Park Slope Art Exhibition Showcases BK's Past, Present And Future

PARK SLOPE, NY — Artists grab your brushes, sharpen your pencils, ready your easels, snap your cameras or fire up your computers. Your visions of Brooklyn are wanted.

Submissions for "Brooklyn Utopias: 2020" — an ongoing series soon to be featured at Old Stone House in Park Slope — are due March 1.

The contemporary art exhibition curated by Katherine Gressel invites artists to address differing visions of an ideal city through the lens of Brooklyn.

"I think it’s a good time to look at Brooklyn as a case study," Gressel said.

Many changes — gentrification, controversial high rises and shifting politics — unfolded in the years since the project began in 2009, Gressel said. The ongoing exhibition offered reflections on the evolving borough through its shows on urban agriculture, public parks and transportation.

But the 10-year anniversary exhibit slotted to open Aug. 20 through Oct. 18 has a twofold focus. Gressel hopes artists who submitted work to the original show will return and reflect on what they envisioned a decade ago.

The 2016 election showed the growing divide between cities and many other places in America, Gressel said. Artists shouldn't be afraid to reflect on the activism that sprouted in its wake or Brooklyn's place in the upcoming election, she said.

Gressel hopes artists will look to Brooklyn's place in the future as an embodiment, or not, of an urban community which provides a model for other cities.

"Is this kind of lifestyle a 'utopia' or are there a lot of flaws in where we’re going?" she said.

It's a theme echoed by Kimberly Maier, executive director of Old Stone House. She said the show is part of a larger conversation carried on by the house.

"I think we are really looking at the evolution of this question about what is Brooklyn and what an ideal Brooklyn looks like,” Maier said.

Old Stone House hosted every past exhibition in the show. It's a historic house which holds art exhibitions, history programs and other community events, in addition to stewarding Washington Park.

Maier said the house primarily hosts traditional two- and three-dimensional artworks, but artists need not feel restricted when considering submissions. She said there are opportunities for outdoor and performance art pieces.

Gressel said organizers are reaching out to artists in under-represented communities, such as people who are homeless. She wants the show to not just be a conversation among artists, but throughout the Brooklyn community.

"I’m hoping people will come not just as viewers but as active participants,” she said,.

More information about submissions can be found at Old Stone House's website.