Shared Dialogue, Shared Space 2026:
Part 3.1
Participatory Art & Community Engagement with Korea Art Forum
September 12, 2026
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Maria Sola Community Greenspace
134th Street & Lincoln Avenue
Mott Haven, Bronx
New York, September 9, 2026 — Korea Art Forum (KAF) joins La Peña del Bronx for the 39th Anniversary of Movimiento La Peña del Bronx, a community gathering centered on music, culture, art, and collective action.
As part of Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) Part 3, KAF will facilitate participatory art and community engagement activities that invite residents, artists, families, and visitors to gather, create, exchange, and take part in shared civic space.
SDSS is KAF’s ongoing socially engaged public art initiative that brings artist-led participatory projects into accessible public and community-based spaces across New York City. Through direct engagement with the public, SDSS explores how art can become a platform for dialogue, cultural expression, collective memory, and community connection.
This September 12 program continues the 2026 SDSS Part 3 series in Mott Haven, followed by an additional event with South Bronx Unite on September 26, 2026.
All events feature Sohhee Oh, Lucia Warck-Meister, and Mashiyat Zaman. Korea Art Forum and guest advisor Ninad Pandit selected these artists through a city-wide open call and artist interviews.
Sohhee Oh will guide participants in creating a collective puzzle painting. Participants draw and paint on puzzle-shaped boards, contributing to evolving imagery. They would continue visuals started by previous participants, transforming existing visual narratives. This project builds on Oh’s experience leading participatory public art initiatives.
Lucia Warck-Meister will lead collective sculpture-making events, where participants cut and assemble cardboard to create mythological Ceibo (coral tree) flowers, contributing to a collaborative sculpture that explores immigrant experiences. Warck-Meister has previously developed this work as an indoor installation and led youth workshops based on it; she is now expanding the piece and presenting it as an outdoor public artwork for the first time.
Mashiyat Zaman will install an interactive digital kiosk. Visitors engage with a digital virtual living room with bookshelves, reading reflections and suggestions left by previous participants, fostering intergenerational and intercultural dialogue. Zaman created a pilot version of the work in 2024, which he intends to scale in this project.
Each artwork will evolve through direct community engagement. Ground drawings, collaborative sculptures, puzzle paintings, and digital installations will reflect the accumulated contributions of many participants, highlighting the social and iterative nature of art. The public art installations will function both as visual focal points in the neighborhoods and as ongoing platforms for community interaction and dialogue.
Community Partner
La Peña del Bronx
Organized by
Korea Art Forum
Accommodations
We welcome requests for individual accommodations. ASL and other disability services are available with at least two weeks' notice. For assistance, please contact us at info@kafny.org or (347) 840-1142.
About Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS): A Socially Engaged Public Art Initiative
Korea Art Forum's SDSS proudly commissions artists to create a series of 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 and limited access to art. 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.
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, fostering dialogues, building an interconnected world, and supporting inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA).
THANK YOU!
2026 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) Part 3.1 is lead-funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support is provided, in part, by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. We thank our partners, La Peña del Bronx and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
