SUNSET PARK – Swale, a floating forest built on a barge housing a 5,000-square-foot edible garden, will sail to the Brooklyn Army Terminal in May.

Created by artist Mary Mattingly, the public artwork travels to piers around New York City offering educational programming while inviting visitors to collect free herbs, fruits and vegetables. The goal of the project is to strengthen stewardship of public waterways and land while working to promote edible perennial landscapes.

Mattingly began Swale in Summer 2016 to advocate for food to be grown on some of the approximately 30,000 acres of public land found in NYC. Mattingly believes that alternate models of community-based food production are needed to make fresh produce accessible in food desert neighborhoods and to foster ecological and economic resiliency. Swale was docked at Brookyn Bridge Park for two months last summer.

Swale will be at the Brooklyn Army Terminal from May 5 through July 1. During its time in Sunset Park, the barge will serve as a community platform to promote social, physical, and environmental wellness. Swale will be free and open to the public on weekends and visitors can go on board the 130 x 40 foot barge where crew members will help them harvest fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

The barge will also host regular public programs on wellness, public art, and environmental activism, as well as a permaculture workshop, water filtration lab, medicinal plant tour, soil science and compost demonstration, and more.

The three-million-square-foot Brooklyn Army Terminal campus is committed to sustainability. The NYC Economic Development Corporation recently launched an effort to bring a 100,000-square-foot rooftop community solar garden to the waterfront campus for Sunset Park residents and local businesses.

Swale

Saturday, May 5 through Sunday, July 1, Saturdays & Sundays from 12pm to 6pm

Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th Street, Sunset Park

Free