Roots Music on the Gowanus at the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Boathouse
Bring the Gowanus back to life through music!
Leader
Liz Schnore
Location
165 2nd Street Brooklyn, NY 11238
About the project
The Gowanus Dredgers work to foster awareness of issues affecting New York waterways. We deliver musical programs to the Gowanus and neighboring communities, providing a space where local musicians of all levels can gather to jam and where the community can hear music in a unique waterfront setting. These programs include the Boathouse Jam, a weekly jam session along the Gowanus waterfront; the Creekers Jamboree, a series of free, live concerts by noted musicians; and additional pop-up musical events. The Roots Music on the Gowanus program delivers more than 36 public arts events along the waterfront each year.
The Steps
Boathouse Jam happens for 30 weeks, every Wednesday evening April through October. We will be booking bands to play Creekers Jamboree and special pop-up performances throughout the canoe season at the Boathouse and Bunker launch sites.
Why we‘re doing it
The Roots Music on the Gowanus program, hosted by the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, is delivered through a dedicated team of
volunteers within the organization. Program events are hosted year-round at the Dredgers Boathouse and in outdoor locations
along the canal.
Our waterfront city is rich in cultural heritage, strong through its diverse voices, and ever hungry to create. It is also under threat. As
an EPA Superfund clean-up site and a coastal wetland area, the Gowanus Canal poignantly represents the hazards we have
inherited from generations of pollution and the challenges we face from a changing climate. As environmental restoration and
community development reshape this storied patch of Brooklyn, we believe it is critical that residents reclaim a sense of ownership
and pride for these iconic public spaces. We believe resilient, flourishing communities are only possible when all voices are
engaged in meaningful ways. Few things gather and create community like music. Our thriving Roots Music on the Gowanus is a
proven and ready model that, with expanded funding and partnership, provides an ideal opportunity to expand access to the arts
while empowering our community to reimagine and reclaim their public open spaces.