2025 - 2026
Everyone experiences and perceives where they live differently. In neighborhoods undergoing rapid development, local histories are often at risk of being lost or diminished. In this case, Gowanus Yearbook emerges a living portrait of Gowanus. The project invites neighborhood residents to be photographed, mark their photos with the year they arrived or were born in Gowanus, and draw a symbol answering the prompt: “What makes Gowanus Gowanus?”
As part of the founding team for this project, I collected portraits and built relationships over the course of the year at community events held at Van Alen Institute, NYCHA’s Gowanus Houses Community Center, and Wild East Brewing Co. The first yearbook was celebrated with Gowanus Residents during the first-ever Yearbook Signing Party in June 2026.
Gowanus Yearbook was created by myself, Rida Chaudhry, and Ananaya Singh. We met in Parsons’ Resilient Mutual Development graduate course taught by Juanli Carríon. Juanli previously collaborated with Van Alen Institute on the multi-site installation With Your Voice, which led to an ongoing partnership with Van Alen to conduct community research in Gowanus.
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