The Parsons Festival Block Party marks the final weekend in the two-week series of events, exhibitions, and programming. A morning-to-evening celebration coinciding with Parsons’ graduation ceremonies (which take place the same day), the party features creative projects, performances, interactive programming, and a variety of other events and offerings along West 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The block party is free and open to the public—all students, parents, faculty, staff, neighbors, friends, associates, and industry partners of Parsons and The New School are welcome to attend.
Not sure where to begin? Consider your options:
Explore movement, color, texture, and form—come paint with ColorBots and make your mark on a large collaborative visual canvas: the sidewalk!
Look for the Color Wheelz van and tell your own color story, inside or out, with neon wire, cling paper, velcro, magnets, and fabric.
The SDS Tapestry Project’s collaborative constructions, using felting methods and local sustainable wools and created in real-time response to festival events, will be on display—demonstrations will also take place.
Ready for a close-up? Swing by the Fashion Photo Booth and get in on the modeling, make-up, and styling action at this public fashion shoot.
Engage with the world around you. Send a message through The "Seven" Project's creative communications, or continue your support of Japanese earthquake and tsunami survivors and check out T-Shirts for Japan!—unique tees designed and hand-printed by students (all proceeds to charity).
Explore a full-size, freestanding solar-powered house prototype from the Empowerhouse Collaborative | Solar Decathlon 2011, designed and built as one of the 20 competitive entries in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon.
See the co-design work between Parsons students and NYC public school students as part of the EATS initiative, dedicated to establishing community farms in neighborhoods throughout the city. Then head over to the Urban Garden Ritual (outside 66 Fifth Avenue) for a roof garden tour, street performance, and a cup of rainwater tea.
Visit IsA Wonderful World, where urban interventions bring joy to and escape from busy days and big cities, or take notice of your own latent DIY skills through In a World Without, where interventions bring craft to the public and make it hard to ignore.
Need a break? Plop down on the Street Pillows around the block. Or step inside the Sheila Johnson Design Center (2 W. 13th Street) to see what might Hide in Plain Sight or to Take a Seat.
Swing around to the Fifth Avenue side of Parsons and listen to cacaphony transformed into symphony—plug into the SoundAffects wall installation, as cars, construction, the motions of passersby, and other environmental factors translate into street corner music.
As heard at Crash Mansion, Don Hill’s, and the Highline Ballroom and featured in New York magazine: the Brooklyn-based collaborative trio Moon Hooch will also be taking to the streets and bringing a bit of New School Jazz flavor to the Parsons Festival.
Don’t forget to make a stop at tables featuring prizes and discounts from Blick Art Materials, giveaways from the Parsons Student Senate, magazines from City Arts and The L Magazine, and neighborhood information from the Upper West 13th Street Block Association.
The block party is sponsored in party by the Parsons Student Senate and Blick Art Materials.
