The River to River Festival

Presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), The River To River Festival is an annual arts festival held in summer in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The festival celebrates artistic and creative diversity across disciplines, presenting live art and installations in public spaces and in partnership with leading institutions in Lower Manhattan.

The River To River Festival
DatesSummer - typically June, 2020 edition is July - August
Location(s)New York
Years active2002 - present
Websitelmcc.net/river-to-river-festival

The festival includes dance, visual and performance art, poetry, film, music, theatre, and other events that are free and open to the public.

History

The River To River Festival was founded in 2002 by American Express, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Alliance for Downtown New York, Arts Brookfield, Battery Park City Authority, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and South Street Seaport.[1] It was created as an effort to revitalize the Lower Manhattan community after the September 11 attacks by promoting cultural activity and making Lower Manhattan an important experience of New York City's history, art, and commerce.[2]

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) became the lead organizer and producer of the festival in 2011. Now, the festival provides world-class free summer entertainment to thousands of residents, workers, and visitors. It has become a way to experience the cityscape and neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan and at Governors Island, connecting people to the best of the arts, the creative process, unique places, and each other.

Much more than just a series of free events, the festival also serves as a platform for the arts sector in both nurturing new ideas and extending the life of existing work by inviting artists to create new site-specific works as well as site-responsive versions of premiere performances.

Highlights from the Past
The Reflection Project with Yoko Ono, presented as part of the 2019 River To River Festival

2019 Edition

Focusing on the theme of slowing down, the 2019 River To River Festival sought to remind New Yorkers of the importance of deep and measured thought and to transform the bustling cityscape of Lower Manhattan with public art projects. Installed on the screens of Fulton Transit Center, posters on bus shelters and in vacant storefront windows, The Reflection Project with Yoko Ono, a large-scale public artwork featuring the artist's iconic text works, invited viewers into moments of personal, meditative pause.[3] Also as part of the festival, Ono presented Add Color (Refugee Boat), composed simply of a lifeboat in an empty space in the Seaport District, inviting the public to paint their thoughts, ideas, and hopes on the walls, floor, and boat.[4] The world premiere of Pam Tanowitz’s Time is forever dividing itself toward innumerable futures took place in Nelson A. Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City. This outdoor site-specific performance explored tensions between legacies of classical ballet versus modern dance; the natural versus the unnatural; the past versus the present.[5]

Pam Tanowitz, Time is forever moving toward innumerable futures, presented as part of the 2019 River To River Festival

2019 Film

“Slow Down: River To River,” created by filmmaker Liz Sargent for ALL ARTS, is a meditative short film documenting the 2019 River To River Festival.[6] Featuring the work of Yoko Ono, Pam Tanowitz, Ernesto Pujol, Jennifer Monson, and more, the film has won a New York Emmy Award for the Arts: Program/Special category in 2020.[7]

2017 Edition

The 2017 River To River Festival, in celebration of New York City's status as a cultural capital of the world and a crossroads for residents and visitors of diverse origins, traditions, and perspectives, presented over 100 performances and events featuring 17 projects at 31 unique sites across Lower Manhattan and Governors Island.[8] The spectrum of works spanned from Kamau Ware's participatory project, Black Gotham Experience, to En Garde Arts’ world premiere site-specific theater, music, and dance spectacle, HARBORED.[9]

Partners (includes Venues and Presenting Partners)

References
  1. "River To River Festival." NYC-ARTS. Accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/298/river-to-river-festival.
  2. Simon, Lizzie. "Arts Continue to Blossom In Post-9/11 Manhattan." The Wall Street Journal. August 29, 2011, accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904332804576536754281414160.
  3. "Yoko Ono invites you to take a slow walk in Lower Manhattan with The Reflection Project." Brooklynvegan. June 12, 2019, accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/yoko-ono-invites-you-to-take-a-slow-walk-in-lower-manhattan-with-the-reflection-project/.
  4. Sayej, Nadja. "Protect the persecuted': behind Yoko Ono's impactful refugee art project." The Guardian. June 21, 2019, accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/21/protect-the-persecuted-behind-yoko-onos-impactful-refugee-art-project.
  5. Burke, Siobhan. "At the River To River Festival, the Art of Slowing Down." The New York Times. June 26, 2019, accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/arts/dance/river-to-river-festival.html.
  6. "Slow Down: River To River." All Arts. Accessed May 27, 2020: https://allarts.org/programs/all-arts-docs/slow-down-river-to-river-tcxfhn/.
  7. "2020 NY EMMY AWARDS." NY NATAS. February 25, 2020, accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.nyemmys.org/2020-ny-emmy-awards/.
  8. "River To River Festival: 2017." NYC-ARTS. Accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.nyc-arts.org/events/0/river-to-river-festival-2017.
  9. Barone, Joshua. "An Opera About Robert Moses Is Among the River To River Festival Highlights." The New York Times. April 12, 2017, accessed May 27, 2020: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/arts/river-to-river-festival-2017-opera-about-robert-moses.html.
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