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Turnout NYC 2022–2024

New venues for New York artists

Design Excellence

In partnership with

SITU and J. Ember Design

Project Area: Five Boroughs

Communication & Storytelling Fellow

Natalie Romero-Marx

The Design Trust for Public Space is collaborating with SITU, an architectural practice centered on social and creative impact, on a major, citywide effort to connect artists to the potential of public space, through new partnerships and infrastructure. Read the final report here.

Turnout NYC is a community-oriented initiative providing infrastructure support for New York City-based arts and cultural organizations while expanding access to the arts across the city. The venture created flexible and semi-permanent outdoor venues—one in each borough— in collaboration with cultural partners from within each community. 
By hosting 150-200 events and featuring up to 1,500 artists from throughout the city upon the completion of its 2022 season, Turnout NYC will affect long-term change and advance a new model of community-driven cultural production. Beyond hosting a summer of creative events for New Yorkers, the five sites will support equitable access to the arts and provide infrastructure for artists, especially Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, and other historically marginalized peoples. The initiative will purposefully seek to advance these venues as part of a larger effort to distribute open-source design knowledge, advocate for structural changes in the city’s cultural policies, and to build a connected cohort of emerging arts and design professionals.

Learn more at: www.turnoutnyc.org.

Turnout NYC is led by the Design Trust and SITU, with our Public Space Design Advisor and member of the core design team, J. Ember Design. Guided by an Advisory Committee of NYC cultural leaders, such as National Black Theatre CEO Sade Lythcott, Queens Theatre Executive Director Taryn Sacramone, and other New York based creatives, Turnout NYC recognizes that arts organizations and artists are critical anchors in the city’s recovery and long-term health. In each borough, Turnout NYC works with a local Community Cultural Partner to connect local cultural practices and lift up community networks. 

Turnout NYC is supported by the Mellon Foundation and the ConEdison Arts Al Fresco Series.

Key Milestones

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Research and Piloting

July 2021

Turnout NYC kicks off its first season in partnership with Queens Theatre, presenting a season of free performances and cultural programming on a new, purpose-built outdoor stage created by SITU in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Turnout NYC 2022 Launches

April 2022

The Design Trust for Public Space and SITU announce the launch of Turnout NYC, a community-oriented initiative that will expand access to the arts within under-invested neighborhoods and amplify local artists of color and historically marginalized peoples. Read the Press Release.

Programming & Advocacy

June 2022

By hosting 150-200 events and featuring up to 1,500 artists from throughout the city upon the completion of its 2022 season, Turnout NYC will affect long-term change and advance a new model of community-driven cultural production. 

Final Report

January 2024

What can the city learn from creating new venues and empowering community anchors? Read the final report on long-term change for local arts and culture programming.

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Recent Output

The Latest News

PRESS RELEASE: Untaped Initiative Launched to Cut Red Tape in Programming NYC’s Public Spaces

August 8, 2024

Party

TURNOUT NYC: Silent Disco + Portrait Series

Saturday, August 19, 2023 @ 3:00 PM

The Latest Press

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