The Dear Neighbor Project
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On view April 22—July 2025.
Created by Brooklyn-based artist Tiffany Baker, this multi-site mural installation turns the voices of Gowanus residents into public art and illustrates their experiences with flooding in the neighborhood.
To create The Dear Neighbor Project, Tiffany connected with community leaders, local organizations, business owners, and residents to learn more about the impact of flooding in Gowanus. She then organized interviews with residents about their personal experiences with flooding, ranging from long-time residents to newer arrivals, and middle schoolers to older adults.
Her murals illustrate and directly quote from these residents’ stories — sharing their experiences, advice, and stories of community support during flood events. An audio archive of their stories will live permanently at dearneighborproject.com.
The Dear Neighbor Project is the second installation in our annual initiative Points of Promise, which uses art and design to support civic engagement in Gowanus amidst the neighborhood’s redevelopment.
Locations
OUTDOOR — on view 24/7
Van Alen Institute, 303 Bond St
FDNY EMS Station 32, 347 Bond St
Washington Park, 4th Ave & 3rd St
MS 447 — The Exploratory School, 345 Dean St (Pacific Street side)
INDOOR — on view at public hours
Brooklyn Public Library — Pacific Library, 25 4th Ave
Powerhouse Arts, 322 3rd Ave (beginning May 30)
Public Programs
The Dear Neighbor Project: Art Workshop
Saturday, May 3, 1–4 pm (new date!)
Van Alen Institute, 303 Bond St, Brooklyn
Artist Tiffany Baker will give a brief mural tour and talk, followed by an artmaking workshop. Participants will listen to excerpts from community interviews that informed The Dear Neighbor Project, and respond through drawing, writing, and storytelling prompts. Ages 12 and up. No artistic experience required.
Note: This event was originally scheduled for April 26, and has been rescheduled for May 3 due to rain.
The Dear Neighbor Project: Artist Talk + Viewing
Tuesday, May 13, 5:30–7:30 pm
Brooklyn Public Library — Pacific Library, 25 4th Ave, Brooklyn
Join the Pacific Library for an evening celebrating The Dear Neighbor Project, featuring a viewing session, artist talk, and Q&A session with Tiffany Baker.
The Power of Story: An Intro to Oral History
Friday, May 16, 6–7 pm
Brooklyn Public Library — Library of Arts and Culture, 10 Lafayette Ave, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn
In this workshop led by Emmy-nominated storyteller and photographer Naeem Douglass, learn how to craft compelling interviews, develop thoughtful questions, and record stories. This workshop welcomes artists, neighbors, and anyone curious about preserving lived experiences through story. Access to a smartphone with a recording app is encouraged for participation.
Finalist Proposals
Futures Without Flooding
Created by artist Ali Rufrano-Ruffner, Futures Without Flooding proposes a series of vibrant mural panels that vividly depict stories of flooding — and futures without flooding — in Gowanus. During community activations and pop-up events, youth participants contribute their own ideas and visions to interactive mural panels. The project’s journey is compiled into a coloring book that prompts young people to continue envisioning their own futures for Gowanus.
Tidal Shift
Created by Leah Harper, Tidal Shift proposes a collection of public art interventions to raises awareness of flooding in Gowanus. At the canal’s edge, colorful, phosphorescent asphalt murals — painted with local residents — draw attention to flooding threats. In the water, sails installed on flotation devices rise and fall with the tides, bringing the sea level to eye level. Additionally, Van Alen Institute’s storefront windows serve as an information hub about the future of flooding in Gowanus and solutions for mitigating floodwaters.
Selection Committee
Andrea Parker
Executive Director, Gowanus Canal Conservancy
Andreas Tyre
Community Activist
Elisa Smilovitz
Publicist
Member, Gowanus Mutual Aid
Karen Blondel
Executive Director, Public Housing Civic Association
Sebastian Mendez
Co-Founder, Tankhouse
Steven Koller
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
Tony Ruiz
Communications Committee Co-Chair, Gowanus Oversight Task Force
Tracey L. Pinkard
Community Liaison
Former Vice President, Gowanus Houses Resident Association
About Points of Promise
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.
Points of Promise calls on artists and designers to create local temporary art installations or public space activations that help inform Gowanus residents about these immense changes. Each year, artists are invited to respond to an RFP (request for proposals) that addresses a topic present in the 56 Points of Agreement (POAs). To create these public art and design tools in truly community-led and responsive ways, Van Alen seeks artists and designers with demonstrated experience facilitating community-engaged social practice work that centers the lived experiences and needs of the respective communities they collaborate with.
An artist open call was held in Spring 2024, seeking fresh ideas for community engagement in order to provide Gowanus residents with new, enriching ways to stay informed about issues shaping the neighborhood. The open call received more than 100 responses, and approximately half of the applicants had close ties to Gowanus or personal experience of flooding in New York City. The winning artist is awarded $50,000 to complete the project, with low bono engineering review services provided by Silman.
Finalists were asked to consider the following:
- How do residents currently deal with living in the flood zone? What are their stories? Is it possible to make their experiences, along with the physical impacts of flooding, more visible?
- Looking ahead, how might the threat of flooding evolve over time in Gowanus? How might the neighborhood’s communities be impacted in the future? How might your piece inform the public of efforts led by community groups and/or city leaders to help Gowanus manage water and bounce back from flooding?
- There’s a lot of new construction in Gowanus’ flood zone – how might you reach potential future residents about flooding in Gowanus, in addition to long-time residents?
This initiative was developed with the support of a selection committee of Gowanus residents and local stakeholders from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Gowanus Houses Tenants Association, the Gowanus Oversight Task Force, and Gowanus Mutual Aid.
Related Projects
Points of Promise
