BROOKLYN, NY.- In collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and ArtW, and presented through the New York City Department of Transportation’s art program (NYC DOT Art), internationally recognized multimedia artist Anita Glesta, will premiere AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon, a monumental eighteen-minute immersive projection that will transform the Brooklyn Bridge into a gateway to one of the world's most extraordinary marine environments. Observers can see the public art installation projected on the Brooklyn Bridge from the Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, September 25 and 26, 7pm to 10 pm each evening.

The Hudson Canyon, located 100 miles off the coast of New York City, is the largest submarine canyon along the Atlantic Coast. Rivaling the depth and scale of the Grand Canyon, Hudson Canyon supports a remarkable abundance and diversity of marine wildlife such as whales, sea turtles, sharks, tuna, colorful Coldwater corals and many species that support local commercial and recreational fisheries.

The immersive public artwork builds upon WCS's longstanding efforts to raise awareness about and to protect the Hudson Canyon. WCS nominated the area for consideration as a National Marine Sanctuary in 2016.  NOAA initiated and leads the stakeholder--and public-facing process to designate the first National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of New York and New Jersey. WCS leads a broad coalition of scientists, conservation organizations, fishing interests, businesses and community stakeholders advocating for its designation. Visit WCS’s Hudson Canyon website to learn more:  https://www.wcs.org/get-involved/hudson-canyon

“I’ve spent much of my life exploring what lies beneath the surface-of memory, of the body, of the landscapes we live in,” says Anita Glesta. “When I learned that an extraordinary marine ecosystem exists just beyond New York City, it felt like another one of those revelations. AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon grew out of that moment of discovery.”

AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon honors the legacy of WCS’s 1925 Arcturus Expedition, one of the first scientific explorations of the Hudson Canyon. 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. Because early photography could not capture the deep sea, the DTR’s artists created vivid illustrations that gave the public its first glimpse of the species that use this hidden underwater world. Those historic works, now preserved in the WCS Archives at the WCS Bronx Zoo, are paired with stunning new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) footage captured in September 2025 using remotely operated vehicles. Together, they inspired artist Glesta's immersive 18-minute video blending archival art, journals, animation, painting, and sound to connect over 100 years of ocean discovery and celebrate the enduring partnership between art, science, and conservation.


Helen Tee-Van 1925. Courtesy of the WCS Archives

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, School of Art, Architecture and Design, “The fEEL Lab”. https://anitaglesta.com


Still from AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon. Anita Glesta

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. Visit: WCS Newsroom. Follow: @TheWCS and @WCSNewsroom. Listen: WCS Wild Audio podcast. For more information: +1 (347) 840-1242.  WCS and its New York Aquarium have worked for decades to study and raise awareness about the New York Bight, from Cape May, NJ to Montauk, NY. The New York Aquarium’s Ocean Wonders: Sharks! exhibit educates visitors about Hudson Canyon and the local marine life, highlighting the threats they face and how individuals can take action to advance conservation.  https://www.wcs.org

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


Still from AQUA COSMOS: The Hudson Canyon Anita Glesta

NYC DOT art program

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.