Artists in Residence for the Harlem and Lower Passaic Rivers

Local students participating in the Canoemobile events on the Harlem River during the 2024 Harlem River Celebration.

Please note that applications for this grant are currently closed.

About the Artist in Residence (AIR) Pilot Program

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Artist in Residence (AIR) pilot initiative to address critical water quality challenges is intended to demonstrate how arts and culture can help stewardship partners work more effectively with communities, build understanding of water quality and other environmental concerns, establish stronger connections between communities and their waterways, and better meet communities’ unique needs. It will support a broad range of local artists and culture bearers in six geographic areas within National Estuary Programs (NEP) and Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) locations.

Funded Projects

Click below for more details about each project.

Riparian Chorus, Amanda Thackray

On the Passaic River, Amanda Thackray will work with the Lower Passaic River Urban Waters Federal Partnership, Newark City Parks Foundation, and Newark Arts to create a series of site-responsive, semi-permanent interstitial silk banners and host community workshops along the river that explore the community’s relationship with the river. “I am excited for this opportunity to continue investigating our community’s complex relationship with the Passaic River,” Thackray says. “My project seeks to find access points for building knowledge and encourage questioning.”

Learn more about Amanda Thackray's work here: https://ajthackray.com/

Listening With: Harlem River, Alethea Pace

On the Harlem River, Alethea Pace will work with the Bronx/Harlem River Urban Waters Federal Partnership, and the Bronx Council on the Arts, to hold workshops and a dance performance to engage the public around critical water challenges and other environmental concerns unique to the Harlem River.

"I’m so excited to develop Listening With: Harlem River, a process-centered initiative rooted in community imagination and action around the future of the Harlem River,” Pace says. “Through embodied storytelling, deep listening and performance, a group of intergenerational participants will explore the Harlem River as a living being with its own story, agency, and needs." A big part of the project is a youth workshop series taking place in August 2025, which will culminate in the co-creation of a Bill of Rights for the Harlem River and a Bill of Responsibilities for its Human Stewards.