Circular Design for Climate Mobilization (CDCMo) Presents: Lessons from the Artist
Join us for an intimate conversation with two local artists repurposing materials and gain insights from their perspective and craft. Learn to think differently and more creatively about waste as a resource. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and explore the intersection of art, design, and climate mobilization.
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Gary Francis discovered the Gowanus Canal while training for a paddleboard race around Manhattan. Afterwards, he continued to ply the waters of the Gowanus canal in the Dredgers canoes, exploring the wildlife, art, and community that it brings together. When he’s on dry land, he’s the head fabricator for Art in Construction, based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He was a 2019 recipient of an AwesomeNYC grant for his creative approach to creating ribbed mussel habitat on the Gowanus.
Since 1999, the Dredgers have empowered people to care for the Gowanus Canal through advocacy, conservation, and education promoting waterfront stewardship and raising awareness of sewer overflow issues that affect the Canal. Gary leads tours, workshops and classes; co-organizes Paddle-In Movie Nights; and advocates for the wildlife habitat. He also brings extensive safety and emergency training to the club’s on-water events.
Christina Massey is an award-winning artist recognized for her innovative use of repurposed materials, particularly aluminum cans, in creating vibrant botanical abstractions. Her multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, painting, and installation, exploring themes of environmental sustainability, consumer waste, and material transformation.
Christina has received numerous accolades, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and multiple Brooklyn Arts Fund Grants. She has exhibited widely, with recent solo projects at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in NYC, UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, and Montefiore Einstein’s Gallery for ARTFul Medicine in the Bronx. She has held residencies at Art Cake in Brooklyn and Governors Island, among others. Additional awards include the FST StudioProject Fund Grant, a SIP Fellowship at the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, and a Puffin Foundation Grant. Her work is held in public and private collections, including the Janet Turner Museum, Art Bank Collection in Washington, D.C., Bank of America Collection in Miami, and UBS.
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MADE Bush Terminal, managed by NYCEDC, is an ambitious urban redevelopment project in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, transforming a historic 36-acre waterfront property into a modern, mixed-use hub for local producers, fabricators, and creatives. The project's core mission is to foster economic growth through local job creation, community engagement, and sustainable development while preserving the area's rich industrial heritage.