MoMA PS1 and The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center present two panel discussions exploring how cultural workers have been involved in re-envisioning the use and stewardship of land in New York City. Both MoMA PS1 and The Clemente are sited in decommissioned public school buildings, though they have unique trajectories as institutions committed to supporting artists and their communities. Drawing on this shared history, a presentation on January 14th at MoMA PS1 explores how artists and cultural organizations have reclaimed municipal buildings to creative ends, intersecting with and navigating forces of gentrification. On January 15th, The Clemente hosts a conversation on the impact of arts and cultural workers in the Community Land Trust movement in New York City.

In New York City, where land and rent are the main commodities, sources of wealth, and speculation, Community Land Trusts have been an uphill and joyous effort in creative organizing. Indeed, the city has a raucous and robust CLT movement, including one of the oldest CLTs in the country. What has been the role of arts and cultural workers in this movement? How can artistic and cultural work support CLTs into the future? Could CLTs be the mechanism that allows us to finally decouple cultural and artistic activity from gentrification?

Participants: Nandini Bagchee (Principal, Bagchee Architects), Jenny Dubnau (Co-Chair, Western Queens Community Land Trust), Monxo Lopez (Board Member Cooper Square CLT, Co-founder SBU, Associate Curator MCNY), SaMi Chester (artists and housing organizer at Cooper Square Committee), Arif Ullah (Executive Director of South Bronx Unite and Mott Haven/Port Morris Community Land Stewards)

The Art of Land marks the closing of Life Between Buildings at MoMA PS1 and the launch of Activist Estates: A Radical History of Property in Loisaida, a digital exhibition organized by Nandini Bagchee and The Clemente.