of light re-envisioning Igor Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite as an homage. On Governors Island, the work will illuminate the Parade Ground, an expansive field with the Lower Manhattan skyline acting as backdrop.

Previous performances presented as part of this series include works by Modesto “Flako” Jimenez, Indigenous Enterprise, Dance Heginbotham, Rena Anakwe, Inua Ellams, and Lenio Kaklea. INTERVENTIONS is curated by Juan Pablo Siles, Associate Curator and Producer at the Trust for Governors Island. Tickets to all performances will be available online at www.govisland.org.

Public Art

There are currently seven temporary and long-term public artworks, presented through Governors Island Arts, on display year-round throughout Governors Island’s park and historic landscapes: Sheila Berger’s BIRD MMXXIII, Sam Van Aken’s The Open Orchard, Duke Riley’s Not for Nutten, Mark Dion’s The Field Station of the Melancholy Marine Biologist, Shantell Martin’s Church, Rachel Whiteread’s Cabin, and Mark Handforth’s Yankee Hanger.

Enjoy more ways to connect with public art via the Governors Island guide available on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. Deep dive into the Island’s artworks with an interactive map, a self-guided walking tour, audio commentary by curators, and much more.

Organizations in Residence

Each year, two dozen arts and cultural nonprofits utilize space inside the historic houses of Nolan Park and Colonels Row to present a robust calendar of free public programs, host artist residencies, and engage visitors in special activities for all ages—including the return of monthly THIRD Saturdays, with special performances and more. Organizations in Residence are open weekends from 11am-5pm, May 17-November 2, 2025.

American Indian Community House Manhattan

AnkhLave Arts Alliance Manhattan

ArtCrawl Harlem Manhattan

BronxArtSpace The Bronx

Bronx Council on the Arts The Bronx

Billion Oyster Project Manhattan

I am caribBEING Brooklyn

Climate Imaginarium Manhattan

Dancers Unlimited Brooklyn*

DuYe Moves Brooklyn

Escaping Time: Art from U.S. Prisons Manhattan

Filmshop Manhattan

Forest for Trees Collective Brooklyn*

Harvestworks Manhattan

KODA Brooklyn

The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) Brooklyn

New York Latin American Art Triennial Manhattan

Residency Unlimited (RU) Brooklyn

The SuperGeographics Brooklyn*

Swale Brooklyn

Taiwanese American Arts Council Queens

West Harlem Art Fund Manhattan

*First time program participants.

Governors Island Arts presents its program with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Chari-na Endowment Fund, Stardust Fund, Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Howard Gilman Foundation, and the Jerome L. Greene Foundation.

About Governors Island Arts

Governors Island Arts, the public arts and cultural program presented by the Trust for Governors Island, creates transformative encounters with art for all New Yorkers, inviting artists and audiences to engage with the issues of our time in the context of the Island’s layered histories, environments, and architecture. Governors Island Arts achieves this mission through temporary and long-term public art installations and exhibitions, an annual Organizations in Residence program in the Island’s historic houses, and the curated multidisciplinary INTERVENTIONS performance series. For more information, visit www.govisland.org/giarts

About the Trust for Governors Island

The Trust for Governors Island is the nonprofit corporation created by the City of New York that is responsible for the redevelopment and operation of 150 acres of Governors Island. The Trust’s mission is to realize the full potential of Governors Island for the inspiration and enjoyment of all New Yorkers, demonstrating a bold vision for public space. For more information, visit www.govisland.org