GARDEN VARIETY

In 2012, back when Obama was about to repeat as President and, believe it or not, the reigning Super Bowl champions were the New York Giants, Charles Krezell brought an idea to life.

East Village volunteer gardeners had for years been planting and nurturing—rescuing!—dozens of the vacant lots that had littered the area since the 1970s and ’80s. Krezell, a longtime East Village resident and gardener, believed that permanent community gardens are necessary for a healthy New York, and that to protect and preserve the spaces they had recovered, the volunteers had to unite. In 2011, he founded the “Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens”—LUNGS. It’s mission: advocacy and outreach, support and encouragement…local garden power!

Now LUNGS had to spread the word. Krezell believed that local artists performing and displaying their work in the gardens would attract more people—locals and visitors—to enjoy the surroundings while showcasing the community’s artistic riches as well as its considerable gardening know-how. 

The idea caught fire fast. Over the course of a weekend in the Fall of 2012 (with a little help from Kickstarter funding) LUNGS staged the first Harvest Arts Festival, free performances and art in 24 gardens. The following year, 32 gardens joined in. In 2021, the weekend became 10 days, as it is now. This year’s Festival, the 14th, runs from September 19-28, with some 100 artists and 60 free events, including dance, music, theater, spoken word, comedy, visual arts, environmental workshops, and more. 

This year’s line-up includes returning favorites and artists and newcomers. As always, two aspects stand out. One is the variety of events—an outdoor film screening a few blocks away from a jazz gig!—while the other is the global mix of performers. In a City renowned worldwide for its festivals, it is difficult to find one with a greater array of art from a more disparate group of artists.  Consider a few examples from this year’s Festival line-up (at writing some details had still to be confirmed, so make sure to check dates, times, and places at lungsnyc.com, one-click link below).

• On the opening night, Sept. 19, in La Plaza Cultural (East 9th St. and Ave. C), Montreal native Sylvain LaRoux will once again play global jazz compositions using the West African “fula” flute. The following afternoon, in the 11 BC Serenity Garden (East 11th between Aves B and C), he’ll play the “qromatica,” a  version of the fula flute he himself designed and patented a dozen years ago.
• From 4-6 PM on Saturday Sept. 20, Pinc Louds will perform a set of his fascinating musical esoterica in La Plaza Cultural. “Claudi” has become an East Village favorite since coming to the neighborhood from his native Puerto Rico in 2015, frequently performing in Tompkins Square Park, and recently raising the roof at Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker Street with the launch concert/party for a new album, “You Can’t Eat the Moon and Be a Werewolf Too.” 
• At 6 PM on Sept. 20, in the Green Oasis (East 8th between Aves. C and D), singer/songwriter and guitarist Mathieu Eveillard will bring a sense of his native Brittany, France, to the area he’s lived in since 2015. 
• At 5 p.m. on Sunday Sept. 21, in the 11 BC Serenity Garden (East 11th between B and C), Brooklynite Michael Eaton leads his jazz group through a set of progressive, holistic jazz. 
• On Monday Sept. 22 (time TBD), in the 6B Garden (corner of East 6th St. and Ave. B), Carolyn Ratcliff will screen “El Corazon de Loisaida,” a 1979 documentary by Beni Matias and Marci Reaven that explores the East Village and Lower East Side’s community efforts to revitalize abandoned buildings.
• On Friday Sept. 26th at 6:30 p.m., local Latin faves Kiki and the Fellas will perform in Carmen’s Garden (Ave. C between East 7th and 8th Streets).
• On Saturday Sept. 27, from 2-5 PM, in the 6B Garden, Poet Linda Kleinbub hosts a “Fahrenheit Open Mic” poetry session, part of a poetry reading series established in 2002.