One Extraordinary Night Under the Brooklyn Bridge, Friday, Sept. 25 in DUMBO
AQUA COSMOS Launches Tomorrow in First-Ever Video Art Projection onto the Brooklyn Bridge
Monumental public artwork will be one evening, Sept. 25, connecting art, ocean science and conservation and building support for protection of the Hudson Canyon
(Second evening cancelled due to expected storm Saturday)
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Photos/Images/Renderings (Credit: ©️Anita Glesta)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2026—Tomorrow night, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), ArtW, and internationally recognized multimedia artist Anita Glesta will bring the hidden world of the Hudson Canyon to the Brooklyn Bridge with the premiere of AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon, a monumental public artwork that will transform the iconic landmark into a canvas about the ocean and the 100-year legacy of art, science and conservation.
Presented in collaboration with WCS and ArtW, through the New York City Department of Transportation's art program, NYC DOT Art, the installation marks the first time art has been projected onto the eastern pylon of the Brooklyn Bridge. The 18-minute immersive work will run continuously from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sept. 25, with public viewing from Emily Warren Roebling Plaza in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Through historic scientific illustrations, animation, painting, sound and remarkable new NOAA footage, AQUA COSMOS transports viewers from the Brooklyn waterfront to the Hudson Canyon, an extraordinary underwater ecosystem about 100 miles off New York's coast. The largest submarine canyon along the Atlantic Coast, it supports whales, sea turtles, sharks, tuna, cold-water corals and numerous species important to commercial and recreational fisheries.
“New Yorkers will look at one of our city’s most iconic landmarks and see an extraordinary ocean wilderness that has been largely invisible to them until now,” said John F. Calvelli of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “The Hudson Canyon is part of New York’s natural heritage, and it deserves lasting protection. AQUA COSMOS gives people a chance to discover what is just beyond our shores—and to understand why WCS and so many partners are working to secure its designation as a National Marine Sanctuary.”
WCS nominated the Hudson Canyon for consideration as a National Marine Sanctuary in 2016 and today works with a broad coalition of scientists, conservation organizations, fishing interests, businesses and community stakeholders supporting its designation. NOAA is leading the public process considering designation of the first National Marine Sanctuary off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.
“Art can take us somewhere we cannot easily go ourselves, and for one night I want the Brooklyn Bridge to become a portal into this astonishing world beneath the Atlantic,” said Anita Glesta. “My hope is that people experience the wonder of the Hudson Canyon—its movement, its creatures, its mystery—and come away feeling that this remarkable place is part of their world and worth protecting.”
AQUA COSMOS also commemorates the legacy of WCS’s 1925 Arcturus Expedition, led by pioneering naturalist William Beebe. The expedition also included such groundbreaking women artists and scientists as Isabel Cooper, Helen Damrosch Tee Van, Ruth Rose, Marie Poland Fish, Lillian Segal, and Elizabeth Trotter. The installation combines artwork and journals from that era with NOAA footage captured in the Hudson Canyon in 2025, connecting more than a century of ocean exploration, science and discovery.
Marjorie Martay, ArtW Exec Director, said: “It is important to support forward thinking women artists like Anita Glesta who has connected women, art , science , public space and history."
AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon is free and open to the public. It will be projected on the Brooklyn Bridge Friday, Sept. 25, from 7-10 p.m., and can be viewed from Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Saturday night projection originally planned has been cancelled due to the expected storm.
Five Facts About AQUA COSMOS and the Hudson Canyon
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About the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 55 countries and in all the world’s oceans, and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by more than 3.5 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission.
About Anita Glesta
Anita Glesta is a Brooklyn-based multimedia artist whose work spans painting, animation, immersive video, sculpture, and site-specific installations. Her projects draw on scientific research, history, and lived experience to create visually compelling works that engage broad public audiences. Her work has been exhibited internationally at museums and cultural institutions including MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art Kraków, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Peking University, the Parrish Art Museum, the Hudson River Museum, White Columns, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, among others. She is the recipient of numerous grants, fellowships, and awards, including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Australia Council for the Arts, and a Laureate Research Fellowship at the University of New South Wales, New Media Lab.
About ArtW
ArtW is a 501C3 non-profit organization committed to promoting women globally across creative disciplines through advocacy, curation and education. Through a combination of panels, tours and salon discussion series, ArtW brings collectors curators and art enthusiasts together with notable international women artists. https://www.artw.org
About NYC DOT Art
The New York City Department of Transportation’s art program, NYC DOT Art, partners with organizations and professional artists to present temporary public art on NYC DOT property throughout the five boroughs for up to eleven months. Artists transform streets with colorful murals, dynamic projections and eye-catching sculptures. Sidewalks, fences, triangles, medians, bridges, jersey barriers, step streets, public plazas and pedestrianized spaces serve as canvases and foundations for temporary art. Since 2008, NYC DOT Art has produced over 550 temporary artworks citywide. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dotart and @nyc_DOTArt on Instagram.
About Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Bridge Park, one of the most transformative public projects in New York City in a generation, has revitalized a formerly industrial waterfront into a dynamic 85-acre civic space. Created to be environmentally and financially sustainable, Brooklyn Bridge Park is a model for resilient urban design that reconnects New Yorkers and visitors to the waterfront. Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) operates as a non-profit corporation of the City of New York and is responsible for the stewardship of the park—maintaining its landscapes, maritime infrastructure, and public amenities. BBP develops and delivers dynamic public programming that weaves together arts and culture, recreation, and environmental education to engage, inspire, and serve a diverse community. brooklynbridgepark.org; Instagram: @brooklynbridgepark | |TikTok: @brooklynbridgepark | X: @bbpnyc | Facebook: @brooklynbridgepark
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