“Over 300 Sunset Park Artists Open Their Studios to Engage with the Community”
### Sunset Park Open Studios: A Window into Brooklyn’s Flourishing Art Scene
This year’s **Sunset Park Open Studios (SPOS)** was a spectacle for art enthusiasts and the community, offering an insight into more than 300 artists’ creative spaces and their artistic process. The annual event, organized by the **New York Artists Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation** since 2019, has grown into a major cultural highlight of South Brooklyn, showcasing the area’s evolution into a thriving art district.
### From Bushwick to Sunset Park: An Artistic Migration
Sunset Park, a neighborhood traditionally known for its industrial landscape and diverse community, is now becoming an arts hub. Rising rents in places like Bushwick have driven many artists southward, seeking more affordable studio spaces. According to **Junho Lee**, the founder and director of NARS, many artists found Sunset Park more conducive to sustainability. “A lot of artists came down [here] from Bushwick,” Lee told *Hyperallergic*. “So I thought it was a good moment to open them up to the community.”
The **2024 edition** of Sunset Park Open Studios, which ran from October 18–20, reflected this vibrant arts scene with a diverse itinerary. The locations around the neighborhood included sprawling studios such as **NARS**, **J&M Studios**, **ArtBuilt at Brooklyn Army Terminal**, and **BioBAT Art Space**. These spaces housed over 300 artists who opened their doors to residents, collectors, and art aficionados, providing a glimpse into the often-private spaces where creativity flourishes.
### NARS Residency: A Hub for Artistic Collaboration
At the heart of SPOS, the **NARS Foundation** served as the primary venue. Thirteen resident artists displayed their works across various media, and the event echoed NARS’s mission—to foster artistic dialogues through its international residency program. This year’s open studios included collaborations like the performance series, *3 Studios*, curated by **Dylan Seh-Jin Kim**.
Among the highlights:
1. **Lafina Eptaminitaki’s** performance titled *Walking, Waiting, Writing, With Rocks* stood out with its meditative exploration of time, labor, and displacement. For three days, the Greek artist carefully moved 1,410 beach pebbles across a studio floor, building a unique conversation with time, space, and materiality.
2. **Judy Giera** brought a fresh feminist perspective to her art, marrying the iconic vaginal forms of ’70s feminist art with ’90s kitsch aesthetics. Giera’s fluorescent, eye-popping work, residing somewhere between painting and sculpture, captivated visitors with its humor and boldness.
3. **Jeehee Yoo**, another artist-in-residence at NARS, presented delicate paper sculptures that explored the balance of tension and release, themes influenced by her South Korean heritage.
### Art Meets Architecture: J&M Studios and Beyond
Artists at **J&M Studios**, another notable venue, presented a range of works reflecting diverse cultural backgrounds and mediums. **Niamul Bari**, an interdisciplinary artist from Bangladesh, exhibited thick oil paintings influenced by his experiences in both South Asia and New York. Avoiding titles for his pieces, Bari allows viewers to derive their own meanings, creating a personal interaction between art and audience.
“Visitors come to experience the process of this world,” said Bari, encapsulating the spirit of SPOS. Its purpose seems not just to showcase finished works but to immerse people in the creative process.
### Art as Community: ArtBuilt and Meerkat Media Collective
A short walk from NARS affirmed Sunset Park’s growing reputation as a hub for socially engaged works. At **ArtBuilt Studios**, the **Meerkat Media Collective**, a film-making group with deep roots in community organizing and activism, shared their edit bays with visitors. The team is behind powerful works like the 2024 documentary *Emergent Cities*, which investigates the intersections of climate change, racism, and gentrification in Sunset Park.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us the importance of a connected, permeable community,” shared filmmaker **Jay Arthur Sterrenberg**. Through SPOS, Meerkat Media has continued to align its work with that ethos, creating stronger ties with the neighborhood’s diverse population.
### A Celebration of Artistic Inclusion
From Eptaminitaki’s thoughtful performances to Bari’s tactile paintings, Sunset Park Open Studios fosters a unique environment of artistic inclusivity. Visitors, whether long-time collectors or casual passersby, were treated to an unfiltered view into the working lives of artists. This openness echoes the spirit communicated within the SPOS ethos: art is not only a reflection of the self, but an invitation for connection.
This open-door event is especially vital in a time when larger art scenes across the world often feel elitist and exclusive. Here, art feels deeply connected to the community, providing space for diverse voices not just to create