Van Alen Fall Fest 2026
Join us for our annual open house to learn more about Van Alen and meet your neighbors! View our exhibition Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design, which invites five artists and design teams to respond to Van Alen’s 130-year-old archive, and engage with the exhibiting artists about their work.
Then stick around to participate in all-ages art workshops and enjoy apple cider donuts and hot cider from Treelicious Orchards!
Proudly presented in collaboration with Archtober and Gowanus Open Studios.
Activities
Masquerade Mask Making with Zofia Kostyrko
Inspired by Van Alen’s historic invitations to the Beaux Arts Ball, design your own masquerade mask as if you were attending the Ball! All ages welcome.
Born in communist Warsaw, Zofia grew up surrounded by the Polish avant-garde theatre and visual arts. After moving solo to the US, she graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and built a family and a career in themed entertainment at Walt Disney Imagineering as a Senior Concept Designer. In 2000, she started her independent design studio deZign sKape LLC while developing a large body of art works held in private collections and shown in multiple exhibitions. In 2025, she joined Powerhouse Arts as a member of their ceramic arts studio and volunteer for their outreach programs.
Collage Your City with Marcus Wilford
Using materials from Van Alen’s archive, create a collage of your vision of a resilient city! Ages 12+.
Marcus Wilford is an architect, educator and urban designer based in New York, originally from Trinidad. His professional work spans public memorials, cultural buildings, and housing developments at leading design firms. Working across scales, he has contributed to exhibition designs for artists at major international museums, mixed-use urban buildings, and rural architectural projects. He is the co-founder of Modeling Community Visions for the BQE, developed in collaboration with the Institute for Public Architecture, an initiative that explores alternative models for shared urban futures and civic infrastructure.
Gowanus Yearbook
Gowanus Yearbook is a living portrait of Gowanus. Get your photo taken, mark your photos with the year you arrived or were born in Gowanus, and draw a symbol answering the prompt: “What makes Gowanus Gowanus?”
This project is grounded in a simple but urgent idea: everyone experiences and perceives where they live differently. In neighborhoods undergoing rapid development, local histories are often at risk of being lost or diminished. Gowanus Yearbook responds to that pressure by treating memory as something communal, lived, and worth protecting.
Notice of Access, Filming, and Photography
Van Alen is committed to ensuring that all of our events are inclusive and accessible for all participants. Van Alen Institute is on the ground floor and ADA-accessible. If you require accommodations or have any questions about access needs, please email vai@vanalen.org and we will do our best to support your participation.
When you attend this event, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By entering the event premises, you consent to such recording media and its release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction.