------The City Reliquary Museum & Civic Organization 370 Ave. , NY 11211 cityreliquary.org (718) 782-4842 ------F OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCT. 17, 2 017 CONTACT: BILL SCANGA PHONE: 718-782-4842 EMAIL: b [email protected]

This exhibition at The City Reliquary will present the stories behind New York’s solid waste–from “one man’s garbage is another man’s gold” to the inventive ways New Yorkers are reusing and recycling. It will trace the trajectory of waste management in New York, from its early period with the squalid nineteenth-century tenements documented by Jacob K. Riis, the landfill of , and the beginnings of the NYC Department of Sanitation, to the mid-century landfill of Fresh Kills in Staten Island. The exhibition culminates in profiles of seven artists and nonprofit organizations that present innovating ways of considering waste management now and in the future:

Photos of scrappers by L arry Racioppo, whose photography focuses on the urban landscape

An overview of projects by M ierle Laderman Ukeles that highlight overlooked social aspects of trash disposal: T ouch Sanitation Performance, T he Social Mirror, and Landing

Materials for the Arts, a nonprofit that collects and distributes art supplies and materials to n onprofit organizations with arts programming and public schools

Hack Trash is a Hack-a-thon that addresses waste issues.

Lower East Side Ecology Center E-Waste Warehouse , a nonprofit that collects electronic waste and separates it for reuse and recycling.

RISE, a tech company that that turns spent grains from breweries into flour

Industrial Organics, d edicated to converting organic f ood waste to high-value resources

The exhibition will also explore the role of trash as a cultural archive. A selection of objects from the Treasure in the Trash collection of Nelson Molina will be on display. In his thirty years on the job as a DSNY employee, Molina amassed a monumental collection of ephemera picked from the castoffs of everyday New Yorkers. Read more about his museum in this N ew York Times article.

The opening brunch reception at n oon on S unday, November 15 will feature complimentary coffee courtesy of O slo Coffee Roasters and light refreshments with $5 admission.

A display of trash art by a number of local artists on display in the Reliquary sculpture garden will complement the exhibition and will open on A pril 5, 2018.

Image: Copyright 2017, Larry Racioppo ______About The City Reliquary Museum: The City Reliquary Museum & Civic Organization preserves the everyday artifacts that connect visitors to the past and present of . It was originally established in 2002 as an apartment window display at the corner of Grand and Havemeyer Streets in Williamsburgh. It relocated to 370 in 2006. The Reliquary also hosts public events that invite neighbors and visitors to meet, exchange ideas, and celebrate the diversity of our city.

Location: 370 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211; H ours: Thursday–Sunday, 12pm–6pm. A dmission: $7 general; $5 college students/educators/seniors; Free for employees of all museums foreign & domestic and children 12 & under; W ebsite: cityreliquary.org; P hone: 718-782-4842; Email: i [email protected]