Today at noon, you can get a sneak peek of the Queens County Farm Museum’s first-ever site-specific public art installation on a virtual walkthrough with Untapped New York Insiders. Created by Untapped New York’s Artist-in-Residence Aaron Asis with support from Queens Council of the Arts, ‘Cover Crop’ invites visitors to walk crisscrossing paths through a field of sweet peas, buckwheat, and rye. The installation, which will be featured during the farm’s reopening day this Sunday, August 2nd, allows guests to engage with the plant-life while maintaining a safe social distance. If you are an Untapped New York Insider, you can join Asis and Untapped New York’s Cheif experience officer Justin Rivers, along with Queens County Farm Director of Education, Ali Abate for a virtual walkthrough of the grounds and the new installation which will be part of the farm’s reopening celebration on Sunday, August 2nd.
‘Cover Crop’ activates half an acre of farmland on the farm’s historic site. The installation is meant to inspire conversations about plant life cycles, dormant agriculture, and sustainability. As you walk through, you are completely immersed in plants and pollinators. “The experience of wandering through Cover Crop is an unexpectedly calming, peaceful, and meditative experience – a stark contrast to most things you expect to experience in New York City – and a unique way to connect us with the physical earth in a new way,” says artist Aaron Asis, “And, as the realities associated with our new normal continue to challenge our ways of interacting with each other and with the world around us, it is more important than ever before to create new ways to stay connected, support each other, and share safe, meaningful, and inspiring human experiences.”
The unveiling of ‘Cover Crop’ is just one of the festivities planned for the farm’s reopening this Sunday. “We have been thinking about reopening day since we closed in March due to the COVID-19 health crisis,” noted Jennifer Walden Weprin, Executive Director of the Queens County Farm Museum. In addition to walking through ‘Cover Crop,’ reopening day visitors can stroll the historic grounds, take a hayride, shop in the Farm Store, feed the goats, and meet their farmers at the Grown on LI Farmers Market.
“Queens Farm’s 47-acre urban farm and historic site is a tranquil place that connects visitors to the land and the history of New York City. We are eager to welcome the public back – socially distanced but together – during this difficult time as a place of nature, healing and enrichment,” says Weprin. All activities will adhere to carefully planned COVID-19 safety measures. Face coverings will be required on-site when social distancing is not possible; indoor spaces are regularly cleaned and sanitized; visitor numbers will be limited in the farm’s store, and cash-free transactions are preferred.
The land months ago before the cover crops grew
Cover Crop will run from the farm’s reopening day on Sunday, August 2, through Sunday, August 9th 2020, from 10:00 am–5:00 pm. If you are an Untapped New York Insider, you can join us at noon, Friday, July 31st for a special sneak peek with the artist Aaron Asis, the Director of Education at the Queens County Farm Ali Abate and Untapped New York’s Cheif Experience Officer Justin Rivers.
Today’s live event at 12PM EST is organized for Untapped New York Insiders — get two months free with code JOINUS. A video of the talk will also be made available to all our Insiders afterward in the Video Archive section of our website.
Next, check out 5 Historical Farms in NYC You Can Visit and 10 of the Most Unique Urban Farms in NYC
