{"id":5459,"date":"2025-10-16T20:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/5459\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T20:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:56:08","slug":"artists-open-their-doors-to-the-public-at-gowanus-open-studios-oct-18-19-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/5459\/","title":{"rendered":"Artists open their doors to the public at Gowanus Open Studios, Oct. 18-19 \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"gowanus\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Hundreds of local artists will open their studios to the public at Gowanus Open Studios 2025. <\/p>\n

File photo courtesy of Arts Gowanus<\/p>\n

\t\t Search our comprehensive guide to things to do in Brooklyn<\/a> for more local events \u2014 or submit your own<\/a>!<\/p>\n

The artists of Gowanus will open their doors to the public this weekend, inviting Brooklynites to explore their studios, their work, and their community at Gowanus Open Studios<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rapidly-changing Gowanus has long been an artists haven, frequently decked out with public art displays and gallery shows, but the creators themselves often work behind closed doors, tucked away in converted industrial buildings and studio collectives. Open Studios is an annual celebration of local artists, and a chance for residents to truly get to know them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGowanus is shifting, and all of our advocacy and everything we do is sort of centered around visibility for the artists, and keeping artists in the neighborhood,\u201d said Johnny Thornton, executive director of Arts Gowanus. \u201cOur whole tagline \u2018Keep Gowanus Creative\u2019 is to make sure Gowanus stays an arts and culture neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"artsJohnny Thornton, executive director of Arts Gowanus, and program director Emily Chiavelli. File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

From noon to 6 p.m on Oct. 18 and 19, hundreds of artists at dozens of locations across the nabe will welcome visitors to their individual studios or to group shows and exhibitions. A full list of participating artists and locations is available online, and paper maps will be free at select Open Studios locations on Oct. 18 and 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thornton is particularly excited to show off Gowanus\u2019 first subsidized, affordable artist studios at The Shop BK and Society Brooklyn. As part of the Community Benefits Agreement for the 2021 Gowanus rezoning<\/a>, Arts Gowanus secured about 120 affordable studios <\/a>in new buildings constructed as a result of the rezoning, an effort to prevent local artists from being priced out of the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 22 of those studios opened this year, and most will be open all weekend.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really exciting, because the public hasn\u2019t had a chance to see them, because they just opened,\u201d Thornton said.\n<\/p>\n

The public also hasn\u2019t had a chance to meet the newly arrived artists, like Mayowa Nwadike<\/a>, who has one of the new studios at The Shop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"theMayowa Nwadike in his new studio at The Shop at 420 Carroll St. Photo courtesy of Mayowa Nwadike<\/p>\n

Nwadike, a painter whose work pushes back on gender roles and toxic masculinity and tackles societal issues in both Nigeria and New York City, was overjoyed when he won the affordable studio lottery. He couldn\u2019t afford his own space previously, he said, and did all his painting in his small Manhattan apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would wake up and knock into my easel,\u201d he laughed. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to have a studio, but the cost has been a major deterrent.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Taking part in Open Studios is exciting and nerve-wracking, Nwadike said. He loves to talk to people and get feedback on his work, has never invited people to see his works-in-progress, his supplies, and his setup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s vulnerable, but I think it\u2019s the best step in the right direction,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Nwadike has embraced the community he\u2019s found in Gowanus \u2014 and said it has embraced him right back.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s one community that even before I moved here, embraced me, embraced my work and showed support for it, it\u2019s Gowanus,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to give flowers to the Gowanus community at large, and to Arts Gowanus for making it possible. There are so many artists who need opportunities like this, but they are not able to access them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, artists have come together to show their work in groups \u2014 and elevate the work of artists no longer around to exhibit themselves.\u00a0
\n\"LizaLiza Domingues, a longtime Gowanus Open Studios participant and one of hundreds of artists opening their studios this weekend. File photo courtesy of Liza Domingues\n<\/p>\n

Arts Gowanus will have two featured exhibits at Gowanus Wharf at 240 Third Ave. \u201cAdd\/Subtract,\u201d a group show curated by Tegan Brozyna, and \u201cA Retrospective of Samuel Heller.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSamuel is an artist who is the grandfather of someone in the community who was a prolific artist and died in the 90s,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cWe were able to put up a bunch of his work. It\u2019s really old work that he created throughout his career, I\u2019m super excited about that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The celebration will continue beyond well past sunset, even once most of the studios have locked up for the night. TI Art Studios, which is exhibiting the work of nearly 50 artists, will once again host the late-night \u201cGowanus Open Studios After Dark\u201d on Saturday from 6-9 p.m.<\/p>\n

At the Open Studios After Party at Gowanus Wharf on Oct. 19, a 15-foot puppet DJ will spin tunes through the night, with help from surprise guest performers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gowanus Open Studios runs from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 19. Admission is free, and locations vary \u2014 check gowanusarts.org<\/a> for a full list of studio locations and events.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of local artists will open their studios to the public at Gowanus Open Studios 2025. File photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[5240,4982,2571,5241,98,100,99,464,5242,5243,5244,5245,5246,9,24,12,370,63,5247,5248,5249,5250,904],"class_list":["post-5459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-affordable-studios","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-arts-gowanus","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-gowanus","tag-gowanus-open-studios","tag-gowanus-rezoning","tag-johnny-thornton","tag-liza-dominguez","tag-mayowa-nwadike","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-samuel-heller","tag-studio-tour","tag-studioss","tag-the-shop","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}