DUMBO Open Studios 2025

at the Strother School of Radical Attention & Sanctuary Gallery 

On the first day of DUMBO Open Studios, visitors will have an extended opportunity to view Sanctuary Gallery’s current exhibition, Artifacts. The exhibition features a conversation between the drawings of visual artist Anna Von Mertens, the photographs of art historian Jennifer L. Roberts, and the work of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (1868–1921). For decades, Leavitt studied glass plate photographs at the Harvard College Observatory, measuring star brightness one mark of emulsion at a time, her work becoming key to mapping the cosmos. Mirroring Leavitt’s precision, Von Mertens meticulously renders the observatory’s glass plates in graphite on paper. Her repeated, intimate gestures measure themselves against the vastness of the sky. Building on this dialogue, art historian Jennifer L. Roberts, using a macro lens, photographs Von Mertens’s drawings, creating a connection of attention between artist, astronomer, and historian. Roberts' photographs generate new worlds, inviting a closer look at Von Mertens’s work, a deeper engagement with Leavitt’s legacy, and a contemplation of our place in the stars.

On Sunday, alongside Sanctuary Gallery’s current exhibition, Artifacts, visitors will have a special opportunity to experience the Strother School’s participatory workshops in the company of art. No registration in advance is necessary, and each timed session will start at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm. By activating works of artists across literature, visual arts, and sound, Gallery Practices expand the traditional dynamics of art “viewership” into embodied, collective experiences and questions what ripples we can make by heeding attention to this process of sharing. 

If you are not able to participate in timed sessions, you can always join our pop-up practice inspired by artist Erwin Wurm - and collaborate with visitors before and after you to “exhaust” the interactive possibilities of seemingly mundane objects.