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The City Reliquary    Museum & Civic Organization 370 Metropolitan Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211 cityreliquary.org (718) 782-4842 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

OCT. 17, 2017 CONTACT: BILL SCANGA 

PHONE: 718-782-4842 EMAIL: bill@cityreliquary.org 

 

 

 This exhibition at The City Reliquary will present the stories behind New York’s solid waste–from “one man’s garbage is another man’s gold” to the inventive ways New Yorkers are reusing and recycling. It will trace the trajectory of waste management in New York, from its early period with the squalid nineteenth-century tenements documented by Jacob K. Riis, the landfill of Dead Horse Bay, and the beginnings of the NYC Department of Sanitation, to the mid-century landfill of Fresh Kills in Staten Island. The exhibition culminates in profiles of seven artists and nonprofit organizations that present innovating ways of considering waste management now and in the future: 

 Photos of scrappers by Larry Racioppo , whose photography focuses on the urban landscape  An overview of projects by Mierle Laderman Ukeles that highlight overlooked social aspects of trash disposal: Touch Sanitation Performance , The Social Mirror , and Landing  Materials for the Arts , a nonprofit that collects and distributes art supplies and materials to nonprofit organizations with arts programming and public schools  Hack Trash is a Hack-a-thon that addresses waste issues.   Lower East Side Ecology Center E-Waste Warehouse , a nonprofit that collects electronic waste and separates it for reuse and recycling.    RISE , a tech company that that turns spent grains from breweries into flour  Industrial Organics , dedicated to converting organic food waste to high-value resources   The exhibition will also explore the role of trash as a cultural archive. A selection of objects from the Treasure in the Trash collection of Nelson Molina will be on display. In his thirty years on the job as a DSNY employee, Molina amassed a monumental collection of ephemera picked from the castoffs of everyday New Yorkers. Read more about his museum in this New York Times article .   The opening brunch reception at noon on Sunday, November 15 will feature complimentary coffee courtesy of Oslo Coffee Roasters and light refreshments with $5 admission.   A display of trash art by a number of local artists on display in the Reliquary sculpture garden will complement the exhibition and will open on April 5, 2018 .  Image: Copyright 2017, Larry Racioppo _____________________________________________________ About The City Reliquary Museum: The City Reliquary Museum & Civic Organization preserves the everyday artifacts that connect visitors to the past and present of New York City. It was originally established in 2002 as an apartment window display at the corner of Grand and Havemeyer Streets in Williamsburgh. It relocated to 370 Metropolitan Avenue in 2006. The Reliquary also hosts public events that invite neighbors and visitors to meet, exchange ideas, and celebrate the diversity of our city.  Location : 370 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211; Hours : Thursday–Sunday, 12pm–6pm. Admission : $7 general; $5 college students/educators/seniors; Free for employees of all museums foreign & domestic and children 12 & under; Website : cityreliquary.org ; Phone : 718-782-4842; Email : info@cityreliquary.org