Join Ashley Dawson for the first event of Culture Push's annual Show Don't Tell Symposium --

A walking tour of the waterfront area in Long Island City where Amazon's proposed HQ2 was slated to be. How will this land now be used, and what will happen to the polution-spewing power plants located there?

The successful fight against Amazon's proposed HQ2 in Long Island City was an important victory for community groups in NYC. What should happen to this land now that Amazon isn't going to get it? Will public land be used for the public good? This walking tour of the area begins in Gantry Plaza State Park, proceeds past the oily ghosts who reside around the Anable Basin, surveys the proposed Queens People's Space on Vernon Boulevard, and culminates in walk-bys of two of the city's dirtiest power plants and a visioning session.

About Ashley:

Ashley Dawson is an author, activist, and professor of English at the Graduate Center / City University of New York and the College of Staten Island. Ashley works for the abolition of fossil fuels and a democratic energy transition as a member of the Public Power NY campaign and founder of the Public Power Observatory.

About Culture Push + Show Don't Tell:

Culture Push is an arts organization that supports artists and creative thinkers using imaginative, participatory methods to address social and civic challenges. Operating at the intersection of art, social justice, and public engagement, Culture Push fosters collaboration, experimentation, and new ways of thinking through hands-on, community-driven projects.

The Show Don’t Tell Symposium is Culture Push’s annual gathering of artists and creative changemakers who share works-in-progress developed through Fellowship-supported civic experiments. Through interactive installations, performances, and participatory workshops, the Symposium invites the public into imaginative acts of collective learning, care, and resistance—spotlighting practices that push the boundaries of how art can move in the world.