Points of Promise

Common Build

Ongoing

With Your Voice

Launching soon — stay tuned for updates!

In 2021, the New York City Council approved the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan, transforming (or “rezoning”) former manufacturing sites into residential and mixed-use properties, including an estimated 8,200 new apartments.

Residents and community organizers have been working to ensure current Gowanus residents benefit from the rezoning. Their advocacy resulted in the 56 Points of Agreement (POAs) — commitments made by New York City to support housing, infrastructure, public space, community amenities, and business programs. In total, NYC will invest $450 million for these improvements in Gowanus. Approximately $200 million of that total will address high priority needs in Gowanus’ NYCHA developments.

Created by Juanli Carrión and Rodolfo Kusulas, With Your Voice envisions change resulting from the 56 Points of Agreement. 11 megaphoned-shaped sculptures called “Voicers” are located across Gowanus, each showing images of that how that location will be impacted by the POAs. Whether you’re a Gowanus resident, worker, or visitor, these changes will affect your life. You’re invited to look through the Voicers, flip through images, and see what change could look like. How will these changes affect you? We want to hear from you! Scan the QR code next to each Voicer to fill out a survey or leave a voice message.

Responses will be shared with the Gowanus Oversight Task Force, a diverse and representative group of community volunteers that advance the POAs by meeting every three months with city agencies. Your voice will help them illustrate and humanize the POAs to make sure the city stays on track and keeps its promises.

This project would not have been possible without the generosity of Bednark Studio Inc., Silman, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the collaboration of Brooklyn Public Library, New York City Housing Authority, NYC Department of Environment Protection, NYC Department of City Planning, NYC Parks, Domain Companies, PMG, SCAPE, and Avery Hall.

More information and Voicer locations coming soon!

Juanli Carrión’s work has unfolded over the past decade in the research, development, and education of community-engaged design and artistic practices addressing social and environmental justice. He is the co-founder of OSS Project Inc. and his work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, BRIC, ARTIUM, MUSAC, CentroCentro, MAC Lima, India’s National Gallery of Modern Art, and Serbia’s MOCA. Carrión is an Assistant Professor of Creative Community Development at Parsons, and his research has been presented at Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, AIA New York, National Academy of Sciences, and Getty Institute, among others.

Rodolfo Kusulas is a transdisciplinary creator with a deep passion for social innovation and sustainability who uses his work as a tool to help communities thrive. With experience working internationally, he has a background in industrial design, extensive experience in branding, product and retail. After winning a global competition for the 140th anniversary of Heineken, Kusulas joined VBAT as a creative in the Latin American office. Since 2018, he’s developed programmatic design and creative community development work with KOUS studio, which he co-founded in 2016, and in collaboration with artists and nonprofit organizations.

As a duo, Carrion and Kusulas share interest in transdisciplinary research about how art and design can be used to visualize the layers of identity that compose communities. They transform stories, data, materials, actions or information into art and design strategies that serve as tools for sustainable community development. This manifests in community lead initiatives including public art that becomes urban agriculture, product design and art pieces that become small businesses as supplemental source of revenue, interactive murals and workshops that become tools for education on water pollution and jewelry that becomes therapeutic tools to confront environmental devastation.