CALL CONNECTS - May 2025
The Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry is on display at Montefiore Einstein's Gallery of ARTful Medicine!
The Gallery of ARTful Medicine, sponsored by the Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, showcases medically themed contemporary art within the unique context of a medical center. Artists are encouraged to interpret scientific/medical research and create works of art depicting issues of cultural, political, and technological significance. You can now visit the Gallery and see Matthew López-Jenson's "Healing Landscapes: Collaborative Environmental Social Practice Art in the Bronx" --- featuring the Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry --- located in the lobby of Simone Development's Hutchinson Metro Center's Tower One at 1250 Waters Place in the Bronx.
The Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry is a collectively embroidered quilt, conceived by artists Matthew López-Jensen and Ana de la Cueva, and completed with the help of 95 volunteers from the Bronx and beyond.
The tapestry features a strip of land in the Northwest Bronx that was, until the early 1900s, an ecologically rich tidal estuary. The blue line that runs horizontally through the map depicts the approximate course that Tibbetts Brook will take once it has been rerouted above ground or “daylighted,” as it is commonly called. The former estuary acted like a natural sponge to soak up large rainfalls. But today, with Tibbetts Brook diverted into the sewer and so much of the landscape paved over, large rain events become dangerous and costly floods. Green roofs on these expansive buildings would help mitigate stormwater, insulate the buildings, cool the neighborhood, and provide habitat for a range of plants, insects, and birds.
ClOUDBURST // WATERWAYS
We are thrilled to announce the inaugural artists for the WaterWays Program in Corona, Queens. WaterWays is an initiative to harness the unique skills of artists and designers to advance the public's grasp of and preparation for increased flooding from Cloudbursts (heavy rains).
Read more about Niceli and Emilio below:
Niceli Portugal // Mulitdisplinary artist and educator from the Peruvian Andes whose work addresses immigration and sustainability
REmilio Martinez Poppe // Transdisciplinary artist whose practice evokes lived legacies of belonging as resistance to the gentrification of bodies, identities, public spaces, and intimacies
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
As we wrote on May 13th, CALL has been notified that two of our National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants have been terminated and withdrawn, making an immediate loss of $30,000.
CALL's loss of funding weakens and may break the chain of connection, knowledge, and creative ingenuity that makes our work meaningful and impactful. With this year's funding terminated, our 2026 funding will also be in jeopardy.
The arts are under attack. It's not just City as Living Laboratory. It's everyone. Without warning, thousands of arts organizations have been stripped of their funding. Galleries, theaters, museums, after school programs, literary publications, film festivals, and more.
This will have catastrophic consequences for the arts sector, and the country. The destruction of the NEA and the NEH is part of a systematic effort to collapse the basis for artistic and cultural life in the United States. We at CALL are committed to finding innovative ways to move forward in the same spirit of collaboration and resilience that flows through all of our work. You can help us bridge this gap and ensure out work continues to thrive. Whether through donations, spreading the word, or sharing your perspective -- all will make a difference.
As a reader of our newsletter, we ask you to help us by making a special one-time donation of any size to help us bridge this unexpected $30,000 loss.
Grab a copy of the Pedestrian Observations map!
The Pedestrian Observations: Mapping Manhattan Chinatown's Public Realm pocket-sized resource map are still available!
In this pamphlet, you'll find an illustrated map by artists and designers Myles Zhang and Stephan Fan, along with extensive information and questions about the uses of public and private space.
We're more than happy to send a copy your way, just fill out the form through the button below.