2025 SDSS: Part I
Korea Art Forum Presents the First Series of 2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) at Bowne Playground in Flushing, Queens and Barton Avenue, near Murray Hill Station
Selected Artists
Ali Motamedi
Cecilia Lim
Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana
Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga
May 10, 2025
12 — 4 PM
Barton Avenue, near Murray Hill Station
May 17, May 24, 2025
1 — 5 PM
Bowne Playground near the entrance from Sandford Avenue at Union Street
Korea Art Forum (KAF) is thrilled to announce the first three of nine events in the 2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) series. SDSS is an ongoing series of outdoor participatory art events that culminate in temporary public art installations across New York City. Held at accessible community hubs in remote immigrant neighborhoods, these events foster engagement, creativity, and dialogue between artists and the public.
Guest curators Jennifer McGregor, the former Director of Arts and Senior Curator at Wave Hill, and Martin Lucas, arts educator and Emeritus Professor in the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program, Hunter College, co-curate the 2025 iteration. They bring fresh perspectives to this dynamic and evolving project.
The first event will take place on Barton Avenue, near Murray Hill Station, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. The final two events will take place at Bowne Playground, located at the intersection of Sanford Avenue and Union Street in Downtown Flushing, Queens, on Saturdays, May 17 and 24, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Each date will feature a different lineup of artists: Ali Motamedi, Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga will be featured on May 10; Ali Motamedi and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga on May 17; and Ali Motamedi and Cecilia Lim on May 24. The co-curators selected these artists through a city-wide open call and artist interviews.
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SDSS in Flushing 2 — May 17, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Featuring: Ali Motamedi and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga
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Ali Motamedi—author, artist, and educator—will present a participatory art project that harnesses the expressive power of unreadable or unfamiliar language. Through interactive installations and workshops, Motamedi invites the public to explore language as a poetic medium for cross-cultural understanding, community engagement, and collective creation.
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Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga will expand his multimedia project exploring U.S. immigration history through games, conversations, and interactive storytelling. He will distribute a free illustrated newsprint poster that blends legal texts with visual narratives, and engage participants in discussions around immigration policies suited to contemporary realities.
SDSS in Flushing 3 — May 24, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Featuring: Ali Motamedi and Cecilia Lim
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Ali Motamedi returns to continue his exploration of language, identity, and immigration through participatory public art.
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Cecilia Lim will share a conflict resolution community-based art practice inspired by traditional sewing circles and her grandmother’s legacy. In collaboration with conflict practitioners and local residents, Lim will lead the creation of embroidered pillows symbolizing shared values and mutual support. The project includes storytelling, conflict resolution dialogues, and the production of zines documenting community interactions.
SDSS Forum 1 in Flushing — May 24, 2025, from 6 PM to 8 PM
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The two events will culminate in a public forum at the Flushing Friends Quaker Meeting House, further engaging the community through shared reflections on SDSS. This discussion will also feature the launch of the 2024 SDSS catalog, which highlights the work of SDSS 2024 artists—Akiko Ichikawa, Eiko Nishida, Ina Wudtke, Sari Nordman, and Thomas Gallagher—as well as essays by art writers Jennifer McGregor and Martin Liucas, translated into Mandarin by Thomas Zhu and into Spanish by Stephanie Alvarado. The forum will also offer a public reception for the SDSS events, with light snacks and refreshments
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Accommodations
All events are free and open to the public. Participants of all backgrounds are encouraged to join these outdoor activations and indoor conversations that use art to catalyze civic dialogue. We welcome requests for individual accommodations. ASL and other disability services are available with two weeks' notice. For assistance, please contact us at info@kafny.org or (347) 840-1142.
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Dates
May 10, 2025
12 — 4 PM
Ali Motamedi, Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga
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May 17, 2025
1 — 5 PM
Ali Motamedi and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga
May 24, 2025
1 — 5 PM
Ali Motamedi and Cecilia Lim​
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A related special program
May 24, 2025, 6-8 pm
Community Forum at Flushing Friends Quaker
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Meeting House, 137-16 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY, 11354
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Featuring all artists and curators in 2024 and 2025 SDSS
Locations
May 10: Barton Ave, near Murray Hill Station
May 17, 24: Bowne Playground near the entrance from Sandford Avenue at Union Street
Featured Artists
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Ali Motamedi—an author, artist, and educator exploring themes of language, immigration, and identity—will develop a participatory public art project that uses the expressive potential of unreadable or unfamiliar language as a medium for cross-cultural dialogue, community engagement, and collective creation through interactive installations and workshops.
Cecilia Lim will share a community-engaged art methodology that uses creativity and dialogue to build collective capacity for navigating interpersonal conflict. Inspired by traditional sewing circles and her grandmother’s legacy, Lim will lead conflict practitioners and community members in creating embroidered pillows reflecting shared agreements while facilitating story-sharing and mutual support. The project culminates in a public gathering and the creation of zines based on her interactions with people.
Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, PhD, will create large-scale participatory murals that amplify the stories of migrants who entered the United States as minors, also known as ‘U.S. Childhood Arrivals.’ The murals aim to foster a conversation connecting U.S.-Mexico border issues with those affecting immigrants on the East Coast. They address critical challenges such as limited legal options, deportability, and the lived experiences of this generation of immigrants. They highlight that the border is not just a distant Southern reality but also present here in NYC.
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Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga will expand a multimedia project that combines public workshops, a print publication, an informational website, street interviews, and a narrative-based video game to explore U.S. immigration history and propose new policies reflecting contemporary realities. During the events, the artist will distribute a free newsprint poster that illustrates U.S. immigration history through visual storytelling and legal texts. While sharing these materials, Zúñiga will engage participants in discussions about immigration laws that could better serve today's society.
About Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS)
This flagship initiative of the Korea Art Forum proudly commissions artists to create socially engaged, participatory art that culminates in public art installations in outdoor community hubs. The project focuses on serving (im)migrants, people with disabilities, and individuals facing economic hardship. Since its launch in 2020, SDSS has integrated art into daily city life, fostering dialogue between artists and the public while addressing various issues, such as anti-Asian sentiment, inequality, and climate justice. SDSS promotes collaboration, resilience, and social change, offering free, accessible, and immersive art events with live interpretation services. SDSS connects local communities to art, which enhances their overall quality of life and well-being.
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About Korea Art Forum (KAF)
Founded in New York City in 2013, KAF is led by artists, scholars, and peacemakers committed to bridging the world through art. KAF supports artists' social engagement, enhancing people’s quality of life and well-being. We produce commissions, exhibitions, forums, publications, and art workshops to bring people together across the art world and beyond to share dialogues, build an interconnected world, and support inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA).
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THANK YOU!
2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) is supported, in part, with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding is provided by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF). Media sponsorship is provided by the Korean Community Media Broadcasting (KCMB). We especially thank our community partners, South Bronx Unite, the Minkwon Center, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, the NYC Department of Transportation, and NYC Council Members Vickie Paladino, Sandra Ung, and Julie Won for supporting KAF’s projects.
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