Art in Motion

Well, that was pretty careless of me.

I climbed out of the comfort zone last week by signing up for the Gowanus Open Studies 2025, which is billed as Brooklyn’s biggest celebration of local art and artists.

The event features hundreds of artists across dozens of venues in the greater Gowanus neighborhood, who opened their doors for a look inside the old factory buildings that have converted to studios.

I attended one of these open houses last year and I had a great time, but, of course, when the appointed day arrived, I found myself cranking out a litany of excuses for skipping the event and chilling out home alone.

I’m happy to say that I had ignored the voices of defeat and headed down to the former industrial zone around the Gowanus Canal to join the other members of the Meet Up group.

I have childhood memories of driving through this area with my father, before it had been yuppified, and I remember how dark and spooky the place looked.

Our leader, Ron, puts together some very good events and I was looking forward to speaking with the artists.

It was a chance to speak some talented sculptors, painters, and photographers, who were during some fabulous work in these old factory buildings.

One artist made a specialty of taking photos of manhole covers from cities all the world, which sounds strange, but the images from Japan were stunning and even some of the industrial-looking types had their own kind of beauty.

Another woman created these lovely collages using old glamour magazines from the 1960s, and then there was a grandmother and granddaughter who shared a studio to display their paintings.

Where is Everybody?

I spoke with a young man who had used his studio to create an immersive experience for visitors to view his art.

He explained that he’s nervous in the current political situation as he is both Hispanic and gay—and he’s got a lot of company.

I regret not taking photos during the day, but I didn’t think the artists would appreciate seeing their work reproduced.

I was having such a blast that it slowly dawned on me that something was amiss. Hmm…what could it be…?

Oh, yeah, that’s right…the rest of the group was missing.

I’m not sure how that happened. The building we were visiting was big, but it wasn’t that big. Yet somehow, I had managed to misplace about 30 people.

I came out on the street and looked around for Ron in his trademark red cap, but there was no sign of him.

Finally, I ran into a couple from Queens who were of the group coming down the block and they, too, had lost track of the rest of the gang.

I looked on the Meetup for a number to call or a list of studios where we might reunite with the group, but nothing come up.

Yeah, it kinda sucked, but I decided to call it a day. I was pretty tired by that time, having racked up thousands of steps, according to my iPhone.

Usually when I part company with the group, I like to thank the leader and tell him or her what a nice time I had.

But I’ll see Ron again at another event. Meanwhile, I'm glad I met these great people, saw some fine artwork, and got away from the home burnout.

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