In conjunction with the exhibit, pioneers of New York City's rooftop farm movement will gather for a panel discussion at Ceres Gallery: “Rooftop Farms: Greening the Concrete Jungle” on Wednesday, Sept. 13, from 7:00 - 8:30pm.
Press Release
PANEL DISCUSSION:
NYC FARMERS TO SHARE ROOFTOP VIEW OF LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTION
September 13, 2017 from 7:00-8:30 pm
Ceres Gallery in Chelsea
Pioneers of New York City’s rooftop farm movement will share their experiences of producing food in an unlikely setting in “Rooftop Farms: Greening the Concrete Jungle,” from 7:00 to 8:30 pm on September 13 at Ceres Gallery, located at 547 West 27th St, Suite 201. T: 212-947-6100
Brooklyn Grange L.I.C., New York City
The panel discussion accompanies Beneath the Same Sky: From Oaxaca’s Central Valley to the Rooftops of New York, an exhibit of works by American painter Elizabeth Downer Riker, which runs at the gallery September 5 through September 30. Both events are free to the public.
Riker’s paintings celebrate people planting and harvesting food in two very different environments, the ancient communal lands of an indigenous village in Mexico and the rooftops of New York City. Despite their very different circumstances, farmers in both locations face a common challenge, that of respecting and responding to the particular needs of their farms in order to coax food from the soil.
Participants:
Participating in the discussion will be Annie Novak, co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and author of The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Vegetable Garden or Farm.
Also on the panel will be Bradley Fleming, Community Garden Manager for the New Haven Land Trust, New Haven, CT, and former manager for Brooklyn Grange, a two-roof commercial urban farm with locations at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn and in Long Island City in Queens.
Urban beekeeper David Graves is the originator of rooftop beekeeping in New York City. The Berkshire Berries jam maker and fixture at the Union Square Greenmarket started finding homes for his honeybees on city rooftops when bears got into his Massachusetts hives.
Gotham Greens’ Senior Marketing Manager, Nicole Baum, will round out the panel. Gotham Greens is a local produce company operating commercial scale urban greenhouses for year-round vegetable production. The company owns and operates three rooftop greenhouses in New York City and one in Chicago.
Artist Elizabeth Downer Riker will moderate.
Ceres Gallery promotes contemporary women artists, supports diverse artistic and political views, and encourages risk-taking by artists in all disciplines.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 12 pm –6 pm; Thursday 12 pm–8 pm