All spring and summer, neighbors on the Rockaway peninsula spent workshops studying the coast they live on: dyeing fabric with natural materials, learning the plants that hold the dunes in place, looking closely at the soil and recording the sound of the shoreline. On Friday, November 6, Valé EcoLab puts the results on the wall. Field Notes / Notas del Campo, a free exhibition of the art, experiments and discoveries from those workshops, runs from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the group's Coastal Conservation Center in Arverne.

Who Valé is

Valé is a Latinx-led and female-led art and design organization based in Far Rockaway. It describes its work as combining art, technology and environmental science, and its EcoLab runs free bilingual programs on community, ecology and climate. The workshops behind this exhibition brought artists, scientists and community members together around the coastal ecology of the Rockaways.

What is in the show

The exhibition gathers work made during the season's sessions, organized around four subjects:

  • Natural dyes: color drawn from plants and other natural materials.
  • Coastal plants: the species that grow along the Rockaway shore.
  • Soils: what lies under the sand and the beach grass.
  • Sound: recordings and experiments built from the coast itself.

The evening includes music by DJ Creepitona and refreshments, and it is open to all ages. The title is bilingual, as Valé's programs are.

Who supports it

Field Notes is listed as a Flushing Town Hall Community Arts Grantee project, part of the Town Hall's grant program for artists and groups across Queens, and the listing carries the logo of the New York State Council on the Arts.

How to go

The exhibition is free and open to the public. A ticket link on Eventbrite lets visitors register in advance, which helps the organizers plan.

  • When: Friday, November 6, 4:30 to 7 p.m.
  • Where: Coastal Conservation Center at Valé EcoLab, 1-90 Beach 44th Street, Far Rockaway (Arverne), Queens 11691.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Getting there: The A train's Beach 44th Street station is a short walk from the site.

Sources