CALL CONNECTS - September 2023
Revealing Visions of Tibbetts Brook
On June 15th, 2023, CALL joined the AmPark Neighborhood School community at their annual Spring Concert where Visions of Tibbetts Brook was unveiled. Over the course of a few months, local artist Manuel Acevedo worked alongside AmPark's fourth-grade class to produce multimedia collages that illustrate visions for greening Tibbetts Brook. The student's work was displayed on banners running along the school's perimeter fences. It was truly heartwarming as the artworks sparked joy and conversation amongst students, their families, and the whole of AmPark's community alike.
Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry at Riverdale Senior Services
The Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry is a collectively embroidered quilt conceived by artists Ana de la Cueva and Matthew López-Jensen, completed with the help of volunteers from the Bronx and beyond. The quilt depicts a strip of land in the Northwest Bronx that was, until the early 1900s, an ecologically rich tidal estuary.
The horizontal blue line that runs through the map displays the brook’s new “daylighted” path above ground. Geometric shapes outline the many large, flat-rooftop buildings that populate the city blocks from Van Cortlandt Park to the Harlem River.
The tapestry showcases creative green solutions and shines a light on the relationship between our built environment and persistent flooding in this corridor along Broadway. The former estuary acted like a natural sponge to soak up large rainfalls. But today, with Tibbetts Brook diverted into the sewer and much of the landscape paved over, heavy rains become dangerous and costly floods. Green roofs on these buildings would help mitigate stormwater, insulate the buildings, cool the neighborhood, and provide habitat for various plants, insects, and birds.
At the event, Matthew López-Jensen spoke about the inspiration behind the tapestry and the process of its creation. He felt that the tapestry was actually a really political piece and called it a “provocation” to demonstrate to the City that we need more than simply daylighting the brook and that green roofs are an important next step. He described the process of recruiting volunteers, teaching them various stitches, and then sending the finished tiles to Mexico where de la Cueva finished it and added details. He also pointed out that although the City has passed laws about green roofs, corporations are easily able to circumvent this legislation.
The event also featured two volunteers: Enrie Morales and Annelen Madigan. Both spoke about how much they enjoyed the process of creating the tapestry and how it really made them think about the environment in a more complex way. Annelen mentioned that it was “so nice to see ideas, creativity, environmental concern, and individual stitcher’s work come together as art to support public action.” She also mentioned that the Major Deegan Expressway was flooded during Hurricane Ida and that the removal of the Tibbetts Estuary had a major role to play in this flooding.
During the Q&A session, audience members asked about ways that they could push the city to adopt green roofs. Finally, participants expressed their hopes that the tapestry would find a permanent home.
Please Join Us for a Bronx Community Gathering!
Thursday, October 26th, 3:00 – 7:00 PM
at the Alumni Room, O'Malley Library, Manhattan College
Come celebrate the opening of the Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry, connect with the community, share your thoughts, and envision the next steps of the Rescuing Tibbetts Brook Initiative
Rescuing Tibbetts Brook is a constellation of artist and designer-led initiatives in the Bronx conducted by CALL//City as Living Laboratory to call attention to the benefits of daylighting and other related environmental challenges. CALL has worked with community members since 2016 to complement the efforts of local activists to address pressing environmental challenges and opportunities. Key among them – the benefits of daylighting Tibbetts Brook.
Join us to share refreshments and hear from artists, community members, experts, and activists.
A formal invite to come soon.
Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry at OSS Project's Harvest
The Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry, created by Bronx community members and artists Ana de la Cueva and Matthew López-Jensen, will be making a guest appearance at the Marble Hill Houses' Garden for the OSS Project Harvest.