NOoSPHERE ARTS
WE ARE NATURE Rooftop Series
Brooklyn, New York, USA
“We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So, when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.”
— Andy Goldsworthy
An annual summer-long program, the WE ARE NATURE Rooftop Series takes place in and around the Kingsland Wildflowers native flora gardens. Conceived by wildlife experts at NYC Audubon Society, these patches of green across four staggered rooftop levels offer a natural habitat for local fauna and migratory birds. Set against the 360-degree view of the gritty, industrial environs, with the futuristic, space-like domes of Newton Creek Water Treatment Plant in the middle ground and Manhattan on the horizon, the stunning beauty of these multicolored flowering meadows shines even brighter: a rare nature sanctuary in surroundings increasingly hostile to all living beings.
This spectacular setting is uniquely suited to engage a diverse audience in environmental efforts through art. The recurring WE ARE NATURE Rooftop Series offers a combination of multiple art forms—dance, music, performance, visual art, poetry, prose, and film—addressing humanity’s place in the greater All.
NOoSPHERE Arts is a 501c3 organization led by a group of international creatives whose backgrounds blend the arts and sciences. Since 2011, we have been producing and presenting public programming that showcases artists from all over the world in several arenas throughout New York City, but with a special focus on our home community of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our unique headquarters—a large warehouse structure with spectacular rooftop meadows constituting a green corridor for wildlife on the bank of Superfund site Newton Creek—provides one-of-a-kind performance arenas in a dramatic setting that offers a stark contrast between natural and industrial landscapes. Inspired by this context and driven by the urgency of fighting climate change, our present activities are focused on the WE ARE NATURE program: an annual series of outdoor and indoor events combining multiple forms of expression. Through dance, music, theater, visual art, film, poetry, and prose, our diverse range of featured talent addresses humankind’s place on Earth with the aim of harnessing the power of art to engage the public in environmental efforts.